Ratings & Reviews for Char-Griller Gravity Fed 980 Charcoal Grill 38-in W Red Barrel Charcoal Grill

Poor structure | great tube, stack, and tech

The wheels and structure base were all too flimsy. If you’re looking for a great charcoal that you never roll around, this might work great for you. I wasn’t a fan though. I went with the Masterbuilt instead, which is super sturdy.

Upsetting purchase

It took me a little bit to figure out how this grill worked and once I did it worked well on the first cook. Did a rib rack for about 5 hours and the temperature was held steady the entire time. With that said it has seriously degraded after two cooks. The silicone gasket has cracked and almost completely chipped off of the fire box…..the entire fire box. The flap that was supposed to protect the fan has warped to a point I was getting constant faults and the fan shutting off completely making i...

Not happy

BBQ did not work upon arrival. Needed a new control panel, notified company on May 31. Said it would take 21 days to process request. It's June 30th and we still haven't received it. Emailed company several times with no response. Today we will be returning it to Lowes.

pleasantly suprised

had my reservations about this purchase, first thing I cooked on it was some chicken thighs, I was pretty impressed with how quickly the temperature climbed to 350, the following weekend I smoked a brisket, temp stayed around 200 for 12hrs before I had to add more charcoal, then quickly raised temp to 400 to achieve bark, brisket was amazing, no longer have any reservations. this grill is pretty awesome!!

Best Grill I Have ever had or used.

Used this grill for the first time yesterday June 18 2023. I cooked 18 chicken drumsticks with Barbecue sauce and a 2" thick Rib Eye at the same time. The steak was so moist and tender you could literally cut it with a folk. The chicken was extremely tasteful and everyone simply raved about it. I consider this to be the Super Grill of all grills and I own 7 others. Highly recommend this grill if you like working with charcoal and wood chips or if you trully want a good taste to your food.

Burnt its self up

Quit working after first use

"Set it & Forget it"

Love using this grill ! Fill it with lump coal - light it up - set the temperature and walk away. Keeps the temp spot on and no more grease dripping down onto the coals causing a fire. Use it all the time with the meater+ meat probe to keep track of the internal temp of the meat. Makes smoking/grilling a pleasure.

Customer service is the worst

This is a great smoker. No doubt about it. Unfortunately, getting replacement parts from Char-griller is nearly impossible. I have been waiting for over two months for parts that are supposedly in stock. I would not buy again.

Average when it works, but often fails mid-cook

Wanted to love this. Waited until this came out due to all the issues with the Masterbuilt gravity series hoping Char-Griller was watching the fall-out. So, bought it as soon as it arrived at Lowe’s. I’ve had it going into the 3rd grilling season. I’ve had to replace the following: - Primary temp sensor - Fan wiring, two times (sigh) - Fan - Fan air-flow flap - Meat probes failed within the first 2 months, replaced with 3rd party - Power adapter failed first month, replaced with 3rd party ...

Requires Modifications

Received my 980 for Father's Day in 2022. The "shield" around the charcoal hopper was damaged. Lowe's was VERY good about giving us some money back for the damage. The fan box is to close to the charcoal hopper. The flap between the hopper and fan is rubber and will become warped. The warped flap will cause the temperature within the smoker to vary greatly. When trying to cook smoke "low and slow", it is nearly impossible to do. There is a modification that can be bought to move the fan box back...

Broken in 2 months

The first one was apparently so dented Lowes didn't even try to deliver it. Second one, the fan is dead after 2 months rendering the entire thing useless. Both of these (massive dents and broken fans) are common problems if you read reviews. The temperature gauge is also way off, sometimes by almost 100 degrees, so I have to use my own ambient temperature probe. When the grill worked and with my own probe I did get great results. So they get a second star for that.