Char-Broil American Gourmet 400 Series Offset Smoker Grill Reviews

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List Price: $149.99
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I wanted to like this grill, but I cannot. First impressions are lasting impressions. To being with they attach a paper label to the lid with super glue. I had to mar my brand new grill just to remove some paper. That sucked. Second, they did not provide enough nuts and bolts to finish the construction. Frustrating. Then to top it off, the damn thermometer does not work. I will never buy or recommend a Char-broil product. If they cannot take care of the simple things how can they do anything well.

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The offset smoker I purchased is similar to this one but the exact model (the Hondo)has been discontinued. It also has a "New Braunfields" name on it but, nonetheless; it is a Charbroil smoker. After owning it for 5 weeks the weld on the firebox side door broke. The smoker is unusable like this. I was told that they would replace the firebox if I paid for the shipping. I refused. All of the welds on this smoker are only tack welded. Made sturdy enough to get it out of the door. Avoid any product with the "Char-Broil" or "New Braunfields" name on it. It is void of any and all quality and care to it's construction. These products are not worth the cardboard box they come in. In addition to this the shelf was damaged, the thermometer face turned around the pointer making the temperature accuracy within an 80 degree range and missing various other smoker parts. Going to the scrap pile after less than 2 months use. Cutting my losses.

I had special ordered an expensive CharBroil natural gas grill about 8 years ago and was only able to use it a year or two before it fell apart. I was aware of these grills being garbage. I would not have purchased this smoker had I known it was a Charbroil. The 'New Braunfields" name tricked me.

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The way this is made, the charcoal is too close to the grill. The barrel isn't deep enough. It's very hard to cook something without burning the outside and the inside being raw. Someone else had this same comment and I didn't listen. I can only use get smoker barrel.

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I bought this smoker now two full summers ago and used it approx 25 30 times. By in large, the smoker smoked the ribs, chicken, pork, and beef pretty well. But learning the intricacies of the smoker proved to be an adventure. First, this smoker is pretty unpredictable. it chews through coals fast. I averaged about a full coal load every 3.5 hours at about 250-300 degrees. Second, it leaked so much smoke and temperature, i had to place bricks on top of the smoker box and oven. Third, even though the grill came covered in some kind of smelly rust repellent, the paint quickly wore off at 450 degrees and became a rust magnet. i'm expecting the smoker box to rust completely off here in the next few weeks, which is why i'm back on amazon looking at prices. The unit was good for easy smokes where lack of precision can be forgiven, but it was tough on me when i tried to smoke chicken and brisket.

Oh, and you really could only smoke one thing at a time because the heat concentrates in the first third of the oven. The grates are usually a 100 degrees hotter on the left side than the right side. This is a big problem if you are doing several chickens or big slabs of ribs. I ended up buying four different temp units to monitor grate temp left, grate temp right, center hanging, and internal meat temp.

So, if you like the thrill of unpredictability when you smoke, and wanna go cheap, this is your unit.

One thing you can do with this unit kind of well is grill meat in the oven box. I did several jerk chicken meals that way that turned out really well. You gotta watch it though, since the coals are so close to the grill. But i marinated my chicken quarters in milk and jerk seasoning for 24 hours and, what should have turned to mush, actually turned out quite good.

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I would NEVER have bought this if I had known that the entire thing would RUST!!!

I don't trust this thing to not burn a whole through the rusted out bottom and HURT someone. Thermometer never worked!

DON'T buy this grill! I have to replace it after 6 months and of course there is NO Getting your Money BACK!!!