Oklahoma Joe's Getting Started with Charcoal Smoking

you get what you pay for

ive been using this smoker since oct 2020, it is my first offset. i have made some pretty good bbq on it, as I'm still learning the world of offset smoking. Heres a few things about this smoker. You are getting what you pay for. The metal is thin, so it easily warps, especially in the firebox area. During the first burn through and seasoning fire, there were significant gaps in the cook chamber lid and firebox lid. Get ready to buy gasket sealers, which is no bid deal. But the warps in the metal...

Honest Opinion

Just purchased a week ago. I owned a Oklahoma Joes Bandera smoker. Absolutely loved it. I’m gonna try this offset this time. I wore the other one out. It appears to be built better than the other brands. Thicker steel and welded hinges. I like the sturdy wagon style wheels. I feel it should’ve come with sturdier fire grates in the firebox. I bought a fireplace grate to use so I don’t have the same issue as the other smoker. There is no flame arrester between the firebox and cooking area like the...

Be ready to rebuild this smoker...

This smoker is as USELESS as the Hinesville manager. After purchase I assembled the smoker only to find out the lid will not close flush. So every bit of smoker easily escapes. I started first calling Lowe's in Hinesville 3 different times. They would not exchange or refund my money. As I said the manager is useless, would not return my calls. I contacted Oklahoma Joe's and they sent me a new lid which was even a worse fit then the first one. Now their grand plan is to send me a gasket that I'm...

Torn

I bought this product because I seen some videos of how well you can smoke meat on this grill, and I must say I’m torn because I actually love this grill but, the quality is not quite what I expected. I followed all the directions about how to season and take care of grill to insure the longevity of the smoker but not even a week of using it the smoke box started to blister and chip and I thought that it was something that I was doing wrong but, now I see other people complaining about the same ...

Look somewhere else

I bought this grill in August of 2021 and unfortunately, while moving it today the welds holding one of the wheels broke. Over the year and half I owned this grill I had a reoccuring number of issues. It started with he name plate being broken on the grill lid being broken off and not capable of being replaced. Then over the next few months, I would begin to lose bolts that held the firebox to the cooking chamber. To make matters worse, the blots that hold the two halves of the firebox together ...

Third summer down, no real issues

So I moved to an offset with a competitor's model... which lasted 3 months. It fell apart. Keep in mind, a wheel form this thing weighs about as much. Now on to this one. Paint has melted off the bottom of the firebox pretty early on, but I know exactly how that happened. I let the fire get a little out of control while setting up for a smoke. MY fault for putting too much coal in it like that. Other than that no issues. Over the years I've added a few OK Joe's accessories that h...

Great upgrade from other brand

I stepped away from another brand offset smoker and won't be going back. I recently purchased the Oklahoma Joe's Highland Offset Smoker from a big box store. After having to load the smoker from the cart to my truck by myself, I was still able to put this heavy smoker together. Just unboxing was enough to show me the upgrade in quality from the previous brand. I instantly installed the gasket kit after wiping down the areas with alcohol for best adhesion and let it sit for two days in the sun wi...

My best and favorite smoker

I bought this as my first smoker about 5 years ago. I had never smoked with anything like this before that and man have I come along way with the help of this awesome grill. It is heavy duty in my opinion, big wheels to easy to move if needed, nice handles so I don't ever have to worry about burning my hands opening the grill. I have mastered the art of smoking according to my family and quite a few people at my cafe I cook for. My wife loves brisket so I took it on personally to make that my sp...

Not terrible, Not amazing

I'm a professional chef and I've made some delicious food with the highland. I taught myself how to smoke using it. But it has issues. A lot of them. The materials are low quality and the parts are poorly fitting. I'm assuming they're using some of the cheapest steel they can get their hands on. Not durable. The bottom grate has broken off from the legs and I need to prop the whole thing on blocks now. It leaks terribly and temperature control is very difficult. I need to check the fire every 15...

Great smoker but:

I have had this grill for a few years now and it works fine, I don't have most of the issues other people are complaining about. However I have one issue that bothers me greatly, the poor application of the paint inside the smoker, particularly the lid. When I heated it up really high, the paint inside the lid began to run, not good. It has run every where. I have tried brushing it off and grinding it off. I am slowly making progress. I know powder coating is more expensive but I also know it is...