Orion Cooker

quote:

Originally posted by Orion Lover



MFL, what the heck is your problem? Why the negative vibes to all the first time posters singing the praises to the Orion?

I bought mine last week and have already cooked some of the best tasting and most tender ribs I have ever eaten. No lighter fluid smell or taste, just the great light smokey flavor of the wood chips that I added inside the cooking chamber. Also, Boston Butt and fish. I'm sure the chicken and turkey that I will be cooking tomorrow will be just as good.

Maybe you should get a life instead of sitting here posting hundreds and thousands of meaningless and negative posts without even trying a product! Do you use matches, or God forbid, a lighter to light your charcoal? Hmmmm, if you are true to your values I would suspect your answer to be that you use flint or even rub two sticks together.

Grow up and move into the 21st. century, MFL. Now, how does it feel to be attacked for no good reason?

Oh yeah, the Orion is everything that all the POSITIVE posts have said.

Tim Hunt

Didn't you say that you've cooked Boston Butt on your wonder machine? why now are you looking for suggestions when yours is so great? Excuse me for sounding curious but I agree with the other posters....you sound like a shill. In the beginning of this thread there were many posters that were so obvious....1 post maybe 2 and then they vanished....never to be heard from again....I would not buy the thing just because of the candy coated comments.
IMHo

And again, just curious, but why would you have a product name as your log in ID? Sorry but you sound connected.

quote:

Originally posted by DandyDog

And again, just curious, but why would you have a product name as your log in ID? Sorry but you sound connected.

DandyDog,

The paranoia that runs rampant on this forum is just totally amazing to me.

Yes, I did say that I had cooked Boston Butt already and it was great. Have you ever shared recipes with other people? Tried new things? Try it some time, you might like it. I am always open to new ideas and willing to try new things, such as the Orion. A lot of people on this forum could learn from that philosophy.

To answer your other question as to why I have the product name in my handle is because of all the negative posts on here against the Orion. You will notice though that I end all of my posts with my REAL name. I don’t feel that I need to hide behind a “handle”. I will go you one better, if you (and others) are so convinced that I am a shill, call this number, 1-864-879-5768 and you will get me in my office or my voice mail. If you get my voice mail, pay attention to the company name. But then you will probably think that I have even THAT set up as part of my grand scheme to sell the world an Orion. I personally couldn’t care less if you or any other people on this forum ever use, buy or eat food from an Orion. I have one, I love it and no amount of your or others doubts will change that.

Tim Hunt

Saw this at Lowe's yesterday, same principal, just a different heat sorce.

http://www.charbroil.com/thebigeasy/

Surprising posts on a National BBQ forum as lot of folks there are traditionalists. Identities have been xxxxxxx'd to protect the innocent
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Posted by xxxxxxx on October 29, 2007 at 18:57:23:

I have been looking at the Orion Smoker. Has anyone had any experience with one of these cookers? I am looking some feed back good or bad.
Thanks,
Xxxxxxx
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Posted by xxxxxxx on October 31, 2007 at 07:44:14:
In Reply to: Orion Smoker posted by xxxxxxx on October 29, 2007 at 18:57:23:

I have been cooking on an orion for over a month now every weekend..
am sold on taste it produces and how moist the meat is....easy cooking and can be used as a grill as well for tail gates....it does exactly as literature states...convection cooking..1.25 hrs for rribs,10 lbs butt in 3.5 hours,20 lbs turkey in 2.25 hours (7 min a pound) big story on nov 7 in des moines register newspaper on these smokers.
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Posted by xxxxxxx on October 29, 2007 at 20:23:16:
In Reply to: Orion Smoker posted by xxxxxxx on October 29, 2007 at 18:57:23:

xxxxxxx, John knows his way around that bad boy. He cooked on one for us, and did a great job with some wings.

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Posted by xxxxxxx on October 29, 2007 at 21:13:03:
In Reply to: Re: Orion Smoker posted by xxxxxxx on October 29, 2007 at 20:23:16:

We cook on a lang and cookshack most of the time, but we have an orion also, if you need just 1 or 2 butts, 3 or 4 racks of ribs and need them pretty quick, the orion does the job and does it well, it holds chips inside for smoke, is sealed so moisture stays in, it says to use matchlight which works well because it is outside of the cooking chamber, we use rancher natural briquets which work great. ribs in 1 hour and 15 min. butts in 3 1/2 hours.
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Posted by xxxxxxx on October 31, 2007 at 01:22:31:
In Reply to: Re: Orion Smoker posted by xxxxxxx on October 29, 2007 at 21:13:03:

Amen to all of that! It's a great cooker if you need to BBQ in a hurry (is that an oxymoron? I think so.). In any event, I can't recommend it highly enough, if for no other purpose than yard bird/ roof rabbit and turkey. :-) It makes a SERIOUSLY good bird!

Hi John A,

You at least seem to be open minded enough to do a little research on the Orion. Many on this forum seem to think that I and others are shills for the Orion. I can't speak for the others but I can assure you that I am not a shill.

I have used my Orion about 6-8 times since buying it and have not been disappointed yet. I do realize that many traditionalists don't like the cooker and that is somewhat understandable, but for someone like me who does not have the time to spend hours and hours slow smoking meat it is ideal. The taste is the closest thing to "real slow cooked BBQ" that I have been able to produce. I wish I had the time (and money) to spend perfecting the art of slow smoking but I simply do not. So, I will have to settle for fast cooked and great tasting meat from my Orion.

My local grocery has babybacks on sale this week, "BOGO", and I am going to stock up. I also am going to cook the Thanksgiving turkey on the Orion this year. To be honest, I don't think even the Orion will be able to make turkey taste good as I am not a fan of turkey at all!

Anyhoodles, I hope all on here, (even the ones who bash me) have a great turkey day and holiday season. I'm sure there will be plenty of great meat cooked, no matter by what means.

Tim Hunt

quote:

Originally posted by Orion Lover

Hi John A,

You at least seem to be open minded enough to do a little research on the Orion. Many on this forum seem to think that I and others are shills for the Orion. I can't speak for the others but I can assure you that I am not a shill.

I have used my Orion about 6-8 times since buying it and have not been disappointed yet. I do realize that many traditionalists don't like the cooker and that is somewhat understandable, but for someone like me who does not have the time to spend hours and hours slow smoking meat it is ideal. The taste is the closest thing to "real slow cooked BBQ" that I have been able to produce. I wish I had the time (and money) to spend perfecting the art of slow smoking but I simply do not. So, I will have to settle for fast cooked and great tasting meat from my Orion.

My local grocery has babybacks on sale this week, "BOGO", and I am going to stock up. I also am going to cook the Thanksgiving turkey on the Orion this year. To be honest, I don't think even the Orion will be able to make turkey taste good as I am not a fan of turkey at all!

Anyhoodles, I hope all on here, (even the ones who bash me) have a great turkey day and holiday season. I'm sure there will be plenty of great meat cooked, no matter by what means.

Tim Hunt

anyhoodles?


that scares me more then the cooker.

LOL Larry,

I have to admit that I stole "anyhoodles" from a national sports radio talkshow host. His name is David Stein and he has a really unique format. Check him out sometime, he's on Sporting News network.

ANYHOODLES, have a great Thanksgiving.

Happy smoking, grilling, convectioning or whatever means you choose to use.

Tim Hunt

I hope all of the gods of the forum don't lambaste me for actually making this my first post (I thought of doing a meaningless post elsewhere so that this would be my second post, therby making it credible)....but I digress.....

I have been a Home Depot associate for 3 years in the Inside gardening department. I have been selling grills and all related items during that time. I have been using grills and smokers for 20 years. Last weekend at my Home Depot, I decided to help drive sales of turkey fryers by doing a product demonstration. Since I also had a dozen or so Orion cookers in stock, which by the way have not been selling well, I decided to put one together and smoke a turkey as well as frying one. I had absolutely NO preconcieved notions of this thing, other than curiousity. I put wet hickory chips at the bottom, a 15 pound turkey inside, inserted my probe thermometer, put the charcoal around the bottom and in the top, doused it with lighter fluid, and lit a match. Approximately 2 hours later, when my probe thermometer reached 158 degrees (inserted into the breast), I removed the turkey from the Orion, and let it rest. Because the rest of the associates were nagging me incessently, I was only able to let it rest for about 10 minutes before I started carving. This thing was literally hemmoraging juices. I have never experienced a moister turkey in my life.
I smoke turkeys on my POS Char-Broil water smoker probably once a month - my little red smoker was on the curb for trash pick-up on wednesday. The difference between the finished product of the Orion, and a water smoker are these...... 2 hours versus 6 hours, the skin on the Orion bird was a little mushy, unlike on the water smoker, but the inside of the bird was MUCH moister. At Home Depot, the Orion is $139. It is a little pricey compared to a $49 Char-Broil, but less than half the cost of a Weber water smoker.
I know that all of you serious grillers/BBQ "experts" probably, like myself, have more than just one outdoor cooking impliment (I have 2 gas grills, one charcoal, one orion, and a turkey fryer) - so obviously there is not ONE thing that is perfect for everything. This thing just happens to do IT'S job perfectly!!

It's just my opinion......I could be wrong!!!

Brad

Hey Brad..welcome to roadfood.


When those things drop to $50 let me know so I can grab one would ya?

I came to this site because a friend of mine told me he is going to give me an Orion cooker as a gift. The reason he is giving me one is because he has one and says it is the best thing he has ever cooked with. He cooked a turkey this Thanksgiving and was absolutely elated with the way it came out.

I came here to find helpful information about this cooker, but I mostly found arrogant comments from two multiple posters who are so close-minded that all they could do was bash something they had no experince with and bash first time posters because we haven't been (I am one now) posting as long as they have. I am a "long time poster" on TheGSResources site and I am proud to say that never has anyone on that site ever been so rude to new posters. I know I should not judge this site based on two prolific typers (when do they find time to cook), but it has not left a very good taste, no pun intended, in my mouth.

I hope these posters do not represent the attitude of the entier Roadfood.com site. If so, then it is no wonder that so many new members just vanish into that big black hole of the internet.

The original poster wanted to know if anyone had any experience with the Orion cooker. They did not ask for abuse.

I apologize for this negative post, but this really bothered me.

Terry Smith
Victoria, Texas

I was just thinking about this thread the other day after seeing this post http://tinyurl.com/2bunkfon Slashfood. If you watch the video in that link, looks like the bird that comes out of this thing is juicier than an overripe orange. I think I'm gonna wait for the warm weather and a price reduction to try this thing out.

Paging MFL
Paging LL


TheNose - The problem with the single posts raving about the Orion Cooker, we never hear from them again. No recipes, No evidence just a GLOWING post about the Orion Cooker.

Then if you google the orion cooker, you will find these SAME EXACT GLOWING REVIEWS about the Orion Cooker on other sites too, by the same people.

Doesn't that seem a little odd???

As for when do we find time to cook or better yet Que???

I for one Que almost every weekend, it is my business, and i love doing it.

I have 2 custom built stick burners, a cookshack, Weber Grill, and several other contraptions I have tried over the years.

Call me old fashioned, call me a traditionalist

I would like to see some of the fine examples of que these things put out, but no one ever posts those, just the GLOWING REVIEW, with nothing to back it up with.

So let me say this

To the Orion Cooker Shills I have offended, show me the proof of your GLOWING claims, and I will be the first to say i was wrong.

Until that time, I will watch and about once every tw weeks or so someone will come on and claim how wonderful the thing is, that it is the best thing since sliced bread.

CajunKing

Well, since I have never used or had "que" from a stick cooker, It obviously cannot be good! How would you suggest one of us orion "shills" prove to you stick cooker "shills" that you are extremely closed minded?

I found this site because of a search for the Orion and was shocked at the negativity toward first time posters. You sharing what appears to be a history of spamming helps me to understand. I know absolutely nothing about the Orion except what my friend has told me. He has nothing to do with the Orion company, but he has told me he likes it so much that he is going to buy me one. I will be happy to share the results with this forum after I've used it. I am a "wanna-be" cook, so you must take that into account.

I'm sure that some of you are awesome cooks, as I'd love to be, so I am anxious to learn from you.

This orion cooker is starting to feel like a cult with all these people coming here to spread the message of Orion. Is this how Scientology got its start?

Paging CajunKing:
You wrote:
"I would like to see some of the fine examples of que these things put out, but no one ever posts those, just the GLOWING REVIEW, with nothing to back it up with.

So let me say this

To the Orion Cooker Shills I have offended, show me the proof of your GLOWING claims, and I will be the first to say i was wrong.

Until that time, I will watch and about once every tw weeks or so someone will come on and claim how wonderful the thing is, that it is the best thing since sliced bread."

CajunKing



Please tell me what I need to do to "prove" that the Orion is a fine cooker that produces good tasting meat in a timely manner. I'm being serious. Forgive me for being dense but I am at a loss as to how to do this. Should I invite you to my house for dinner? Overnight you some ribs and butt? Seriously, what should I and others do?

Also, this makes my 8th post I believe. When do I begin to get credit for hanging around and not "disappearing into a black hole".

Now, I have to confess. I have been branded as a shill for Orion. That can't be further from the truth. I am actually a shill for Match Light charcoal! HA! I can't believe all you geniuses haven't figured that one out before.

Tim Hunt

Hey SandwichSlinger and TheNose...
I am thinking about starting a support group for all of us "shills" and "first time posters". I am having a hard time sleeping lately and the lack of love I receive here is really beginning to wear on me.

What say we get together, cook some ribs and butts on our Orions, throw a few "sticks" on the fire and drink a couple cold ones. Maybe we can have a group hug to relieve some of the trauma we are experiencing here on the good 'ole RoadFood.com.

Seriously though, it seems the more I and others try to extend the olive branch to some on here the more they recoil from the gesture.

Tim Hunt

P.S. This is post #9 guys. Am I getting close to being accepted?

quote:

Originally posted by SandwichSlinger

Well, since I have never used or had "que" from a stick cooker, It obviously cannot be good! How would you suggest one of us orion "shills" prove to you stick cooker "shills" that you are extremely closed minded?

You have never been to a que shack or have had que from a portable que pit??

As for being "extremely closed minded" All I have asked for is to show us some samples of the Orion's abilities.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

quote:

Originally posted by Orion Lover

Paging CajunKing:
You wrote:
"I would like to see some of the fine examples of que these things put out, but no one ever posts those, just the GLOWING REVIEW, with nothing to back it up with.

So let me say this

To the Orion Cooker Shills I have offended, show me the proof of your GLOWING claims, and I will be the first to say i was wrong.

Until that time, I will watch and about once every tw weeks or so someone will come on and claim how wonderful the thing is, that it is the best thing since sliced bread."

CajunKing



Please tell me what I need to do to "prove" that the Orion is a fine cooker that produces good tasting meat in a timely manner. I'm being serious. Forgive me for being dense but I am at a loss as to how to do this. Should I invite you to my house for dinner? Overnight you some ribs and butt? Seriously, what should I and others do?

Also, this makes my 8th post I believe. When do I begin to get credit for hanging around and not "disappearing into a black hole".

Now, I have to confess. I have been branded as a shill for Orion. That can't be further from the truth. I am actually a shill for Match Light charcoal! HA! I can't believe all you geniuses haven't figured that one out before.

Tim Hunt

PAGING ORION LOVER

Tim

Yes, dinner would be nice

All I am asking is for someone to show us THEIR results from using the Orion.

I can tell you about the great (insert food item here) I just made, tell you all the great qualities, and how good it tasted.

People will see that and say "ok".

BUT

If I not only tell them about it, but also add photos of that (insert food item here), then people can see and make a more informed judgement.

If you are serious about overnighting some que my address is....

I am not trying to be an a**hole, I will give you credit for sticking it out. You haven't slipped into the Black Hole like so many others have.

As for the Match Light Charcoal Shill..... AHHHHHH, now I see why you are sticking it out, trying to get us to convert...

Pretty Sneaky Tim !!!


CajunKing
Donald Frantz

TheNose

Everyone started cooking somewhere

The first time I used one of my former stick burners, I could not get the temp adjusted right, I started out with (10) 8 to 9 lb butts, I ended up with (10) 6 lbs lumps of Charred nastiness.

So share with us your trials, success and failures. It is all a learning game.

CajunKing

Hey Cajun,

Thanks for the offer. I will definitely take you up on that. I plan to cook some ribs and butts and maybe even a nasty 'ole turkey over the holidays and will take some pics and e-mail them to you.

Look, I know you aren't an a-hole. I bet if we ever met in person we would get along great. I for one have great admiration for people like you that have the talent, time, equipment and money to smoke meat. I wish I could do it but since I don't have any of the qualities that I just mentioned I went in search of ANYTHING that would be a close subsitute and just happened to find the Orion at the Craft Stove Store in Greenville, SC. I also was VERY skeptical when the salesperson told me about the Orion. In fact, I told her that if it didn't perform like she said, I was going to come back and demand a full refund. But as they say, the rest is history! Don't get me wrong, nothing will ever match the type of cooking that you do in my opinion, but as I stated in one of my earlier posts, the Orion has produced the closest thing yet for me.

I have to admit though the level of doubt and unwillingness (is that a word?) to accept new ideas and products that some on RF show is quite amazing and amusing to me. It is very easy to hide behind a handle on a public forum and spew "big talk" and that is one issue I have with a lot of the posters on RF. That is the reason that I end my posts with my real name and have even posted a phone number where I work inviting people to call me. So far, no takers. BUT, I have had a couple hang ups on my v-mail from Texas lately....maybe that was someone taking me up on my offer but just didn't want to leave a message. I commend you for signing your name to your last post to me.

Anyway, thanks again for the offer and I will send you some pics around the Christmas holidays. In the meantime, keep that stick burner going, have a great holiday season and go buy a couple bags of Match Light so I can get that big Christmas bonus!!! Even if you don't use it you can give it to an Orion user in need!

Tim

A few points -
1. I'm from Texas, but I did not call Orion Lover.

2. CajunKing, you're last name doesn't sound Cajun.

3. Neither does mine, but I am half Cajun.(Grandmother was a Thibedeaux.

4. I saw the pictures of your Thanksgiving meal. Looked wonderful!

5. Happy cooking!

Terry

TheNose and Cajun,

How do I view Cajun's Turkey Day meal? I am showing my computer ignorance here!

Tim

quote:

Originally posted by Orion Lover

TheNose and Cajun,

How do I view Cajun's Turkey Day meal? I am showing my computer ignorance here!

Tim

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23472

in the misc food related threads about 5 days back.

quote:

Originally posted by MilwFoodlovers Ok, cbell, Hawaiian, 7-footr, roondawg, DMed and you posters that got deleted, what do you think about the Presto Salad Shooter?
Umm, what about that As Seen On TV $20 can opener?
Chia pets?

Salad shooter gets a pass from me because my food processor does all that and lots more. Not quite as convenient, but close enough. $20 can opener? Is that the one that breaks the seal proper? I have one for $5.95 that does and I love IT, but I have to turn the thing by hand rather than by four double A's. I eat half a can of something and put the lid back on. Works for coffee, too. Chia Pets? They don't give kisses like real ones. Remember Gordon Gekko's best advice to Bud Fox: "If you need a friend, get a dog." Sage wisdom, that.

On Turkey Day, the bird goes in the Nesco until I can get a rotisserie that I can use year round.

quote:

Originally posted by CajunKing

quote:

Originally posted by Orion Lover

TheNose and Cajun,

How do I view Cajun's Turkey Day meal? I am showing my computer ignorance here!

Tim

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23472

Thanks Don,

Can I and the Orion come eat with you next year??? That all looks great, especially the ham!

Tim

Even though some of you Orion-ites or Orion-heads -whatever they call you people- are posting numerous times, you are still coming off as suspect. You only post on this thread. It is not like you post something about the Orion Cooker and then you post on the BBQ thread about some great BBQ joint in Alabama and then you post something in the Chicken thread about an old chicken shack that closed down in Florida.

Cajun....I am sorry that I did not take pictures of the turkey when I smoked it, but I can explain......#1 - I did not think that I would need to defend and give proof that it did anything more than ruining the turkey at the time, and #2 - It is against company policy to take pictures at the Home Depot. All of the research about this thing was done AFTER I had already cooked this turkey. I actually wanted to find out more about what people thought about this thing so I would be prepared to answer any and all questions that came my way. If you think that I am full of crap, please call my Home Depot store at (770) 977-9700 and ask for Inside Gardening department. Ask them about the results (I could only serve to the employees due to the lack of a foodservice permit). Ask for Jamie, Brad, Ken, Eddie, Andy, or Andrew.....It is not a conspiracy, or a shill - Even though the Orion HQ is just miles away from my store, I have never met or even heard of this company more than a few months ago, and could have cared less until I had about a dozen of them to get rid of! I tried it and I liked it.
There are probably hundreds of things that, until you tried it, you were sceptical - like NOT crapping your pants as a child, or drinking beer, or the finer things of the opposite sex..... I doubt that you needed pictures to prove the positive points of these things, but I don't know you well enough to be sure. Just accept that there are some things that, although you might think you know everything about that subject, new things are discovered every day that may improve what you may know to be the truth. Just think.....only 500 years ago, it was thought that the Earth was flat!!! Just imagine if the sceptics need actual PICTURES to prove that it was not - It could have set us back 400 years!!!!!

As for Robearjr...I have posted in more than this forum. Why should anyone care about your comments, anyway.....you only have 200 something posts ;>

Brad

quote:

Originally posted by SandwichSlinger

Just think.....only 500 years ago, it was thought that the Earth was flat!!! Just imagine if the sceptics need actual PICTURES to prove that it was not - It could have set us back 400 years!!!!!

WAIT A MINUTE -

Now you are going to tell me the earth is ROUND?????


I understand the no photos thing at work. I run into certain events that I cater that no photos are allowed.

No, photographic proof is not required, sometimes it does help. If some of the OP (original posters) would have shown the basic proof, then this whole thread would not have gotten so far out of hand at times.

If you look back at them, most of them are verbatim from the Orion site at the time.

Someone simply cut and pasting a glowing response to a website they thought they could get some free advertising.

What a better place to shill than a site dedicated to FOOD.

Not all who have posted abou the orion are shills, but going back to the beginning of this thread, they were.


On another point
You said
"Just accept that there are some things that, although you might think you know everything about that subject, new things are discovered every day that may improve what you may know to be the truth."

I do know that to be true, That is why I not only have the stick burners but also an electric smoker, and if santa is good to me this year a pellet muncher too. I also own gas and charcoal grills.

CajunKing