Quick review on the Fire Craft Q-450 pellet smoker. After looking at numerous pellet smokers, and reading a bunch of reviews, I decided to go with the Fire Craft Q-450. I wanted something under $1K which is the price of the Q-450, but they had it on sale for $799.00 (still on sale as of today). Other reasons - reviews raved about the quality of the construction and the customer service. There was also a discussion about the electronics that control the temp of the cooker, and the fact that when the meat reaches a selected temp the smoker will set back its temp to keep the meat at the selected temp. I haven’t tried this feature yet a I have only done one cook.
I ordered the smoker a few months ago because I didn’t want to miss the sale price. My house was being remodeled and the Residence Inn would have frowned on my attempting to use it on their property. They held off shipping for me for about a week so that I could make room to store it among the other stuff in the garage. My initial experience with their sales department was excellent.
Finally got into the house and I was able to put the smoker together Monday evening. It was packed well, with extra cardboard around the unit to insure minor shipping damage wouldn’t damage the unit. The assembly instructions were easy to follow. To put the unit together it will help if you have 3/8†and 7/16†box-open end wrenches and a #2 phillips screwdriver. My biggest problem, which another review warned of, was that it took as long to remove the protective film from all of the stainless steel pieces as it did to assemble the unit. A small price to pay for a perfectly clean and un-scratched unit.
I did have a problem with one of the grates being "tweaked" so I had a chance to experience Fire Craft’s customer service. The phone was answered on the second ring (aftr going through a very short "push the correct number" sequence. I explained the problem and was told a new grate would be shipped that day. No questions about how, what, ar anything else. Only a quick solution to the problem. I had a shipping confirmation with a delivery date from UPS within the hour. I wish all businesses treated their customers as well!
Burned off the unit per their instructions yesterday, and then did my first cook. My cook review can be found in the pellet grills section of this forum under "Fire Craft Q-450 first cook". Short statement - worked as expected and I am very happy!
Next cook will have to wait until this weekend. Lots of left overs, and other committments.
I ordered the smoker a few months ago because I didn’t want to miss the sale price. My house was being remodeled and the Residence Inn would have frowned on my attempting to use it on their property. They held off shipping for me for about a week so that I could make room to store it among the other stuff in the garage. My initial experience with their sales department was excellent.
Finally got into the house and I was able to put the smoker together Monday evening. It was packed well, with extra cardboard around the unit to insure minor shipping damage wouldn’t damage the unit. The assembly instructions were easy to follow. To put the unit together it will help if you have 3/8†and 7/16†box-open end wrenches and a #2 phillips screwdriver. My biggest problem, which another review warned of, was that it took as long to remove the protective film from all of the stainless steel pieces as it did to assemble the unit. A small price to pay for a perfectly clean and un-scratched unit.
I did have a problem with one of the grates being "tweaked" so I had a chance to experience Fire Craft’s customer service. The phone was answered on the second ring (aftr going through a very short "push the correct number" sequence. I explained the problem and was told a new grate would be shipped that day. No questions about how, what, ar anything else. Only a quick solution to the problem. I had a shipping confirmation with a delivery date from UPS within the hour. I wish all businesses treated their customers as well!
Burned off the unit per their instructions yesterday, and then did my first cook. My cook review can be found in the pellet grills section of this forum under "Fire Craft Q-450 first cook". Short statement - worked as expected and I am very happy!
Next cook will have to wait until this weekend. Lots of left overs, and other committments.
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