embo500
Knows what a fatty is.
Hello everyone...I don't post here very often, but I wanted to give a review of my newest acquisition...I had my new Country Smoker CS680 delivered tonight! So far, I really like it!!
Some background to explain why I opted for a pellet pooper...I started out several years ago with a little $60 Brinkmann bullet smoker. Electric, which was great because I didn't have to worry too much about temp. Well, after 3 seasons the element burned out, so I decided to upgrade. I then bought a BSKD and modded it out pretty heavily. It was on this that I learned a lot more of the principles of great BBQ. Controlling temp, how to manipulate a real charcoal fire, effect of draft on the temp, etc.
As much as I liked my BSKD, I got tired of getting up every 2 or 3 hours on an overnight cook to stoke the fire, etc. With two young kids around, I need every second of sleep I can get.
So now, I have upgraded again to my new CS680. I honestly don't think this is a unit I would enjoy as much without having gone through the earlier smokers and learning techniques with the electric and charcoal burners. I think by getting a lot of the core knowledge and "getting my hands dirty" so to speak on the other types of smokers, I have enough knowledge going in to really enjoy the time advantages this will give me over the other smokers I've had and focus on other areas like rubs, sauces, and beverage consumption.
Now, more about the new smoker. I decided on this instead of a Traeger for a couple of reasons. I liked the design of this smoker with the paddle wheel vs an auger. Plus the build of the CS seems a bit "tougher" than the Traeger.
I added the hopper extender, the side rack, and the cover to the total package. I think with the hopper extender, I'll have no problem doing an overnight cook, or getting at least 6 - 8 hours without a reload.
I fired it up tonight, so here is my review...it would probably apply to most any of the Country Smokers:
This smoker looks very nice, but too clean!! I can't wait to get it dirty this weekend. I did the priming tonight. I first opened it up and cleaned out the packing material. The burn box on this is really quite small. Maybe 2" x 3" x 2" tall. I was surprised at this, especially after I saw how much heat this bugger puts out.
Wheeled it out and plugged it in (I know that makes some of you cringe!). I am using Country Boy White Lightning Oak pellets, because my dealer had them very cheap (40 lbs for ~$4 if I remember right).
For those who don't know, this unit cooks with an electric element in the tiny firebox, and uses a continuous fan to blow air into the chamber. This must be how it gets such high temps with such a small fire. The CS has an automated 7 minute startup where the computer controls pretty much everything. You basically hit the start button and turn the temp control to "Preheat". Though the computer does its thing for 7 minutes, I would expect you might be able to turn it to whatever temp you want once it comes up to heat a bit.
I found it took about 7 - 10 minutes to come up to temp. I left it on Preheat for 30 minutes as per the burn-in instructions...it held rock steady at 650 the entire time, save for when I opened the lid to see how it looked. After 30 minutes, I turned it down to "smoke" temp to see how that would go. It took another 7 - 10 minutes to come back down, though I would expect you could speed this greatly if you just left the lid open for 5 minutes.
Anyway, once it got down to temp, it held between 225 - 250 fairly well. I do wish the paddle wheel (or even the fan) was temp controlled instead of timed, but for being timed, it did quite well actually.
Shutdown was really easy as well. Just turn it off. The fan keeps running for 15 minutes to cool down the unit and burn out the remaining pellets. After 20 minutes, it was cool enough to touch any part of the smoker, including the firebox. I took everything apart again to clean it out...after running for the better part of 30 minutes on high and another 15 on smoke, I was left with *maybe* a teaspoon of ash. VERY nice. And the firebox is big enough that it would hold quite a bit...if all you were doing was grilling, you might only have to clean it out every 8 - 10 cooks. Smoking will probably create a bit more ash since it burns so much longer. We'll see. Either way, it's pretty easy to clean up.
Overall, I'm really happy with it. I think I'm going to like this smoker very much not only for long slow smokes, but I plan on using it as my regular grill as well since I can get it up hot enough to sear steaks with no problems at all.
The upsides:
- Holds temp really well. Not much guesswork once you figure out where on the dial the temps fall. While this isn't as much fun as stoking charcoal, it is a lot less of a headache and when the kids are screaming for their dinner, it's one less thing to have to think about.
- Also it is pretty sturdy. This is made out of fairly heavy gauge metal most everywhere.
- It makes sweet blue almost effortlessly!! Smells GREAT!
The downsides:
- I wish the cooking grates were a little heavier duty. They will work fine, but I would prefer something just slightly heavier gauge.
- The side rack is not as well built as I had hoped. I would think you could do a mod yourself and make something you'd be happier with for the price.
- The lid stops are a little flimsy and would benefit from a little higher gauge steel. The lid itself is rock solid though.
The neato:
- It has a hook built in where you can hang a beer can by the tab to catch all the drippings. Pretty smart!
So, there's the review. I notice there isn't a ton of information out there about Country Smokers, so I'm hoping that this post will help anyone who's looking at these.
I can't leave without some pics:
Some background to explain why I opted for a pellet pooper...I started out several years ago with a little $60 Brinkmann bullet smoker. Electric, which was great because I didn't have to worry too much about temp. Well, after 3 seasons the element burned out, so I decided to upgrade. I then bought a BSKD and modded it out pretty heavily. It was on this that I learned a lot more of the principles of great BBQ. Controlling temp, how to manipulate a real charcoal fire, effect of draft on the temp, etc.
As much as I liked my BSKD, I got tired of getting up every 2 or 3 hours on an overnight cook to stoke the fire, etc. With two young kids around, I need every second of sleep I can get.
So now, I have upgraded again to my new CS680. I honestly don't think this is a unit I would enjoy as much without having gone through the earlier smokers and learning techniques with the electric and charcoal burners. I think by getting a lot of the core knowledge and "getting my hands dirty" so to speak on the other types of smokers, I have enough knowledge going in to really enjoy the time advantages this will give me over the other smokers I've had and focus on other areas like rubs, sauces, and beverage consumption.
Now, more about the new smoker. I decided on this instead of a Traeger for a couple of reasons. I liked the design of this smoker with the paddle wheel vs an auger. Plus the build of the CS seems a bit "tougher" than the Traeger.
I added the hopper extender, the side rack, and the cover to the total package. I think with the hopper extender, I'll have no problem doing an overnight cook, or getting at least 6 - 8 hours without a reload.
I fired it up tonight, so here is my review...it would probably apply to most any of the Country Smokers:
This smoker looks very nice, but too clean!! I can't wait to get it dirty this weekend. I did the priming tonight. I first opened it up and cleaned out the packing material. The burn box on this is really quite small. Maybe 2" x 3" x 2" tall. I was surprised at this, especially after I saw how much heat this bugger puts out.
Wheeled it out and plugged it in (I know that makes some of you cringe!). I am using Country Boy White Lightning Oak pellets, because my dealer had them very cheap (40 lbs for ~$4 if I remember right).
For those who don't know, this unit cooks with an electric element in the tiny firebox, and uses a continuous fan to blow air into the chamber. This must be how it gets such high temps with such a small fire. The CS has an automated 7 minute startup where the computer controls pretty much everything. You basically hit the start button and turn the temp control to "Preheat". Though the computer does its thing for 7 minutes, I would expect you might be able to turn it to whatever temp you want once it comes up to heat a bit.
I found it took about 7 - 10 minutes to come up to temp. I left it on Preheat for 30 minutes as per the burn-in instructions...it held rock steady at 650 the entire time, save for when I opened the lid to see how it looked. After 30 minutes, I turned it down to "smoke" temp to see how that would go. It took another 7 - 10 minutes to come back down, though I would expect you could speed this greatly if you just left the lid open for 5 minutes.
Anyway, once it got down to temp, it held between 225 - 250 fairly well. I do wish the paddle wheel (or even the fan) was temp controlled instead of timed, but for being timed, it did quite well actually.
Shutdown was really easy as well. Just turn it off. The fan keeps running for 15 minutes to cool down the unit and burn out the remaining pellets. After 20 minutes, it was cool enough to touch any part of the smoker, including the firebox. I took everything apart again to clean it out...after running for the better part of 30 minutes on high and another 15 on smoke, I was left with *maybe* a teaspoon of ash. VERY nice. And the firebox is big enough that it would hold quite a bit...if all you were doing was grilling, you might only have to clean it out every 8 - 10 cooks. Smoking will probably create a bit more ash since it burns so much longer. We'll see. Either way, it's pretty easy to clean up.
Overall, I'm really happy with it. I think I'm going to like this smoker very much not only for long slow smokes, but I plan on using it as my regular grill as well since I can get it up hot enough to sear steaks with no problems at all.
The upsides:
- Holds temp really well. Not much guesswork once you figure out where on the dial the temps fall. While this isn't as much fun as stoking charcoal, it is a lot less of a headache and when the kids are screaming for their dinner, it's one less thing to have to think about.
- Also it is pretty sturdy. This is made out of fairly heavy gauge metal most everywhere.
- It makes sweet blue almost effortlessly!! Smells GREAT!
The downsides:
- I wish the cooking grates were a little heavier duty. They will work fine, but I would prefer something just slightly heavier gauge.
- The side rack is not as well built as I had hoped. I would think you could do a mod yourself and make something you'd be happier with for the price.
- The lid stops are a little flimsy and would benefit from a little higher gauge steel. The lid itself is rock solid though.
The neato:
- It has a hook built in where you can hang a beer can by the tab to catch all the drippings. Pretty smart!
So, there's the review. I notice there isn't a ton of information out there about Country Smokers, so I'm hoping that this post will help anyone who's looking at these.
I can't leave without some pics:
