Camp Chef Smoke Vault - Vertical, Propane Meat Smoker for Outdoor Cooking of Meat, Pies & More - 150°F to 350°F Range - 18"

Love this smoker. Small enough for easy clean up.

If I could've chosen 4 1/2 stars I would have.I got this a couple of weeks ago and so far so good. For the most part it is quite easy to keep temps regulated. However I've had the flame go out a handful of times in the three times I've used it. I've smoked some jerky and a tri-tip roast. A two door set up like a Masterbuilt also may have been nice to be able to check wood and flame without losing smoker temps. Made some salmon candy yesterday with a tri-fold plywood wind break around it, yet it still blew out twice while set on medium. I find it odd too that the gas valve when at its lowest setting reads halfway between medium and low according to the indicator arrow.I've called Camp Chef with questions a couple of times and their customer service is very good.I have installed a needle valve to be sure I can keep low temps once the weather turns warmer. I've not needed it so far as I've been smoking low and the temps have been in the 20°-25° range.It is a Bayou classic valve and I had my local lumberyard press fit the hose with brass ferrules that I use on my compressor hoses. I can dial it down very low, but as the larger flames are blowing out, I am not sure the needle valve will ever come into play. I just wanted the option for very low.I also made a skid for it that ties all the legs together. I have a gravel drive and this makes it easy to put under roof once it cools without having to lift it. I can grab one of the handles to slide it along and it moves well as a unit with the legs secured together.I love the wood tray and am glad to say chunks work very well in it. Easy to clean. While I've done a lot of smoking on a charcoal smoker, this is new to me. I am a very savvy shopper and did exhaustive research into buying this smoker. Next up - a 14# belly will be turned into bacon soon in this smoker.

Got my 18" Smoke Vault this weekend. Very easy to assemble by yourself with basic hand tools. I think I had the entire thing together in less than 20 minutes. Seasoned it with some hickory wood for about an hour at 350 degrees and then brought the temp down to start building that nice smoke layer inside the smoker. Did a trial run yesterday with it and did a 3.5lb beef tenderloin smoked for about 2 hours to hit a medium rare internal temp of about 135-140. Was around 36 degrees out and windy so I did notice the wind getting into the side vents would cause temp to change a bit but I had no issues keeping it between 225-250 degrees. You can drive yourself insane if you try to keep hitting target temps within a few degrees. I plan to do a 5lb leg of lamb for Easter in it as well over some cherry wood.The GOOD: Easy to assemble, very portable for moving around or bringing somewhere (this is what I was after; sold my brinkmann trailmaster as it was too big to lug back and forth to my in laws weekend house); Holds good temp range; SUPER EASY to clean! Just take the rack out thorw it in the dishwasher and you are done! Same with the water pan.The NOT SO GOOD: The vents on the bottom still have a fairly large opening, even in the fully closed position (about 3/4" to 1" opening) This caused a little issue with the cold outside temps I had and wind during this last cook. I am going to try carefully bending the inside tab on the vents to allow them to be closed all the way. The temp gauge on the door is pretty much useless. I mean it will tell you when its hot and thats about it. I used my Maverick ET732 temp probe on the rack where I was cooking and had very good control. There is some smoke that leaks out around the door. Not a real big issue, I actually have some high temp gasket material I am going to try installing on the door to minimize the gap.I wanted to test the temp gauge from the door, so i actually took a pot of water and brought it to a boil. I checked it with my ET732 temp probe and it read a steady 212 degrees. The temp gauge from the door was about 25-30 degrees too high. One thing to also consider is the door temp probe is only in to the cooking chamber about 2" where as your meats will be in the center above the water pan, which is acting as a diffuser so you will have a lower temp in the center than on the outsides. I saw a difference of just over 300 degrees on the door temp probe when my ET732 probe was reading 250 on the center of the rack I was using. Again not a big deal, just something to take into consideration. My experience has been no smoker is perfect out of the box, and everyones different cooking styles will change how you use it. I think part of the fun is trying to find ways to improve it to better your results of what ever it is your cooking.