Outdoor BBQ Grill Barbecue Pit Patio Cooker

Update 7/17/2013: I Moved to Washington state, where Bar-BQ is a verb not a noun, they don't know what a whole brisket is, and hickory is sadly not available; and had to replace the Char-Griller that I sold prior to moving last year. Without hesitation I asked for another one of these for Father's Day. My old one had held up well (with a cover) over eight years. The day I put it together, I indirect grilled a whole Salmon and it turned out fantastic.

Great smoker, I'm enjoing it very much. I did put a better temp. guage at a lower level just off the grill grate to the left of center, and extended the smoke stack lower in the grill with some tubing .It can now hold a 220 temp forever.Very easy to put together.I'm just smoking some ribs and chicken so far and they came great. I use real lump wood charcoal and some wood chunks. You can't beat this grill , great price.I give it a 4 star rating

First time smoker here. I've read up on all the techniques and even bought a smoker's cookbook. Assembly was pretty simple. I didn't attach the front holder because I didn't think I'd need it. I tried it out this past weekend and I must admit that I'm hooked. This thing handled a large pork shoulder and 2 large racks of pork spareribs with plenty of room to spare.

I bought the CG 1224Pro w/ side fire box primarily for smoking. I wanted as charcoal/wood smoker (not propane or electric) that was easier to clean and larger then the one I was using. This smoker is very well built and not difficult to assemble although it did take a little time. Before planning to use it you need to allow your self enough time to assemble and season the smoker (1 hour plus to assemble and 4 - 5 hour to season). My first pork shoulder came out excellent.

I'm happy I bought this smoker b/c I always had the intention of adding a lot of my own modifications. If you want something that works great out of the box then this probably isn't the smoker for you. First of all, it needs to be assembled. The process isn't particularly complex but it is laborious and took me 3-4 hours. Beyond that, the work I feel needs be done includes; making the side fire box and cooking chamber airtight, installing thermometers that aren't junk, drilling air holes into the side fire box, putting on better wheels, adding tuning plates, extending the chimney down to the cooking grate level, adding a temperature probe grommet, raising the fire grate... Granted, some of these mods can be skipped without sacrificing cooking results (The wheels and grommet for instance) but the rest are necessary. Sounds like a lot of work but in the end I'll be $350 all in and will have a smoker that stands up to ones 3 times that price.