ZPG-7002E

Excellent buy. I’m a beginner at smoking and was a little apprehensive based on some comments about difficulty in assembly and inaccurate temperature readings. First, assembly: it states about 2.5 hours. It took me 2.5 hours and I was 2 months out of shoulder replacement surgery and still managed with a useless arm and my off hand. Second, Temperature control: I’ve cooked salmon, tritip and a whole chicken. After the smoke cycle you set the temperature and it will jump up higher than the setting so I turn it down until it drops to the setting and turn it back up. In other words it takes it a few minutes to settle in but after that it is remarkable steady. All three cooks turned out great and I highly recommend this unit (and its price point).

I got the 7002B version and am extremely happy with the overall value. Like others, I've eyed a traeger but couldn't figure out why they were so damn expensive. I went through a similar buying process with my Vision kamado grill - I could never justify a big green egg. Important to note, I do still own and will always own my Vision S series kamado, however it will soon be converted to propane. My experiences then with this Z-grill are tempered by my existing stellar Vision grill. For low and slow the Zgrill pellet system CRUSHES a charcoal kamado. Kamado's are great but if you want to do low and slow then the initial setup can be painful, if you over shoot your temp it takes awhile to bring it back down. Take yours eyes off it and over shoot during cooking ... well you get the idea. Zgrill, turn it on, set the temp, walk away. Keep an eye on the timer and you're set. Thus far I've done burgers twice at 450 and they turned out stellar. Beer can style chicken once at 450 and again, stellar result. Pork tenderloin twice, once a longer smoke at 225 and last night a quick run at 450 both turned out perfect. The really killer result though was doing 3-2-1 ribs ... 3 hours at smoke, 2 at 225, 1 hour at 450 which actually turned out to be about 25m for half the ribs (smaller baby backs) and about 40 minutes for the two larger/thicker racks. These were the best ribs i've ever done, i couldn't even cut them into individual ribs as the bones just fell out so the family descended upon these like savage animals. Some things to note: 1) compared to my thermoworks smoke thermometers the internal thermo is never quite in agreement but its close enough. I do use my thermoworks religiously for both meat and internal air temp monitoring. however after these 5 runs i know what to expect at various temps from the internal thermo so if i'm doing more than one piece of meat that needs monitoring, i have no issues relying on just the internal. again, it aint perfect, but its close enough. 2) I have modified the Zgrill. First, I added 6 firebricks to the bottom. After my first use (burgers at 450) i noticed some issues getting to and holding high temps along with the usual left to right temp discrepancy that pellet grills often have. The firebricks solved those. Second, added a seal for the door. Third, wrapped a bungie chord around the right front wheel and use this to hold the door tightly closed. cost for these 3 was like $40 and well worth it as IMO it is a much more stable grill now. Brisket is scheduled for the big game and i'm excited to do a real long low n slow cook. Over all, including the cost of the mods I did, it is really hard to beat the cost/performance of this Zgrill. Would highly recommend to anyone.

I am writing this review as a 2 way split. The first part for the grill itself, and the second for the company ZGrills. The grill seems to work well. I smoked a whole chicken as my first test, and after about 3 hours total, it came out very tasty. I thought the smoke flavor could have been a bit stronger, but I could have fixed that by running it on smoke mode an hour or so before I started the cook. The grill was reasonably easy to assemble, not hard to clean, and the operating instructions were very clear. All in all, I believe this machine will do a great job making my food for a long time. The company, ZGrills, however, was difficult to work with. My grill arrived with a large dent on the left front side of the core piece, and the lid had a flat space that left around a 1.5 inch gap between the bottom of the lid, and the front of the core. Immediately upon seeing this, I attempted to call the customer service number for the company. Nobody answered. It was within their operating hours, but only just barely, and on a Friday, so I chalked it up to everyone starting a slightly early weekend, and left a voicemail. I received a call back on Monday the next week (before their stated operating hours) with a nice lady who gave me instructions to send an email with pictures of what they needed to process the request. "Great!" I thought. We were on our way to getting it resolved. I send the email right away with all the pictures they requested, and listed out the issues I saw. My first response came only minutes after sending the email asking "Is the grill chamber damaged?" I mean, I just sent you the picture that it was, and listed it among the issues in my first email. So I try to call the customer service number again for clarification. Again, nobody answers. I try a couple more times, still no answer. Then I respond to the email stating yes, the core has issues, unless you don't consider that damage, and asked if I could get clarification. I get another email back, hours later this time (and once again outside their stated hours) stating they will send a replacement core and give me a tracking number once they have it. Okay, back in track. Two days later, I still haven't heard anything, so I email again asking if they've processed it yet? Them: Yes, here's your tracking number. Me: Great! And will the lid come with the same package (because I still haven't heard about it at this point) Them 3 hours later: According to the picture, the lid isn't damaged. (1.5 inches away from the face of the core isn't damaged apparently) Me: Sorry if I wasn't clear, but the lid is also damaged as it doesn't sit closed on the face. Here are additional pictures. *I try to call the phone again a few times, still no answer. Silence for 2 days. During this time, the replacement core arrives. I swap the lid over to the new core, still sits the same distance from the face. Me in another email: Please see these new pictures with the lid issue. As you can see, the lid obviously is damaged as well since it still sits 1.5 inches from the face. Them: We will arrange a new lid within 24 hours. *2 more days of silence* Me 11:00 am: Just checking, have you guys sent the lid? Them 8:30 pm: Here is your tracking number. Now, to their credit, I received the parts I needed, and now everything is working, but that entire process took two weeks from first phone call voicemail to last part needed received, with a lot of frustration besides. The last thing I will mention is the "damage" could not have happened during shipping. I can excuse someone not seeing the bend in the door, but I guarantee someone saw that big outward dent on the core, and packaged it up anyway. This is not thin metal, and would take more than a casual touch to cause it to bend so much, and in that place. Maybe I'm wrong. I attached the image below. You be the judge.

This grill has been amazing! only had it a week and have been using it almost daily. I love the smokiness to the food and the ease of cooking. It heats up quickly and accurately and the smells while it's in use are heavenly. I use Hickory pellets with it. Very happy with the purchase

Very good temperature control and even grill temperature.

It’s a really great smoker easy to use easy to assemble and easy to maneuver it keeps the temperature stable and it get to high temperature’s really fast (depending on the weather) the pellet consumption it not bad and overall a great smoker and I appreciate that it comes with a free cover

Grill est arrivé à temps, facile à assembler et fonctionne parfaitement (garde bien sa température même à -15 C)

I wanted a pellet smoker to complement my gas grill. It works well and will do a family sized meal.