Slow smoking meat with charcoal or hardwood is the only way to make authentic BBQ. While die hard purists have no problem shelling out hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a wood/charcoal smokers, most backyard cooks use gas grills. I, too love the simplicity and consistancy of cooking with gas, but often miss that authentic smoked flavor that hardwood provides. Previously, I always had to use my small, makeshift smoker for cooking ribs and other BBQ. With Sam's Smoker Pro, I have another option. Now, I can enjoy the ease of use of gas and still get authentic hardwood smoked BBQ.

Sam's Smoker Pro is a heavy duty metal smoker box that sits below your grills grate, directly on the heat source. This allows you to either grill directly or smoke indirectly. Either way, your food gets infused with real hardwood smoke.

I used Sam's Smoker Pro this weekend to slow smoke babyback ribs. The Smoker Pro didn't quite fit under the grate of my Charbroil Commercial Series gas grill so I just removed the grate entirely. I placed the smoke box directly on flame guards on the right hand side of the grill and set the heat to medium. I set two racks of ribs on the left side grate with no heat directly below them.


I filled Sam's Smoker Pro with about 3 cups of Sam's Cowboy Blend of hardwood chips. I didn't soak the chips as I normally would because I wanted to see how quickly they would produce smoke and how long they would last. I was incredibly impressed with the amount of smoke produced by the chips. Within a couple minutes of closing the lid, fragrant smoke was pouring out of my grill's vent. The unsoaked chips  produced a solid amount of smoke for a little over an hour. I used the tool provided by Sam to open the Smoker Pro and replenish the chips.

Sam's Smoker Pro couldn't have performed any better. The chips burned well and for longer than I expected. The smoke produced an excellent smoke ring on the ribs and the flavor was exceptional. Cleanup on Sam's Smoker Pro was also incredibly easy.

I expect to use Sam's Smoker Pro again and again. On days when I don't feel like messing with my charcoal smoker, Sam's Smoker will still give me the ability to cook quality wood fired meat. If you're a gas grill user that has considered purchasing a charcoal or wood smoker, you may want to look at Sam's Smoker Pro as an inexpensive alternative. You can't beat the ease of use.

To learn how to order Sam's Smoker Pro, click the title of this review. See my star rating for Sam's Smoker Pro on our "Product Reviews" page.

Congrats to our 3 giveaway winners Abby Grube, Don Anderson, Christopher Sorel. Each of you has won a bottle of Jake's Famous Ketchup. This all natural, European style ketchup is brand new. You won't even find it in stores yet.

Please send the address that you'd like your prize sent to derek@the-q-review.com. I'll forward the info to Jake so he can ship your ketchup directly to you.

Thank you to everyone that entered. Stay tuned for future giveways.

Special thanks to Jake's for sponsoring this giveaway.

Papa Jack's new BBQ rub is appropriately named "Sweet Heat". Jack developed his Sweet Heat rub for use on every type of grilled or smoked meat. This rub can be used in tandem with his Sweet Heat Marinade or own its own.

Sweet Heat Rub has a paprika and salt base. Its flavor is highlighted by brown sugar, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. The cinnamon provides a great unique flavor and is the standout ingredient in its aroma. Papa Jack's blend of spices is all natural and contains no MSG.

I used Sweet Heat rub on chicken wings and on slow smoked baby back ribs. The rub was excellent on the wings. The cinnamon, brown sugar combination really enhanced the flavor of the wings. The rub was good on the ribs as well, but the salt content was a little high. The long, slow cook time, combined with the relatively high salt content of the rub made the ribs a bit too salty.

Papa Jack's Sweet Heat rub is a high quality, all natural rub. I would advise using it in moderation for BBQ with long cook times because of the relatively high salt content, but don't let that scare you away from using it altogether. It's also excellent on grilled and baked meats and vegetables.

To learn how to order Papa Jack's Sweet Heat products, click the title of this review. See how Sweet Heat Rub rates on our "Product Reviews" page.

Bill Fehon (Pennsylvania) created the recipe for Bill's Best Organic BBQ Sauce in the early 90s. A teacher by day, Bill was an avid fisherman, hunter and cook as well. He combined his love of food and the outdoors to nurture a passion for BBQ. After sharing his recipe with friends and family, he eventually decided to bottle and sell his sauce to the public. Sadly, Bill was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Degeneration in 2009 and is no longer able to make his signature sauce. His family has since carried the mantle and continued producing and distributing Bill's Best. In his honor, the Fehon family donates 10% of the sauce's earnings to support Frontotemporal Degeneration research and awareness.

Bill's Best Original BBQ Sauce is packaged in 18 oz. bottles. Evidence that this sauce is a family affair can be seen all over the bottle. The label features Fehon family photos as well as a letter from the family. Overall, the packaging is really appealing and the sauce looks great in the bottle.

As I smelled the sauce, I could actually pick out several of the individual ingredients. The sweet ketchup scent and vinegar tang were easy to identify. There was also a slight hint of liquid smoke and spice.

Bill's Best is a thick, dark red sauce is the tradition of Kansas City style sauces. However, it's a bit more tangy than your average KC sauce. It's also not quite as smokey. The sauce is nice and sweet with just the faintest hint of cayenne spice in the finish.

Bill's Best is USDA certified organic making it a rare commodity in the BBQ world. The sauce is gluten and HFCS free. Bill and his family are obviously committed to producing a delicious product using only the highest quality ingredients.

I used Bill's Best on pulled pork sandwiches and in the BBQ chicken dip that I made for my daughter's birthday party. The sauce is good for a variety of uses. It's fairly thick making it ideal for brushing on ribs and chicken as they finish on the grill.

If you like a thick, sweet and tangy sauces, Bill's Best may be what you're looking for. The fact that it's organic is an added bonus. To learn more about Bill's Best, click the title of this review. See how Bill's Best rates on our "Product Reviews" page.