Customer Reviews for Pit Barrel Cooker 18.5 in. Classic Vertical Smoker Package

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

My review of the Pit Barrel cooker echoes that of many others: super simple to use with fantastic results. My first cook was 2 whole chickens and 2 slabs of ribs. 2nd cook was a 9 pound brisket (took ~8 hours).. Everything in both cooks came out moist with a nice dose of smoke. Awesome!

I would only change one thing. The package should include the "ash tray" from the onset instead of it being provided as an accessory.

It is very rare that a product delivers as advertised. This thing does. It is amazing, you CAN believe the hype! I’ve never made such amazing food, and can assure you that I will never buy ribs, or wings at restaurant again.

Nice smoker but it becomes annoying when you want to add flavor to your meat and have remove the meat instead of pulling out a stray. Other wise great smoker

The pit barrel cooker is everything they said it would be. An excellent BBQ

Easy to setup, easy to use, and the results are amazing!

Am enjoying this pit. Love how portable and light weight it is.

Sturdy construction. Very easy to set up. Works very well as a smoker and as a grill. You can't go wrong with this Pit Barrel

Excellent product

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

I was so excited to receive the Pit barrel cooker, my first go at it was chicken which turned out great, compeletly done but juicy, completely no hassle cooking

Simple and easy to use food taste delicious, This is an extremely well made product

Easy to assemble and even more easy to cook. Just prep your food, then walk away for the allotted cook time. Eat!

Great smoker and easy to use for novices. I would have had better results my first time just leaving it alone. Very happy with the product.

For most products today the pit barrel is well built. I would recommend to anyone from a person who is looking to buy there first smoker or the seasoned pro. The capacity that this 30 gallon drum can hold is mind blowing. Awesome product highly recommended. Home Depot was great also.

Simple smoker, but extremely high build quality; this thing is built like a tank. Does a good job of maintaining temp of about 275-325 if you follow the instructions. Can hold a lot of meat, too: could probably hang two full briskets in the thing.

Only 1 cook on it but it is everything I expected. Easy to use. Set it and forget it. Easy to clean

Good

Very easy to use I am not a experienced cook with a smoker. This was so simple to use. My husband was very skeptical also because we have always used a grill but I bought it to take to our second home. We were pleasantly surprised at how awesome the ribs turned out. Followed the directions and they were perfect no burn on one side and not cooked on the other. Our next project will be tri tip. The one thing that would be helpful would be for the stand to have wheels on one side since we store in the garage and that would make it easier to move.

This is the best smoker I’ve ever used. I don’t have to add additional coal to any cook, and the temperature stays almost constantly in between 225-250. Not to mention it is extremely easy to transport. Highly recommended

I was shocked! This product is exceptional!

The pit barrel cooker is amazing!

Simple to use, easy to clean makes amazingly moist meat. Highly recommend the pit barrel

This smoker makes fantastic ribs. So easy to use. No need to wrap and finish in the oven. Hanging meat allows even cooking with no hot spots.

Excellent product. Everything I hoped it would be!

Excellent purchase

Still getting the hang of it. The ash pan is sold separately for about $30, which is crazy. I think it’s a necessary part and should be included for the price, which is why I’m not giving it 5 stars. Otherwise it’s awesome

Absolutely Awesome! Does a great pulled pork, ribs and the sausage on it is awesome!

Recommended. I've been using a first-class log smoker for years - and it helps me make world class BBQ. Still, it is a lot of work. Split the logs, build the fire, manage the fire through the day (or evening) and adjust the internal baffles (I have stainless steel plates in mine) to balance the heat as needed. None of this is needed with the PBC. Fill the basket, with charcoal and wood chunks, light the chimney and 15 minutes later I'm ready to put the meat in the smoker. Runs quite a bit hotter than my log smoker (about 275) - which substantially cuts down on the smoke time. All this means that using this smoker is an easy, spur of the moment, thing rather than a major planned event. Is it equal to a top-rank log smoker? No, of course not. But at 10% of the price of a great log smoker and 10% of the effort, you get 90% of the quality. This is a well designed, very well built, product with a great online community. The powder-coated barrel (SWIMBO approved) is a FAR cry from a UDS and the 18.5" size means it looks like a cooking utensil and not a burn barrel. Surprising large capacity and all of the food I have smoked has been terrific. Buy the optional accessories - they are worth it. I have the ash pan, the mini charcoal chimney, and the cover. All very high quality and makes the entire easy process even easier. To be clear: the PBC is a real smoker. FAR FAR superior to anything that uses electricity or propane. In repeated side-by-side tests the PBC beats the Weber Smokey Mountain - the only real competitor in this category - EVERY time. Brilliant, extremely simple, engineering executed and supported brillianty. Highly recommended.