If you’re not using your smoker for a long time, you may see some mould build-up – simply clean with warm soapy water and then light a fire inside to burn it clean. With our smokers, you have 4 vents for airflow control which makes temperature control simple, open the vents to increase the temperature and close them to bring it down. Light your fire using one of the fire lighting methods we describe above, adding unlit fuel to top the charcoal basket up & open all the vents in the base of the smoker. Give the fire 10 minutes or so to catch. Think of smoke like a seasoning, you can always add more, but you can’t reduce it once it’s on. Try a lighter smoke and add more to taste on your next cook. Once your fire is completely out (pop some BBQ mitts on just in case), give the basket a shake to get rid of ash & loose coals, set aside. Empty the base out into an ash bin. You can use a brush to remove any ash in the base of the smoker, then wipe down the outside with some warm water & a soft cloth. Leave to air dry or use a dish towel.

Ideally you should be aiming for less smoke over a longer time, this will avoid acrid flavours and give you better results. The water pan is the real secret to stable temperatures in your BBQ smoker, you can get several hours of consistent cooking time with the waterpan in & the vents set right.

Setting Up For BBQ Smoking

This compact BBQ smoker will have you grilling and roasting with confidence in no time, all year round. Get ready to be inspired and unleash your BBQ cuisine creativity, easily catering for large families and BBQ parties. The ProQ Excel is a firm favourite with professional chefs and BBQ competition teams. Open all the vents in the base. Take 2-3 fire lighters (or a couple sheets of scrunched up newspaper), place them in the base of the BBQ, beneath the charcoal basket & light them. Gorgeous Retina interface with large interactive EQ display, multi-band selection and editing for maximum ease of use and efficiency

It’s best to clean the grills as soon as possible after cooking, this makes it much easier to remove any burnt on food. If you’re using a dry baffle with foil, you can remove the foil from the top of the pan and replace it after each cook, leaving the smoker ready to go next time you light a fire.

Mastering Your BBQ

The top vent acts as a brake to the airflow, closing it will slow the movement of air through the smoker, and reduce temperature drastically. Once you’ve finished cooking, close all the vents on your BBQ and allow it to cool down for at least 2 hours. It should be cool to the touch.