Features:

  • Two adjustable smoking racks
  • Three adjustable damper valves; one on top and one on each side
  • Easy to read door thermometer from 50 to 550 degrees
  • Convenient matchless snap-ignition
  • Cooking tips, ideas, and recipes included
I learned how to smoke meat on this smoker, and I'm completely satisfied

I've had this smoker for nearly 3 years and I'm very satisfied. Good workmanship in the parts, and fairly easy to assemble with time and patience. No leaks from the gas hose and no performance issues with the burners. Does not do well in the outdoor elements, so make sure you get a cover. The cover I bought lasted about two years before I replaced it, but the smoker itself is still going strong. Most amazingly, the thermostat is still largely accurate, and I haven't had to replace it yet. This smoker also comes in a larger size, and you might want to consider it if you are smoking large items. I've managed to cram a turkey in my 18" model, but it was a tight fit. Same goes for a particularly large brisket. 18" is not wide enough for an entire side of salmon, though it's no big deal to break off the last few inches of fish. As with any propane smoker, it's important to monitor temperature from multiple angles and to rotate your food. I've noticed my smoker is somewhat hotter in the back than in the front. This is not a big deal for heavy meats, but will affect more delicate food such as nuts. An optional cold smoking attachment would be nice, along with attachable clips to hold thermometer wires.

Very easy to use

This is the coolest hot smoker. Very easy to use, very effective. We have cooked pulled pork, ribs, fish steaks and fillets, beer-can chicken, turkey breasts. Friends and neighbors frequently ask us to smoke their salmon - wife's bourbon-soak recipe is near legendary. The thermometer is probably a few degrees off, and for best results I recommend buying a remote probe and ambient heat sensor. Selection of wood chips is important too... orchard woods for fish, stronger woods for stronger flavored meats. The gas lasts for ever (probably 30-50+ hours depending on heat), but you do need to refill the water pan every couple of hours. I put a piece of foil under that water pan, otherwise it is a huge pain to clean off the wood tar from the underside of the pan.

Easy to use, and can make great BBQ too.

First of all, this was my first smoker. After much debate and research, I settled on this. I wanted a smoker that was both easy to use, and one I didn't have to constantly baby-sit. Amazingribs was a vital research tool, and helped me find this. Its big brother, the slightly more expensive 24" model, won gold in its class. This one took silver. And that was basically due to size. You won't be able to smoke a rack of ribs without splitting the rack. That's it. If you're planning on cooking for 15 people or less, this will be fine. More, get the big one. What you need to know before buying a propane powered smoker is that many many restaurants have gas-fired smokers, and many competitions have been won using them. So there's nothing stopping you from making delicious meat. Propane makes the heat, and a tray of wood (your choice) provides the smoke and flavor. And once you've passed the 4 hour mark, where the meat doesn't continue accepting smoke, you can stop feeding it wood. One thing you will want for ANY smoke you buy is a good thermometer. The dial on the cabinet is...okay. Not great. Within +/-10 degrees. But you'll want something wireless to keep an eye on temps throughout the day. And make miniscule adjustments every couple hours. or refill the water pan when the temps begin to spike. Like this one: Grill Grate ET732 Black bbq smoker meat thermometer with Original Magnet Assembly is easy with a couple common hand tools. (screwdriver, small wrench). Operation is also pretty easy. Fill the drip tray with water, light the gas, and fill the tray with your smoking wood of choice to complement your meat. (cherry, apple, mesquite, alder, etc), and load your meat. With the vents wide open, then let it begin reaching your smoking temp. I normally aim for 225. Once you're close, throttle the gas dial to about what you need to be to get pretty close to your temp, and adjust your vents for fine-temp control. Startup takes ~15 minutes. Far quicker than using a wood or charcoal smoker. And once you're in the temp-zone, it'll hold it pretty steadily for a couple hours. At close to medium dial-position, I hold 225-235F pretty well, with minor adjustments to the lower side vents. ALWAYS leave the top vent wide open.Then, just wait, and pull your meat on when it's done. (203 is where I pull my pork-butts. 195-198F or so for ribs.)

I got this a couple of weeks ago and so far so good. For the most part it is quite easy ...

If I could've chosen 4 1/2 stars I would have. I got this a couple of weeks ago and so far so good. For the most part it is quite easy to keep temps regulated. However I've had the flame go out a handful of times in the three times I've used it. I've smoked some jerky and a tri-tip roast. A two door set up like a Masterbuilt also may have been nice to be able to check wood and flame without losing smoker temps. Made some salmon candy yesterday with a tri-fold plywood wind break around it, yet it still blew out twice while set on medium. I find it odd too that the gas valve when at its lowest setting reads halfway between medium and low according to the indicator arrow. I've called Camp Chef with questions a couple of times and their customer service is very good. I have installed a needle valve to be sure I can keep low temps once the weather turns warmer. I've not needed it so far as I've been smoking low and the temps have been in the 20°-25° range.It is a Bayou classic valve and I had my local lumberyard press fit the hose with brass ferrules that I use on my compressor hoses. I can dial it down very low, but as the larger flames are blowing out, I am not sure the needle valve will ever come into play. I just wanted the option for very low. I also made a skid for it that ties all the legs together. I have a gravel drive and this makes it easy to put under roof once it cools without having to lift it. I can grab one of the handles to slide it along and it moves well as a unit with the legs secured together. I love the wood tray and am glad to say chunks work very well in it. Easy to clean. While I've done a lot of smoking on a charcoal smoker, this is new to me. I am a very savvy shopper and did exhaustive research into buying this smoker. Next up - a 14# belly will be turned into bacon soon in this smoker.

This is a really great value. I use it every week or two ...

This is a really great value. I use it every week or two and in between it just sits outside with the cover on. Maintains temperature well- have to check it every once in a while and occasionally tweak but knob is very sensitive and i usually get it dialed in to my temperature. Get a wireless temperature probe to go along with it. The dial on the front is not accurate as expected. Quality is surprisingly good, nice gauge steel. Racks are well made, wood tray very heavy gauge. I have had it running all day smoking port shoulders when it was 15f outside and it kept temperature with no problem with the dial just above medium. That was why I bought this over electric- I wanted to use it year round outside. It is also nice when doing a turkey or chicken to be able to crank it to 325-350 and get a crispy skin. Holds a surprisingly large amount of meat. I usually smoke 3 racks of spare ribs (the costco pack) - one on each shelf- and find they cook very evenly. Also do two pork shoulders regularly.

Great deal on 'open box' smoker

After looking into a bunch of smokers to replace an electric one that died, Smoke Vault seemed like a good contender. Besides we like to cook with gas anyway. I didn't want to spend huge amounts of money so I bought this as an open box deal with condition described as "acceptable" or something like that. It also said that this had two large scratches on the top and back. The price was right at $107 & it was Prime. So what do I get? I got an obviously repackaged smoker in pristine condition with all parts included. If this is "acceptable" I'm not sure how much better "good" or "excellent" could possibly be. I've bought several refurbished/open box items from Amazon and have been satisfied so that is something to keep in mind when buying. Overall the smoker looks well-made, sturdy and is definitely big enough for our needs. Update: We assembled the smoker around Christmas time but didn't use it until now 5 months later, Mother's Day (Don't ask me why we waited this long). My 5 star rating stays unchanged. This worked beautifully. I tested it the day before to get it "broken in" and today with special chicken sausages and a leg of lamb. To die for! Very easy to use, responsive, lights up quickly, right size for our needs, sturdy... Next I want to smoke some salmon. What else do you want to know? Cannot find any complaints at this point. So far, so good. Once we really get to use this more, I might add more details to the review.

Very easy to use.

Unit showed up damaged but the company promptly replaced it. Wasn't too happy that I had to pack up the old one because it was a hassle but whatever. Wood doesn't really smolder in the 200-250 range if you put the chip tray in the spot provided for it, but it does if you place it on the bottom above hole for the burner. Very easy to regulate temperature between the knob and the vents. Coming from an electric where the wood would ignite all the time and make the temperature jump 100+ degrees, this is a dream to cook with. Racks and water pan clean up nicely with a Scotch-Brite pad or crumpled aluminum foil and some detergent. The instruction manual states that the handle is attached with two jam nuts but it now comes with one lock nut. Because of the metal around the handle hole on the door I had to use a ratcheting wrench with a long head on it to attach the door. If I didn't have one handy I would have been pretty upset.

New to smoking meat

This is my first smoker and I am very pleased with the purchase. The setup of this product is very simple and the product is well constructed. I've used it for tri-tip, ribs, salmon, and turkey and have had no issues. Maintaining the proper cooking temperature is simple using the vents or adjusting the flame level. The big front door provides easy access to the wood tray and water pan for adding more fuel or moisture. There are three racks included; 2 regular racks and one with more of a mesh surface for vegetables or other foods that may fall through the other racks. The thermometer on the front is useless (for me, anyway). I have one on my bbq, also, and they don't ever seem to be very accurate. I bought a remote thermometer to monitor the smoker's internal temperature and the temperature of the meat so I never use the one on the front of this product. My only other issue is the size. It's big enough for everything I've wanted to cook, so far. However, some of my roasting pans don't fit and I also bought a turkey cannon that wouldn't fit. If I had known that, I probably would have gone with the 24" Smoke Vault. Overall, I'm very pleased with this product and have had great success smoking various meats for the first time.

Great Product!

This was delivered this week. Pretty easy to assemble by myself, about 30 min. Fired it up to go through the seasoning for about 3 hrs with apple and hickory wood. After making adjustments with the dampers and all I was able to get it to run at 225 for as long as I wanted to, with tons of smoke. Today I am cooking baby backs, whole chicken, swordfish and mac and cheese. Still been running it at 225 constantly with lots of smoke and no problems. I'm glad I decided to purchase this smoker to replace my old one I've had for many years. Very nice product! Those who say they can't get smoke out of it, I don't know why, I get lots. I can run it at 200 and still get plenty but i prefer 225. Happy smoking everyone!!!

Great smoker takes less gas than I thought to smoke ...

Great smoker takes less gas than I thought to smoke food. The thermometer is not accurate - I purchased a Maverick Wireless digital thermometer so I can read the meat and smoker temps

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