ProQ Excel 20 - Napoleon Apollo Smoker - REVIEW - TEST - UNBOXING - Smoker - Barbecue

This video contains an unboxing, assembly and review on the ProQ 20 Excel also known as the Napoleon Apollo 3 n 1 . Its a vertical water smoker, sometimes they call this a Bullet Smoker. It has an enormous capacity, good build quality and great features. Its a big competition to the weber smokey mountain ( WSM ) and I like it a lot.
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Title: Buggin Out
Artist: Tom Quick / Adam Drake

[@ShortHandedNow]

Having owned a WSM and an Apollo 300 I can say that they both have their upsides and downsides. The biggest upside for the WSM is aftermarket / Third party parts. It also comes with a better warranty out of the box. The Apollo/Pro Q on the other hand pretty much comes with all the mods you wanted to do on your WSM in the first place... You can't go wrong buying either of them and I suggest just buying whatever is on sale/more economical. Both need a good break in to help seal up smoke leaks. After 4-6 cooks the carbon takes care of that!

[@GrillingAndSmoking]

Awesome video Roel. Looks like you got yourself a nice little smoker there. Can't wait to see what you make on it.

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks Miccah, sure is a great bullet smoker.

[@SmokyRibsBBQ]

Great review Roel! I like the way you can hang meat as well as having the grates

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks Rus, its very versatile.

[@TheBarbecueShow]

I drilled out the two top eyelets to make the holes a little bigger so my temp probes fit in easy. You have to clamp them down with vise grips so they don't spin while your drilling. Have fun cooking.

[@PITMASTERX]

I will defintitly try that, thanks Jay

[@getoutandgrill]

Man I thought I was watching a TV commercial. Nice job on the video editing..

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks Chris

[@schnitzi76]

Absolute high quality video - an an awesome WSM you present here! Congrats

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks Oliver

[@0815BBQ]

This is the best unboxing-video I have ever seen!

[@PITMASTERX]

Haha you are lying Markus!!

[@0815BBQ]

Of course not! Looks very professional!

[@michaellmikeyymike]

Very nice review Roel, I have a WSM already and the Apollo looks just as good( a little different ).

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks Micheal

[@tomstestkitchen]

Great video Roel, lots of great features with this pit. Is it sold in the USA as well?

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks Tom. Its sold as the Napoleon apollo 3n1 smoker, as well as the ProQ Excell 20 @distributors#

[@DanH616]

Great review! Looks like all packing contents were recyclable as well.

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks, yes it was. Very little plastic in there

[@SlipperyChickenBBQ]

This is a great review and you did some awesome filming and editing in this video

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks Thomas, just playing around ;)

[@BBQausRheinhessen]

Absolutely awesome!

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks Jörn.

[@peterlai9018]

And you can stack more mid sections to increase capacity. It lacks the heat retention of a ceramic cooker but you can bring the insulation to it by surrounding with thermal insulation.

[@PITMASTERX]

Thank you for your comment Peter. Aftersales stacks is an awesome idea of this company. Also the screens for bullet smoker are a good idea, because windchill is the worst thing for these smokers.

[@bbqemcasa]

how i want one like that!!! =/ i never will find here in Brazil !!

[@PITMASTERX]

You will defenitly have to import one André! Its a shame.

[@4000marcdman]

Is there a chance you would be able to do a Weber Kettle vs Napoleon Kettle?

[@R6bbie]

I own the weber model of this for some time.
The only thing I dislike is the small door for more fuel, it's not easy to add more fuel for longer cooks.

[@PITMASTERX]

I like the enormous capacity it easpecially with an extra stack

[@DerGrilljunky]

Super Video, gefällt mir sehr gut.

[@PITMASTERX]

Danke!

[@rivierabarbecue]

We have two of these, cant fault them at all.

[@frankie4821970]

These are still not porcelain-enamel coated liked the Weber?

[@PITMASTERX]

This is porcelain coated just like the weber

[@patoches]

👏👏👏

[@ma5468]

Sooo basically a company ripped off Weber Smokey Mountain, put they're own label on it and want people to exclaim how great it is...am I missing something?

[@PITMASTERX]

Thanks for your comment Mark. When a great company like weber invents a great product like the wsm, its a challenge for others to copy that succesfully. If you are capable to improve on it then its a challenge for original manufacturer to maintain their market share. Either way, the ones who profit from the competition are the customers. So the more the merrier I would say.

[@ma5468]

Pitmaster X
Good point, I didn't think of it that way. You're correct, we are the one's that benefit from someone trying to improve on something already existing. Hopefully Weber will take notice and try some new things. Thanks Roel.

[@SnakeCityCages]

"Ripped off" is a strong phrase in this case that I don't think is really fair. Did Weber invent the bullet smoker? Was there any others out there before them? I am very familiar with both the WSM and the ProQ smokers. I have the ProQ and my brother has the WSM. If you really look at the ProQ you will see that it's quite a bit different from the WSM. The main difference being the "stackers" that the ProQ uses. Where the WSM uses only one section between the top and bottom, the ProQ uses one, two, or even three sections, each with it's own rack and door. This makes it far more convenient in my opinion (And experience) and, depending on how much food you are cooking, much more efficient. I can stack three stackers and fill them up and use a fair amount of charcoal. But when I only have enough food for one or two stackers, I have less area to heat and use less fuel. The size is different too; the ProQ is 20". The ProQ made a number of improvements over the WSM when it was first released. Weber apparently took notice and made a few changes of their own; some might even say THEY copied the ProQ. I'm just sayin'...
The ProQ is an awesome smoker that has served me very well for at least five years or so now. (Lost track of when I bought it) The build quality is very good and it's held up to being in the weather the entire time. NO RUST on anything other than the cooking grates. That's to be expected with chrome plated steel. Even my brother's WSM has some corrosion there. Because of the larger charcoal basket, and possibly more efficient design, I can go longer on a full load of charcoal than my brother can on his WSM. I can cook brisket for 12 to 13 hours with no problem without refilling the basket. I can go longer but my brisket is done by then. The temp does drop off then but by opening the vents all the way I can keep it between 225 and 240 with no problem.
Having experience with both brands of smoker, if I had to buy another I would buy the ProQ again. The WSM is a great smoker. I think the ProQ is better.

[@WhiteThunderBBQ]

Nice review. Wish the tooth fairy would drop one of these off at my door. ... or under my pillow.

[@PITMASTERX]

I promise you it won't fit, but you would care :)
Thanks

[@joonaslehtonen7965]

Was that bird shit all over the water pan? And he just puts it in and adds water? T

[@R6bbie]

Made in China?

[@PITMASTERX]

Its a UK based company and has a real quality build. Definitly competition for the weber smokey mountain.

[@rivierabarbecue]

We have two of these, cant fault them at all.

[@PITMASTERX]

Awesome Smoker! Thats for sure.