I just picked up my new SM045 at Fed Ex freight last night (stainless steel grates, cold smoke baffle). Brought it home, assembled it, threw in a chunk of wood, and seasoned it about 8 hours thru the night. This morning I smoked baked beans for 5 hours in a Lodge dutch oven (no lid) and then threw on a spatchock chicken for the family coming over.
I came from a WSM I have had for a couple years and got tired of the aggravation of starting the fire, babying the fire, and all the cleanup. Now I think I'm in "smoker heaven". All I can say is WOW what a GREAT smoker this is. The build quality is superb. The startup and cleanup is super easy. The food I cooked today was perfect and everyone enjoyed it. This little smoker just sits there almost silent, all you hear is a tick from the relay turning the element on and off and it just cooks away with no intervention at all... amazing!!!
I was about to pull the trigger on new SOB water smoker when a friend/ customer of mine who is a certified KCBS judge told me about Cookshack. Since then I have been reading this forum/ studying over the models on the Cookshack website for a couple of months trying to decide which one to purchase. When I narrowed it down I called Karen at Cookshack and she helped me with the final decision. I sent her numerous emails and she answered all my questions promptly. Everything I read about their customer service is true. Outstanding! I was concerned about receiving a damaged unit via UPS (as some on the forum have experienced). Karen shipped my smoker on a pallet via Fed Ex freight and it arrived in perfect condition.
About the forum... I really enjoy reading the forum. You all seem like a great bunch of guys and gals! A big thanks to you Smokin' for all your work on the forum. Looking forward to many years of reading.
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