Humphrey's BBQ Smokers Battle Box

I received the humpreys battle box in a large well packaged crate, not only is the smoker built like a tank so was the crate it came in. Craftsmanship on this smoker is second to none. The smoker was solid, well built and and top of that really pretty. Our first cook was a slab of St louis ribs. When the temp hit 275 it was rock steady and even across the whole cooking surface. The taste was perfect and the color was unbelievable. After the 4 hour cook the smoker held steady at 275 for another 5 hours. Great smoker!!! (Posted on 4/28/2015)

On April 20, 2015 at about 10:31 am, I took the delivery of a Humphrey Battle Box Smoker. Upon seeing the crating of this smoker, I knew that, I was getting something special. Anyone who takes the time to strategically place approximately 56 screws into the boards that make up the crate simply takes pride in the product they have built. I needed to finish a project I was working on in my office, so I decided to charge my drill battery so that I would have full power to tackle the un-crating of this smoker.

At approximately 2 pm, I decided to get busy un-crating the smoker. It would take me a good hour and fifteen minutes to un-crate the smoker. Keep in mind I took a couple of client calls in the midst of un-crating her.

After I got done with the task of freeing her, I darted off to the market for some Manteca. I like to use Manteca to season smokers and it also gives me an excuse to buy some of this stuff just in case I need to fry something soon.

At 4pm, I get her insides all painted with the Manteca and made the decision to light her with a couple of paraffin cubes without a draft control system, just to get an idea of how to light her and get her up to temp.
Well after two hours I get to 150º and decide to add two more paraffin cubes leaving the firebox door open to keep a small fire going. The smoker rapidly increases its temp to 250º (next time, I will get the weed burner out and just light about a 4”x4” patch). I then decided to add a draft control system to the cooker and set if for 306º. For this seasoning/cook I decided to run with no water in the pan. I wanted to get a feel for this cooker and understand her heat retention properties.
Earlier, I found some chicken wings in the freezer and decided to thaw them and cook them as part of the smoker christening process.

I coated the wings with a Maple rub I have been toying with in the lab periodically over the years (no, it is not ready to be released quite yet).
The smoker is starting to increase about 10º over my targeted temp due to no water being added, but I am fine with this, because I know that with more meat in the cooker, holding its targeted temp would not be a big deal. Fifteen wings is not enough mass to keep the temps from over shooting a tad bit with out the addition of water in the pan.
The wings cook for about 1.5 hours on the top shelf, I keep checking due to my experience with vertical cookers and how they can darken chicken at the top shelf during a cook. However, my experience with this smoker was different. The wings had a golden color with nothing getting overly dark. I took the liberty of coating the wings with a thin glaze I whipped together with some open bottles of sauces I had in the fridge. The six wings I ate, were delicious, crisped nicely and moist, perfection.
I fell asleep after eating the wings and woke up about 1:20 am in the man chair with the television watching me. I check the smoker and it did shoot up a bit, but I removed the draft control system after the wings were done. I officially went to bed at this point.
At 6:00 am, Pepper my 17 year Jack Russell awakens me to handle his morning business and the smoker is still at 250º with some residual coals remaining in the firebox.
My conclusion is this cooker is built to last several lifetimes with minimal common sense maintenance things like cleaning her to prevent grease fires that will potentially warp her. I am now a big fan of this cooker and she gets the Genie’s Glowing Thump of Approval! (Posted on 4/24/2015)