Customer Reviews

Brinkmann Charcoal Smoker (810-5501-0)

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I own this smoker. It comes with a 15-inch charcoal bowl that has no holes in the bottom. Using it as is, the charcoal smothers in its own ashes in a couple of hours and it was hard to keep the temparture above 200-degrees. I modified the charcoal bowl by drilling holes in the bottom and buying a 14-inch grate (the charcoal grate from a Weber Smokey Joe) to hold the charcoal off the bottom of the bowl. The smoker now works as advertised. A bowl full of charcoal (about 5-lbs) will burn for about 4-hours and keep a steady 220-250 degrees. The smoker has two large racks, allowing you to smoke up to 50-lbs of meat. Operate it with the air vents open about 1/4 to 1/2 open to maintain the needed 220-250 degree smoking temperatures. Overall it's a good smoker, but for a little more, you can get a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker and it works fine right out of the box.

During the seasoning process, I couldn't keep the temp up close to 200 degrees. So, I took a drill to the charcoal pan, crafted a little grate for the charcoal to sit on, and now I am able to keep higher temps, although not as much as I'd like.

I imagine if it were summer time, I could get a better temp out of it, but it is currently around 50 degrees outside. Summer time this will be a hot item (literally), but for now I smoke for flavor, and finish the food off on the grill to raise temps to safe level.

We just bought the Brinkmann Charcoal Smoker. Very disappointed at the lack of "how to" info that came with it. I don't even see where I can buy a book from Brinkmann. I also think it should have have come with a cover. (it didn't).