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Innovative ‘all drawer’ smoker makes its debut
Chattin’ with Red
By Red Todd
redtodd@ocmcast.net
“Flight 3550 – Baltimore to Memphis is now boarding.” That’s what I heard on the morning of Saturday, December 5th as I was reading a book at gate C13 at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. I was pretty excited about my trip to Tennessee. I was on my way to check out a new style of cooker that was the brainchild of Chuck Averwater. He’s also had his “Smackers BBQ Rub” on the market since 2004 and has been busy promoting it ever since. It’s got this unique flavor about it that I just can’t put a finger on. You’re going to have to taste it for yourself, and I think you’ll be pleased when you do.
Chuck is a very well-known judge in the MIM and MBN competition circuits and is becoming more and more known throughout the world of KCBS contests. He has been judging for 18 years now and has talked to thousands of cooks through his travels. One thing he has seen and heard constantly over the years is that almost every cook dislikes something about his/her cooker.
It may be something as small as not having enough cooking space or something as annoying as not being able to control temperatures while cooking on a $20,000 rig. Chuck has judged so many contests that he has lost count, but he hasn’t lost that one theme he keeps hearing from the cooks in his mind. He’s great at keeping little details about competitions and what he talks to the cooks about deep in his mind for later use.
Back in 2005 Chuck had just finished judging a contest in Corinth, Mississippi, and was driving home. He was thinking about the weather overnight at the contest and how particularly bad it was. He had heard over and over while judging how the cooks were fighting to keep their cookers on track and up to temperature during the rain and wind. On his drive home, he continued to think about all he had heard from all the different cooks and was trying hard to come up with a new concept that they could use and be able to cook efficiently during any weather condition.
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Photo by Red Todd
Inventor Chuck Averwater and the Rib Stacker. |
Out of the blue, Chuck had an epiphany — DRAWERS! He started laughing and all but smacked himself upside his head for not thinking of this sooner. He couldn’t get home soon enough. As soon as he arrived home he went straight to his computer and fired up his Microsoft Paint program so he could get something drawn.
Over the course of a year, he kept refining his thoughts and design ideas. He finally had something in his hands that he could use to get a patent pending. Once that was done he approached a few friends and asked them if they knew of a good metal fabricator. One friend just happened to know one and Chuck was on his way soon thereafter. During his first meeting, he thought this fella had the equipment needed but might be lacking in the personal credentials department. He decided to give the man a try anyway.
Chuck told this man he would visit at least once a week to make sure they were on the same page with the project. Well, folks, he soon found that they were on the same page but in totally different books. This fella was doing his own thing with Chuck’s plans. He barely followed his drawings and the end result was a monster of a cooker.
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Photo by Red Todd
“Big Red’ and the Backyard Stacker. |
Chuck didn’t know what to do, but he knew he had to have a prototype so he accepted this beast and took it home. He named it “Big Red” and christened it by seasoning it really well and then cooking on it. He was actually pleased with the way it cooked but knew that he had a lot of refining to do. After taking a bunch of mental notes, Chuck decided to hunt out another fabricator, and this time he found one who really was qualified.
This second fabricator knew his stuff his expertise showed right away. Chuck was impressed with everything this guy showed him so he had him sign a confidentiality agreement and they looked over his drawings. The fabricator liked what he saw and they had a handshake and a deal to work together. Chuck was real happy and confident that this was a good fit. He was right! After about 6 months he got the call that his “Baby” was finished. He went to pick up the new cooker and it was a real beauty.
After giving it the twice over, Chuck was happy with the product. The fabricator told Chuck he’d be happy to move on getting set up to do 10 at a time and after many phone calls and emails, he finally gave Chuck a price to do so. Chuck was astonished at the price and just couldn’t afford to make a deal to have that done. The fella reluctantly told him he’d move it down to a minimum of 5, but it was still too much for Chuck to handle.
After taking all of this into consideration, Chuck decided to look for yet another fabricator. After a lengthy search Chuck found one he’s comfortable with and this one is willing to work to fit Chuck’s needs.
Chuck made more refining adjustments and now he has two cookers being built to be on display at the NBBQA Convention in Memphis on February 4-6, 2010. The two cookers are known as the “Smackers Stacker Series” of cookers and will be for sale. One is named the Backyard Cooker and the other is the Rib Stacker. Both cookers are approximately 5’ tall and 2’ square.
The Backyard cooker has two cooking drawers that are 7-1/2 inches deep and the Rib Stacker has 4 cooking drawers at 3-1/2 inches deep. These things are made of 14-gauge steel and are very well-insulated. While I was there cooking baby backs with Chuck, I could lean on any side of the cooker and not feel one bit of heat on the walls.
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Photo by Red Todd
Chuck starts the baby backs in the Rib Stacker. |
The Davlyn oven gasket around the frame held the heat in the cooker where it should be. These are top of the line gaskets, and the Tel-Tru thermometer was right on the money every time we checked it. When you put the optional 2nd tier cooking racks in the Backyard cooker, you automatically double the capacity or ribs, chicken, briskets, and pork butts. These powder-coated painted units with stainless steel heat-reducing spring handles on the drawers and the stainless steel grates in the drawers give these units a real sharp appearance all around. Throw in the slide dampers on the sides and the swing damper on the smokestack and you’ve got some fine looking and easy to use smokers for any competitor or catering arsenal.
I was seriously impressed when the dozen racks of baby backs we smoked up were done and ready to go at the three hour mark. I’m talking competition ready for tenderness and texture. With the natural convection created by the slanted sides in the water pan and the insulated walls of the cookers, the cooking time is instantly quickened without losing any on the quality side of things.
One of the best parts of this cooker design is when you open a drawer the whole way to tend to a meat, the back of the drawer seals the cooker again. You lose minimal heat and moisture when doing so and this too adds to the speed of cooking.
I can’t tell you loud enough, folks — this cooker series is the real deal. Chuck Averwater has dedicated his life in the past 18 years to barbeque, and in the past five years it has somewhat taken over his life and he just loves that it has. He is like most of us in this world of barbeque; he has the passion and drive to make his dreams come true.
Feel free to visit his website at www.smackersbbq.com to check out Chuck’s rub and these fantastic cookers. I can promise you this, you won’t be disappointed.
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