My all-time favorite Meadow Creek cooker is the TS250 Tank Smoker with a BBQ42 Chicken Flipper on the front. And more precisely, a TS250 with this set of upgrades: insulated firebox in the smoker, sliding charcoal basket, stainless steel work shelves, and the trim package.
This smoker is built on a sturdy trailer frame with LED lights and pulls like a dream behind your pickup truck or SUV. The insulated firebox and reverse flow draft make it easy to crank out amazing barbecue, and the spacious racks hold enough meat to feed a hungry crowd. The trim package and stainless steel shelves give it that perfect touch of class.
Simply put, this barbecue trailer exudes competence, endurance, and usefulness.
My job at Meadow Creek includes playing with Meadow Creek smokers and grills and journaling my adventures here on the blog. First up is my dream TS250 smoker trailer, which I refer to as “Big Black”.
Meet “Big Black”
This post is the first of a series where I will document my adventures with Big Black. Come along to discover what the TS250/BBQ42 trailer can do and how it does it. There will be plenty of tasty photos along the way to show the cooker in action.
I seasoned the smoker on May 31 and did my first cook on June 1. We grilled chicken leg quarters on the BBQ42 Chicken Cooker and cooked a pile of low and slow barbecue in the TS250 Smoker—6 pork butts, 2 whole beef briskets, 6 whole chickens, 3 racks of St. Louis style ribs, and 12 pounds of sausage.
Grilling chicken in the chicken flipper while cooking low and slow in the TS250.
Whole choice brisket
Pork butts ready for seasoning
I trimmed and seasoned the briskets and pork butts with Meadow Creek Brisket Rub.
Seasoned fryer
I used Meadow Creek Gourmet Seasoning on the chickens and kept it really simple… seasoning on the skin and under the skin around the breast and thighs.
Spare ribs trimmed down to St. Louis style
I trimmed the ribs down, removed the membrane, and seasoned them on all sides.
St Louis Ribs
The briskets and butts went on first, early in the morning. Later, I added the ribs and chickens, and lastly, the rope sausage.
Chicken, briskets, ribs, and pork butts
Nice color in the smoke
Smoked ribs
Pork butts getting some color
Pork butts, brisket, and ribs wrapped in foil
Once the briskets had a nice bark, I wrapped them in aluminum foil.
Smoked chicken
Smoked chickens
The smoked chicken was delicious even though the skin wasn’t very crispy from the indirect heat.
Smoked sausage
Who doesn’t like sausage? Very tasty!
Choice brisket
I’m no brisket champion but the brisket turned out great. Nice bark, tender, and delicious flavor.
Insulated firebox on the offset smoker
This trailer has an insulated firebox and sliding charcoal basket. The double-wall insulated firebox holds a tremendous amount of heat and will make your charcoal go further. The basket holds the charcoal away from the firebox sidewalls and makes it possible to hold more fuel at once. (Warning: you can overheat this thing very easily!)
I will get into fuel usage and firing tips in future posts, so if you have any questions, leave a comment and I’ll be happy to address it.
Firing the TS250 Smoker
It is important to heat up the tank with a propane torch to make the smoker draft properly.
Inside of smoker oiled and ready to fire up for seasoning
Stepping back in time, here is the smoker with the inside of the cooking chamber sprayed with cooking oil.
Oiled and ready to season
I left the grates in the smoker for the initial burn-in although the stainless steel grates do not need to be seasoned, just oiled.
Firing the TS250
Sliding charcoal basket
Top rack with chickens and pork butts
Big Black has a door and work shelf on both sides of the smoker. The two stainless steel cooking grates slide out in either direction for easy access to the food. Handles on the bottom grate make it easy to pull out.
Sliding stainless steel shelves make it easy to load and handle the meat
Me wrapping the butts for more time in the cooker
Stainless steel shelves make clean-up easy
I love the stainless steel shelves. Wide enough to catch the mess and to hold utensils and pans while you’re loading and unloading meat.
Handy storage box in the front
The storage box on the front is extremely handy as well.
Firing the BBQ42 to grill chicken
The BBQ42 Chicken Cooker mounted to the front lets you grill chicken and sausage links in the double-sided sandwich grate. Or swap out the standard rotating grate with a flat grate for cranking out dozens of burgers and steaks while you’re doing low and slow in the tank smoker.
Lighting the briquettes with a propane torch
Chicken legs in the rotating sandwich grate
This grill holds about 40 pounds. I simply seasoned these chicken leg quarters with Meadow Creek Gourmet Seasoning.
Turn the whole rack with one hand
Grilled chicken on the BBQ42
Smoke rollin’
Chicken legs grilled on the BBQ42
Grilling chicken on the BBQ42
If you dream of cooking barbecue for crowds and you love playing with fire and cooking with charcoal and wood, Meadow Creek is here to help! Meadow Creek works hard to pack a surprising level of durability, craftsmanship, and user-friendly design into these trailers.
Click the link below to learn more about the TS250 trailer and to request a quote. Select the options you’re interested in and click on “Request a Quote” to send an inquiry to your assigned dealer.
If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more, leave a comment below with your suggestions for future articles or any questions you might have about choosing your Meadow Creek trailer.
Sizzling regards,
Lavern Gingerich
Click here for more stories, videos, and photos of "Big Black", the customized TS250 tank smoker.
Lavern Reply:
June 22nd, 2017 at 11:00 pm
It should be seasoned. The instructions should be in the manual you get with the cooker. If you need any help with it, you can reach out to us on our contact page.
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