THE SANTA VISALIA
I built the Santa Visalia for myself and am offering to build one for you. It's truly unique design was born out of my desire to find a way to combine smoking food with grilling in a compact space. The Santa Visalia is a two-in-one unit. On one side there is a Santa Maria grill and on the other side of the unit you have a modified ICU smoker, which I call the Visalia Smoker. Thus, the name The Santa Visalia. The unit uses an independent raised fire grate to deliver fuel to not just one side, but the other as well.
This Santa Visalia sits on a trailer with a tool box for the ultimate in portability.
The unit has a two shelf smoker on one side.
The other side gets a perfectly balanced Santa Maria grill
The Santa Maria side gets a nice shelf. This is important because if you have ever cooked on a Santa Maria you know you need the convenience of having a place to work with trays and sauces.
If you are going to need a shelf on the Santa Maria side, you will need one on the Visalia side.
The fire can be shared between the Visalia smoker and the Santa Maria side. The raised fire grate is meant to move between the two. You can add a second grate if you would like.
If you are going to make the unit mobile, I highly suggest adding the tool box to the unit. Store all of your BBQ tools in the box and as you notice, there is side grating between the box and the unit for charcoal and wood.
The finished product. You can order the Santa Maria with legs and wheels as a backyard unit. You can order one with a separate firebox for the smoker and the Santa Maria if you would like, as well. Or, you can order it with the trailer as pictured.
Reasons to consider the Santa Visalia
THE SCIENCE OF CLEAN SMOKE
Go to reputable BBQ websites and read about the science of smoke. To achieve the perfect smoke you need a good supply of oxygen to make a fire hot, releasing the gases that provide you with the optimal, most palatable smoke. In traditional smokers, management of that smoke can be difficult because reaching optimal temperatures requires cutting off the oxygen supply and slowing the fire down. The science behind that perfect smoke is compromised. The Santa Visalia is not the traditional smoker. You control the temperature of the smoke in the Visalia smoker by moving the fire to a position in which it is burning nice and hot and is filtering into the smoker. It continuously gives you the perfect smoke. Reverse searing is a breeze too because the Santa Maria is already fired up and ready to finish that meal. Feeling a bit primal? Like to have a cold beverage while working a fire? Like to impress family and friends with your knowledge of food and the science of smoke? The Santa Visalia is for you!
BBQ CHICKEN
You love BBQ’d chicken. You like to do chicken parts. The problem with chicken – legs and thighs cook differently than breasts. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to do it all in one place and have it ready at one time. With the Santa Visalia not only can you do it, but you can do it to perfection! The Santa Visalia allows you to start the dark meat over an open flame on the Santa Maria side and transfer it to the Visalia Smoker side where the clean blue, dry smoke from the fire will keep it cooking while you lay down and sauce the breasts for their quick sear. No more dried out chicken breasts or soggy skins on the thighs and drumsticks. No more tending to two fires. With the Santa Visalia it’s as easy as one, two, eat!
TRI-TIP
You like the taste of smoked tri-tip but not that overly smoked tri-tip that some of your friends serve – you want to taste the meat. You like your tri-tip seared nicely but not so raw in the middle that you only want to nibble on the outside edges. You want to be the envy of your friends, showing off the skills that you have mastered on the BBQ. You don’t want to spend thousands on a smoker AND a Santa Maria, plus you just don’t have the space. The Santa Visalia is for you! With a fully adjustable Santa Maria grill attached to a high quality steel smoker all sharing one fire, you can do it all in one place.
