8-quart charcoal capcity
Reviews (9)
Good product for the money
For the price, you can't beat it. I've had mine for about 3 weeks now and have done pork butts, brisket, and ribs, all of which have come out awesome. Follow Chris Cox's advice for the modifications or it wont cook good at all. The WSM(Weber Smokey Mountain) is a much better smoker but if cost is an issue, the Char-Broil is the best choice. Don't rely on the temp gauge supplied, go buy a digital instant read thermometer to monitor grill temp. They sell remote monitoring thermometers with dual probes, 1 for smoker temp and the other for internal meat temp. You place both probes in the appropiate place when starting then use the remote to view real-time temps. You can program it for certain temps so it'll beep when the food is done or the smoker temp drops too low. It's made by Redi-Chek, Remote Smoker Thermometer but other companies make them. Can't wait to fire it up again this weekend. Happy BBQing.
Excellent smoker for the money
I've used this smoker for over 8 months now and love it. I've used other more expensive smokers before and cannot tell much of a difference in quality of end result foods. This smoker does in fact have a few flaws that are suggested in previous reviews, however there is nothing keeping you in the way of assembling and making a wonderful unit. I add a few coals every 45 minutes to an hour just to keep the fire going strong. You won't be dissapointed. This smoker cleans up very easily too as long as you use tin foil to cover the coal pan (bottom pan).
Poor construction
We purchased this item and saw great uses. However, just getting it out of the box indicated a problem. The base unit was out of round and I struggled to get the top packaged in it out. The top was perfectly round and the base could never be "squeezed" just right to allow a proper fit. There was always a gap of at least 3/8" on one side. I took it back to the store and because of my time putting it together, they offered me an upgrade for the same price. Same problem on two more so I said forget it got a refund. Poor workmanship and quality control.
Good value, but seriously...
This smoker is the bargin member of the smoker family. For the money it's a good starter unit. Don't buy it if you plan on getting serious about cooking with smoke. We found it effective, but labor intensive to maintain a temperature for longer smokes. It produced great smoked salmon filets in less than 2hrs but on the turkeys and ribs, it was a lot of work. If you're handy, you can modify it as suggested in another review. We ended up with a Brinkman All-in-One gas unit and wouldn't trade it for anything. It's a 160k btu burner for deep frying birds or boiling lobster. It grills, charcoal or gas. It smokes, charcoal or gas. It has vents to get air inside the charcoal pan. We mounted a professional grade themometer in the lid and with gas, can maintain smoker/bbq temps between 150 and 300+ indefinetly.
SECOND REVIEW.... Now it's been tested good...
I left a review after we tested it once. Well, we have used it a lot and we just think it's one heck of a smoker and one heck of a buy. We have smoked fish after catching them ourselves. WOW what a treat. We now have fresh salmon and tuna to smoke. My son wants to do a turkey soon. Don't pass this one up. You can learn how to do it after the first try. It's worth it. By the way, the CABERNET WOODS CHIPS made that fish just perfect.
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