About the Cooker

1. How much meat does the cooker hold? The Breeze will cook about 13 racks of ribs or 50 pounds of meat.
2. How does it control temperature so accurately without needing to touch it, and without gas or electricity? In simple terms, if you want temperature you need to have a constant amount of fuel (Charcoal or Wood) and constant amount of oxygen (or air). The Breeze uses Patented technology to control the amount of fuel burning so that is constant throughout the cooking process. The charcoal chute can hold 20-30 lbs of charcoal, which continuously feeds itself into the fire as needed, versus you having to hand feed the fire. It does all the messy work for you! See how it works.
3. Do I need to use special charcoal or wood with it? As long as the charcoal or wood you use is less than 4” square, it should work just fine. For the purposes of good cooking and flavor, only use hardwoods (oak, hickory, mesquite or fruit woods) as they give the best flavor. Organic briquettes are nice to use as they have a uniform shape for uniform burning.
4. Can you cook more than meat in the Breeze? Absolutely! You can cook pizza, pies or just about anything else a conventional oven can cook. For conventional oven items, it is important that you cook them in the Breeze at the same temperature that you’d cook them in your kitchen oven. As you cook at elevated temperatures (over 350F), the fire is burning very clean, so the smoke will have a lesser impact on flavor, which is good when cooking pies and pizzas.
5. Do I need to move the meat around while it cooks? No, you never have to move the meat. The temperature within the oven is extremely uniform due to a 3” wall of insulation combined with a unique rotating air flow, so you don’t have to move the meats around while cooking. Once you’ve put your food in the over to cook, you can forget about it until it’s done.
6. How long does a full chute of charcoal last? It depends on what temperature you are cooking. If you are cooking at 250F, a full charcoal chute will last ~6-8 hours.
7. How accurately does it control temperature? If you don’t open and close the door a lot (which lets the heat out), the temperature will control to within +/- 10 degrees throughout the entire cooking time.
8. How does the temperature control handle work? The temperature control handle controls heat output by controlling how much air will flow through the charcoal and wood. When set to high (to the far right), the burner will put out peak heat output, which is great when you first want to heat up the oven quickly or if you are going to be cooking at elevated temperatures (350F or higher).
9. Some black residue builds up on the charcoal chute lid. What is this? How can I clean it off? The black substance is condensed smoke, which can easily be burned off at the end of your cooking cycle. When you’ve finished cooking and all that is left is a small pile of charcoal burning at the bottom of the tube, shift the lid back on the charcoal chute with a 1” offset so that a small moonlike opening lets the hot air come out of the top of the unit. This will allow the charcoal chute and lid to become very hot and bake off the black coating. Be very careful as this can make the charcoal lid very hot. Use caution. This cleaning should take only about 20 minutes.
10. How hard is it to use the Breeze? Simple. Simple. Simple. This unit will work as easy as the oven in your home. It will work great the first time you use it, even if you don’t have any experience.
11. Do I need to add water to the unit? No. This unit controls cooking temperature without the need for water baths, spray solutions, or rotisseries. There are some stories that conclude that you need to have water to keep the meat moist, which is a bit misleading as the juiciness of the meat comes from the fat contained within the meat, not water. As long you don’t render all the fat out of the meat before you pull it out of the oven, it will be juicy. No water required.
12. What is the best way to light the unit? Check of the “How to light the Breeze” instructions in this guide.

Cooking Questions

1. What is the best temperature to cook ribs? This is a million dollar question, and the answer depends on the texture you are looking for and the time you want to wait. Start with cooking ribs at 250F for ~4 hrs, which will produce a very tender and juicy rib. If you want chewier ribs, increase the temperature and decrease the cook time.
2. Do I need to wrap the meat in Aluminum foil to prevent from drying out? No aluminum required. You can put ribs, chicken, brisket, pork shoulder, pizza and other foods in the unit with no covering.
3. What is the silver skin on Ribs? The silver skin is a skin like covering on the bone-side of the rib. Some people prefer to pull off this skin prior to cooking ribs as it will become harder during cooking. Some prefer to leave it on to help retain the fat in the ribs as you cook
4. How do I know when Ribs are done? Grab the ribs with a pair of tongs halfway between the middle of the ribs and the end, if the ribs break apart in the middle as you try to lift them, they are done.
5. Should I use a rub or mop? What is the best one to use? The first question to ask yourself: how do you want your meat to taste? Do you like the meat wet or dry? Fall-off-the-bone or Chewy? Smokey or not-smokey? What ultimate flavor are you looking for (Texas, KC or North Carolina style? Thai or Asian?) The cooking temperature and time will control the texture of the meat. Smokiness will come from how much wood you use versus charcoal. See “Cooking Tips”, which explains the correct sequence for adding your favorite rubs or sauces.
6. Lump charcoal or briquettes? Up to you. All-natural briquettes (i.e no chemical binders) provide the most uniform burning. Lump charcoal is also ok but is very light, so you’ll have to refill the Breeze fuel chute more often with lump. However, both will work great.