Summary: I’ve only used it a few times but I have no regrets with picking this model. It’s not perfect but I do believe it’s more versatile and has more usable features than the other brand. It was a good value here on Amazon too. P.s. The food comes out AMAZING! Show  4.0 out of 5 stars Better than most but not perfect. Reviewed in the United States on 12 January 2021 What’s great: - The 1600W element in this smoker vs 400/800 on the other brands gives it reserve power and extended cooking/usage range. This is one of the very few smokers that will run the full range of temps. It will do cold smoking for cheese and yet run up to 350+. ( Most smokers only go to 165 or 285) I don’t know I’ll ever cold smoke but the high temp ability is a game changer for brazing meat prior to smoking, baking pizzas, doubling as an oven at the holidays or just saving the day when low temp smoke is taking way longer than expected. -Duel meat thermometers mean I can do two different cuts of meat at once without worry. I’e I can do chicken for lunch and a pork but for dinner in the same session. -The wheeled base on this unit makes it Super EASY to move to a cooking location. The unit would be heavy (and set-up the task de-motivating) if it didn’t have them. The legs also keep everything at a nice working height. -Controls and display are simple and adequate once you figure them out. -Racks, rack hangers, water dish and wood chip tray are all porcelain coated. This makes clean=up much easier. -Interior rack dimensions are slightly bigger than it’s competitors. Nice for doing ribs or chickens side by side. -The window is a nice feature as you can watch your progress without opening the door and letting the heat out. It’s not hard to clean either. Love the window. It makes the process all that much more interesting and allows me to watch the process without opening the door. The window cleans up easier than I thought too. -The chip tray and water trays are large enough that I can refill them only every 2.5 hrs ( If I use wood pellets vs chips.) You don’t need to open the door to reload pellets either. - Set-up was not hard and there were no missing parts. Instructions are decent. It took about 90 min from start to finish. ( Hint : Don’t tighten the leg screws until the very end.) -Full 5 yr warranty! There isn't allot to give out but it's comforting anyway. What’s not so great: -I’m not sure I trust the temp readouts. The sensor is on the bottom rear near the elements but the generic analog smoker thermometer I added to replace the PitBoss badge in the top, front of the glass door, reads a full 10% lower on average. (If anything, I would have thought the temp would be higher near the top.,) More experimentation is needed to figure which is correct. Meanwhile, I’m adding 10% to my cooking temp inputs. -Insulation on this unit is just "OK". I’m sure it’s fine for general smoking use or higher temp use in warmer weather but I was unable to get it past 290 deg in a 40 deg draft free garage during a 2 HR pre-heat. It wasn’t until I covered the entire unit with a moving blanket that I could get it to reach it’s max programmed 350 setting. ( I’ve since remedied this by making an insulated cover to use in cold weather.) - Given the units marginal high temp , cold weather performance, the company should offer an optional insulated cover for use while cooking. I ended up making my own from the shipping box , some foil insulation ,duct tape and Velcro. It works (allot) better than it looks but a commercial option would have been best IMHO. I figure the cover is good to store the unit in as well to keep it clean /dent free. Summary: I’ve only used it a few times but I have no regrets with picking this model. It’s not perfect but I do believe it’s more versatile and has more usable features than the other brand. It was a good value here on Amazon too. P.s. The food comes out AMAZING! 24 people found this helpful Report 3.0 out of 5 stars Unable to heat to desired temperature Reviewed in the United States on 7 January 2021 I really wanted to like this unit but was grossly disappointed. I've never owned a smoker, always been more of a straight barbecue guy but after using my father-in-law's for Thanksgiving I was on the hunt. Hours of endless research led me to pit boss figured I'd start with the series 3 as an introduction and if things worked out possibly upgrade to their better units. After a lengthy hour or so of assembly I plugged it into a dedicated circuit in my garage and began the initial seasoning, after an hour and a half temperature was right around 230°, and that's about as far as it ever got. I was using pit boss competition pellets, after they burned out and the water in the pan evaporated figured all was well. Couple days later on Saturday had my brother coming over and wanted to smoke two chickens. Begin the warm up, I added the pellets and water and set the temp to 265, after 2 hours peak temp was fluctuating between 230-245. Added more pellets and the chickens, temp dropped to 190, slowly climbed to 230 and wouldn't go any higher, the element was on the entire time. At the 4 hour mark the chicken was only 220 so we pulled em and finished in the oven. I reached out to Pit Boss through email and explained that the unit would not reach the desired temperature assuming maybe the element was weak but was informed that in order for the unit to reach 265 or higher the outside temperature would have to be 80 to 90° ( it was close to 40 that day), I find that completely asinine. I understand that the majority of smoking is done in the lower 200s but I still feel it's unacceptable that the unit is incapable of reaching a desired temperature. I will be returning this smoker and purchasing an offset style. 5 people found this helpful Report 1.0 out of 5 stars Do not buy this smoker Reviewed in the United States on 8 November 2020 I do not recommend this electric smoker. While there are some good design ideas – for example, the external wood tray to avoid opening the smoker door to add more wood – the execution of the overall design and the quality control are poor. Also, end-user assembly is too complicated – it took me two hours. I know from experience that smokers from other manufacturers such as Masterbuilt and Char-Broil are much easier and quicker to assemble. As shipped to me, this smoker was virtually dead on arrival because of a faulty digital control panel (I've read several other similar complaints). While the unit came on and let me set the time, it would not let me set temperature. However, the heating element came on when I pushed the "Smoke" button (which is designed to keep the element burning for 20 minutes to goose smoke production), so I knew the problem was not the element. After letting the smoker sit overnight and plugging it in again, the control panel worked exactly one time to let me set time and temperature for an initial burn-in at 350 degrees F. After that initial burn-in, the control panel reverted to its previous failure to allow temperature to be set. The manufacturer agreed to send me a replacement control panel under warranty, but the control panel is on back order and supposedly will take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive. In the meantime, no joy. This smoker is advertised as being able to reach 350 degrees F. During the initial burn-in on a mild 60-degree fall day, I used a very accurate thermometer probe to monitor the temperature inside the smoker. It took TWO HOURS for the smoker to reach 350 degrees F. as measured by the probe, which is totally unacceptable if you're doing a high-heat smoke. Of course, if the smoker had been loaded with meat or the outdoor temperature had been lower, it would have taken even longer to reach 350 degrees. It is clear to me why the smoker took so long to heat to the target temperature (other than an under-powered heating element) – the manufacturer made a very bad design choice by not insulating the back panel of the smoker box. The back panel is a single sheet of solid but relatively thin metal, which radiated a great deal of heat during the burn-in and is a potential safety hazard. Curiously, during the initial burn-in, the control panel of the smoker reported the temperature as maxing out at 295 degrees F. while my probe was saying 350 degrees. I do not know if this was an artifact of the faulty control panel or a defect in the built-in temperature probe. If anything, I would think the built-in probe would read hotter than the actual temperature because it is located so close to the heating element. Time will tell if the control panel shows an accurate temperature after I install the replacement control panel. Is Pit Boss better than Traeger?If you're looking for the biggest cooking area, Pit Boss is the way to go; if you need something in the middle range, one of Traeger's pellet grills is more likely to meet your exact needs. But because we can't account for your desired amount of cooking space, Pit Boss gets the nod on maximum area. Is Pit Boss owned by Traeger?In 2018, Joe and Brian Traeger were hired by Danson's, which owned several grill companies, including Louisiana Grills and Pit Boss Grills. Is Pit Boss a good brand?Pitt Boss is the lower-end line from Dansons that offers good quality grills to BBQ chefs at more affordable prices. Pit Boss has become popular among BBQ chefs who don't want to sacrifice their low-and-slow experience when trying to save money. What are the cons of a pellet grill?Con: You can't use them everywhere. Pellet grills, on the other hand, generally need an outlet to function, so they're not portable. Moving them a lot may cause damage to electrical parts, and they tend to be heavy. It's also worth noting that, because they use electricity, they're not meant for wet-weather use. |
