I bought one just before Christmas at Dicks Sporting Goods. After reviewing a bunch of different models I lucked out and found this one. I got the Bronze color one. Fired it up for the first time yesterday. Used a combination of Hickey and Pecan wood. As the instructions said I fired it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to burn of oils and cure the paint. After that, while it was still hot, I through some Brot's on. As expected they came out perfect!! To Register the Product I had to call Camp Chef because as you stated this model is not on the Web site. The Camp Chef Rep was great in taking care of me.
The info for the ZG is now listed on CampChef's website, but yes it is an exclusive to Dick's Sporting Goods. I just with it had the extra wheels although sturdy legs aren't bad.
I'm wondering about cleanup... your model's drip pan is raised and cut to allow direct heat grilling. All the other models have a flat drip pan you can cover with foil. I really like this model because it comes with two meat probes. That would be huge if you're using the upper and lower grate for a cook. How painful is that drip pan to clean up versus peeling off aluminum foil and being done?
Candidly speaking the drip pan does not clean very well. I’ve scrubbed it a couple of times and I’ve also just cooked the grill empty in an attempt to bake it clean.
Does your auger ever jam? I just got a lower end pit boss and it’s having jamming issues. Got fresh pellets and will run an experiment to see if that fixes it. If not I’m taking back and probably going with Camp Chef
Temp fluctuates abt 20 degrees to be honest. You can reduce that drop off by lowering the chimney cap. Seems to hold heat better when that lid is down closer to the pipe
Funny you ask. I’m actually smoking pork on it right now. It’s still going strong. My one complaint so far is the paint on the hopper lid and side table is thin. I have rust spots already and it’s worn a protective cover since day 1. Congrats on ur purchase tho. Come back and tell us how u like urs?
Hey thanks for writing. So far I LOVE this grill. The only knock is a couple of the screws which hold the size tray on have some rust on their heads. Other than that it’s been outstanding. It’s so easy to use. It has plenty of cooking surface for my needs. The racks add even more. It’s just been a great buy so far.
Big Guy Reviews That’s awesome thanks again. One of my local Dicks has these. I may just take the plunge! I love my Smokey Mountain but living in Florida the heat gets brutal. Looks like I can set this and enjoy a beer indoors haha
That’s an absolutely true assessment. Lol. I also got mine at Dicks. Please check back and let us know what u think abt urs once u use it. I also have an awesome recipe from a channel u might enjoy. Good luck. Hope to hear back soon.
So it's been three years now, do u still have it and any update on how it's performing?
It’s still going strong. All I have had to do is clean it and repaint the tray on the right side. It rusted.
@@BigGuyReviews very nice, thanks
I bought one just before Christmas at Dicks Sporting Goods. After reviewing a bunch of different models I lucked out and found this one. I got the Bronze color one. Fired it up for the first time yesterday. Used a combination of Hickey and Pecan wood. As the instructions said I fired it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to burn of oils and cure the paint. After that, while it was still hot, I through some Brot's on. As expected they came out perfect!! To Register the Product I had to call Camp Chef because as you stated this model is not on the Web site. The Camp Chef Rep was great in taking care of me.
Can I buy the meat probe and other accessories?
A quick google search shows the probes are available for purchase. I’d think you could get everything u want online.
Dude, I literally just bought mine today. I’m so pumped to get this baby set up!
The info for the ZG is now listed on CampChef's website, but yes it is an exclusive to Dick's Sporting
Goods. I just with it had the extra wheels although sturdy legs aren't bad.
I'm wondering about cleanup... your model's drip pan is raised and cut to allow direct heat grilling. All the other models have a flat drip pan you can cover with foil. I really like this model because it comes with two meat probes. That would be huge if you're using the upper and lower grate for a cook. How painful is that drip pan to clean up versus peeling off aluminum foil and being done?
Candidly speaking the drip pan does not clean very well. I’ve scrubbed it a couple of times and I’ve also just cooked the grill empty in an attempt to bake it clean.
Mine just showed up today Great video
Thanks for the positive comment. Hope you like ur grill
Does your auger ever jam? I just got a lower end pit boss and it’s having jamming issues. Got fresh pellets and will run an experiment to see if that fixes it. If not I’m taking back and probably going with Camp Chef
Hasn’t jammed yet but big guy had his Traeger auger jam when his pellets got wet. I’ve kept mine dry
Does it get up to 500 like it says? And how much does the temp fluctuate? Thank you for this video, could not find much on this model
It does get up to 500 but it eats up a lot of pellets keeping it that hot.
Temp fluctuates abt 20 degrees to be honest. You can reduce that drop off by lowering the chimney cap. Seems to hold heat better when that lid is down closer to the pipe
Chips?!
Great Video and how is the grill holding up so far?
So far so good. No serious problems although I’ve had to paint the hopper lid and side tray. The original paint peeled
So what do you think of it now? Just picked mine up today at Dick’s
Funny you ask. I’m actually smoking pork on it right now. It’s still going strong. My one complaint so far is the paint on the hopper lid and side table is thin. I have rust spots already and it’s worn a protective cover since day 1. Congrats on ur purchase tho. Come back and tell us how u like urs?
Hey man I know this video is older but how has this grill held up? Happy with the size and performance? Thanks for the detailed video!
Hey thanks for writing. So far I LOVE this grill. The only knock is a couple of the screws which hold the size tray on have some rust on their heads. Other than that it’s been outstanding. It’s so easy to use. It has plenty of cooking surface for my needs. The racks add even more. It’s just been a great buy so far.
Big Guy Reviews That’s awesome thanks again. One of my local Dicks has these. I may just take the plunge! I love my Smokey Mountain but living in Florida the heat gets brutal. Looks like I can set this and enjoy a beer indoors haha
That’s an absolutely true assessment. Lol. I also got mine at Dicks. Please check back and let us know what u think abt urs once u use it. I also have an awesome recipe from a channel u might enjoy. Good luck. Hope to hear back soon.