Why Every Backyard Caterer Eventually Needs a BBQ Smoker on a Trailer
In this article, we'll cover three reasons to invest in a BBQ smoker on a trailer and why I think you'll eventually find yourself needing one if you dabble in cooking meat for small events.
You have a couple of smokers and grills on your patio—or maybe a handful—and you enjoy smoking up the backyard for your friends and family.
If you're good at it, before long you get invited to cook meat for someone else's party, a family gathering, a wedding, or a local fundraiser. The guests rave about your barbecue and your reputation continues to spread.
Cooking for 100 people is much the same as cooking for your family, except for the amount of meat you're cooking and the location of the event.
It's surprising how much meat you can cram into two or three backyard smokers, but there's just nothing like having the best tools for the job.
For example, if you were pulling a load with your truck, you wouldn't be happy with a truck that couldn't top the hills unless everyone in the back seat got out and strained their backs to push. You arrived at your destination, but not without unnecessary stress! In the same way, nothing adds stress to cooking like being maxed out and on the verge of failure.
At Meadow Creek we help backyarders and caterers feed any size of crowd that comes their way the fun and stress-free way with equipment that's spacious, capable, mobile, and easy to use.
Three reasons to invest in a BBQ smoker on a trailer...
...and why I think you'll eventually find yourself needing one—or at least seriously wanting one.
Presentation
You could cook the meat at your house, pan it up and stash it into warming boxes, then transport and serve it, and this is not a bad solution. But nothing feels more authentic than actually seeing the smoke and watching a crew work the smoker with smoke rolling and the smell of chicken grilling in a pit.
In fact, I know one caterer who would set already-smoked ribs into a TS250 tank smoker for the wow factor at catering parties, then grill chicken in the front-mounted BBQ42 charcoal grill.
Mobility
Most patio grills and smokers can be moved with a reasonable amount of effort if you have a cargo trailer or even a flat bed trailer and some ratchet straps. If it’s not too heavy you might even lift it onto your pickup bed. However, considering everything, it’s not exactly easy, especially if you’re talking about the bigger models that can cook for 50–100 people.
It’s much more relaxing to haul smokers and grills when you can just hook onto it and roll, knowing everything is secure.
Versatility
A BBQ smoker on a trailer opens the possibility for storage and additional cookers, such as the BBQ42 charcoal grill.
- A storage box holds log splits, a torch, and bags of charcoal.
- A grill mounted to your smoker trailer makes it easy to grill foods such as steaks and bone-in chicken over a hot bed of coals while cooking ribs and other items in the smoker—all without the hassle of loading and unloading grills to get the job done.
The TS250 barbecue trailer is used for vending and all kinds of events. The BBQ42 on the front of the trailer lets you expand your menu with perfectly-grilled chicken, steak, burgers, sausages, and much more!
“We have a yearly Fourth of July family cookout, feeding roughly 125 family and friends. This unit has cut our cooking time down, and made it fun to cook so much meat. I love this unit, only change I might make is upgrade to the TS500!"
- Lee Jones, TS250 owner -
Cooking Ribs and Other Goodies on Big Black, My BBQ Smoker on a Trailer
This summer I pulled Big Black (my decked out TS250 BBQ smoker on a trailer) to my friend’s house to cook meat for a party of 100 people.
I always enjoy variety when cooking for an event like this, so I'll often cook 6-8 different foods, including some non-meat items, such as the baked beans and bacon-wrapped Oreos we made at this event last year.
This time we cooked two cases of baby back ribs (16 racks), 60+ cheese-stuffed sausage balls, a couple of turkeys, and strip steaks.
Here are some photos from the event that show this BBQ smoker trailer in action.
We used a mix of Chef's Select 100% hardwood briquettes and seasoned hardwood log splits from my wood pile to fire the smoker. We fired the smoker with about 20 pounds of charcoal and a couple of splits of wood, then fired it with mostly wood the rest of the time.
My propane torch gets the tank hot in about 15–20 minutes so it drafts properly.
1
Baby Back Ribs
The ribs were meant to be the "star of the show" here, so we ordered in two cases of 8 racks each.
To prep them, we removed the membrane, slathered the meat side in yellow mustard, then covered them in Meadow Creek TX Brisket Rub. After giving them a few minutes to sweat, we loaded the smoker.
Once the meat reached 165 degrees F in the thickest end of the rack, we wrapped each rack (meat side down) in two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil with a bead of barbecue sauce and put them back into the smoker (meat side down) until they reached about 205 degrees. At that point we removed the foil, sauced them again, and put them back in the smoker (meat side up) for a few minutes to set the sauce before slicing them.
A rack ready to wrap
Pulling the membrane
Adding mustard
Mustard is a great binder to help create a nicer bark.
Seasoning the ribs
Bone side of the ribs
Sweating out the rub
Ready for the smoker. Notice how the rub turned into a paste.
I love the sliding grates on the Meadow Creek TS Smokers.
Simply beautiful!
Looking sweet!
Saucing and wrapping
Bone side up... perfectly done
Wrapping ribs
Making a pouch to seal in the juices and heat
Ribs wrapped and back in the smoker
The lighting was bad here but these ribs were beautiful.
Slicing for service
Click here for more stories, videos, and photos of "Big Black," a customized TS250 tank smoker.
2
Turkey
My friend had some turkeys in the freezer he wanted me to cook. Not being in the Thanksgiving spirit, I decided to break the turkey down and cook the breast TX-style.
First, I separated the legs and skinned and deboned the breasts, then I brined the meat in a basic salt water brine in my Briner Bucket for a couple of hours before smoking them in the tank smoker.
We seasoned the breasts with Lane's Brisket Rub, a coarse, peppery rub that's perfect for beef—and TX-style turkey breasts. I took them up to 165 degrees internal temperature, but before they were done we wrapped them in foil with butter. Just before serving we sliced them against the grain.
We seasoned the legs and wings with Butcher BBQ Grilling Addiction and smoked them for a couple of hours, then finished them over direct heat on the BBQ42 because we were running out of time. We pulled the meat for serving.
Slicing the turkey breast
Breaking down the turkeys
Breaking down the turkeys
Brining the turkey
The Briner Bucket
The breasts
Lane's Brisket Rub, one of my favorites
Seasoning the legs with Butcher BBQ Grilling Addiction, another one of my favorite rubs
Turkey ready to smoke
Turkey on the smoker
Wrapping the turkey breast
Turkey legs on the BBQ42
Do you dream of cooking a feast of authentic barbecue like this on a wood-fired smoker? Let us help you make that dream a reality.
3
Cheese-Stuffed Sausage Balls
These things are amazing! If you've never tried this, you owe it to yourself.
The balls are serving size so you get a ton of delicious flavor on the outside and the gooey cheese on the inside perfectly complements the pork.
They are easier to make than it might seem. Simply form loose sausage into walnut-sized balls, press a 1/2" cube of cheddar cheese into the center of the ball, then massage the meat until the opening is sealed and roll it into the shape of a ball. (Ten pounds of sausage made around 65 balls.)
From there, simply cook them until the sausage reaches 160 degrees F. Glaze them with your favorite barbecue sauce 15 minutes before they are done.
Glazed sausage balls stuffed with cheese
Cheese cubes
Forming the sausage balls
Moving the sausage balls onto Bradley racks for the smoker
Sausages on the smoker
Glazing the sausages
Sausages done
Click here for more stories, videos, and photos of "Big Black," a customized TS250 tank smoker.
4
Strip Steaks
My friend had a strip roast that needed to be eaten so they sliced and marinated the steaks in advance. I fired up the BBQ42 on the front of my trailer with lump charcoal and grilled the steaks using the single-panel "flat" grate and the charcoal pan in the raised position.
Charcoal heating up
Strip steaks on the BBQ42 fired with lump charcoal
Grilling on the BBQ42 with the charcoal pan raised
“Great experience! Maintains the heat for better cooking and smoking. Ample room for a variety of meats and side dishes. Best purchase ever.”
- Richard Conley, TS250/BBQ42 owner -
Want to Learn More About Buying a BBQ Smoker on a Trailer?
Our BBQ smoker trailers are handmade right here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by our team of talented craftsmen.
These trailers come with flush-mount LED lights, a wheel jack, safety chains, and even a VIN number. But most of all, they are built in a culture of integrity—a rich tradition that values skill, honesty, kindness, diligence, and efficiency.
If your heart is set on cooking "authentic" barbecue with a BBQ smoker on a trailer, a Meadow Creek tank smoker is a great option. The offset firebox with reverse flow makes it possible to get amazing results, even when using the entire grate and as you've seen in the photos above, these grates are large enough to hold enough meat to feed a hungry crowd.