The ProQ Cold Smoke Generator- A Review

[saucisson]

Should be appearing here later today

Dave

[Richierich]

Damnit! Got excited then.

[Mike D]

So did I !! I'm awaiting Dr Daves review 'cos I fancy one of these - it will save me so much hassle with my smoker

[saucisson]

I had to upload some images

Well it's here, Dr Dave's review of the ProQ Cold Smoke Generator. Having tinkered with a number of designs of varying degrees of complication (and success) I've been looking forward to getting my hands on one of these because, having seen the Youtube video, if it works even half as well as claimed, it's going to be a cracking bit of kit.

The review model was kindly supplied by Ian at macsbbq, the official distributor of ProQ products.

First off I'm sure you all want to know what the box looks like





Reassuringly there is a UK helpline if you get stuck.

So, what's in the box:


You get the generator, 100g Oak wood dust (enough for your first burn), a tealight candle and a comprehensive set of instructions with do's, don'ts and tips.

First impressions, it is small, much smaller than I expected being around six inches on a side and less than 2 inches high. This is a good thing as you could use it in even the tiniest of portable barbecues. It is also, despite it's relative simple concept, a rather complex bit of construction and not something you could easily knock up yourself. There are legs to keep it above the floor, handles on the sides and a lighting platform under a sloped area of mesh.





Filling was simply a case of emptying the bag into the generator and smoothing it out to ensure the "maze" was still exposed.


And so to smoke:
[
sticking a screw into the side of the tealight is recommended as it only needs to be there until the dust is smouldering. The instructions suggest 30 seconds, but I found it took a minute to get going fully.



The instructions recommend you place a foil tent over the smoker if there is a risk of the food dripping but I knew my food wouldn't dare drip so I didn't do that. FOOL :



2 hours in it hit a patch of wet wood dust and stopped. This told me two things, follow instructions and this little baby may well do 10 hours if it's only got this far in 2 hours. Judicious application of a tiny square of charcoal and a micro blow torch got us smoldering again.



8 hours in and still going strong, bedtime calls... I didn't expect it to still be going.



You see from this Camembert and its paper what a gorgeous golden brown the smoker has imparted to everything in the smoker. The smell is divine, beautifully sweet and smoky with no hint of acridity. The smoker sat on a piece of plywood quite happily and had no effect on the temperature inside the chamber at all. In fact you could barely feel any heating coming off from it at all.


I understand that it will be available from Mid September at around £24.99 and some dealers are taking pre-orders as they are expecting to sell out. The wood dust costs from £3.99 to 4.99 for a 1.3 litre tube depending on where you look (and whether postage is or isn't included) and is currently available in beech, oak and hickory, but from the instruction leaflet it looks as if cherry, apple and Whiskey oak may be available soon. US/Canadians are recommended to use smokinlicious wood products. Other wood dust can be used but obviously your mileage may vary as it were.

I don't know exactly how much 100g dust relates to 1.3litres but even if you used 260ml at a time you'd be getting 10 hours of smoking for a £1 a session.

This has to have been my most successful smoking session ever and I can't endorse it more highly.

Dr Dave

[Richierich]

Dave,

Finally - nice work there! I am surprised to see how small it is, mind you I suppose if you keep it simple it doesn't need to be over complicated and cumbersome!

This does indeed looks like a great product, do you think we could get some sort of discount for a group buy, assuming there is sufficient interest in it?

What sort of size are the wood dust chunks? Is it very fine??

[wheels]

I've just preordered - it looks like I might even get a night's sleep and smoke at the same time!

[saucisson]

What sort of size are the wood dust chunks? Is it very fine??

Yes, a very fine sawdust. I might do some more testing with coarser sawdust to see what happens, I doubt your shavings would last very long unless you shredded them down in a blender, if that's what you are thinking...

[wheels]

Ashwood Smoking chips in Kettering sell wood dust at about £7 for 15kg of oak or beech, collected. (A lot more £££ for cherry etc)

[saucisson]

You got some chips as opposed to dust from them didn't you Phil?

Dave

[wheels]

Dave

Yes, but I've phoned them today and they sell dust as well.

Phil

[Richierich]

What sort of size are the wood dust chunks? Is it very fine??

Yes, a very fine sawdust. I might do some more testing with coarser sawdust to see what happens, I doubt your shavings would last very long unless you shredded them down in a blender, if that's what you are thinking...

You're not the first person to suggest that, Terry also did, although I think he saw it on here, I guess I could blend as I need them, but I have got 3 binbags full in the garage, so couldn't do them all in one sitting. I suppose I could dig down to the bottom of the bag. Mind you I know one bag includes garage floor sweepings where the chap forgot to tell his helper what the shavings were for.

[saucisson]

Rich: If you want to send some over I'll try them out for you so you know how successful they are before investing in the generator.

Phil: I don't suppose you asked whether they'd send you a sample did you?

Dave

[wheels]

Doh! Why didn't I think of that.

[saucisson]

Ok, I might well give it a go... If I ask for 100g and offer to pay postage they might well go for it.

Edit: found an email address for them so I've asked...

Dave.

[Richierich]

Rich: If you want to send some over I'll try them out for you so you know how successful they are before investing in the generator.

Phil: I don't suppose you asked whether they'd send you a sample did you?

Dave

Sounds like a good idea, PM me an address and I will stick some in the post.