A complete review of the Char-Broil Deluxe Smoker (amzn.to/3anxcdd) including unboxing and testing by Smoking Meat Geeks. Read our full testing review here: smokingmeatgeeks.com/charbroi....
In reviewing one of the best smokers for beginners we reached out to Char-Broil to find out which one of their entry level smokers would be best suited for a newbie. We selected the Deluxe Digital Electric Smoker (17202004-A1) to review because of it’s digital thermostat and wireless remote. The key things we look for in considering the “Best Smoker for a Beginner” are price point, simplicity of use, and of course, the final outcome it produces.
Electric smokers are not our favorite style of smoker, however, they do lend themselves to the set-it-and-forget-it approach. The art of smoking meat is dependent on the ability to maintain a constant ambient temperature for extended durations, this is the biggest challenge for beginners when smoking on charcoal smokers. The learning curve associated with charcoal smokers are offset through the digitally controlled thermostat system featured on electric smokers.
In this video we unbox the smoker and explain the parts, assembly, features and put it to the test. When we test the smoker we are looking to see how well it maintains the set temperature, and how accurate it is. We do this by smoking a prime rib roast for 3 hours at 275°F. Throughout this time we discover that the internal meat probe that comes with the smoker seems to be off by about 5°F, and that the ambient temperature of the smoker runs about 15°F hotter than whatever you set the thermostat to. It also should be noted that this smoker has an automatic “dormant mode” which is engaged whenever the meat probe reaches temperature or the cook time is reached. This means the smoker will automatically set itself to 120°F. The only indication that this has happened is faint beeping from the smoker/remote. It would be much better if the smoker/remote displayed the ambient temperature of the grill. With that being said, we recommend purchasing meat thermometer with an ambient probe which you can leave in the smoker throughout your cook to obtain real-time readings of the smoker’s ambient temperature. Additionally, we strongly advise spending 10 minutes to read through the three pages of the manual which explain how the smoker works when setting the thermostat to cook by time or the internal meat temperature (as a general rule of thumb: always cook by temperature and never by time). This is the only way to offset the lack of how well the smoker communicates what its doing throughout the cooking process.
Here’s a summary of the pros and cons of Char-Broil’s Deluxe Digital Electric Smoker as they relate to a person looking for a smoker that is easy to use to begin their journey of smoking delicious meats:
Pros
- Digital thermostat system
- Affordable price point
- Wireless remote with complete controls and alarm
- Comes with an internally integrated meat thermometer probe
- Lightweight (50 lbs)
- Glass window
- Internal light
Cons
- Poor User Interface / User Interface (UI/UX) - digital display does not communicate the internal ambient temperature of the smoker
- Overall quality is mediocre but in-line with other smokers in its price range
- Lack of UI/UX requires new users to read through three pages of the manual to understand how the smoker works prior to use
- Alarm is not nearly loud enough (which is the only indication to the user that the smoker has reached target temperature /time)
- Automatic temperature reducing features which automatically set the smoker’s ambient temperature to 120F when the meat reaches temperature or when the set time has been reached, are more more problematic than helpful as the key indication of this is the faint sounding alarm beeps
- Must cook by either temperature or time, but not both
28 апр 2019
