We first saw the Orion Cooker being used by one of the BBQ cookoff competitor that travels the country, you know the guys you see on Food Network and he highly recommended it.  The a friend of mine told me about her awsome convection charcoal cooker that made awsome boston butts, brisket and turkeys that she had bought the year before.  So I started researching the cooker and I was really excited about it and showed it to my husband.  He got really excited and started hinting that he wanted one for Christmas, my Mom gave him one and we cooked our traditional Christmas Prime Rib on it  - it was cooked to perfection.  Using the cooker also freed up the oven for other things.  Both roasts (we have a large family) were perfect from the end pieces, to the medium pieces to the rare centers and was tender beyond belief.  Our friend told me she cooked her Christmas turkey in hers and it was a golden brown and juicy.  If  you've never seen an Orion it is made of stainless steel and has hanging racks for slabs of ribs (I can't wait to try this) shelfves for roasts and a turkey rack with lifter handle.  The charcoal is placed in a ring around the bottom on the outside and on the very top (see the picture).  You can steam roast, dry roast or smoke whatever you are cooking.  It has a place for the drippings to go into so you can make the best gravy or au jus.  My only complaint on that is it is a little hard to get the juices out but we figured it out that a baster was perfect for sucking the juices out, a little bit of work but well worth the effort.  It can also be a little messy to clean up, fortunately my friend clued us in on a trick using aluminum foil to line the bottom which made it a lot easier to clean.  If you plan ahead you can cook your meat and then put something else in when it's done and have another meal cooked and ready to go for later.  This is an amazing cooker that is well made and a snap to use.  Oh, did I mention that my friend brought us some boston butts she had cooked for dinner the day before after she got off from work?  Remember convection cooks faster than regular methods.  Thinking I might have a brisket in the freezer - I wonder if I can get my husband to take it out to thaw for dinner tonight. Jan 16 Update:  We used the Orion again last night for a boston butt roast 6.39 pounds, we rubbed it good with our favorite dry rub (Byron's Butt Rub) and then rubbed it with balsamic vinegar.  3 hrs 30 minutes later (no peeking) we had the best boston butt we have ever done (and we've done some food ones).  My husband did make one adjustment to the drip pan in the bottom of the cooker, it has handles to pull it out with but they lay down and are hard to grab in the hot cooker when your meet is cooked, so he tied them together with wire so all I had to do was reach in with my hot gloves and pull it out to bring up the best dripping for homemade gravy.  Also got a picture of the charcoal right after it's lit that I will post.

PaulaBankester

Pensacola, FL

My husband loves to grill and such. He was looking into buying a smoker when he found the Orion cooker. With the Orion cooker, you get smoker quality meat, for half of the cooking time. The Orion is also a very good price, and you get your money back with all the meals that you choose to eat at home vs. going out to eat. It is fast, easy to use, well built and works great. It cooks large quantities at a time and you can cook more than one kind of meat because it has two levels for cooking. We have had beer butt chicken, roasted chicken, ribs, steaks, pork, and beef. With this cooker, my husband made ribs that run circles around a restaurant! There are two cons. One is that the charcoal is on the outside, so there is no cooking in the rain (my husband will grill in the rain, he doesn't care). The other is that the cooker gets extremely hot and it is scary to have kids anywhere in the vicinity of it. It also stays very hot for a very long time (like up to a whole day) so you have to make sure it has cooled before kids can get near it.

saraqualls

Hensley, AR

If you aren't that partial to standing over a grill for hours, then this cooker is for you. It comes with three grill racks for cooking many foods. All you do is, put the meat in, close the top, put the charcoal in, light the match, set the timer and walk away. You can cook 6 slabs of ribs in 1 1/2 hours. I love it. I can start the meat, mow the lawn, make the side dishes, wash a load of clothes and dinners done.

mamaoffour

Cleveland, OH