I took the plunge after a Brinkman water smoker burnt up the back side of my house with a grease fire, leaving my ten guests wondering what we were going to eat.
$6000 in damage later, I went out looking for a smoker that would evacuate the grease completely from the smoker. After hours and hours of reading, comparing I decided on a Cookshack unit.
Let me say, Cookshack marketing impressed me, but initially scared the hell out of me cost-wise. As I read through the forums (I've been lurking here for a few months), the value proposition grew to the point that the knowledge here was worth the premium price. I'm a casual smoker, quite a newbie so it was hard to justify the cost - but I'm glad I did.
I went to Cabela's to look at the product, but they only had the black ones, which I wanted stainless, however it gave me the opportunity to really get my face inside of the unit. Holy crap! This thing is built like a tank! I was impressed by the thickness, build quality and the extra special 'made in the usa with non-lead components' feeling it gave me.
So I decided to pull the trigger. Sadly, since they didn't have what I wanted in stock, I had to order. I waited in great anticipation and finally received my 055 unit last week. As I was going through it, I found that it was missing a couple screws, one for the latch and one for the shelf frame. I called CookShack support at 6pm on a Friday night, and was greeted by a very friendly representative (I forget the name, I apologize) and was told it would be handled right away. Four days later, I had a package with the parts I needed!
I got 'screwed'...and I'm happy about it!
Anyone wincing at the price or still kicking tires on the Cookshack - buy it. I am blown away by the quality of the product, the community in the forums and ultimately the customer-first attitude of the staff at Cookshack!
Now that I've seasoned it, I'm planning on trying my first Pork Butt this week - I've been reading Smokin'Okie's guides and am going to give it a whirl. Wish me luck!
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