Smokers

Schwenker is a local term from the German state of Saarland, the Mosel Valley and big parts of Rheinland Pfalz and is used in three ways, all relating to the same grilled meat:

1. Schwenker or Schwenkbraten is a marinated pork neck steak which originates from the Saarland (known there as Schwenksteak) and is grilled on a Schwenker. Normally either a green herb or red paprika marinade is used when preparing Schwenkbraten. Traditionally, Schwenkbraten is made of pork, but turkey variants have also become popular recently. Schwenkbraten are about the size of a hand in length and width and are about 1 cm to 3 cm thick.
2. A Schwenker is a grill on which the Schwenker steak typically is grilled. The Schwenker consists of a fire bowl (or just the campfire) and a swinging grill hung from a tripod or in fewer cases from a gallows-like structure.
3. A person who operates the Schwenker grill is also called Schwenker or less frequently, Schwenkermeister.

Grilling is done over an open beechwood fire. Charcoal is sometimes used, but that is regarded as sub-standard because the beech smoke is considered to be an important part of the process. Gas-fueled grills are never used (except in commercial snack bars).

Besides the Schwenker, sausages (German bratwurst and French merguez), different vegetables (such as bell peppers), Brötchen (German bread rolls, in Saarland preferably Doppelweck, see German cuisine), baguette(French type of bread) with garlic butter, potatoes and feta cheese (the latter three protected in aluminium foil) may be grilled.

Various side salads (usually pasta (typically fusilli or spiralini) salad, potato salad and green salad), and baguettes or Flutes are served with Schwenker. Many prefer specific beers, such as a pils by one of the local breweries, with their Schwenker.

Legend has it that this style of cooking came to the region from South America, specifically the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil, where it is said that German immigrants took it back home to their region of origin, the Hunsrück area, and Idar-Oberstein in particular. The region's Agate cutters had to travel further afield for their supplies as the local deposits became worked out in the early 19th Century and it is said that they enjoyed the Churrascaria they found in Brazil. The main similarity is that large chunks of meat are cooked over an open fire and served with vegetables.

In Saarland, it is believed that the technique became more popular due to the local steel industry, which allowed the workers to construct their "Schwenker" grills easily on their own, from metal parts discarded in steel production. Even today, although steel production in Saarland plays a smaller role than before, it is considered somewhat inappropriate to buy a "Schwenker" in a shop, but rather construct it oneself, preferably from high-quality steel varieties, such as V2A steel.

The process of grilling the Schwenker is known as “Schwenken”, which not only describes the grilling process itself but also the social event which surrounds the grilling activity. In Saarland, one would not be invited to a barbecue, but would instead be invited to “Schwenken”.

Today "Schwenken" is also becoming popular in neighbouring Luxembourg, as evidenced by the fact that a Luxembourgian team scored 1st in the discipline of "Schwenken" in a European barbecue competition in Saarland in 2019