Char-Broil is one of the pioneers in the smokers market. They make some of the best low to midrange products and their “Deluxe” smokers series is no exception. It actually has sparked something like a revolution in the smokers design. Now, if you go to a store to buy a new smoker, almost all of them will have that brushed-aluminum body with a glass door. The Deluxe Digital Smoker has been a stepping stone for all other brands out there to copy from, except maybe for its main rival – the Masterbuilt 20078715. Don’t get us wrong, this smoker still has its flaws, but we found it extremely easy to work with and for that price, it is a great bargain. Let’s take a deeper look into it.
Features That Make It Stand Out
We used this vertical smoker for over a month and what made us the happiest about the whole experience is the overall ease of use and how well it performs in larger barbecues. It is a smoker which doesn’t ask you to devote your whole time to it, instead it does the job for you, and it does it well.
The design on this thing is very modern looking, and as we said, is industry-leading. Most other newer models try to copy it in one form or another. There are no air leaks and the super comfortable touchpad upfront is water resistant. If you’ve never had meat smoking experience, this unit will take your hand and guide you through it, with zero hiccups on the way.
The temperature here stays consistent throughout the whole smoking process and recovers fast after you’ve opened the door. It also goes down to a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, which is ideal for cold smoking meat like pork. Not a lot of other models can do that.
The smoke this model produces is moderate which has its reasons. It is exactly how you’d want it to be if you don’t do a lot of BBQs. With it’s 720 square inches of cooking space it is perfectly enough for a good smoked trout and any other meat you want to put in. It can fit a lot, trust us. Most importantly it doesn’t mix up the flavors if you are preparing a wide variety of meats.
If you want to further improve the taste of your smoked ribs, you have to get some sort of BBQ smoking chips when buying the Char-Broil Deluxe smoker. They will make everything even tastier.
One thing that we have to point out, as it really was great, is that the whole thing came out of the box pre-assembled. We literally had to just plug it into the outlet. There are even more advantages which are common to most electric models. You can read up more on these in our Buyer’s Guide article.
Advantages
- Great price for the quality you are getting
- Easy to use
- Comes pre-assembled straight out of the box
- Nice smooth process of smoking
- User-friendly and great for beginners
- Excellent app which has a lot of operations tips and recipes in it
Disadvantages
- Not a lot of volume if you want to make a bigger barbecue
- We encountered some Wifi reception issues
- You will have to clear the front glass often
- Limited temperature range (100 to 275)
Cook Out Pal.com Product Rating:
The Deluxe series of Char-Broil will make anyone’s life easier. Sure, it lacks the diversity a more expensive smoker has, but if you plan to use it every couple of weekends, it won’t really matter. The smoker itself will do all the job for you. It has good heat insulation and produces some of the most gentle smoked flavors we’ve tried, coming from smokers in this price range. We rate it a solid five out of five stars.
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