After a lot of research and another less than full filling BBQ experience I decided to website the bullet and get a 3D. So I thought after reading everything I could find I should do my fair share and throw in my 2 cents worth.
I ordered on line after calling and getting a few questions that I thought I had the answer to but just wanted to double check. I ended up talking to Steve and he was very helpful, not pushy and I thought humble in his answers. I can see why people comment highly on his customer service.
It finally got here (on a Monday, ugg) so after dinner and I unpacked it and did the minor assembly. Everything was there and the assembly was intuitive for me (though I have to admit the two steel packing pieces through me for a loop, thanks to those who asked and answered that question already). I then rushed it outside put the 3 smallest chunks of wood included in the wood tray and fired it up for 4 hours of seasoning . I then stood back to really good look look at what I had.
My impression was overall ok, but not the "finest" quality I had expected after all of the research I had done. It was the little things like:
-the welds not being as "pretty" as they could be
-the smoke not only coming out the smoke hole where it's intended to but also at the top of the door near the hinge
-the On and Off labels on the lockable casters being opposite of their labeled intent (locked when the On side is pushed down)
-the electric heating element being cocked to the side
-the plug on the temperature probe is a huge RCA style plug (kind of old school) and not really protected from weather
-the LED display on the temperature controller was impossible to read in the sunlight (I had to shade it with my hand to barely read it)
Once again, these are small things. I bought it to make meat taste great not for it's good looks.
So, the next day at lunch I popped in two Costco chickens to see how this baby works. After reading the info on the virtues of brining I had to do a side by side test and prove it to myself.
I had my wife brine one with some left over turkey brine mix for about 5 hours we then patted it dry and rubbed it in olive oil. The other one put a salty rub on inside and out and put them both on the second from the top grate (front and back), foiled the bottom and the smoke box lid, put in about 4 oz of supplied hickory chunks, set a mini bread pan of water midway on the left side of the smoke box floor, set the temp to 250 and fired it up and went to work. Oh, I also set up the remote thermometer alarm to 165 so my wife could shut it off if they got done before I got home from work.
Well the front (brined) one got done in about 2 hours so my wife left it to cook until the second one got done about 30-40 minutes later and then turned the power off (too complicated to explain to her how to set the temp to 140 and hold til dinner). At that time the front one was about 167 so I was expecting it to be ok. About 3 hours later I got home and put it on the table.
The results confirmed the brine is the way to go. Good flavor (not great but I can work on a better brine recipe and process) and moist. The unbrined chicken was ok, a dryer, but not bad, still had some smokey flavor and the flavor was not as intense. All in all, I'm calling it a success.
Then after dinner came the cleanup... I have never captured that much liquid, there was almost a quart of not fat but gravy/stock! My wife saved it for the soup ( she says the dryer chicken has a second chance as soup!)
So my intitial verdict is...
It works and it's earned a spot on under the eve next to my other BBQs/grills!
Just like any smoker/BBQ/oven you need to figure out the quirks. I like that I will be able to do this in the winter while I'm at work and still be able to enjoy that great BBQ flavor. I can't do that on my other grills that's for sure. Just doing this has given me some other ideas I need to work through and give a try. I'll post another time with those thoughts and results.
See pictures below of the cooker and the cook. It's obvious which one was brined!
