Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a very experienced smoker. I have owned and used electric, basic propane and wood fired offset smokers for 20 years. I bought this to replace my last propane cabinet smoker which eventually rusted out and the burner assembly was no longer available. I am very happy with this smoker. I'm sorry to say, but most of the negative comments/reviews are the result of user error. For instance, the supposed issue with the smoker not lighting/not staying lit is user error. During assembly, the flame minder tube MUST be seated fully into the burner assembly. This requires using a wrench to tighten the nut fully. It says it right in the instructions. If you just hand tighten it, it will not work and the smoker won't stay lit when you release the knob. If you properly install this part, then the knob only has to be held in for about 30 seconds and then the smoker will stay lit. Temperature control is, as often mentioned, not perfect. But if you monitor the temperature with a probe thermometer at grate level, you just adjust the knob until your probe thermometer registers where you want it. Easy, peasy. On the chip tray: The chip tray is plenty big enough. The key to the chip tray is that you can, and should, put wood chunks, not chips in it. The lid doesn't need to close completely. you can even remove it. It will not affect the operation of the smoker. Using chunks keeps you from having to add wood very often. A tip for getting good smoke at lower temperatures such as 225*F is to set the smoker to a high/max temp until good smoke is being produced, then lower it to your desired cooking temperature. All in all this is an excellent smoker for the money. I would recommend it.