It was a beautiful morning today and I figured it was a good day to finally try out the Orion Cooker/Smoker that I purchased in January. A good friend told me about it and so I ordered it online and it’s been sitting in my basement, waiting for Spring to come. So, it was off to Everett’s for a rack of ribs (St Louis-style spare ribs, of course). I was lucky enough to get the last slab that they had. I was debating about buying two or three racks so that spared me from having to make a decision.

The Orion cooker basically is an enclosed container with a heat source at the bottom and at the top. Because it is enclosed, the meat inside cooks by convection heating and is basically steamed in its own juices. Some wood chips in the bottom of the container provides a smokey flavor. The cooking time is also greatly reduced. Basically, all it takes is placing the ribs in the container (using the rib holders), put on the lid, add and light the charcoal (I used an entire 6.7 pound bag of Kingsford Match Light charcoal), set the timer to 75 min and wait for the buzzer.

When the timer went off, I opened the cooker and removed the ribs. They were plump, juicy and tender.

I used Penzey’s Galena Street seasonings for the dry rub and I placed a bottle of barbecue sauce at the table for those that wanted it. The ribs were very good. They had a light smokey flavor. It is different than how ribs come out of a smoker or grill since the meat is basically steamed. It was excellent and very fast. You could cook six racks of ribs in just one and a quarter hours.

I’m looking forward to trying it with a duck or goose. A whole turkey can be cooked in one hour and 45 minutes. Very pleased with the results and the level of effort.

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