Broil King Smoke XL 32-Inch Offset Charcoal Smoker - Black

After four years and a few self made modifications, the Broil King Smoke Offset XL is my go to smoker for that authentic barbecue smoke flavor. Pork Butts, Ribs, Brisket, it can handle it all.

I have had the offset smoker for a couple of months now, and have smoked pork shoulder, brisket, ribs (many types), and also grilled steaks kebabs, burgers etc. My experience does not tally with some of the negative reviews on this site, but I can't deny people seem to have had issues with temperature. The unit appears to have been redesigned in a few areas, and all I can say is I had non of these issues. I had originally intended to get an Egg type smoker, but after doing some research found that they lacked some flexibility when wanted to do a large standard grill session with steaks etc. Some forums had people advocating getting an Egg and a standard BBQ, which seems mad to me. Up steps the offset smoker. You can slow cook and smoke any joints you like, then pull this off the grill and fire up the charcoal in the main chamber for the burgers and steaks. This flexibility makes the offset smoker great value, even at the price point of the Broil King. My experience with the Broil King Offset Smoker specifically: - Some assembly issues. The instructions didn't match the video or booklet. Broil King confirmed this was because of a redesign on some aspects of the unit. This was my one negative experience, but Broil King support were excellent and made it right. - The seals are fine. I mean they leak a little, but only when the input and output dampers are not configured correctly. I have smoked pork shoulders and got perfect smoke rings. - Temperature regulation is fine. Takes some practise but able to hold around 105c or up to 170c easily. You wouldn't want to go much out of this range for smoking anyway or else you would ruin whatever you are smoking. If you do then a small amount of charcoal in the cook box to the side would give it a boost. - Build quality is good, money seems to have been spent in the right areas, i.e. the dampers are well engineered, and the grills are high quality when seasoned a couple of times. - The damper between chambers has been removed in a redesign. Presumably this was a source of temperature issues. - Agree with previous reviews on the ash pan. This design could be improved to catch more of the ash. Tips: - When lighting the firebox for a smoke, follow the instructions which says to put unlit charcoal to the left of the firebox, and empty a lit chimney starter on the right. This means the charcoal burns right to left and the smoker can be left unattended and still maintain the correct temperature. I also put clusters of smoking chips at intervals meaning they will give a fresh injection of smoke at regular intervals. - The dampers are marked with 5 notches for amount of openness. Because of the clever way the dampers are engineered these notches represent a linear adjustment. If you want a higher temperature open the firebox and chimney dampers together. There is no point opening just the firebox damper if the air can't get through the whole smoker. - Resist opening the cook box lid, let the thermometer do the checking for you. Every time you open the lid you have to start again heating the cook box. - Only use the grills you need when cooking anything! If you leave in grills you aren't using you will have a lot of cleaning to do! - Once finished cooking, I clean the grills and brush with oil before opening all the dampers to raise the temperature. This re-seasons the grills between uses and can happen while you eat.

I actually won my smoker from a contest at Brady's Butcher and Deli. I just love it. Smoking things is so pleasurable and relaxing.

In the world of off-sets you either have to get the 100.00 home improvement special or order a 600 lb 2000 dollar beast from Texas......until now. Broil King has created an off-set that is affordable yet well thought out. Stainless Steel in all the right places. The fit and finish is excellent. This off-set holds temps well and works as advertised. I would have given it 5 stars but it is suggested to use lump charcoal and I would have like to have used oak splits. That's OK, I still love my Broil King Smoke Offset Smoker.

Feature suggestions: 1. Make the chimney taller. The current one does not provide much of a draw. 2. Firebox screws -- need thicker screws. These will rust over time due to extreme heat and outdoor use. The whole firebox rests on 6 screws. 3. baffle -- one of the smoke diffusers should bend upward to act as a baffle plate. 4. cleanout -- the firebox and cookbox side door should be cut to the bottom with no ledge to aid sweeping of ashes. The provided ash tray won't catch everything. Ash accelerates rusting and needs to be cleaned out regularly.