Great charcoal grille for a very low price

I purchased this Brinkmann smoker at Ames Dept. store two years ago for $29.95 and I have been very happy with it for barbequing, but not as a smoker.

The smoker has three levels for cooking. The top level (coals very close to cooking grid) is for searing food like steaks and fish. The second level (further away from cooking grid) is good for regular barbequing. The third or bottom level is used for slow-smoking food.

I followed the directions for smoking and was very dissatisfied with the results. I filled the pan with charcoal and added starter fuel. After the coals where burning properly, I added boiling water to the water pan that sets on top of the charcoal.

The grille never got hot enough to slow-cook the food (5½ to 6 hrs) with the cover on. I removed the temperature gauge and inserted a standard oven gauge to monitor the temperature. The temperature would range between 160 to 200 degrees, which is not hot enough to cook food. The meat I was cooking never reached an internal temperature of more than 120 degrees as checked with an accurate food thermometer.

Per the instructions, I filled the pan with charcoal and added starter fuel. After the coals where burning hot, I added boiling water to the water pan that sets on top of the charcoal and it never reached a safe cooking temperature. However, the water did boil.

Brinkmann does offer an electric burner that can be substituted for charcoal but I have my doubts it would smoke meat any better than charcoal.