Char-Broil 12201570-A1 American Gourmet Offset Smoker, Black,Standard

Bought this for my boyfriend for Christmas. Great smoker, apparently very good while using; the meats from it are delicious. Must be a decent seal because it cooks quicker than you’d except for the price point apparently. Took about an hour to put together, but after that it was good to go with some pre-heating.

Es de buena calidad, fácil de armar y cumple bien con su función, es muy recomendable.

I received my smoker yesterday and couldn't wait to put it together. I took some time, but I had no issues putting it together according to the instructions. I had no gaps whatsoever in between the top lid and bottom chamber, I just made sure when I tightened the hinge brackets I aligned them as close to the edges of the top lid and bottom chamber as possible. It seems pretty solid, not flimsy at all. It's a perfect size for a family of 4 or less, unless you have NFL linebackers for kids. I fired it up last night after I got it all put together and smoked a chicken that I split into halves. For my first time ever using a charcoal / wood side chamber smoker, the chicken came out perfect and delicious! I also ordered the Weber "Rapidfire*" charcoal chimney starter to pre-light the coals. I bought B & B Texas style oak charcoal briquettes and Western brand Mesquite hardwood chunks at my local Academy sporting goods store for the cooking process . Everything worked like a charm! I even fell asleep on the couch and woke up to find that the coals and wood had all burned down to ash and the smoker was just barely warm, but the chicken still came out wonderful and yummy! I have nothing negative to say about this smoker, it worked great and no other product can compare to the quality of this smoker for the price of only $69 dollars and some change. Maybe an EL CHEAPO product that will rust out and fall apart in less than six months.

It took me no time to assemble this smoker. It's small, relatively light, but large enough to handle normal cooking for up to 8 hungry people. There are charcoal grates in both the firebox and under the main grates in the smoker body, so you can use it as a 'normal' grill if you need to. The only drawback I can find is that the firebox's charcoal grate is a bit low for the use of a charcoal chimney, if you start your fires with a chimney that drops the coals out the bottom, rather than the invert-and-dump type. That's a flaw in the design of the chimney, though. I don't know yet how it will stand up to use or abuse. I expect it will perform admirably, given the solidity of its construction. The package was missing ONE flange nut, but I have tons of fasteners and other hardware on hand, so it was no great hardship (I could have assembled it using nothing but my own hardware, if the package had been missing entirely). One missing nut is typical, or even good, for items like this. I recommend the manufacturer start packing one or two extra nuts and bolts with each item they produce, though. I'm not a fan of using soup cans as grease catchers, and hate the hangers. I'm considering making a small shelf to go under the main smoker body, and placing an old bowl filled with sawdust under the grease hole, instead. Something else the manufacturer might consider. But for the price, this is an excellent smoker. You can't normally find an offset smoker in the sub-$100 range that's worth anything. Normally the metal is too thin, or they don't have charcoal grates, or the legs wobble, or the design is garbage entirely. This isn't the case here. It comes with charcoal grates across the entire unit, the cooking grates are cast iron coated in porcelain (fast heating, holds heat well, cleans easily with water and a brass brush), it has a sturdy shelf on the side, good handles, decent wheels, good dampers, solid hinges and a thermometer built into the main lid. Plus, it's large enough to do 8-12 large burgers at once, multiple sausages, several ears of corn or 2-4 brisket (depending on the size of the cut). And if you're thinking 'burgers? it's a smoker!' then you've never had slow-smoked burgers before.

For now I have used for one summer to BBQ, not smoking. I love how small it is. For a couple, it is the perfect size on a small balcony. It is decently sealed and its chimney is very useful for preparing the coals in the main container for BBQ. Unfortunately, really hard to assemble! Specially the smoker part. The assembly design is really poor. But is just done once. The other issue is that now I cannot take the grates out of the smoker. It would've been nice if I could! The color did start to come off after just using it for 10-20 times. If you want to BBQ, close the lid and leave the inlet and the chimney open to make the coals in 20 mins. Since there is no space for ash in the bottom, never blow air on the coals or ash goes everywhere! No I never did that...!