This Contest is Now Closed!

This post is sponsored by Outdoor Cooking.

Did you read Brian’s Father’s Day post last week? Wherein he lamented that he doesn’t own a food smoker but sure would love one (don’t worry, the hint was not lost on me). Well, his dream came true. Before Father’s Day, no less! Lucky guy. And one of you is going to be pretty lucky pretty soon, too.

Thanks to the folks at Outdoor Cooking, we have a beautiful food smoker gracing our driveway and I have three words for you:

It is awesome.

Of course I had to do some playing around with it before giving you the details and the chance to win one of your own.

First of all, let me be clear about something, Brian may think that this smoker has his name written all over it. But the truth is, it belongs to me (well, Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, officially) and I’m on a mission to make smoking food and cooking outdoors trendy amongst the womenfolk. So you men? Scare outta here while we women talk about a few things.

First up, did you know that not only does this smoker do crazy, exciting things like, well, smoke meat, but it also doubles as an outdoor oven? Yeah. I know. Get out. If you are like me, heating up my house-of-no-air-conditioning is the last thing I want to do to get food on the table. Enter the smoker-slash-oven.

To test out the baking capabilities, I totally baked my favorite rolls in the whole world in the smoker. I can’t believe how easy it was and how perfectly they turned out. And my house stayed cool as a cucumber (while the neighborhood smelled like fresh bread).

Word has it that you can bake pies, casseroles and a variety of other baked goods in this beast, too.  I believe it and can’t wait to get at it. I learned that letting the smoker burn empty at a high temp for 5-10 minutes gets rid of the smoky flavor so that my rolls taste like rolls. And not hickory-flavored rolls.

Speaking of hickory. I also smoked this turkey. A honey glazed hickory smoked turkey. Or in other words: The Best Turkey I Ever Ate (and the leftovers showed up in these enchiladas which can also be baked in the smoker and which most definitely means I will always have to make them with smoked turkey from here on out because they were other-worldly). Again. Neighborhood smelled like hickory smoked turkey. I’ve been wondering why all the neighbors who I’ve never met are all of a sudden coming over in droves with smiles and happy eyes.

I’m telling you: food smokers aren’t just for men. They are for us. The ladies! Talk about increasing the capacity of your every day single-oven kitchen (those of you with double ovens are getting jealous looks from me). So who’s ready to come along for the ride? Enter to win and we’ll conquer this world of food smoking and outdoor oven baking together!

In addition, Outdoor Cooking is offering an exclusive discount to all Mel’s Kitchen Cafe readers. Three cheers for Outdoor Cooking!

To get 15% off any purchase at outdoorcooking.com, enter the code MKC15 at checkout. The code is good through July 17. See? Even if you don’t win, I’m still looking out for you.

Giveaway: Outdoor Cooking is giving one of you a chance to win a 24″ Camp Chef Smoke Vault and a super de-duper awesome outdoor cover to protect it from the elements. To enter, simply leave one (just one!) comment on this post!

The beauty? You’ll get your fab new smoker in time for the 4th of July. And is it just me or does the 4th just scream for some smoked meat?

Winner will be announced one week from today! So what are you waiting for? Enter already!