CUISINARTCPG-465 Portable Wood Pellet Grill & Smoker with Digital Controller, 465 sq. inch Cooking Space, 8-in-1 Cooking Capabilities - Smoke, BBQ, Grill, Roast, Braise, Sear, Bake, & Char-Grill

Took a couple hours to put together, or maybe I was just occupied watching a movie while doing the assembly. But it was not easy or quick.The drip pan thing came rusted, totally a cosmetic issue. I brought it up to Amazon and they gave me partial refund. I emailed Cuisinart and they sent me the replacement parts free of charge, too! Winning 🏆The inner probe is about 25° lower than what it is inside. The meat probe is accurate. I have a thermoworks smoke that I use to keep a remote eye on the grill temp and meat temps, and every cook has been a success. No issues with the pellet hopper or anything. I haven't gone any hotter than about 275°, so I can't speak for how this works as a grill, but as a smoker it's good! Briskets, pork shoulders, pork loins, pork belly, ribeye roasts, burgers, wings, and ribs!My only complaint isn't the smoker's fault, I just wish it was a little bigger. I've fit a 17# brisket in it with no room to spare. You might be able to get 2 pork shoulders in if you're lucky. If you need more smoke flavor, buy a smoke tube to toss in with your cooks.Overall, it's a great entry pellet smoker. Better deal than those overpriced brands.

The first time I used this was to smoke a chicken roaster low and slow and it produced a beautiful smoke ring. Taste had a mild sweet smoke. My wife is a NYC gal who married what she calls her Southern Gent. Namely me. So I love my smoked meats. She likes only a mild smoke flavor. Apple and Cherry woods are the trick. I store the wood pellets in some great 5 gal buckets found here: https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Tuff-Container-Airtight-Freshness/dp/B0BFRW1R28?ref_=ast_sto_dp I have found that Traeger Grills 100% All-Natural Wood Pellets for Smokers and Pellet Grills work great in this. Yesterday I smoked a medium sized pork loin using Apple Pellets. Set the temp to 180 and monitored the oven temp to fluctuate between 210 and 250 using my ThermoPro TP20 500FT Wireless Meat Thermometer with Dual Meat Probe found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GE77QT0?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 Now would be a good time to point out, just like many other reviewers have stated. The temperature on the display for the oven temp is way off. I knew this going into this. This is a common problem with smokers I have had. I have always monitored both the meat temps and oven temps using a dual probe thermometer. It took about 3.5 hours to cook the pork loin. For those who are curious, I cooked mine til it read 150 degrees F. Let it rest 10 min prior to slicing. As you can see, it was super moist! I have found that running the smoker for 3.5 to 4 hours will use about 1/2 of the pellets in reservoir when started full. As others have noted, I wrapped the stainless steel smoke deflector plate with foil for ease of cleaning. The drip cup is very easy to clean. Dawn and hot water. I spray the grill with cooking spray made for BBQ grills. I also purchased the Cuisinart CGC-4256 Portable Pellet Grill Cover, 256 sq.in (Cover fits The CPG-256) found here: https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CGC-4256-Portable-Pellet-CPG-256/dp/B09WX9S7GN/ref=pd_bxgy_d_sccl_2/137-5249916-2199929?pd_rd_w=TXQOE&content-id=amzn1.sym.101c7dca-f8ef-4330-838b-ed6e9ebb9e52&pf_rd_p=101c7dca-f8ef-4330-838b-ed6e9ebb9e52&pf_rd_r=V1ACWP67GJK7ZKA1ZE34&pd_rd_wg=Kf6dB&pd_rd_r=94f6ed56-acf7-495a-ba07-b66416cfe518&pd_rd_i=B09WX9S7GN&th=1 This cover is great btw.

It destroyed itself on first use and Cuisinart would not honor their warrantySee the attached picture. I followed all the instructions precisely but the first time I tried to cook something, the fire burned all the way up the auger and into the pellet hopper, ruining the mechanism. The melted plastic bushing you see in the picture makes it so that the auger assembly can no longer be disassembled through non-destructive means.The ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING part, however, was trying to get customer service to honor their warranty. I sent a first email on 26-FEB-2023 explaining what had happened, with pictures of the damage and proof of purchase. CS then hassled me for more pictures and said that certain parts couldn't be replaced, I kept replying with everything they asked until 23-MAR when I decided it was a lost cause to speak to them any longer. In that email I made it clear I was not interested in further correspondence, said the words "Simply send the parts you're willing to send" and then stopped replying. I never received any replacement parts.Now I've crudely converted it into a charcoal grill. It works poorly and probably won't last. The fact that I had to waste so much time disassembling it and sending picture after picture to some CS worker and got nothing to show for it is infuriating. I WILL NEVER AGAIN MAKE THE MISTAKE OF BEING A CUISINART CUSTOMER

What a great little smoker this has turned out to be! Ive used it non stop since buying and travelled everywhere with it, easy to put together and use, the temp does swing wildly sometimes but ive cooked briskets, pork shoulders ribs wings and allsorts on there

Small and easy to use. Sits great on a table, and produces quality meats.