The multiple grate levels, controller and price were my reasons for getting this grill. Mine has run great so far. I've done beef ribs, spare ribs and pork belly on it so far. Smoking a brisket on it this week. Haven't had the issue with the gasket but did get the grease leaks that you did. I'll always use a water pan on the bottom grate going forward to catch anything that drips
Great feedback - thank you! Putting aside the issues we've had all the food we've cooked has turned out great. The multiple shelves really is a game changer, especially at this price point!
Replace gasket with LAVA Gasket, seal up joints with LAVA sealer, normal things I've done to my WSM and DYNO smoker. Wheels not a problem, I added them to my WSM. The grease management system get a bigger bucket lol. The 800+ temp is concerning very concerning would like more follow up on that. Over all all these things are DYI stuff make the smoker your own. The real questions you did not answer which is TEMP control. How long did it take to get to temp? How well and for how long did it hold temp? What is the Temp ranges in the pit, hot and cold spots? Example do the biscuit or bread test. What are the Temp controls on the unit, for instance what is my temp range. How low can I go and how hot can I go? Fuel consumption. How long before I need to re fuel? And finally the most important question. Smoke absorption and flavor profile. Does it provide good smoke absorption and what is the flavor profile for various smoking pellets? I would be very interested in the review of the new unit.
Thanks for the great feedback! These are fantastic questions! I personally don't think a new grill should require modifications to function as expected. The grill actually heats up pretty quickly, but for me that's not a decision point. If I'm using a pellet grill I'm generally smoking which is a multi hour process. If the smoker heats up in 15 minutes or 30 minutes makes no difference to me. Temperature stability is also virtually a non-factor in general. You could argue that temperature variation is actually better than temperature stability on a pellet grill because of its impact on smoke profile. Pellet grills always have a grate level hot spot directly over the fire pot and the Smoke Beast was no different. Smoke flavor is also virtually non-existent when smoking above 225F, but that is true of every pellet grill I've used unless you supplement with a smoke tube or have a firebox (as on the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro).
@@TheGrillingDad Thanks for your response. I've never used a Pellet grill, like I said I have WSM which is my work horse and a DYNO vertical Offset which I need to use more. Both about the same price or cheaper than the Smoke Beast but then again I did buy both of them pre Bidenomomics so... My question regarding how it holds temp was meant with in a range For smoking I like to hold my temp between 225-275, with an average of 250. I'm a data nerd on this and have all kinds of temp probes that I use to graph. Love the Meater + and the 5GHz Bluetooth Inkbird WiFi. Anyway so my question is how well does it hold a temp for long periods of time with in a RANGE. I mean if I set it to 250 will it stay between 225 and 275 for hours with at least an hour or two being at the desired temp. Example. I put a brisket on my WSM after its calmed down to 275. The Pit Temp will drop to 225 and then will spike to 300 and will drop down to 250 after an hour or less. It will then stay at 250 for hours and only decrease and or increase if I have to take the lid off or refuel. So thats my question if I load the "Hopper up with pallets, set it to 250 will it stay at that 250 for hours and only decreasing as fuel burns out and increase as its refueled? Regarding MODS, to be honest for me thats part of the fun. Making it my own, improving on the design making it better.
More great questions! I haven't independently verified the temperature stability (using something like my Signals), but I suspect that the Smoke Beast will easily hold +/- 25F in stable weather conditions. The pellet hopper should last 10+ hours unless it's very cold outside. The pellet feed rate is controlled enough that I don't believe you'd see significant increases in temperature when the auger kicks on and more pellets drop into the fire pot. That being said I had a number of issues with my Smoke Beast so I wouldn't vouch for much on this unit! Thanks again!
@@TheGrillingDad Did you ever get the replacement unit? Were there any significant improvements on it? Did you happen to check the temp at each grate level? I'm wondering if it would be significantly hotter the lower you go since you were measuring 900F at the heat deflector plate.. Thanks in advance!
I have not received a replacement unit from Z Grills. I did not measure the temperature at grate level versus the two shelf heights. That being said the grate level temp will be very hot when running the grill to set temps at or above 450F (which is great for grilling). I'm not sure what the temps at the shelves are, but I cooked ribs (see our kettle grill vs pellet grill video) and those turned out great so I don't think the high heat is really a problem when smoking meat on either shelf. Let me know if you have other questions!
Thinking about getting in on their new smoker every 5 years deal. I pay $100 shipping. So a new updated smoker every 5 years for 50 years just shipping. Hard to say no.
What well thought out commentary!
Thanks! We try!
Came here to say this! Solid review.
The multiple grate levels, controller and price were my reasons for getting this grill. Mine has run great so far. I've done beef ribs, spare ribs and pork belly on it so far. Smoking a brisket on it this week. Haven't had the issue with the gasket but did get the grease leaks that you did. I'll always use a water pan on the bottom grate going forward to catch anything that drips
Great feedback - thank you! Putting aside the issues we've had all the food we've cooked has turned out great. The multiple shelves really is a game changer, especially at this price point!
Did you ever test the 2nd unit?? Thanks great video
Z Grills never sent us a replacement unit...
Replace gasket with LAVA Gasket, seal up joints with LAVA sealer, normal things I've done to my WSM and DYNO smoker. Wheels not a problem, I added them to my WSM.
The grease management system get a bigger bucket lol. The 800+ temp is concerning very concerning would like more follow up on that.
Over all all these things are DYI stuff make the smoker your own.
The real questions you did not answer which is TEMP control.
How long did it take to get to temp?
How well and for how long did it hold temp?
What is the Temp ranges in the pit, hot and cold spots? Example do the biscuit or bread test.
What are the Temp controls on the unit, for instance what is my temp range. How low can I go and how hot can I go?
Fuel consumption. How long before I need to re fuel?
And finally the most important question.
Smoke absorption and flavor profile. Does it provide good smoke absorption and what is the flavor profile for various smoking pellets?
I would be very interested in the review of the new unit.
Thanks for the great feedback! These are fantastic questions! I personally don't think a new grill should require modifications to function as expected. The grill actually heats up pretty quickly, but for me that's not a decision point. If I'm using a pellet grill I'm generally smoking which is a multi hour process. If the smoker heats up in 15 minutes or 30 minutes makes no difference to me. Temperature stability is also virtually a non-factor in general. You could argue that temperature variation is actually better than temperature stability on a pellet grill because of its impact on smoke profile. Pellet grills always have a grate level hot spot directly over the fire pot and the Smoke Beast was no different. Smoke flavor is also virtually non-existent when smoking above 225F, but that is true of every pellet grill I've used unless you supplement with a smoke tube or have a firebox (as on the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro).
@@TheGrillingDad Thanks for your response. I've never used a Pellet grill, like I said I have WSM which is my work horse and a DYNO vertical Offset which I need to use more.
Both about the same price or cheaper than the Smoke Beast but then again I did buy both of them pre Bidenomomics so...
My question regarding how it holds temp was meant with in a range
For smoking I like to hold my temp between 225-275, with an average of 250. I'm a data nerd on this and have all kinds of temp probes that I use to graph. Love the Meater + and the 5GHz Bluetooth Inkbird WiFi.
Anyway so my question is how well does it hold a temp for long periods of time with in a RANGE. I mean if I set it to 250 will it stay between 225 and 275 for hours with at least an hour or two being at the desired temp.
Example. I put a brisket on my WSM after its calmed down to 275. The Pit Temp will drop to 225 and then will spike to 300 and will drop down to 250 after an hour or less. It will then stay at 250 for hours and only decrease and or increase if I have to take the lid off or refuel.
So thats my question if I load the "Hopper up with pallets, set it to 250 will it stay at that 250 for hours and only decreasing as fuel burns out and increase as its refueled?
Regarding MODS, to be honest for me thats part of the fun. Making it my own, improving on the design making it better.
More great questions! I haven't independently verified the temperature stability (using something like my Signals), but I suspect that the Smoke Beast will easily hold +/- 25F in stable weather conditions. The pellet hopper should last 10+ hours unless it's very cold outside. The pellet feed rate is controlled enough that I don't believe you'd see significant increases in temperature when the auger kicks on and more pellets drop into the fire pot. That being said I had a number of issues with my Smoke Beast so I wouldn't vouch for much on this unit! Thanks again!
@@TheGrillingDad Did you ever get the replacement unit? Were there any significant improvements on it? Did you happen to check the temp at each grate level? I'm wondering if it would be significantly hotter the lower you go since you were measuring 900F at the heat deflector plate.. Thanks in advance!
I have not received a replacement unit from Z Grills. I did not measure the temperature at grate level versus the two shelf heights. That being said the grate level temp will be very hot when running the grill to set temps at or above 450F (which is great for grilling). I'm not sure what the temps at the shelves are, but I cooked ribs (see our kettle grill vs pellet grill video) and those turned out great so I don't think the high heat is really a problem when smoking meat on either shelf. Let me know if you have other questions!
Thinking about getting in on their new smoker every 5 years deal. I pay $100 shipping. So a new updated smoker every 5 years for 50 years just shipping. Hard to say no.
Yea I saw that. Seems too good to be true....