Camp Chef PG24MZG SmokePro Slide Smoker with Fold Down Front Shelf Wood Pellet Grill, Pack of 1, Black

Absolutely fantastic pellet grill. I've slow cooked, reverse seared, seared and baked on this (even pizza rolls, I'm a heathen). No, it's not perfect, but it is better than I hoped after a lot is research. I intentionally waited to write a review until I've had a few hundred hours on it. I would absolutely buy it again, but here are my pros and cons. Warning, it's a detailed list.Pros:Easy. Learning the controls isn't, but once it's set....it's so easy.Space: OMG, room for miles. Pack and stack based on temp and wellness of your food and you'll be good.Solid. This thing is no joke. It weighs a metric ton and may out last roaches.Retains and maintains heat. This rarely goes more than 5 degrees +/- it's set temp. Which dependant on smoke level is a tough ask. Moreover, this sits less than 6" from my glass slider. Yet I can put my hand behind it. The heat does not outwardly affect it.Forgiving. I've forgotten to go through shut down mode, to empty grease or ashes even to refill pellets on long cooks. It maintains where the user doesn't.Flavor. It does a great job using the pellets and makes minimal waste. This is very apparent in the flavor and smoke rings it makes.Extras. The large hopper, dual probes, placement of handle and wheels, drop down shelf and ability to easily add accessories (though expensive) is awesome.Cons:PID. The controls are barely digital and not exactly intuitive. Once you get the hang of them, you realize you don't. Common functions you'll get fast, but I want to use all it's capabilities easily.No connectivity. Doesn't bother me much, but maybe an app would make the PID less of an issue. I don't mind sitting outside smelling smoke and watching the temp climb when probes.Paint. I've included a pic of the paint peeling on the lower. I always get this on my grills. High heat and paint don't go well together. Easy fix, but after 4 months, it seems a bit soon.Assembly. Instructions are ok, but screw and bolt materials are light...unlike everything else. Stripped a couple screws during install. Nothing major, but as an installer, I'm no novice and that would be tough for a DIYer. Take your time and you should be fine.Kinda con:Searing: Kinda. I say kinda, because with any type of convection, your heat source dictates the hot spot. The fan moves the air, but there is always a hot spot and by default cooler spots. Directly over the pellet pot, especially while using direct heat, is very hot. It will sear, but it's not the best or most even sear and it gets worse as you move out of center. My money steaks are probed, cooked to temp slow and seared on my charcoal grill.Overall, this is a well built machine that will make you happy. Do not hesitate buying this. All grills have pros and cons. This is a great pellet grill for the money and the pros by FAR outweigh my nitpicks. Happy grilling all.

Purchased in August of 2019 - Still LOVE it today and use it in all types of weather!Short review: 5 stars for a smoker, ease of use, the extras and clean up but we don't like louvered drip tray. 1 star for a grill - lack of smoke flavor and messy and grease dripped through the louvered drip tray into the bottom of the smoker box.Our goal was to get a smoker that was easy to use, clean up was simple, and gave a good smoke. If it grilled well it was a bonus but not a necessity.We researched and compared: Traeger, Pitt Boss, Green Mountain, and Camp Chef (CC)We chose the Camp Chef PG24MZG for the ease of cleaning and the dual temperature probes, a front shelf (which is a must) plus the glass view into the pellet bin. Purchased at Amazon for $599.00 + Tax. This model does not come up on the Camp Chef site for models. It must be searched by model number. Only found on Amazon and Camp Chef site but Amazon was cheaper as CC raised its price and is out of stock. There are two top racks measuring 8”x~20 each. They can be extended for a 16"x20" smoking area.The first 5 uses of CC Smoker were with Hickory pellets. 1st with Traeger (I could buy them locally, then with Camp Chef - ordered from Home Depot with free shipping. We've since used Kingsford pellets but prefer the Camp Chef brand for more flavor.1st use was hamburgers on the SG grill function (slide pulled out for direct flame). The grill got into the 400 range and we observed 15 to 20-degree temperature swings. It took approximately 20 minutes to cook 2 burgers. The burgers lacked any smoke flavor - disappointed2nd use - burgers cooked slower - used a 250-degree approach to get more smoke flavor. It took approx. 35-40 minutes. There were no grill marks and there was more smoke flavor but we were still disappointed. We will not cook burgers on the smoker. We don’t want to have to double cook by searing afterward.3rd use - pork butt (small 4 lbs) cooked for 7 hrs. It had a nice smoke flavor and we pulled it at 185 to slice vs. pull.4th use - lower rack beef brisket (5lbs) upper baby back Ribs 3lbs. Cooked on High Smoke for 9 hrs. Pulled brisket at 195. Nice smoke ring and good flavor, ribs were tender and smoke flavor. We observed 15 to 20-degree temperature swings.5th use – 3 racks baby back ribs and 3 lbs. country ribs. We were surprised by the rain and got 1.3” while smoking. Our Camp Chef was near the house but not completely out of the rain and it did GREAT! The temperature stayed consistent, no water got in the pellet box or smoke area. Overall after 10 hrs, the ribs came out great!Over the past 2 yrs, we've filled it up and have smoked 2 15+ lb briskets at the same time and both came out flavorful and moist. All our meat has been very moist and we've smoked pork, beef, and chicken.Our previous smoker is a Weber 22" Smokey Mountain Cooker. We wanted something that would be easier to use and not require as much monitoring and we were willing to sacrifice some smoke flavor for ease of use and cleaning. The ease of use far outweighs any smoke flavor loss, and again, the meat has good smoke flavor.The ash cup is great! The one thing I would change is the louvered drip tray. The burgers dripped on it and into the lower section. The brisket also dripped on it and made a mess in the lower area. We put heavy aluminum foil on it to avoid the grease dripping onto the flame diverter and lower section. We have not seen any difference in the smoke flavor and it is very easy to just remove the dripped on foil and put a new piece on.Overall we HAVE recommended this smoker and absolutely would buy this smoker again.