Thursday, November 6, 2014

Discount Char-Broil American Gourmet

Char-Broil American Gourmet
Customer Ratings: 3 stars
List Price: $144.00
Sale Price: $129.95
Today's Bonus: 10% Off
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This smoker is a small version of one a friend of mine purchased at Home Depot. I didn't purchase the larger one because it is extremely heavy. This smoker is very light and easy to put together. It does an adequate job of smoking fish and other smaller items. The negative things I have found are: (1) the firebox seems to get very hot on the left side near the air vent but the fire tends to burn slowly or go out on the right side, away from the air vent; (2) the thin construction of the unit makes for uneven temperatures throughout the indirect cooking part of the unit and (3) I have only used the unit five times and the paint is peeling extensively from the firebox container. I would say that the unit is worth the price and is a decent trade-off if you are looking for a lightweight unit. For smoking things like turkeys, however, I would recommend the larger, heavier unit.

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I first saw this smoker while camping. The people next to me had one. They raved about it,so I bought one. First thing I had to do was go the Ace hardware and buy a sheet of steel grating to keep the charcoal from falling through the one provided.($20.00)It is working good after that, however to much heat on the fire box side.I'm going to fabricate a piece of sheet metal over it to lower the heat flow.I think I will be in business after that. Like other reviews said the paint burns off after first use. That does'nt bother me. I just want good food. One suggestion is to use more wood than charcoal.(tastier results)I do like it.

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I have used this smoker a few times and have not had any trouble. Considering what I paid for it and its size, I did not expect it to be perfect, or competing in barbecue contests. It is a small, basic, offset firebox smoker, plain and simple. For my purposes it has worked just fine and I have found that with a little care, the paint on mine is not peeling as the other reviewers have noted.

Honest reviews on Char-Broil American Gourmet

First, I did not buy this product from Amazon, but felt compelled to let others know how I felt about this unit.

Like the other reviewer for this product, I find that temperatures are very inconsistent in this smoker. The unit permits a lot of heat loss due to the thin metal construction. There are also many leaks around the doors. To compensate for this problem it is necessary to use a lot of charcoal.

The charcoal grates that were provided allow a lot of charcoal to fall through the spaces. To combat this I stacked the grates in a criss-cross pattern. This puts the fire higher and closer to the opening to the cook chamber. Thus, the result is direct radiant heat between the cook chamber and the firebox. To combat this problem, another peice of sheet metal needs to be inserted between the compartments to minimize radiant heat. Otherwise, you need to open the cook chamber to rotate the meet. This causes more heat loss and the whole thing is a vicious cycle.

Finally, I had to check the coals on this unit once an hour at least to ensure that the coals were still burning or had not burned out.

Another reviewer who was reviewing a similar product (the Charbroil Silver Smoker) recommended creating a charcoal basket and I believe that the same would be appropriate for this model as well.

Also, as others noted, you will need to go out and buy yourself a can of black grill spraypaint as this contraption will be losing its paint finish in huge flakes. I took a stiff wire brush to it each time I finished using it and waited until the unit was completely cold before applying spraypaint to the bare surfaces.

The only good aspect of this smoker is that it is lightweight and easy to move.

In hindsight, I learned that I could do much better low, slow smoking for smaller peices of meat and chicken with my 18 1/2 inch weber silver kettle. My next smoker investment will be firebricks and grates so that I can make my own smoker in the backyard.

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