Kat Vault Smoker
I needed a smoker with a smaller footprint for my new patio. I decided to go with a vault although I have generally used and preferred offsets in the past. After a lot of research, I chose a Kat vault smoker from a small shop in Modesto, California. It took a long time to get but I had a lot of special requests, cart, green paint, delivery, valves, wheels, etc.
I could not be happier with this cooker. The welding and craftsmanship are first class. It is dual walled with insulation. You can touch the exterior of the cooker area without burning your hand. The latches fit tight and are adjustable as the gaskets wear. The powder coat paint job is slick, shiny and wonderfully bright. Easy to clean as smokers go.
I now have about 6 cooks under my belt. 12 pounds of charcoal will keep this cooker running for 10+ hours. You could add more charcoal, probably 20lbs, but I haven't tried that yet. The cooker holds temps very well, with little fluctuation. However, because of the very good insulation, if you overshoot your desired temp, it will be very slow in coming back down. I learned that lesson and now I am careful to not get things too hot at the beginning of a cook. I prefer to cook at 225 to 250.
I have added a Billows fan and Smoke X4 controller which work well to keep things steady with minimal fussing with fuel and air adjustments. For smoke, I find that only a few chunks of hardwood will give me all the smoke flavor I need. I like a medium smoke profile that does not bury the meat and rub flavors. To date, I have done brisket, pork shoulder, ribs and chicken wings. In my first cook, I made a mistake and put my meat in before my smoke cleared from a billowy white to a thin blue. Not good. That gave me an ugly creosote flavor. So, I went to school on that session and have not had that problem since then. My smoke flavors are now clean and bright. I was worried about the smoke profile from a vault smoker but I am very pleasantly relieved that the smoke from this cooker is very clean and sweet.
I love this cooker more every time I get to use it. I attach a couple of pictures taken before I put the fan and controller on. The smoker came with two ball valves. One big one for manual control and a small one that takes the fan connection.
This cooker is piece of cooking art that I expect to wear well and pass down to the kids.
I could not be happier with this cooker. The welding and craftsmanship are first class. It is dual walled with insulation. You can touch the exterior of the cooker area without burning your hand. The latches fit tight and are adjustable as the gaskets wear. The powder coat paint job is slick, shiny and wonderfully bright. Easy to clean as smokers go.
I now have about 6 cooks under my belt. 12 pounds of charcoal will keep this cooker running for 10+ hours. You could add more charcoal, probably 20lbs, but I haven't tried that yet. The cooker holds temps very well, with little fluctuation. However, because of the very good insulation, if you overshoot your desired temp, it will be very slow in coming back down. I learned that lesson and now I am careful to not get things too hot at the beginning of a cook. I prefer to cook at 225 to 250.
I have added a Billows fan and Smoke X4 controller which work well to keep things steady with minimal fussing with fuel and air adjustments. For smoke, I find that only a few chunks of hardwood will give me all the smoke flavor I need. I like a medium smoke profile that does not bury the meat and rub flavors. To date, I have done brisket, pork shoulder, ribs and chicken wings. In my first cook, I made a mistake and put my meat in before my smoke cleared from a billowy white to a thin blue. Not good. That gave me an ugly creosote flavor. So, I went to school on that session and have not had that problem since then. My smoke flavors are now clean and bright. I was worried about the smoke profile from a vault smoker but I am very pleasantly relieved that the smoke from this cooker is very clean and sweet.
I love this cooker more every time I get to use it. I attach a couple of pictures taken before I put the fan and controller on. The smoker came with two ball valves. One big one for manual control and a small one that takes the fan connection.
This cooker is piece of cooking art that I expect to wear well and pass down to the kids.
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