Customer Reviews for Brinkmann Smoke 'N Grill Charcoal Smoker and Grill

Great little Smoker for not a lot money ! Having had big smokers over the years, I was a little skeptical at first, Not any more ! Perfect size for me and the Misses, I had used it for everything from Burgers to Brisket and it does a Fantastic job on them all ! Like Ron Popiel used to say " Set it and Forget it " this unit is easy to use and it is holding up well considering the hard usage it is getting !

I have been in the food service industry for 25 years and have never smoked meat or fish. (other than in test kitchen at Culinary school, trout and the right or wrong woods for smoking) I hired a chef and a pull behind smoker for weekend BBQs at the café. Amazing stuff and so finally I am doing my own. This is a good simple unit and should last a very long time. Thanks to all the folks who have done videos and written reviews. I started the day I got it. Couple hours of seasoning the unit. Sprayed with canola oil and lit her up. At the end of the seasoning time I tossed on 1.5# piece of salmon. I buy a Scottish farm raised, nice and fatty and plump, sushi grade. Rubbed it with mix of stone mustard, soy, sesame oil and garlic for a couple hours. The smoker was around 250 when I put the fish on. It lost it's heat rather quickly but imparted tons of flavor in the fish. I had used Cherry Wood chips and white wine for liquid. I had to give the fish 10 min in the broiler. I had on receiving added a better thermometer, drilled a whole and screwed on the wing nut, also put the grate in the charcoal pan as suggested. The next day I did a brined pork shoulder. I had brined it for 3 days (6#). I smoked it at around 225 for 3 hours and could not keep the fire going, added hot charcoal with a scoop I made from flashing. I then forged ahead with all the mods that everyone suggested. I drilled out the charcoal pan, put the legs on the outside and propped the coal pan up with a 12" x 4" pan I had. Last night I smoked Sword fish and the fire was nice and hot and burned clean. Trouble was the wind was blowing about 20 to 30 mph and it was 42 degrees. I again finished the fish in the oven for 5 min on broil. Not the units fault as the weather conditions were not fit for smoking. I also had par cooked potatoes and onions in a pan on the first rack and wow were they good. Tossed in olive oil, garlic s&p and smoked for about an hour. Also made a bean dish and put it on the second rack for an hour. Long story short. This is a good unit, do the mods they make a huge difference, and again I made changed one at a time and proved all these folks to be absolutely right. Another suggestion, I put my electric coil coal starter through the door in the charcoal to light it, works great. Also put it in the charcoal chimney started to ignite and that works well also. Have at it and have lots of fun.

Great smoker for those of us that don't want or need the much more pricey units. Very simple and straight forward to use. I haven't done any mods to mine, and have had great success smoking both fish and meats. I've been using Kingsford Competition Briquets along with whatever hardwoods I choose for smoke. The first time around I had added too much wood and found just a few water soaked chunks at the beginning of the smoking process is all that is needed to develop the flavor and nice smoke ring. Oh, this thing turns out awesome corn on the cob also, and is great for grilling buns or breads after the meat is off the grill. A couple pics of a spiral sliced ham I smoked and some tasty brined salmon fillets. Darker fillet was brined with brown sugar and salt, lighter was a straight salt brine.

Bought this item without checking any reviews & when I did look, I found a world of data on mods & tips. A tip on seasoning the smoker, use shortening & coat everything but the charcoal bowl then fire it up for two hours. Touch up occasionally to keep it shining. 1-Drilled holes in the charcoal bowl for air flow 2-Mounted the legs on the outside 3-Drilled hole & mounted a real thermostat 4-Stacked patio stones underneath for charcoal bowl Cooked several times with no problems until the smoke residue collected on the lid. 5-Cut vent in top of lid then mounted smokestack from previous smoker, sealed with Permatex 81160 6-Added fiberglass rope & gasket sealer to close off default smoke vent Now it cooks turkeys non-stop for five hours with only $60 out of pocket.

I bought one three years ago and have used it no less than once per week. I've done ribs, chicken, turkey, pork, burgers dogs and a lot more. I gave my first one away when we had to move and have been kicking myself since. the temp gauge isn't the best, but a replacement is less than $10. I am going to go pick up another one of these because I miss my old one. This thing has TONS of room for cooking too.

I have wanted to try my hand at smoking meats because I love pulled pork and pork ribs. I received this as a gift for Father's Day (2013) and here is my review after the 1st use. From a quality perspective, it is what I expected for a $50 smoker. The temp gauge is not the best so I purchased a digital model that can monitor the temp of the smoker and meat. Getting the meat to the right temp is the key to success with this grill. I had problems with the fire for the 14+ hours I ran the smoker. The ash has no place to fall, so it chokes the fire and you are constantly stoking the fire every few hours. When the fire was out, I had unburned charcoal and wood at the bottom of the fire box. To fix the problem, I have purchased a Weber smokey joe 10.5 inch charcoal grate ($7) for the fire box to allow the ash to fall through. This will give me about 2 inches of clearance from the bottom of the fire bowl and as the coals turn to ash, they will fall through. This will allow the fire to smolder and not choke itself out and keep a more consistent temp. For my first use, these were the types of problems I expected because it was a learning experience. But despite the problems I had with the fire, the food it produced was fantastic and over 30 people loved it. So for a beginner, this is a great smoker.

I have been a gas grill guy all my life but after my Wife and son got me this smoker a few months ago I am now hooked on smoked meats! Its very easy to to use and does a great job! I've cooked beef ribs and baking hens so far and I must say its been some of the best I've had! I am going to smoker a turkey this year for Thanksgiving on it! I would highly recommend this smoker to anyone wanting to get started in the smoking game!

I originally bought the Brinkmann box smoker that went on clearance 1 1/2 ago. After opening it up to build it while i was on a camping trip there was no hardware packet. I brought back to the nearest Home Depot to me and they gladly switched it out for me no questions asked. After i got settled in back on the camp site I started on my first real smoking adventure. After about 4 hours the smoked chicken was done. IT was DELICIOUS, perfectly cooked, juicy on the inside crisp on the outside. Beautiful smoke ring as well. I love this smoker the only bad thing about it is 1.) the temp gauge is cheap and hard to read( I bought a new one for under 10 bucks to replace it) . I have smoke d everything from pork butts to chicken wings and have loved every meal. I have also used it as a charcoal grill while on picnics and it is absolutely great. Would Definitively buy it again if this one every breaks down. When you buy this unit make sure to pick up a cover, temp gauge that give actual temps and lava rocks for the bottom ( helps to hold heat for perfect smoking)

This smoker for the is great. I use it all the time. It has to be modified though which is very easy.

I had wanted to experiment with smoking for some time, so this inexpensive smoker seemed perfect. I had read all of the advice about instilling the legs on the outside, drilling holes in the bottom of the charcoal pan and putting the pan on bricks. I tried a slightly more difficult approach, but the results are great. I modified my smoker so that I too can lift the entire smoker off the charcoal pan but I did it slightly differently. After installing the legs on the outside, this leaves the charcoal pan on the ground unless you put it on bricks or something else. I did not love the idea of bricks as I was certain the wife would object. So back at home depot, I bought (4) 5”x1/4” hex bolts, 8 nuts and 8 washers. Then I drilled 4 ½” holes around the perimeter of the pan and used the hex bolts as legs. This gave it the perfect height and the “legs” look like they came from the factory that way (In hindsight, I should have used carriage bolts). I also drilled the holes in the first bend of the pan so that the legs would angle out slightly, giving me more stability. This sounds far more complicated than it is. The other nice think about the way mine turned out is that the charcoal pan still fits in the top of the smoker if you want to use it as a grill rather than a smoker. Then I drilled a few holes to improve airflow as others had suggested. Since this would let ash fall through and pile up on the patio, I bought a cheap 12” frying pan that sits under the smoker when it is in use. This catches the ashes and makes cleanup a snap. When I am not using the smoker, the fry pan fits inside so I do not look quite as dorky as I actually am.

Wife bought me this grill in 1998 ( girlfriend at the time) as a christmas gift. It was the first grill i ever had and i loved it.. however i lost it in the Harvey hurrican. When i tried to buy a new one i discovered that it was no longer available. One day i hope to find another one. I cant believe that they stopped making it, it really was the best smoker i ever had...

Home Depot management are idiots. This is THE smoker most people want.

It's not even worth the 49.00 I have seen. Won't maintain temp as there is no vents to control temp, metal is ultra thin which if you use it in winter good luck at keeping it above 150. The food tasted ok but took an enourmos amount of time, door was too small to add any coals, just a piece of junk that you will hate. Pay the price and get the weber.

My mom gave me one of these 15 years ago it works. it has out lasted any smoker or cooker that I have owned.

This company will not stand by their product. My heating coil started acting erratically after I used this grill 5 times. I contacted Brinkmann, and because I got this as a gift with no receipt, they told me I'm on my own. Really? 5 times? It only gets to about 150 degrees now. Look elsewhere.

Absolutely the best Smoker & grill for the money .t The ONLY thing I have found is a little trouble getting to the second rack while cooking

i previously bought this smoker and about to buy another one. i smoked a ham and a chicken on this smoker at the same time......was perfectly smoked

I've used this for both grilling and smoking everything has come out perfect!

Bought this a few weeks ago and have used it twice, once for ribs, and once for brisket. It does a great job with a few simple modifications, just as others have said. I drilled about 10 3/8" holes in the coal pan to improve air flow, and also use a round grill basket to help the ash fall away from the hot coals. Mounting the legs on the outside will make it easier to lift the smoker away from the coal pan to refill it after 4-6 hours. Mounting the legs on the outside will require supporting the coal pan some other away, so I used 4x 5 or 6" carriage bolts with nuts and washers to stand it up. Added a thermometer and away we go! I didn't do anything else with the lid, the smoke vents out through a small gap between the lid and the chamber. Temp cruised at 200-250 with little concern. Great heat with lump charcoal. Just make sure you keep the water pan full or you will have a grease fire. Large enough to do a 7-8 lb brisket plus a pot of beans.

Have used the smoker once and it did a excellent job. The meat was smoked well and very tinder and moist

Only used it once so far. Couldn't keep it warm enough for more than one hour. Ended up taking the meat out and throwing it in the oven for 2 hours. Still turned out good though. Will try again when it gets warmer out. I also bought the $10 cover they sell for it. What a piece of non-reliable material. It ripped already. I bought the same cover for my grill and the same thing happened (bought them at the same time). I'm surprised that home depot even bothers to sell these covers. I would expect even for $10 the cover would last at least 6 months to 1 year. I know this will sound lame but I set it on my balcony that is wood. It actually burned the knots in the wood out and now I will have to replace a few boards. I guess that's my fault, I didn't think they would burn unless the coals were actually on them..

You simply cannot beat this smoker at this price. I own a few smokers, but this little guy is my go-to travel smoker. I take this with me on camping trips and tailgate events and it never fails me! Just make sure you clean it and keep it covered so you wont have to worry about rust and such.

This smoker is virtually the same as one purchased 25 years ago ....and performs exactly as expected . Worth the money !

I purchased this grill for my son in law in Fairbanks, AK at Christmas time. With him being in the military, I did not want to spend $400 on a Weber and not have him and my daughter be able to take it with them when they leave Alaska. Besides, I wanted smoked turkey for Christmas and I was spending Christmas with them. It was -5 degrees outside when we used it and it maintained temp between 190 and 200 degrees most of the day. This is a little low for smoking. I followed what others do and drilled 3 holes in the bottom of the coal pan and 3 on the sides of the coal pan. He used it after I left in the same extreme cold and the temp maintained between 225 and 250 degrees....PERFECT. There are no vents to control air flow to adjust for extreme outdoor temperatures. Don't expect Weber quality....For $50.00, you cannot go wrong with this smoker if you are on a budget. I also bought a better grill thermometer and drilled a hole in the lid and installed it. The stock thermometer is a joke with no numbers on it at all.

I do work for THD, and I seen this grill when I was stocking it, so I decided to set one up on the bay above til payday. Anyways, I bought it, used it. And I must say for a cheaper smoker, this one does work pretty well. The down side is that there is no rack for the charcoal or whatever you're using to smoke with so the ash does build up inside the 'bowl' at the bottom. Cleaning it is easy, I just put my racks in my dishwasher and they came clean easily. The set up was easy except I broke a screw when putting the handle on without even tightening it really tight, the screw broke from the head of the screw. For $50, I cannot complain, I still use my smoker even now in the winter. I've smoked various meats in it, and it cooks stuff perfectly, I even smoked bacon in it and it was really good. If you want to try out smoking and have never done it before, this is one you should try out first to see if you like smoking. It does have two racks that go into it, but when putting meat on the lower rack, they burned quickly, so I only use the top rack near the lid. But if you're wanting something with more room, this will not hold a full rack of ribs, so you will have to cut them which is a downfall for me. I gave it a 4 out of 5 because of: Cons: Not much room in the smoker. No rack in the bottom for the charcoal / wood to sit on. Cheaply made parts that break. The temp gauge is cheap and doesn't work right. Needs to be a little more stable, it likes to rock because of only 3 legs on it. Pros: The price is cheap. It smokes meats really well. It's very light to pick up and move. It's pretty easy to put together. The out come and flavor of the food is very good for a cheap smoker. Easy to clean the racks with a dishwasher. Easy to dump out the ash bucket.

Thus smoker arrived quickly as promised. This was a Christmas gift and when we opened it we discovered that the four interior legs were missing. This has been reported to Customer Service and we are waiting now. Cannot adequately give rating yet.

Best smoker ever. We have used this type of smoker for years and love the design. We can fit a ham and a turkey at the same time. We have tried other shapes and designs of smokers and continue to come back this one.

I was very pleased with this smoker. My only complain is that I needed to put foil under the whole thing to keep the overflow drippings and ashes from my turkey, contained.

The assembly was quite simple however I will do modifications to the space where the water pan goes.

This is about as basic as it gets with a smoker. I found that it took a couple of minor modifications for me to get the thing to operate efficiently, as the fire pan design is not particularly good (it allows the coals to sit in their own ashes and eventually smother themselves if you're using it for several hours) and the metal is thin gauge and sheds heat too easily. I also installed an aftermarket thermometer for the lower rack. But these were cheap and easy modifications, and even with them the cost of the thing for me came out to well under $100--far less than similar models from competitors-- and now it works as perfectly as I could hope for it to work. I'm please enough with it after smoking my Thanksgiving turkey to have bought one for my dad for Christmas.