Pit Boss 3 Series Digital Electric Vertical Smoker in Silver Hammertone

I bought this smoker for my husband for his birthday. He has used it a couple of times now and the food that comes out has been great! He told me that figuring out exactly how to use the Set/Act - Temp - Time functions took a little time to understand, but all in all this is the best smoker he has ever used.*side note- the door on the smoker was fairly dented upon unboxing everything. He contacted Dansons (the manufacturer of PittBoss grills) and informed them of the issue. After emailing them a couple photos of the door they quickly sent him an email saying they are sending him a new door replacement. That new door has not arrived as of yet, however, we are very convinced that they will live up to their word on the matter.

JUST A REPLACEMENT FOR THE SMOKER I WORE OUT LOL

Overview:The smoker was great, until is stopped working after just 1 completed smoke and under 45 days.Temperatures:It reached temperature quickly, and it maintained a very steady temperature throughout the smoke. The temperature provided by the built-in probe seemed accurate (for the location of the probe). I used a ThermoWorks 4-channel Wi-Fi enabled temperature gauge for additional information, and there was about a 15 degree difference between the Pit Boss probe reading and the very accurate ThermoWorks probe reading which was located below the first cooking grate. That is a reasonable difference though. The Pit Boss probe is rather close to the heating element. If I placed the ThermoWorks probe on the top shelf, then I was getting about a 30-40 degree difference which isn't terrible. Just keep it in mind.Smoke Production:The smoke production was great. It has a nice sized bin for adding wood chips, and the process is quick and easy to do without having to open the main door. There is still a temp drop when changing the chips, but it was much smaller than opening the door, and the temperature returned to normal quickly using the "Smoke" button which cycles on the heating element for 20 minutes.Durability:My real problem, however, is that it just stopped working. I bought it Feb 11, 2023, and I completed my first smoke with it 3 weeks later (Separated Brisket Flat & Point + Beef Ribs). Last weekend (Mar 18, 2023), I tried to use it again to smoke chicken thighs. It would reach 200 degrees while the "smoke" option was enabled, but would not retain temperature after that. I was able to salvage the meat by transferring them to my oven to finish cooking, but the smoker, however, is now a paper weight. It can no longer be used. It's a shame... I loved the smoker. It's not the best smoker you can get. It's not going to produce competition level control. What it did, was produce quite good BBQ with very little effort. That is exactly what I wanted, and exactly why I bought it.I had gotten a warning from a friend of mine shortly after I bought it to be very careful about it getting wet. He'd had the same model, and his did not last long either. I live in southern California (we don't really get rain here), but I kept it inside of my detached garage just to be safe. It was kept there the entire time I owned it unless it was being used, and the only 2 days I used it the weather was perfect. I've seen others mention trouble trying to return this smoker, but we shall see what my experience is like. I will speak with customer service, and I will update this review accordingly.

What’s great:- The 1600W element in this smoker vs 400/800 on the other brands gives it reserve power and extended cooking/usage range. This is one of the very few smokers that will run the full range of temps. It will do cold smoking for cheese and yet run up to 350+. ( Most smokers only go to 165 or 285) I don’t know I’ll ever cold smoke but the high temp ability is a game changer for brazing meat prior to smoking, baking pizzas, doubling as an oven at the holidays or just saving the day when low temp smoke is taking way longer than expected.-Duel meat thermometers mean I can do two different cuts of meat at once without worry. I’e I can do chicken for lunch and a pork but for dinner in the same session.-The wheeled base on this unit makes it Super EASY to move to a cooking location. The unit would be heavy (and set-up the task de-motivating) if it didn’t have them. The legs also keep everything at a nice working height.-Controls and display are simple and adequate once you figure them out.-Racks, rack hangers, water dish and wood chip tray are all porcelain coated. This makes clean=up much easier.-Interior rack dimensions are slightly bigger than it’s competitors. Nice for doing ribs or chickens side by side.-The window is a nice feature as you can watch your progress without opening the door and letting the heat out. It’s not hard to clean either.Love the window. It makes the process all that much more interesting and allows me to watch the process without opening the door. The window cleans up easier than I thought too.-The chip tray and water trays are large enough that I can refill them only every 2.5 hrs ( If I use wood pellets vs chips.) You don’t need to open the door to reload pellets either.- Set-up was not hard and there were no missing parts. Instructions are decent. It took about 90 min from start to finish. ( Hint : Don’t tighten the leg screws until the very end.)-Full 5 yr warranty! There isn't allot to give out but it's comforting anyway.What’s not so great:-I’m not sure I trust the temp readouts. The sensor is on the bottom rear near the elements but the generic analog smoker thermometer I added to replace the PitBoss badge in the top, front of the glass door, reads a full 10% lower on average. (If anything, I would have thought the temp would be higher near the top.,) More experimentation is needed to figure which is correct. Meanwhile, I’m adding 10% to my cooking temp inputs.-Insulation on this unit is just "OK". I’m sure it’s fine for general smoking use or higher temp use in warmer weather but I was unable to get it past 290 deg in a 40 deg draft free garage during a 2 HR pre-heat. It wasn’t until I covered the entire unit with a moving blanket that I could get it to reach it’s max programmed 350 setting. ( I’ve since remedied this by making an insulated cover to use in cold weather.)- Given the units marginal high temp , cold weather performance, the company should offer an optional insulated cover for use while cooking. I ended up making my own from the shipping box , some foil insulation ,duct tape and Velcro. It works (allot) better than it looks but a commercial option would have been best IMHO. I figure the cover is good to store the unit in as well to keep it clean /dent free.Summary: I’ve only used it a few times but I have no regrets with picking this model. It’s not perfect but I do believe it’s more versatile and has more usable features than the other brand. It was a good value here on Amazon too. P.s. The food comes out AMAZING!

It is really nice but has a dint in the bottom middle back and the boxes and foam was beat up. It looks like the shipper dropped it