New Smoker Review & A True Tale
A couple years back, Sandy bought me an electric smoker for Christmas. It had a safety feature that would not allow it to get hotter than 165 F. And, there was no temperature control. It was either ON or OFF. Now this works great for adding a "smoke" flavor to food items, but it makes it really tough to cook with. It took me 13 hours to smoke salmon.
So what I would do is smoke meats (like ribs for example) for an hour and then finish cooking them on the grill. It worked, but was not ideal.
So I decided to purchase a new smoker (gas this time) that would allow for temperature control and heat in excess of 300 F. My wife was not pleased. She thinks I should have waited until Christmas again - but hey, what about the next four months of prime smoking? Needless to say, I have it.
I ordered the Camp Chef Smoke Vault SMV24 from Amazon. $300 which included shipping. It arrived in about 5 days - damaged. Someone, somewhere had dropped it - which was very easy to discern as the box was broken and taped back together.
I go ahead and assemble the whole thing. The only problem is the front door - it has two dents and is creased across the entire face. Functional, but not pretty. I just paid $300 - I want pretty too.
I called Camp Chef. New door is $80. They recommend calling Amazon. I do - after a very LONG search on the website to find any contact information. And then, I do not even get a phone number - I type my number in and they call me. That bit, however, was very prompt.
I connect immediately with a helpful agent, who's first response was to apologize for the damage. Nice touch (probably part of her training) and not required; I mean it was not her fault directly that the smoker was damaged. She finds my order and I request a new door - everything else is fine. No can do. All she has the option of doing is sending a replacement. And I have to return the old one in its original packaging. Crap.
So I go Johnny Five (disassemble - call back to Short Circuit movie) the damaged smoker and do my best repacking job. I leave it in the garage, as I am told that UPS will pick that one up and deliver another brand new one TOMORROW. Wow, what service!
Sure enough, next day - new smoker and old one gone. Not sure how Amazon did it, but that was awesome! I've never had an issue with anything I have ordered from Amazon before, and I hope not to have one again in the future. But if I do, I trust they will make it right, just like this time. Nothing but high praise for Amazon customer service. Their packing department or UPS shipping? Well, one of them busted the smoker. Not going to point fingers.
Since I already had a dry run / practice putting together the smoker, this one got assembled quickly. In fact I did not have to check the directions even once. It is possible to put this thing together by yourself, but an extra set of hands would have been nice. All told, I got less than 30 minutes in the assembly bit. Now to try it out.
I put a quartered duck in with giblets on the "jerky" rack. This was a store bought duck and not a wild one, so I trimmed the fat. One pan of apple wood chips and 2.5 hours at 225 F - before the storms came. Had to shut down and finish in oven. Not a fair test. But good none the less.
The smoker itself is 24" wide and 16" deep. It has room for 5 racks, but comes with 3. It also has a water pan and a wood chip pan. I must say, Camp Chef gets high marks as well. Once I set the temperature, it held there the entire time. This is a great product. I'm happy with Amazon and Camp Chef. And, I look forward to many more smoked items to come.
Up next is chicken wings, followed closely by ribs. I'm sure elk and deer and salmon are going to be in that box shortly too.
Overall, a nice product that is well made and does exactly as specified. I would buy this again. Thinking I got a pretty good value.
So what I would do is smoke meats (like ribs for example) for an hour and then finish cooking them on the grill. It worked, but was not ideal.
So I decided to purchase a new smoker (gas this time) that would allow for temperature control and heat in excess of 300 F. My wife was not pleased. She thinks I should have waited until Christmas again - but hey, what about the next four months of prime smoking? Needless to say, I have it.
I ordered the Camp Chef Smoke Vault SMV24 from Amazon. $300 which included shipping. It arrived in about 5 days - damaged. Someone, somewhere had dropped it - which was very easy to discern as the box was broken and taped back together.
I go ahead and assemble the whole thing. The only problem is the front door - it has two dents and is creased across the entire face. Functional, but not pretty. I just paid $300 - I want pretty too.
I called Camp Chef. New door is $80. They recommend calling Amazon. I do - after a very LONG search on the website to find any contact information. And then, I do not even get a phone number - I type my number in and they call me. That bit, however, was very prompt.
I connect immediately with a helpful agent, who's first response was to apologize for the damage. Nice touch (probably part of her training) and not required; I mean it was not her fault directly that the smoker was damaged. She finds my order and I request a new door - everything else is fine. No can do. All she has the option of doing is sending a replacement. And I have to return the old one in its original packaging. Crap.
So I go Johnny Five (disassemble - call back to Short Circuit movie) the damaged smoker and do my best repacking job. I leave it in the garage, as I am told that UPS will pick that one up and deliver another brand new one TOMORROW. Wow, what service!
Sure enough, next day - new smoker and old one gone. Not sure how Amazon did it, but that was awesome! I've never had an issue with anything I have ordered from Amazon before, and I hope not to have one again in the future. But if I do, I trust they will make it right, just like this time. Nothing but high praise for Amazon customer service. Their packing department or UPS shipping? Well, one of them busted the smoker. Not going to point fingers.
Since I already had a dry run / practice putting together the smoker, this one got assembled quickly. In fact I did not have to check the directions even once. It is possible to put this thing together by yourself, but an extra set of hands would have been nice. All told, I got less than 30 minutes in the assembly bit. Now to try it out.
I put a quartered duck in with giblets on the "jerky" rack. This was a store bought duck and not a wild one, so I trimmed the fat. One pan of apple wood chips and 2.5 hours at 225 F - before the storms came. Had to shut down and finish in oven. Not a fair test. But good none the less.
The smoker itself is 24" wide and 16" deep. It has room for 5 racks, but comes with 3. It also has a water pan and a wood chip pan. I must say, Camp Chef gets high marks as well. Once I set the temperature, it held there the entire time. This is a great product. I'm happy with Amazon and Camp Chef. And, I look forward to many more smoked items to come.
Up next is chicken wings, followed closely by ribs. I'm sure elk and deer and salmon are going to be in that box shortly too.
Camp Chef Smoke Vault SMV24 - front view.
Sturdy. Well built. Excellent temperature controls.
Inside view. Only 2 racks present and no water pan (inside getting cleaned).
Note vent on top. Each side also has a vent.
Overall, a nice product that is well made and does exactly as specified. I would buy this again. Thinking I got a pretty good value.
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