December 20th, 2011 
tonylee23 Brinkmann 852-7080-9 Gourmet Charcoal Smoker and Grill with Vinyl Cover, Green
2 chrome-plated steel cooking grills Can hold up to 50 pounds of food
Front-hinged door, porcelain -coated steel water pan, Aluminized-steel charcoal pan
Stay-cool wooden handles for safe transport; vinyl cover included
Measures 17 by 17 by 35 inches, 1-year limited warranty
The Gourmet Charcoal is our top-of-the-line double grill charcoal smoker water. It Has Two chrome plated steel cooking grills for a 50 pound cooking capacity. The smoker body lifts off the base for easy access to year extra-large charcoal pan, and allow for quick and aussi easy conversion to a waist high barbeque grill. A heat indicator in the lid Eliminate guesswork. Features include porcelain coated steel water pan, front hinged door for easy access to water and charcoal pans, and wooden handle
List Price: $ 109.95
Price: [wpramaprice asin = "B0002XK0IC"]
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Now I really like this smoker!! (WAS: Buyer beware: Brinkman),
I am updating my original review and upgrading this product from 2 stars to FOUR STARS. The reason for the change is that I got the right charcoal pan from the manufacturer, and now it works much better.
Below is my original review of the smoker–to summarize, it came without two of the pans it was supposed to have, and it didn’t cook very well.
After posting my orignal review, I decided to drill 6 or 8 air holes in the original hole-less charcoal pan, in hopes that the coals would burn better. I wasn’t too thrilled with the result.
Now, the manufacturer has sent me the missing charcoal pan and ash pan, and I have used the smoker once more–I cooked a batch of beef that turned out very moist, tender, and tasty. Having the one hole in the middle of the charcoal pan, as the pan they sent me has, seems to be the trick–the coals burned pretty well, keeping the middle rack around 250-270 degrees F with no water pan (Using the water pan seems to keep the temperature down too low). The built-in thermometer reads in error about 50 degrees too cool (I checked it against the portable oven thermometer I normally keep in the electric oven).
With the right charcoal pan, I am happy with my Brinkmann smoker! I hope the company gets these cookers out the door with the correct charcoal pan, because when it is set up correctly, it is exactly what it ought to be– a versatile, competent, straightforward hot smoker for slow cooking practically any piece of meat to perfection.
————————-Original review——————————————-
I bought a large Brinkman charcoal/water smoker the day before the recent holiday weekend. The instructions refer to an ‘ash pan’ and a ‘charcoal pan’ and a ‘water pan’. My smoker came with what amounts to two water pans, and no charcoal or pan or ash pan.
I think the Brinkman smoker’s original design (not what they’re now putting in the box) was a tried-and-true design for backyard barbequeing. In fact, 15 years ago I owned a Smokey Joe charcoal/water smoker that could have been the prototype for the Brinkman (large cylindrical smoker with charcoal and water pan and two racks). I wouldn’t mind owning another Smokey Joe. Like the Smokey Joe, Brinkman’s original design features a couple of porcelain-coated racks sitting above a porcelain-coated pan of water. Then the water pan sits above a porcelain-coated charcoal pan that has a hole in the bottom of it. The hole is important! It lets the rising heat of the charcoal draw fresh air into the fire. The hole also let ash fall out from the charcoal pan into the ash pan, which is waiting there to catch them, just below the charcoal pan. Smokey Joe and Brinkman are nearly identical in all respects of design, or I should say that the Brinkman owner manual describes something very similar to Smokey Joe.
Unfortunately, Brinkman did not give us a charcoal pan with a hole in it. They put a white sticker over the picture of the pan in the manual. Once they decided not to put a hole in the charcoal pan, I guess they decided we wouldn’t have much use for an ash pan, either. There is no ash pan in my Brinkman Smoker box.
I faxed a request to Brinkman, asking for the missing pans, and scribbled a sympathetic note on the fax asking if they had supplier problems. They didn’t respond after 4 business days (they promise a two-day response time). So, I googled ‘Brinkman smoker’ and read other owners’ comments about the pans that are supposed to, but don’t, come with the brinkman. One guy on a blog says he heard that Brinkman had liability issues with the pans because of Brinkman owners’ decks catching on fire when owners wisely held their barbeques (on) wooden ground. The coals dropped out of the pan and ignited their decks!
But who knows, maybe the truth is something else, like maybe Brinkman infringed on somebody’s patented design for a charcoal/water smoker. Gee, what a rip-off to still be selling the design and not even giving buyers the hardware or the means to make it work.
So anyway, I used the Brinkman Smoker for a meal during Labor Day weekend, It was pretty rough trying to get the coals to burn evenly. I started to drill a big hole or two in the pan, but then recalled the fate of my Smokey Joe–it rusted out. Drilling holes would leave the pan with no protective porcelain around the edge of the holes. Drilling would initiate the rot in the charcoal pan. So I used it as bought, with the Brinkman charcoal/water smoker burning charcoal in a pan with no fresh air inlets under the fire. The charcoal does burns (start it in a charcoal chimney) but does not burn well for long, because the ahses accumulate in the pan and tend to smother the charcoal. I found live coals in the ashes of the charcoal pan two days after I smoked the meal! I almost set my yard on fire by…
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|Still Smokin’,
Having created a Thanksgiving tradition spanning about four Brinkman smokers as well as many ribs, sausages,chickens and salmon this model was my first (and last) upgrade from the cheaper Brinkman models. It is not necessarily the best. I intend to re-purchase the first one I bought= the cheapest Brinkman for the following reasons:
1) Food not cook any faster or better.
2) They all wear out if left in the elements. This one with the ‘detachable bottom’ rusted out within a few years making it just like the open bottom entry level model. With the exception of expensive ceramic ‘green egg’ or stainless steel models like grills they are all doomed to a reletively short life unless you ‘garage’ the unit during wet weather. Water + ash = Carbolic acid = rust. The same goes for the enameled charcoal grate and pan.
3)The little thermometer on the lid on both models is nearly useless over time.
The first Turkey I roasted looked like the Maltese Falcon; Black but still sort of moist meat with great smokey flavor. My wife thought I was nuts when I bought it that first Thanksgiving many years ago. Her scepticism seemed justified. My subsequent damage control and stubborness revealed that the large hickory chunks were not soaked in water long enough and their flames fried the water in the water pan increasing the heat to the bird. The other lesson learned was that a cooking a Turkey in cool SF Bay area (5-7 Hours/165 F w/meat thermometer) required the periodic addition of hot coals to keep the heat long enough to bring the bird up to a safe temperature. Adding more coals creates more ash which insulates the other coals. It was a vicious cycle. I went overboard on adding raw charcoal which created uneven heat. The next year I did it right.I elevated the charcoal grate from the ash pan with 4 ceramic briquettes to allow the ash to fall below the coals into a waiting pie pan to catch the ashes. The new deluxe model has the detachable bottom which does this.
I now start fire with 2 chimney starters of hot coals, a full water pan with old stale beer and hot water. I keep another chimney load nearby for later use. I toss in about 4- 2″ soaked Hickory chunks and let the thing smoke up with lid on and heat the water/beer in the pan. Meantime I prep the Turkey. I use a throwaway stuffing of apple, onion and orange chunks reserved from the 1-1/2 day apple brining.
I rub Sage ,salt and butter on the bird and put 4 strips of bacon on top for tenderizing the skin/breasts and to enhance the gravy. I truss the legs with cotton twine and put it on a small grate in a disposable aluminum pan. To the grill- which is out of any drafts as wind is the enemy to even cooking. In a hour or so I add more reserved hickory chunks, hot coals with tongs thru the door and cheap beer to the water pan and repeat the addition periodically. Eventually you will balance the fire, smoke and water. I only remove the lid torward the end of the cook cycle to check the temp and move the bacon to the rear of the bird exposing the breast for final browning. Sorry for the long sermon but it is much easier to do than it takes to explain it. Although I use it to smoke other foods, a 15-16# Turkey seems to be my ultimate smoker success when not grilling on my Weber. This is my tradition;It evolved over the years and my family and friends love the result.I hope you can discover yours.
UPDATE 11/4/08:
Just bought a Brinkmann 810-5301 the cheapeast model= It is JUNK from China. Ignore most of my previous review. I am happily returning it and will rely on my old model another year.The charcoal pan and water pan are a thinner 1/2 # lighter gauge metal with poorly painted (toxic?)finishes unlike the 852-7080 type model that I currently own which is about 4 years old. The new char pan (unlike previous models) does not have a hole in the bottom which would make it impossible to let any cooling ash out of the pan and get air circulation necessary for even burning coals and sufficient heat. The char/water pans on my old models had a fairly stable baked enamel finish and sturdy weight steel. Also, as I recall the old models were partially/fully assembled. This entry level model had a plastic bag full of parts and curiously included a single lump of worm eaten wood for smoking. Not sure if all Brinkmann have similarly deteriorated in quality. I am seriously but reluctantly considering the overpriced Weber smoker which except for it’s cost is highly reviewed by Amazon users. I would read the reviews of the most recent purchasers on this model as they may have a similar experience in the disapointing quality of this old brand of smokers.
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|Very Disappointed in Companies follow up – NONE,
I purchased this for my husband for Father’s Day. He was so excited to receive, having wanted to try a smoker for a while now. He opened box immediately and began putting together. As noted in other reveiws, he did have to pop the side back together. Towards completing assembly he noted that he was missing some parts. He contacted company next day. He was told it would take a couple of weeks to receive parts. It is now middle of August and we have not received parts. The parts we are missing are essential to the completion of assembly for use, so we have a smoker thatwe have not been able to use yet.
I held off posting my reveiw, awaiting arrival of parts…6 weeks, no parts, and unable to use smoker
I give them one star for supplying metal in a box painted the color it was supposed to be and for having somebody answer the phone at customer service…now if somebody could actually ship those 5 pieces we are missing I would be a bit more satisfied.
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