Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We followed the instructions and all the videos exactly, but it made everything smell and taste like it was in a fire sale. I've smoked meat outside on the grill and know the wonderful scent and taste of real smoked food. This product doesn't come close. It either does nothing (if you smoke meat before you cook it) or it makes it smell and taste like an ashtray. I'm suspicious of all the positive reviews here because it is pretty obvious (also check out the reviews on Williams Sonoma's website). We did several tests including a scientific taste test on bacon - compared pre-cooked-smoked, post-cooked-smoked and un-smoked. The effect was either very subtle (pre-cooked) or ashtray/fire-sale (post-cooked). Here is a video from the president of the manufacturer, Polyscience. [...] Note in his video: 1) He has trouble keeping the device lit 2) He has to smoke the food twice 3) It still comes out "too subtle" - his own words 4) There is no point in using it to smoke food prior to cooking - his words 5) He mentions that "fresh" smoke is important because "stale" smoke will make the food taste "like an ashtray" - his words 6) Smoke escapes from the container into the kitchen (a problem noted by several reviewers here and at WS) All in all, it seemed like a clever idea. I really wanted it to work, but it just doesn't. I'll go back to either using a real smoker, liquid smoke or smoked salt and smoked paprika to get the taste I'm after. It does do a great job of stinking up the kitchen and your clothes. Plus charging $20 for tiny jars of wood chips is a total ripoff. I guess the whole thing is just smoke and mirrors.