Realcook Vertical 17 Inch Steel Charcoal Smoker, Heavy Duty Round BBQ Grill for Outdoor Cooking, Black

I wanted a good beginner smoker. I have a Cobb cooker, which is really nice, and works wonderful but is very small. I've also done offset smoking on my regular grill, but was ready to up my game to a real smoker.After looking at many different options, I decided to go with a simple vertical charcoal smoker and this one seemed like a good option.I've done 3 smokes so far and have been pretty happy with the results. I've done ribs, turkey breast, salmon, chicken, brats, pork roast, potatoes, sweet potatoes. Lots of experimenting!!The PROS:- I love the 2 access doors. 1 for the fuel and 1 for the second rack. It makes it easy to access these areas.- I love that it easily comes apart. This allows you to carefully lift off the upper parts to access the fuel or second grate, etc.- It has a big water pan which I've used with water and beer. Seems to help keep the meat moist.- It seems to heat well for smoking. With the water pan, you can have a very hot fire and it still stays in the 250 degree range. Without the pan, it needs less fuel to be at 250-275 range.- Comes with a hooks and fitting to hang meat for smoking. I have not tried that feature yet though.The CONS:- It's rather cheaply made. I have no idea of the durability yet, but you get what you pay for. It's not made of the most robust fittings and materials.- You need to assemble it and tweak some things. I had to bend the doors and door handles a bit to fit better and close more tightly.- The sheet metal brackets that hold the grills in place are not good. They do the job, but should be made out of thicker material. They bend easily when cleaning. I'm going to upgrade these to something better because they are way too flimsy.- Ash buildup/airflow . I don't think the lower part has enough space for ash and the airflow seems restricted by the small lower opening/ash bucket. The coals only burn in the center and the ash builds up. I might try modifying this a bit to achieve better results. Raising the coal grate and adding lower vent holes may help.OVERALL: I believe this is a good low-end vertical smoker. I've been doing my smokes with the water pan in place for the first 2 hours. Then I remove it to get a little more heat and let the dripping fall on the coals for added flavor. I just got a 6-sensor meat digital meat thermometer to use for my next smoke. I don't know how accurate the built-in thermometer is. I'm curious how the heat is distributed in the smoker.I don't think this is a smoker you will hand down to your kids or grand kids. I don't think it's that durable. I plan to use mine a lot this summer and keep it clean and maintained, so we'll see. But the materials and fittings are just ok.That said, I wanted something I could get into cheap and learn from. I think this smoker fits the bill perfectly. My family has loved the ribs & turkey breast. Oh so good! My wife also really loved the smoked sweet potatoes. Smokey creamy goodness!!Update!! 2022 and still having fun with this smoker that I have affectionately named R2-BBQ. It's still a great value to get started with a smoker. I drilled a small hole in the side so I could insert a temp probe to monitor the interior temp when cooking.I realized that a firebox would be a nice addition to keep the charcoal/wood chunks in place. I'm going to try that. Overall, the durability has held up. I store it inside and try to keep it clean and it still looks good after 2 years. It even smells good too!!

This is a great smoker! My husband easily assembled it and loves that it can be used as a regular grill as well. The size makes it easy to move around as needed, especially as our deck is on the small side. Highly recommend!

This smoker/grill combo is quite versatile. The different sections clamp together and it can be transported in a SUV, minivan, or pickup. We were able to smoke about 40 lbs. of pork butt/shoulder for pulled pork. We put two big chunks of pork on each grill level, and then rotated them halfway through the cooking process. Everything worked well. We were able to maintain a good temperature, monitored by the gauge. The 2 grill racks are not the sturdiest, as I will probably buy some heavier weight racks just so they don't flex quite as much with 20 lbs on each one. Then again, I won't usually be smoking quite that much meat normally. The lid plus 2 levels of grill & smoker can be removed in order to add more charcoal easily. The access doors worked sufficiently well to get a visual on the meat as well as fire. Everything worked well enough. The metal is NOT quite as heavy duty as the Weber smoker models that are similar (that's why I'm only giving it 4 stars). But, this model offers the option of detaching sections not being used (for fire pit, grill or smoker). This smoker worked well for what we needed. Easy to assemble in my opinion (intuitive, plus the instructions make it fairly clear where things go). I'm pleased with the smoker!

This is a great smoker and grill for the beach.I was a bit hesitant as I always judge a new product purchase by the 1, 2, and 3 star reviews and find a common denominator or complaint.I found assembly time, temp control, and insulation to be top negatives.Assembly took me about 40 minutes. You will need a 7 and 9mm socket and or wrench and Phillips head screwdriver for this.Anytime you build a new grill, you need to burn it in before first cook. So I loaded it with charcoal and got it up to 400 degrees. During this time, I did notice that smoke escaped quite a bit through the seals. However, this is not entirely a negative because they sell high temp smoker tape at the hardware store or even Amazon. I highly recommend you grab a roll and seal the doors and connections. After doing this, you will have a noticeable difference. The seller should consider including a roll as part of the install process.Lastly was temp control. Honestly, it is just a tank of metal. With most grills, you will have temp control problems if you don't put the right amount of wood or briquettes. Each grill is different so you may have to do some trial and error but I was able to get this properly to 275 where I needed it and smoke some meat.Overall, for the price and portability, this is a great smoker and grill. Going to the beach or lake early? Take this and begin smoking when you get there or use it as dual grill or one grill and one fire pit.Another tip too: overtime any grill may have paint flake off and cause rusting. I highly recommend you get some high temp spray paint and spray down scratched areas periodically. If you take care of this grill then it has a chance to last long.

I was skeptical when it arrived because the package was very light. I decided to put it together despite concerns. It went together easily enough, my only complaint here was the different size nuts and bolts were mixed in the same bag. I continued to forge ahead with dreams of smoked meats dancing in my head.The thermometer worked. The smoker held a constant temperature and as you can see see in the pictures plenty of smoke and my pork tenderloins and corn were beautifully bronzed. I am very impressed with this. I also like the versatility of being used as a grill and a fire pit too.