Best Smokers For Home Use (2023 Update)

I had some experience with smoking meats prior to purchasing this. I needed something small and electric, and this fit the bill. I have used it to smoke fall-off-the-bone ribs, as well as chicken. My only complaint is the cord length. The instructions(as well as common sense) state that the unit should be operated at least 10 feet from any structure, but the cord they supply is only about five and a half feet long. It also states in the instructions that the unit should only be hooked directly to a gfci outlet, so that rules out extension cords. But aside from that, this is a solidly built unit, that absolutely can get the job done.Richie

Father’s Day gift done right! Easy set up and curing process . My husband cooked smoked chicken and pork and said it worked very well. He loves it and our BBQ was a hit! Many compliments and recipe requests! Can’t beat that especially first time using it.Anonymous

I always read the one-star reviews of a prospective purchase first, and after receiving my smoker, I am baffled by them. My smoker arrived well-braced with styrofoam inside a heavily corrugated shipping carton and each loose piece (legs, grates, control, etc.) was heavily wrapped and braced inside. Everything was in perfect condition and all the parts were there. The smoker took all of ten minutes to assemble (legs, handles). It is well-made and sturdy. After seasoning per the instructions, I used it for the first time today to smoke a beef brisket and it turned out perfectly. This was a great purchase at a great price and I look forward to using it a lot in the future.Charles

Bought this unit in the spring to replace a Bradley Electric smoker. It was easy to assemble, looks good some of the parts feel a little flimsy but given the price point I’m happy. Don’t follow the instructions for the “seasoning smoke“ it calls for far too much charcoal and I found it impossible to control the heat… in fact it pushed the thermometer to its stop. Also the smoker leaks everywhere…. I purchased a roll of self adhesive smoker gasket and sealed both doors and the chimney stack. With the gasket installed the smoker works really well… just be careful how much fuel you use as less and a little more frequent works best. Heat control is now good I did a test on the supplied thermometer by suspending it in boiling water… it was within a couple of degrees of accuracy so all good, I was concerned because others have mentioned that the thermometer is not accurate. The wood chip box works very well… problem is that it is quite tricky to empty and refill during a smoke. I have now opted to use the wood chip box at the start of a cook and when more wood is needed I simply add some wood chunks directly onto the charcoal…. this works very well. I’ve probably done about 10 cooks on it in fact doing a 10lb pork shoulder as I write this… must say I’m very happy everything has turned out well… great bark and smoke ring produced and the flavour is better than my Bradley. I would say that for the money you can’t beat this unit.Paul

Love this! Purchased for my husband for Father's Day. Easy to put together and use. I was concerned about it not being big enough. Size is not a problem! I can smoke an entire meal in it with the 4 shelves. Highly recommend!!Twinsmom

The Good – Cabinet, Doors, Handles, Legs, & Ignition/Burner are well built. Quality Racks and Water Tray fit into dishwasher nicely. The Bad – Thermrometer off by 40 degrees so replaced for accurate one for 10 bucks. The Adjustments – I do not use water or wood chips on the Smoke/Water Tray as stated in directions – I cover it with foil with each cook. How do I get smoke? I use a smoker tube filled with wood chips/chunks (better flavor than pellets) but will sometimes will use pallets. I drilled holes on the front side of the Smoker/Water tray where I place the smoker tube and this supplies a good amount of O2 for the smoker tube (poke holes in foil where holes were drilled). The smoker tube can be easily lit quickly by placing it on smoker burner (use mits). I haven't cooked in cold weather yet and if burner cannot supply enough heat, then I will drill more holes on the other sides of Smoker/Water tray to send more heat up to the smoke box. I also cut some MDF boards that lay nicely against legs to stop cold air/wind drawing into burner box if desired. When not in use, I keep the smoker in a clean garage on a wheeled cart I built. The cart is nice because top shelf holds smoker and a prep area. The bottom shelf is big enough to hold 2 propane tanks and a couple 5 gallon buckets filled with smoking stuff. The cart also brings smoker to eye level which I like alot. I will probably get the Quisinart Smoker Cover even though my smoker is stored in garage. Prevously, I had a M*****C**** electric smoker that never regulated heat, burnt up its door seals, and melted the circuit board after using it 2 times (seemed like good idea for, set and forget smoker, but bad design). I am happy with this unit (quality and price) and don't anticipate anything ever going bad (maybe a gas regulator some day and his smoker has no electonics to break). I am happy with everything I have smoked. I take notes with my cooks and I strive to match meats/desserts prepared at the best BBQ Joints here in KC. Thanks for readingPicky Smoker in KC

I want preface this review by saying this is the first smoker, propane or otherwise, I have ever used. I've been wanting to try smoking meats for a while and this Cuisinart vertical smoker seemed like an ideal starter. It easily sits next to my grill outside without taking up too much space like a normal offset wood barrel smoker would, and seemed like it would be easier to operate than a vertical charcoal smoker. Assembly was a little more labor intensive than I expected and took me about 1.5 hours or so to complete, including breaking down all of the garbage for recycling. This product had a lot of foam and cardboard packaging to be tossed or recycled. Lighting is very easy as the burner has a built in sparker that clicks on when you turn the knob from the off position. The water/wood tray which sits above the burner conveniently has its own door at the bottom so you can access it without releasing all of the heat in the chamber. Once the burner is on, I place the wood chunks in the center of the tray, push the tray most of the way in and then fill the water reservoir around the wood to keep the chamber hydrated. In my experience the wood starts to smoke within about 30 minutes. I've been trying to keep the smoker between 215 and 225 degrees when doing my pork ribs and brisket, and this has been surprisingly easy. After the chamber reaches around 225, I turn the burner to "low" and top off the water tray and forget about it for anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes. One of my negative comments has to be I wish the water tray held more water and didn't evaporate so quickly. After about 45 minutes or so, the tray will be dry and the temperature will slowly increase. With the burner on low however, I never saw it get much above 250 degrees, so even then it was never a big deal. I got a full 20lb propane tank before my first use and have so far done about 26 hours of smoking over two weekends before writing this review. The burner seems to use the propane efficiently because I'm still on the first tank. I'd say I will expect between 20 to 30 hours of use on each tank in the future. I've had great weather the past two weekends and generally just left the burner on low though, so if you're smoking in freezing weather or something your mileage may vary. Pros: 1) Pretty easy to maintain a consistent temperature as long as you don't open the chamber or mess with it. It's barbecue so you shouldn't be messing with it anyways. 2) Easily houses enough meat for 8 people, maybe 6 depending on how hungry you are. This was plenty big for my needs. 3) The wood chips in the tray burn nice and slow and I haven't refilled them actually after starting a smoke. Later on (maybe 6-8 hours in) they start becoming white, but I figure they've provided enough smoke that I didn't need to refill. 4) Comes with a recipe book that actually has a GREAT barbecue sauce and a decent rub recipe. 5) Cleanup is pretty easy. Everything drips down directly into the wood chip/water tray, so pull that out with the four food racks and wash as desired. (I just hose them down in the backyard) Cons: 1) Assembly took a while and it came with too much packing material. This was just a one time problem however and doesn't matter if you're not a tree hugger like me. 2) The water tray should be deeper I think. This way you might be able to make it an hour without needing to refill. Also you would be able to put more wood chips so the smoke will last longer. 3) Might not be big enough if you're trying to host a larger party with it, say 10 or more people, and want to have something other than brisket. If you're doing ribs for example, each rack really only holds a single rib-rack which feeds 2-3 people.Lincoln

So sad that Brinkman is out of bus. Needed to finally replace my ten year old Brinkman propane smoker. I did extensive research and decided to purchase this Cuisinart smoker. It cam well packaged and took my maybe an hour to assemble. I fired it up (flame caught immediately) and burned off the paint smell, etc, for about a half an hour. The following day, I set it up with hickory chips, extra water in the second pan (provided), and it reached smoking temp within minutes. I put some marinated bone-in chicken breasts on one rack and boneless on another rack. I really Just planned this as a seasoning and testing run. The back vent was easy to adjust during the three hours I was smoking the pieces, and I was able to adjust the temp easily as needed. I added extra chips (presoaked) once, and extra water maybe three times. The unit maintained good temp, and was easy to control. Lower tray with chips and water was easy to access. The chicken came out very well, with smoke flavor throughout. What I like about this unit: – Easy to assemble- all parts included, well packaged, easy to follow directions. * Do not over tighten the back vent screw, as you will want to be able to adjust that (with a potholder) while smoking.) – Fast, no fuss, electronic start – Quick to get to smoking temp, and easy to adjust temp up and down after opening doors, etc. – Large interior shelves. I could smoke two turkeys if I wanted to. Heavy duty, easy to clean shelves. – Longer hose for propane tank allows safer distancing while smoking. What I don’t like as much as my old Brinkman: – Heavy unit, could use wheels to move it more easily. -Substantially larger than Brinkman, takes up more space, especially visually. -Creates less smoke than Brinkman – Small chip/water tray, with chips in a small inner ring and water in a moat surrounding the chips. This means needing to add chips and water more often. I may try putting presoaked chips in the entire bottom tray and a separate tray of water on the bottom rack next time. This is how the old Brinkman was set up. All said, while I wish this was smaller and lighter, it smokes well and is easy to use. I’m sure the extra space will grow on me and I’ll find ways to put it to use!Judy

The first time we grilled on this smoker the grill completely burned the outside of the grill to the point that the paint had melted off the grill. by day end the grill looked like we had used it over 50 millions time and that was are first use of it. The handle somehow broke into two pieces. I wouldn't recommend this smoker to anyone at allDrea08

Purchased thos smoker for my husband last father's day and he loves it! Smokes all different meats from pork to chicken. Light weight and durable. Great value for the price.amanda.c

Super happy with this charcoal smoker by Cuisinart. Very easy set up, easy to clean and it smokes thoroughly. We really like the size of it. It makes it easy and convenient to carry around. We were looking for something to be able to travel with esp on our camping trips. This smoker is perfect for that. If you are new to smoking or even and experienced one this would be a great set up. I highly recommend it.Prada

Purchased smoker as it was supposed to be a great starter smoker and I was looking to get into smoking meats. After following instructions and maintaining unit as required, I noticed that the PH option would heat the unit as desired; however, once I set the temperature to get to temp it would only heat to around 110 degrees. After contacting Charbroil, I was told to replace the heating element (~$30 plus shipping & taxes). Well, that didn't work and now I'm stuck with a smoker that I've used maybe 15-20 times but won't heat like it is supposed to. Charbroil only stands by their product for so long so won't help anymore; but I could continue to buy replacement parts in the HOPE that one of them will work? I'd spend the extra money and get a unit from a company that stands by their product.JJ33

For 2 years this smoker performed great! No problems, everything turned out as expected. Then I noticed the heating element wasn’t getting as hot as it had in the past. I removed the back cover where the connections are and found one connection almost burnt off. I contacted customer service, spoke with a supervisor, explained the problem and even sent a picture. Since I was one year out of warranty, I get it, they couldn’t do much except give me money off a new one. Didn’t want to spend over $150 on one that’ll probably do the same thing. I repaired it myself but sad that the quality control is terrible! And my smoker is stored in a garage, not exposed to any weather or elements.Gordon S

I wanted to get into smoking with an entry-level priced smoker, and I thought this product would fit the bill. The smoker is very easy to work with by and large, and I made a number of excellent meals with it. Dynamite ribs, amazing pulled pork, chicken thighs, queso, etc. I was very happy with my purchase at first. However, the smoker stopped heating about 18 months after I bought it, right in time for winter. When I checked it in the spring, I found the connectors to the heating element had completely corroded. Worse off, this is not an easily replacement/repairable part, unless one is an experienced electrician. At its price point, I wasn't expecting this product to last for decades, but getting less than two years out of it was very disappointing. Customer service was great when I contacted them. They were straight with me that this wasn't an easily replaceable part.GS123

I've had this smoker for 2 years now. I've done countless venison, ribs, fish and other things I cannot think of at this time. Putting it together was no fun but it paid out in the end. I've previously owned an electric smoker which I wasn't a fan of because it required opening the door every time to add more wood pellets, I've had a charcoal smoker which didn't work at all in the winter because it's so cold and couldn't keep the heat up. Both did not display smoke rings but this pit boss gives me smoke rings every time. I originally bought this unit on sale. Always remember to pre season your smoker before any actual food smoking.Huntinman36

Just a couple of things I see which need a little modification. The wood chip drawer is too small has to be filled numerous times through the smoking cycle. Although the unit has plenty of heat during mild weather, on a cold day or windy day it struggles to keep temperature. Too much smoke escapes through the vents. This may be needed to vent propane, but doesn't seem as efficient and electric smokers. The water pan is too small to last a smoking cycle and has to be refilled. I use a foil pan with some water set over the waterpan to add moisture and catches more drippings. All this aside, it is the easiest and best smoker I have used.irishballadeer

Bought for a special family event and was hugely disappointed. While its pretty, the igniter didn't work well is the least worry. It was somewhat breezy and after 2 hours of waiting the unit never got above 150. Temperature gauge isn't accurate and reads higher than it is. Cooking chicken and never got to 165. Had to finish it in the oven. Return it be4 it gets too late. Engineers should plan a larger more effective burner in next upgrade.Dale Perry

If you could find one, buy it. This is a great little smoker. It regulates temperature well and produces enough smoke even at 200*. It's smaller than the bigger one's but great for a small family. Well built with a latching door. Find one and get smokin'TinoD

My previous MB electric smoker finally gave up the ghost. It was a heavy, well-built unit, like a tank in construction, which worked incredibly well. I didn't even look at other offerings when I went to buy my replacement. Sadly, this was a real mistake. The new unit that I got as a replacement weighs in at less than half that of the old smoker (I weighed them) and came with the aluminum bottom buckled, as it is very thin aluminum. The unit won't get to temp. It won't hold temp. The digital display disagrees with the actual temp. This was confirmed by two calibrated digital thermometers. The lack of a human customer service agent to speak with, the frustration of placing a warranty claim for parts, and the world's most annoying chat-bot (I should test the impedance on the unit???) have convinced me to never buy another Masterbuilt product again – a company that I had recommended countless times to people in the past. You can only go so cheap in your build quality before you lose customers. I understand the need to be price competitive and to be as profitable as possible, but you should never beat yourself. That is what MB is doing. Without even looking at or comparing MB with a competing product, for me, they knocked themselves out of the running for any future purchase. And, I'm really disappointed in that. I liked Masterbuilt. I liked their old customer service. And, I most certainly liked using my old MB electric smoker that worked.NeverAgain

35 year Executive Chef. I've had my smoker over a year, it's had about 40 runs to date. Unit definitely got better after first 5-6 uses, it's perfectly seasoned now. I've smoked everything in this, brisket, shoulders, ribs, fish, bacon, cheese, herbs, you name it. I rarely trust unit thermometers, however after using several external thermos, the unit is very accurate. I've gotten good smoke as low as 160 degrees. Trick is to start high and go low. Also, I use this on my apartment balcony, perfect for the apartment dweller that thinks they can't smoke. Usually, if it's electric, you're good. Well done Masterbuilt, excellent smoker!Chef17

First time in my life I've ever entered a review, I was very excited to get this smoker unit and having read numerous reviews decided to order the accessory smoker box before even using the DES the first time. The reason was reviews that said if you fed chips into the small standard tray, you would spend a lot of time feeding the pan along with a problem of the heating element shutting down when the smoker reaches temp thereby reducing the amount of smoke produced. Believe what people say about the stability of the acc box with the single hook bolt that comes with it. Don't know for sure but, much of that problem would go away if they simply gave you two bolts with the purchase. It comes with 4 – 1 1/2" long stabilizer bolts that thread into the bottom of the box which do you absolutely no good if the DES is mounted on the legs that it's shipped with, they put the bottom of the acc box about 8" off the ground. I fabricated a plate that solved the problem but, I'm not sure what the engineering group was thinking when they reviewed that design…A simple on/off switch controls the acc smoke box and, it puts out a lot of smoke you might get a little over two hours of smoke per fill with dry chips. Now to the DES. with the acc box we were able to get some very flavorful meat from our efforts, one of my major complaints is that this unit is very slow to get back up to temp after opening the door for treatment of the product. The first time I used it on a pair of pork shoulder roasts, it's winter in IL so I left it in the shop with the walk-in door open and a box fan set up to blow over the top to force the smoke outside. The temp in the shop was about 40 degrees and it took us between 9-10 hours to get them to 165 degrees internal temp with the smoker set at 225 degrees. Don't misunderstand, they were tasty but, my goodness, that's just way more time commitment than I'm prepared to make. The second time I went to use it I plugged it in, and nothing would light up. I registered the product so I could file a warranty claim and, as I went through the troubleshooting process, one of the steps was to look under the unit for possible damage to the circuit board cover. It said nothing about removing the cover and checking connections inside which turned out to be the problem, none of the wires were off their spade posts but, something was going on because after removing and pushing them back on the unit powered up. That allowed our second smoking adventure to begin two full chickens and two slabs of St Louis ribs. We decided to do the chickens beer can style, no cans, just a couple of can stands to keep the birds standing upright to insure smoke infusion. As it turns out, two birds standing is about all the room there is in the smoker. I was going to remove the top rack but, alas the standard size grocery store birds would not fit. We started in mid-morning with the birds and didn't get done with the ribs until 2:00 AM. This was all done with the DES sitting outside on the deck most of the day with a doubled-up blanket draped over it to help it conserve heat. Loved the chicken and the ribs were outstanding but, once again what a time commitment. When I made up my mind to return it to the vendor, I decided to clean it a bit, took the drip pan out and cleaned it, it had chunks of grease cooked to ash on it, there were burned/cooked dry ash grease dops on the shield over the heating element, and there is also a small trough on the back wall that is supposed to direct grease to the drain hole that runs right over the top of the heating element that was filling with cooked dry grease ash. Did not have to clean the grease drip cup outside the drain as there never was a drip that came out of it. Honestly, most of the grease ends up in the water pan which needs cleaning after each use. Very high hopes with a huge let down. Find it so frustrating to not be able to actually speak to someone when something doesn't work and the fact that I waited from Sunday to Tuesday for response from CS and then it was without any direct response to my question.Mathrrd

ive been using this smoker since oct 2020, it is my first offset. i have made some pretty good bbq on it, as I'm still learning the world of offset smoking. Heres a few things about this smoker. You are getting what you pay for. The metal is thin, so it easily warps, especially in the firebox area. During the first burn through and seasoning fire, there were significant gaps in the cook chamber lid and firebox lid. Get ready to buy gasket sealers, which is no bid deal. But the warps in the metal after a few smokes, increase the gaps, letting out a lot of smoke. With the thin metal, around a 1/16 of an inch, it makes it very difficult to keep heat in, especially on a cold day. Temperatures spike up and down, so heat management is very difficult. Be ready to baby sit this smoker constantly. Sometimes thats exhausting especially with a 12+ hour brisket cook. Another issue is the smoke stack is above grate level, so it doesn't have good airflow. Airflow has been a constant problem, especially on days with no wind. Even with all the vents wide open and the fire box door open, it doesn't have enough draw on the air. I'm sure it wouldn't cost a whole lot more for the manufacturer to move the stack down to grate level and ad a longer stack. And I'm sure most of us would pay the extra if it meant better airflow, which is one of the most essential components of offset smoking to produce clean smoke. Most offset smokers come with the stack above grate level, which makes absolutely no sense at all. Also another complaint is the thermometer ports are on the upper half of the cook chamber lid, not at grate level. We all know heat rises, but manufacturers keep putting the ports higher up on the lid rather than at grate level. Some smokers do have a second rack in the cooking, which then would make sense for a thermometer to be that high, but not on this smoker. A thermometer port at grate level would be more beneficial. So i bought a digital probe thermometer to record temps at grate level. Besides all of that, its a good smoker to get a taste of offset smoking, if a taste is what you want. Besides that, its a decent smoker to get into the world of meat smoking. If you have enough patience and determination to learn and fail, and learn some more, you'll make decent bbq. I'm already looking for a smoker that will better address all of the problems i have mentioned.dimavan

I purchased this online through Amazon. Ordered it on Sunday, received it on Wednesday. I was excited to get it put together and start using it. I put it together by myself. Two people would be easier. The Oklahoma Joe's emblem was broken off the lid when i opened the box, not a big deal. just used high temp silicone to hold it on. The major problems with this smoker are; The main compartment lid and the firebox lid are not even close to fitting correctly, the firebox is held together by 4 bolts, 2 on the left side and two on the right side. after assembly there was a 1/4" gap in the front and rear of the firebox. The Longhorn smoker leaks smoke like a sieve. I purchased gasket sealers for the main compartment and firebox. both lids still have major leaks. added two after market clamps to the main compartment, still leaks. i have ordered extra clamps for both firebox and the main compartment. hopefully this will correct that. The firebox half, I sealed with a half tube of high temp sealer. On the burn in, it is recommended for a temp of 250-300 degrees. Well, the paint on the firebox was bubbling up and burning off. I have had this for just over a week. the firebox now droops down on the right side. the heat seems to weaken the metal on the right side of the main compartment where the firebox is attached. I bought an automotive jack stand to hold it up. Also you will need to seal the exhaust pipe and cap for leaks. You would think for the amount of money these cost, the tolerances would be much better. how hard should it be to match a lid to the smoker and have it fit? The temperature across the cooking surface was not as even as Oklahoma Joe's claims. So I purchased an after market solid steel baffIe. This helped with two things, one, it helped keep the temperature even and 2, I had to remove the inside mount for the factory baffle plate and drill holes in the new baffle and use the top 2 bolts for the firebox, but what it did was help the firebox from drooping by reenforcing the main compartment. I very tired of sending thing back so I just decided to make this work. But by the time you spend Time and the money you need to to make this smoker preform correctly, you would be better off just buying a higher quality one to begin with. I could have had a 1/4" thick steel smoker that was all welded and ready to go for the same amount I have spent on this Oklahoma Joe's reverse longhorn smoker, this is half the thickness. Bottom line, this smoker is not ready to go out of the box. you need to spend time and money to make it work correctly.Disappointed again

I read reviews till I was Nauseated at all the negatives with people thinking they were buying $1500 to $2500 heavy iron pit that would seal easier. So my expectations were not as high as I realistically wanted them to be But ,,,,,,,,, I am So Pleasantly Surprised, and Happy, with the way this Offset Smoker cooked and burned and, even sealed as far as that goes. No, It Does Not seal completely but it sealed sufficiently. And I used a fairly small load of charcoal to burn it in, as the previous owner did not even use the pit for some reason. I was very Happy with the level of Heat that it held. I checked the heat from close to the Firebox to the smokestack end and it was approx 50 to 60 degrees different. If you have ever had an Offset smoker you know it ‘WILL BE’ that way, unless it was made with a defector shield to keep the heat from just rising straight out of the firebox into the smoke chamber ! Overall for the price of this smoker, it does just what SHOULD BE Expected of it, and it performs really Well !Krace

First time charcoal and smoker! Love the WSM! I did a lot of research and as popular as offsets have gotten. I must be realistic with the amount of time i have to devote to the cook with a family, job, etc. Charcoal provides an amazing taste and the WSM make it very close to set and forget. I am still learning but i have successfully cooked a pork shoulder for 6 hours without checking on it (other then grate temp). I do have a thermometer at grill level and i maintained 250 with 3/4 a bag if BnB charcoal briquettes in minion method and water pan used. Also tried ribs, steaks, smoked burgers, and hot dogs. All fantastic! The "hardest" thing to cook so far was a 14lb turkey but the flavor was amazing! Smoked turkey salad leftovers was amazing! I love all the Mods available for this smoker. Many are not needed but fun to make it unique to you. In my case, wheels, new front charcoal door, and a hinge for the lid. None of them are needed but useful.Martyr

For smoking I would give it 5 stars, performs as expected. Well made and very pleased overall. Rough start because when removed from an unopened factory packed box, the thermometer and bezel were missing. You can’t smoke without knowing temperature of the smoker. Called Weber and couldn’t understand the rep, was foreign and so very difficult to understand. I replied to the email she sent with my proof of purchase information and instantly received a confirmation email that Weber customer support had it. She told she didn’t have it. I asked how could I have a confirmation email from Weber if she didn’t have it? The whole thing took almost a half an hour and was a huge waste of time for something as simple as a missing part. I now have my thermometer and have smoked ribs, pork butt, pork loin, and a beef brisket. All were the best smoked meats we have ever had. Moving forward I am very happy with my smoker.Phil1098

This smoker was easy to set up. I smoked boneless chicken thighs for my first test run. They came out juicy and tender. Easy to set and monitor. The clean up is not too bad. I didn’t have to use much elbow grease. This will be a fun winter time project.LaVonne

This is a very nice smoker, easy to use and clean. Everything taste amazingly delicious in this smoker. It heats up to temp. fast too. I really love the front glass door to watch your food getting smoked. The timer is awesome and can all be controlled by your phone, through BluetoothWiFi. This company also backs up their product with their warranty or any defects. Great company and awesome smokers. I highly recommend and endorse this smoker. I use mine on my houseboat and no issues at all as it’s electric and it doesn’t omit that much smoke at all. It goes into the food. Delish!Electra

I've had this for a little over a year, it smokled a little in the beginning but now it produces no smoke. The wood chips are barely burnt aftere 6-8 hours set at 250 degree or higher. It is impossoble to smoke at 225. design looks good but that all you get, looks. I'm really irritated. It is obvious the chip tray sits way to high off the heating element. Wasted my money and time on this smoker. The bluetooth is enitrely worthless. I am selling taking a sledge hammer to this piece of crap.Notsmokingtoday

That you for the PERFECT assembly instructions!!!I know that sounds a bit strange, but let me say after the hellish 'directions' that have accompanied some of our 'Made in China' purchases, this grill was an exception. Thank You makers of the Roya Gourmet Grill wit smoker 🙂Mick

I bought this a week ago . To my surprise,it's a pretty good grill that brought our family a lot of fun. It's perfect designed and the size is enough for 8 people to have a barbecue out of the door.Nicky520

I havent been able to stop using received day before Easter and loved it and cooked perfectly family loved the smoked food I made on itTom

I got this smoker at a Christmas. It assembled easily, and looks great, but there are a few flaws that make it a very poor design. The charcoal basket is too small for any lengthy smokes. In order to refuel, you need to open the one and only door on the front of the smoker. This results in letting all your heat out, which is what you don’t want to do when you smoke. This is also the case when you need to add water to the water pan. I also have a lot of smoke escaping from the door and around the top of the smoker. I tried to return the product to Lowe’s, but they refused because I had used it once. I do not recommend this product and am extremely disappointed.Jiim

I just got this, and got it assembled. I couldn't believe how well made it was, and how heavy it was. It should last for many, many years. I'm looking forward to smoking some meat on it, but it's raining right now, so I can't.mod98ban

Was looking for a horizontal smoker but none were available, so I saw this one on Amazon. I was familiar with Dyna-glo, I have a kerosene heater that works well, so thought I would give it a try. UPS took longer to deliver the smoker, and Amazon couldn't help with that issue but it finally arrived 3 days late. The box had been taped back together heavily & was damaged in a few places. I almost refuse at first but took pictures & call Amazon. At first glance, the smoker is well made with thick steel & good paint. But I noticed right away that the door latches were bent & the rivets were broken on them. The next was the Dyna-glo badge was loose, one of the bolts was broken off, causing it to be very loose. Amazon offered a discount to keep the smoker, which I did to save them from return shipping. I then unpacked the entire smoker to prepare assembly. The paint was scuffed/scratched in places, but nothing severe. Only the water bowl was seriously missing baked on enamel paint. Not sure if that will be an issue. This is a very well made smoker, and anyone looking for a smoker should consider this one.TinyAbe

Its an ok smoker. Doesn't maintain a steady temperature for more than an hour so you need to have a separate pit going to feed the fire. If you can manage that you will get some good bbq. Smoked some pork ribs and a pork butt on it, the flavor and tenderness were outstanding. I gave it four stars because I have an old smoker that will hold its temp for a good 3.5 hours so its less work and more time for beer.pedro

Works great, you can fit about two racks of st. Louis cut ribs on each rack, or a packer brisket. There's some smoke leak on the doors but very minimal and can be fixed with gasket tape. Wheels are smooth and sturdy. Overall great smoker, thin metal but the heat loss is minimal.ChrisV

I used it for a whole summer now and I've turned out some good bbq with it but I find that the firebox is undersized and I sometimes struggle just to get the temperature to 225. I use a digital temp probe for the smoker temp even though the built in thermometer is usually pretty close. I have successfully used the minion method in other smokers but the air flow in this one does not seem to be enough to get the coals to burn clean and the meat comes out with the nasty charcoal taste. It usually requires about a full chimney of charcoal every 2 or 3 hours but you need to be careful adding wood chips or chunks because it doesn't burn clean enough and you get some off flavors. Pre-burning the wood helps. To get good flavor and a hot, clean burning fire I've found the best thing to do is to start with a fully lit, very hot chimney of charcoal and then shovel hot coals from a hardwood feeder fire into it about every hour. The vents are always wide open to be able to get it hot enough and the ash in the small charcoal basket needs to be cleaned often to prevent it from choking itself out. This is defiantly not something that could be used on a cool windy day because of the thin steal. It has a nice big food chamber but if you put too much meat in there it is difficult just to get it back up to temp. If you shop around you will find that it usually goes on sale for a somewhat decent price but if you shop around some more you'll find there are better smokers that go on sale to around the same price. A couple weeks after I bought mine a friend found a nice, thick steel, heavy (around 200 lbs) barrel smoker on sale at Lowes for the same price I paid for the Dyna-Glo. And after using his a few times I wish I would have gotten that one instead. If you could find this one at an extremely low price maybe then it would be fine to mess around with for a summer or two but at it's normal price range you could defiantly do better.Meat

I purchased this smoker one month ago, was very excited to get it home and put it together. Opened the box and was disappointed with a few things. 1) I wish they had used heavier gauge metal. 2) The cross bracing on the smoker box door was broken at the weld. 3) The smoker box had a 1/8th inch gap along the bottom and had been welded in place, poor quality control. Called customer service and had a new door and smoker box on the way, Customer service was actually pleasant and easy to work with. While waiting on the new parts I looked at the fit of the ones I had, It was worth the $10.00 to get some high temp RTV to seal between the firebox and the smoker box. A few days later I received the new parts as promised. Assembly was straight forward and not difficult at all, allow 30-45 minutes to complete not the 15 according to the instructions. Finally I got to use the smoker, plenty of room for a brisket and a pork butt with room left over. Smoker heats up quickly and seems to hold heat well. I like the way it cooks over the Traeger pellet grill I have been using. I like the fact that they put a seal around the smoker box door, It has a removable ash tray under the firebox so it can be dumped while cooking. The other issues I have with it is the air intake vents on the firebox, after it heats up and been used, the vent dampener will not move unless you pry on it going to have to see what I can do to remedy this. I also found that the firebox door leaks and a seal there would be very useful, I had some nomex tape and used it around the door and that cured the problem. It also leaks around where the thermometer mounts. Wish it had wheels to make it easier to move and a larger drip tray under the smoker box. Overall Its not a bad for the price.Don K

My review of the Dyna-Glo wide body vertical offset charcoal smoker (DGO1890BDC-D). I bought it from Amazon, there was no dents or scratches out of the box. Putting it together was straight forward. I used the high temp silicone where recommend and a high temp gasket to seal the fire box door so far no leaks. During the seasoning I placed several thermometers in side to test the door thermometer and check temp zones. There were definitely hot zones (Left/Right Up/Lower) but the door thermometer was within 3 degrees of the internal one in its area. Will work on making a baffle to control the overall temp. I did a pork belly and some pork ribs last weekend to try it out, both came out great. Couldn’t be happier with the smoking process. Temp control was easy, started full open on the fire box, when the temp reached 250 I moved the fire box damper to about ¾ closed and it held around 220 for the entire 4 hour smoke. My reason for the rating is. First on the fire box, the horizontal sliding damper in the closed position dose not seal. In the closed position there is still a lot of light and air coming in. I tried to tighten the screws to bring it closer to a seal but no luck. I took out the screws and held it to the side and still couldn’t get a seal. Seems like a design flaw to me. I called the GPH Group and they said it was normal for the fire box dampers. I looked at putting on the high temp gasket to get a seal but couldn’t figure out how to make it work, any help would be appreciated. I wish they would have the round slide damper installed. Second the chimney damper in the full open position is almost vertical, when I went to full closed it only moved a few degrees to the horizontal, letting in air. After a 4 hour smoke I closed both the chimney and fire box vents and my smoker continued to run for another 6 hours until all the charcoal ran out. I didn’t noticed this on the seasoning run, mostly because I ran it hot and full open for most of the time until the fuel ran out. The GPH Group customer service rep did say this was not right and is sending me out a replacement chimney. I researched this item for a while and found all the mods for the leaks and the baffle to help control heat zones but never heard about the dampers. It could just be my unit. Overall I think I can deal with the fire box flaw, I can’t deny my first smoke came out great. The customer service rep was pleasant and helpful. I will look on eBay/crags list to see if there is a used one I can cannibalize for a fire box with a better damper.Boomer

This thing is a dream! I've been a traditional barrel and wood smoker for the last decade but now that I have a kid, time is limited! I don't have 12-16hrs to nurse a brisket or babysit a fire. So, enter the Pit Boss Copperhead 3 Series. I've always loved verticle smokers as well and this one is amazing. It's pretty big (and heavy), so unless you're cooking for a lot of people on a regular basis, you probably wouldn't need the 5 or 7 series. I watched a couple YouTube videos about this baby to learn to properly use it, error codes, cleaning etc I've done ribs, butts, beer can chicken…. All of them were perfection. After each use, I properly clean it by cleaning the water pan/wracks and i vacuum all the ashes out. The guy in the video used a shop vac but I use a dang dust buster and it works perfectly. I have yet to have a single issue or error code. Treat it well and it will treat you well! Happy smoking!Katie

I have been looking for a vertical pellet smoker for a while and Pit Boss was the one brand that I saw in most of my searches. The size is perfect and the grill grates provide flexible height options to meet my needs. Great sized pellet hopper, I've run it through 2 smoking sessions already. The controls are easy to use and read but I do wish it was tiled upward a bit to make it viewable without crouching down. I was thrilled that a probe was included but I think I would have preferred a cover to the meat probe. The ONLY reason I'm not calling this a 5 star product is packaging and shipping. The package is heavy and UPS didn't do a great job handling the heavy package. They left it in the middle of my driveway, upside down and clearly dropped on the top of the box as it was dented. This is not Pit Bosses issue and I did report my frustration to UPS. The packaging itself was a bit cumbersome. It took me longer to extract the parts from the box then it took to assemble the smoker. Sooooooooo much Styrofoam to dispose. BUT, the packaging did work and smoker arrived in great condition. For me, this was the right choice and I recommend this product for anyone looking for a pellet smoker.Paul

Great smoker. Huge hopper allowed for 22-hour cook with no refilling of pellets (which would have been easy anyway thanks to great design). Consistent temp throughout. Perfect, tender, juicy pork was the result. Didn't really even need to pull it; just gave it a mean look, and it fell right apart. Have used at least a dozen times already (bought 2 months ago), and I love it. Great product! Additionally, bbqguys is only place to buy this stuff. First smoker came with some relatively minor damage. I let them know (email with a couple pics), and they shipped me a new one immediately with no questions asked. I buy all bbq-related stuff here now. Easy to get someone on phone when I have questions, and they're always super helpful and knowledgeable. Can't recommend enough.Evan

35 year Executive Chef. I've had my smoker over a year, it's had about 40 runs to date. Unit definitely got better after first 5-6 uses, it's perfectly seasoned now. I've smoked everything in this, brisket, shoulders, ribs, fish, bacon, cheese, herbs, you name it. I rarely trust unit thermometers, however after using several external thermos, the unit is very accurate. I've gotten good smoke as low as 160 degrees. Trick is to start high and go low. Also, I use this on my apartment balcony, perfect for the apartment dweller that thinks they can't smoke. Usually, if it's electric, you're good. Well done Masterbuilt, excellent smoker!Chef17

First time in my life I've ever entered a review, I was very excited to get this smoker unit and having read numerous reviews decided to order the accessory smoker box before even using the DES the first time. The reason was reviews that said if you fed chips into the small standard tray, you would spend a lot of time feeding the pan along with a problem of the heating element shutting down when the smoker reaches temp thereby reducing the amount of smoke produced. Believe what people say about the stability of the acc box with the single hook bolt that comes with it. Don't know for sure but, much of that problem would go away if they simply gave you two bolts with the purchase. It comes with 4 – 1 1/2" long stabilizer bolts that thread into the bottom of the box which do you absolutely no good if the DES is mounted on the legs that it's shipped with, they put the bottom of the acc box about 8" off the ground. I fabricated a plate that solved the problem but, I'm not sure what the engineering group was thinking when they reviewed that design…A simple on/off switch controls the acc smoke box and, it puts out a lot of smoke you might get a little over two hours of smoke per fill with dry chips. Now to the DES. with the acc box we were able to get some very flavorful meat from our efforts, one of my major complaints is that this unit is very slow to get back up to temp after opening the door for treatment of the product. The first time I used it on a pair of pork shoulder roasts, it's winter in IL so I left it in the shop with the walk-in door open and a box fan set up to blow over the top to force the smoke outside. The temp in the shop was about 40 degrees and it took us between 9-10 hours to get them to 165 degrees internal temp with the smoker set at 225 degrees. Don't misunderstand, they were tasty but, my goodness, that's just way more time commitment than I'm prepared to make. The second time I went to use it I plugged it in, and nothing would light up. I registered the product so I could file a warranty claim and, as I went through the troubleshooting process, one of the steps was to look under the unit for possible damage to the circuit board cover. It said nothing about removing the cover and checking connections inside which turned out to be the problem, none of the wires were off their spade posts but, something was going on because after removing and pushing them back on the unit powered up. That allowed our second smoking adventure to begin two full chickens and two slabs of St Louis ribs. We decided to do the chickens beer can style, no cans, just a couple of can stands to keep the birds standing upright to insure smoke infusion. As it turns out, two birds standing is about all the room there is in the smoker. I was going to remove the top rack but, alas the standard size grocery store birds would not fit. We started in mid-morning with the birds and didn't get done with the ribs until 2:00 AM. This was all done with the DES sitting outside on the deck most of the day with a doubled-up blanket draped over it to help it conserve heat. Loved the chicken and the ribs were outstanding but, once again what a time commitment. When I made up my mind to return it to the vendor, I decided to clean it a bit, took the drip pan out and cleaned it, it had chunks of grease cooked to ash on it, there were burned/cooked dry ash grease dops on the shield over the heating element, and there is also a small trough on the back wall that is supposed to direct grease to the drain hole that runs right over the top of the heating element that was filling with cooked dry grease ash. Did not have to clean the grease drip cup outside the drain as there never was a drip that came out of it. Honestly, most of the grease ends up in the water pan which needs cleaning after each use. Very high hopes with a huge let down. Find it so frustrating to not be able to actually speak to someone when something doesn't work and the fact that I waited from Sunday to Tuesday for response from CS and then it was without any direct response to my question.Mathrrd

My first experience worked just as designed. Three pounds of salmon was great. The second effort was a pork shoulder. The smoker work fine during the initial 2.5 hours of uncovered smoking, although the temperature hovered 8 degrees lower than set. When i reset the timer for an additional 2.5 hours after being wrapped the temperature dropped to below 100 degrees and fluctuated between 94 and 114 degrees for almost 20 minutes, never higher. I had to finish the cooking in the oven. The third time smoking 2 lbs of salmon the temperature never got above 110 degrees. When I tried to set the timer the entire control unit turned off. I tried several times using several steps to get the controller to register both a time and temperature. Very frustrating. Time to return it.Joe B, Chicago

Simple design — and simple is best — that just makes good barbecue. Easy to make rockstar barbecue with this smoker — smoky, tender, and juicy. For feedback, I'd like to see the castors a little beefier and the dial thermometer a little higher quality, but nothing to drop it back from five stars for me. Good work!!The smokehouse guy

This thing is sweet! Very close to set it and forget it but still needs monitored unless you buy a regulator. I’ve been a Traeger fan for a long time (still am), but the flavor you get off the gateway drum is second to none. Adam Kline

I mainly used the gateway for chicken, but briskets, tri tips, steaks come out perfectly every time! I also like how easy it is to use. If you like cooking hot and fast, this grill is for you!masric95621

I purchased the 7002C on Amazon. 3/16/22- The one hour required for assemble took about 5 hours. Not atypical for stuff like this. The only cosmetic blemish was a small scratch on one leg. The 3:18 Z-Grill video was too compressed to be real useful for assembly. Getting the legs attached was not difficult but getting them all straight and level was a challenge. If you needed to return this product it would be nearly impossible to re-package. I completed the initial burn successfully. One problem arose when moving the temperature dial to 250 or 275. The temperature display on the Controller automatically jumps to 275 and then 300 and feeds more pellets to achieve those temperatures. So, this means I can not smoke or grill at 250-275. I contacted Z-Grill and they are sending new Controller. I decided to go ahead and smoke a pork butt at 225 since that setting seems to work ok. Everything seemed fine but the unit did shut down once after 20 minutes. This was not an ash problem, as the unit was clean. Following instructions, I restarted the smoker. It then remained operational at 225 for about 11 hours. The pork butt was great. The PID controller did a good job at keeping the temperature constant at 225. The only time it changed was when I opened the lid. The two probes worked great and were accurate. The smoker lid fit well only allowing a small amount of smoke to escape from seal points. The following day I had another small pork butt to cook and after about 7 hours the smoker had completely shut down when I went to check on the food. There were no power interruptions and I know the unit was clean at the start. After cool down I examined the fire box and there was a little ash but no pellets. I believe I might need a new ignitor rod in addition to the Controller. The support staff at Z-grills generally responds overnight via email. That tells me they must be located outside the USA. My telephone call to the company was good and they agreed to provide a new Controller and now a new Hot Rod. Because of the grill's mechanics, I rate this smoker at 1 star at the outset. If the new Controller and Hot Rod fix my issues, I will re-evaluate. 3/23/22- Installed a new Controller and Ignitor rod. Not much fun as I scraped up the grill in a few places. After a few hours the 7002C was operational. The dial temp matched the digital read out on the Controller. The Ignitor Rod turned red and I was able to grill a couple of burgers. I will bump up my rating to 3 stars and update the review over the summer.Gary B.

I took delivery this weekend of my very first pellet smoker/grill (stick burner by nature….from Texas Y'all) this past weekend. I decided to put it to the test right off the bat by doing a 15 lb brisket. After spending about two hours to assemble and the intial burn in of my new 7002B it was time for the test. I used a mix of Mesquite and Oak pellets I got at the local outdoor store (Brand – Bear Mountain). After I trimmed and seasoned the brisket (just salt and course pepper) I had my Z-Grill set to smoke…I let that go till internal temp was about 165 (about 6.5 hrs), turned up to 225 and wrapped my brisket in butcher paper and went to bed for the night. Woke up next morning checked on that guy (looking for internal temp of about 195) wasn't quit there yet, so let it go another few hours (total time on grill both for smoke and higher temp was about15 hrs). Took that guy off and put in a cooler (still wrapped) for two hours to rest….gathered some buddies around for the unvailing and taste test. All I can say is OMG!!!!!! I have cooked a many of briskets in my time, to include catering gigs for my briskets….this was without a doubt one of the best, if not number one I have ever tasted (and this was the option for everyone who tasted it as well). I had a BEAUTIFUL smoke ring and the flavor was absolutetly perfect (out of this world perfect), I would put this brisket up against Mr Aaron Franklin himself for the tenderness (slices just pulled apart), juiciness, and flavor. What blew my mind the most was, I bet I didn't use 3-4 lbs of pellets for the entire process…how is that even possible? I actually had to get all the pellets back out of the hopper when done (I had filled it, thinking that long of a cook would need them) because it barely made a dent in them. When doing my research before buying, I choose the ZGrill because it seemed like the best bang for the buck, they did not disappoint, solid construction, easy assembly, works like a dream…..I can't believe I am saying this (I may even loose my Bar B Que Card in Texas) but I do not believe I will use my stick burner ever again……why stay up all night feeding logs when this Z Grill is pretty much idiot proof. Thank You Z Grill for a 10 STAR Product, I will be singing and showing (with my cooks) your praises for a long time coming. Z Grill Lover – Thomas R P.S. I wished I had the foresight to get some photosThomasR

I can’t explain the hours and hours I spent watching videos, reading reviews, and chatting with fellow pellet-grillers before I decided to purchase the Z-Grills 7002B. In my opinion, this is a great grill! I purchased this grill approx 1-year ago and wanted to use it for a season and many grillings before posting a review. Over the past years I have cooked pork roasts, many racks of ribs, a whole turkey, a few whole chickens, drumsticks and wings, smoked and grilled salmon, and any number of kabobs, burgers, htodogs, and brats. Here are my thoughts: What’s maybe not ideal… but can be easily fixed – After 1-year of use, I have notice A LOT of smoke (and heat) that leaks around the lid with noticeable gaps. I plan to get a heat seal (after market) for the lid that should fix this issue. And I’m contemplating a heat blanket as I live in the northern Midwest area. – The entire hopper assembly is attached to the L-side of the grill by 4 screws. When 20# of pellets are in the hopper (at capacity), there is a noticeable “dip” in the hopper and probable strain on the side of the grill cylinder/cooking chamber due to the weight. I was concerned that overtime this could lead to stress/fracturing of the metal side of the grill, so I added a support (scrap of wood) between the lower shelf and the bottom of the hopper (see pic). – I truly wish this unit had a full-set of wheels vs requiring that the hopper end of the grill be lifted to move it. Again, the concern for strain on the grill cylinder as above. If you have the grill in 1-spot, not probably a huge deal, but I store my grill in the garage and move it out for every use. So, I added some aftermarket wheels to the hopper end, which required me to cut the legs off a bit and to put in some support blocks (wood) to attach the wheels, but for me, this was a “must have”. I wish Z-Grills made this unit with a full-set of wheels for ease of movement, as there are many of their other models that have this option. Regardless, this was a relatively easy and cheap aftermarket modification. – A shelf. The only place to put a plate (or drink) while grilling is on the hopper lid. Z-Grills does have an available accessory shelf, but I have not jumped on that yet (mostly because it has been out of stock… and it’s a bit pricey) What I love: – The price – in the comparable market (and I considered similar models in RecTec, Oklahoma Joe, and Pit Boss), the Z-Grills was hands-down the best value. – The size – for this price point, the cooking capacity is excellent. We are a family of 5 and can easily cook multiple items at the same time – hamburgers and veggies, etc, etc. – The temperature control is great! The PID is exceptional at this price point (in my opinion). I can set this grill at whatever desired temp and the grill maintains within 10°. I love that on long cooks, I can set-it and forget-it… as long as the pellet hopper stays full. – Hopper capacity – the pellet hopper holds 20# of pellets easily. This comes in very handy for long cooks. I do wish it had an easy clean-out, but this is available on many of the newer models. And, if you use it frequently (as I do) and store it in the garage (as I do), making sure the pellets are out after every use is not a critical need. Beyond that, for those storing outdoors, Z-Grills goes above and beyond and provides a free cover with -most- of their grills (as far as I am aware). For other pellet grills makers without that feature, that’s usually another $30-$40 add-on. – Customer service was stellar. I did have a damaged rack when my grill was shipped. When the problem was discovered, I contacted Z-Grills via email with a description and pics of the issue and was promptly shipped a new set of racks. – 3-year (limited) warranty on parts. That’s almost unheard of in the pellet grill market. I know the list of “not ideals” seems kinda long, but adding the wheels and the “support bracket” probably cost me about $10-15 total. I really do enjoy grilling on the Z-Grills. It is easily one of the best grill purchases I have ever made (and I have had charcoal grills, ceramic grills, and any number of gas grills).JohnG