Smokeslinger Full Size Review: 9 Powerful Reasons This Direct-Heat Grill Beats Expectations

Can a Smokeslinger hold 225°F?

Short answer: yes. Run a charcoal long-burn in offset or reverse flow mode, or a smaller wood fire with the insert pulled out of the drawer.

A common question is whether it only likes to run at 275 to 325. On a wood fire built on the insert, it does run hot, and that's by design. The insert raises the fire so air feeds it from underneath, which makes a hotter, more active fire. To run lower, you give the fire less air.

For a steady 225 to 250 on charcoal:

• Set up in offset or reverse flow mode. In offset mode, open fewer tuning plates over the fire for a lower-temp cook.
• Use a long-burn method instead of a full lit bed. Minion: fill the drawer with briquettes and light one corner. Snake: lay the charcoal in a narrow U along the drawer walls and light one end. Peg-leg: pull the insert, lay a wood split down the middle of the drawer, fill charcoal on both sides and dump a lit chimney at one end. Peg-leg runs about 5 to 6 hours at around 250 before you add fuel.
• Close the intake down and let it settle before you chase the number. Don't overfill the drawer if you want to stay under 300.

For 225 on wood: pull the insert so the fire sits lower with less air under it, keep the splits small (about 1.5 to 2 inches thick and 10 to 12 inches long), and stack them tight over the coal bed instead of a log-cabin stack.

Owners post 225 to 250 cooks in our group all the time: 12-hour pork butts, brisket in reverse flow, ribs for 6 hours. There is a learning curve. If your first long-burn runs hot, that's not failure, that's information: less air, a smaller light-off, and try again.

Full setups for every mode and method are in our direct heat smoker guide.

Is it hard to clean?

Short answer: no harder than any pit. Most owners who've run other cookers say the same.

The grease is the same grease any smoker makes. On direct heat cooks, a lot of the drippings burn off on the coals. On low-and-slow cooks in offset mode, a foil pan on the lower grate under the meat catches most of it before it reaches the floor.

The everyday clean is a quick recovery clean, not a deep clean:

1. Pull the cooking grates and give them a quick brush.
2. Scrape the tuning plates in place, sliding each one over to reach it.
3. Pull the insert, slide the drawer back in, and scrape the floor into the drawer while the pit is still warm. A long-handled scraper or coal rake saves your knees.
4. Liquid grease runs to the bottom drain, so set a pan under it. Keep ash and scrapings out of the drain hole.
5. Empty the drawer and dispose of the ash and coals safely.

When buildup gets heavy, a deep clean is a power wash and a reseason (see seasoning below).

Will it rust if it lives outside?

Short answer: bare steel will surface-rust if you ignore it. Keep the outside oiled and cover it only when it's cold and dry.

The body is ¼″ American steel with a mill-scale and boiled linseed oil finish, not paint. That finish is easy to maintain: a thin coat of boiled linseed oil on the outside every so often, wiped on with a microfiber towel, keeps water off and gives it that bronze patina.

• Cover it cold and dry only. A cover on a hot pit can melt. A cover on a wet pit traps moisture against the steel, and that's what causes rust, especially over damp concrete.
• After rain, pull the cover and let the pit air out before covering it again.
• Light surface rust blends back in with a stiff nylon brush and a fresh thin coat of oil.

Precision-fit covers are sold separately: see smoker accessories.

How does it do in cold weather?

Short answer: the insulated lid does most of the work. Expect to burn more fuel and give it longer to come up.

Heat rises, so the lid is where a pit loses the most in the cold. The Smokeslinger lid is two layers of steel with an air gap between them and a high-temp gasket around the edge, so the chamber holds its heat instead of bleeding it out the top. One owner in our group brought his up from 185 to 225 and held it with the temperature outside at 20°F.

Can it grill and sear hot?

Short answer: yes. For a hard sear, you bring the fire up to the food instead of lowering the food to the fire.

People see the grates sitting above the drawer and assume you can't get a real sear. On the Mini and Full Size, the super high heat setup fixes that: pull the insert out of the drawer, set it channel-side up on a few tuning plates, and build the charcoal right on it. The lower grate ends up about an inch above the coals. Stage the meat on the upper grate, then move it down to sear.

For steaks and chops you can also reverse sear: cook indirect on the far side in offset mode, then slide the meat over the open plate gap above the coals to finish. The optional plancha turns the same setups into a flat-top for smash burgers, fajitas and breakfast.

Do I need a fan controller to run it unattended?

Short answer: no. A long-burn charcoal setup will hold a steady low temperature for hours on its own.

The minion and peg-leg methods above are how owners run all-night and all-day cooks without standing over the pit. If you're coming from a pellet grill and already own a fan controller you like, our Fan Adapter Plate mounts to the firebox door intake with no tools and takes a standard 1″ pipe-thread fan. It's a convenience, not a requirement. Ask about it when you request a quote.

Will a whole turkey or ham fit?

Short answer: yes, on the Full Size. Whole birds and bone-in hams go on the lower rack. Spatchcocked turkey and carving hams fit on the top rack.

• Whole turkey: lower rack.
• Spatchcocked or frogged turkey: fits on the top rack fine.
• Bone-in hams (butt portion, shank portion or a whole ham): lower rack.
• Carving hams: fit on the top rack. A carving ham is a whole ham cut off along the bone, so it's whole muscle but boneless.