Grills & Smokers

Char-Griller Smokin’ Pro CG010 Char-Griller Smokin' Pro CG010 Key FeaturesType:All-in-OneFuel Type:CharcoalCooking Area:580...

Char-Griller Chargriller Pro Deluxe Char-Griller Chargriller Pro Deluxe Key FeaturesType:All-in-OneFuel Type:CharcoalTop Lid:No ...

We bought our Char-Griller Smokin’ Pro at Lowes about a year and a half ago. Price was very good. Ours didn’t come with the smoker box on the side as this was an option. However, we ordered one from the manufacturer.

Overall, the materials the grill is made out of seem sturdy. You’ll get to find out too, because you have to assemble it yourself, but it’s not too difficult. Once assembled, be advised; it’s heavy.

The grill has some nice features like an adjustable fire grate and heavy cast iron grill grates. However, the fit and finish leave a bit to be desired.

Now for the important stuff; how does it cook?

As a charcoal grill the Char-Griller works just dandy. Large grill surface area so you can cook for a crowd if you want. Fire grate holds plenty of charcoal and is adjustable so you can vary the heat. Vents seem to work well for temperature regulation. Overall, the Char-Griller gets a ‘A’ in the grilling department.

Smoking? Forget it. Several problems. When set up in the smoking configuration (i.e. fire in the side fire box) the temperature comes up initially, but then steadily drops regardless of how much wood you stoke it with. It’s almost as if the smoker vapor locks. The fire box would get so hot I’d have to shield my deck with a tub of water, but the smoker chamber temp would never get above 100 degrees.

I looked it over trying to figure out what the problem was. I determined that;

A.) The flue is too short so it won’t draft / draw properly,

B.) Not enough of the flue protrudes into the chamber so it doesn’t heat up and draw.

C.) The surface area of the smoker is too large for the opening between the grill and firebox. Any wind at all will cool this thing off to zero, and

D.) Any heat that does enter the smoker chamber immediately rises to the top (on the right side) and (across the top) out the flue before the chamber itself heats.

I fashioned a piece of duct work to seal the gap between the fire box and the (now upside down) ash pan which helped some, but it still wouldn’t heat up. I tried extending the chimney down into the chamber further with some more duct work, and that helped some more, but was a pain to work around.

At the end of the day it was pretty clear I was fighting an uphill battle in the smoker department.

Maybe if you lived somewhere where there was no wind and the outside temp was over 100 degrees this might work. But even the slightest wind will cool the cooker off to sub-safe smoking temps.

Now I’m in the market for something else.

Live and learn I guess.

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Tags: Char-Griller, Charcoal, Wood