Oklahoma Joe Highland 879 sq in Smoker with BONUS Luhr Jensen Mesquite Chips 'N Chunks

We've had to make a few modifications via YouTube but we love it and you can't beat the Walmart price!!!! We've cooked 2 full rack of ribs and the meat was falling off of the bones :-) If you are into smoking, this is the one!

very well made product, very, very, heavy. worked great on my first cook, maintained 290 degree temp with little effort, used very small amount of lump charcoal, would recommend as an entry level smoker

The gauge of the steel and the size makes this a great base if you put effort and about $100 more into it to make it great. My grill went together almost fine. After assembly The smoker chamber door was off center and was fabricated so I had to grind it down to get it to close properly. For a tight seal, I purchased smoker gaskets and NSF high temp silicone sealant used during assembly and added lid latches found online. Look at charcoal baskets and smoker baffles while you are online, you will want them for big smoking projects. The wheels provided looked cool and are heavy, however, they are useless. They don't roll well and the smoker isn't stable on them. Mine are now garden decorations. The added effort will save you tons of charcoal and wood since there is a DRAMATIC reduction in smoke and heat loss. BEST AND MOST MOIST CHICKEN EVER MADE! I usesd frozen bone-in chicken breasts as my test meat (soup chicken) and wow, WOW. Juicy smoky chicken that my picky family loved, they bought more meat for grilling after being reluctant to try it.

I ordered online and picked this up at the nearest store and the box was cut, torn, smashed, crunched, taped, and pieces of it was missing. However, the unit had only a 2" scratch through the outside coating. I did some minor touch up and hopefully it doesn't rust out in a couple of years. I'm not sure if it was from the damage during shipping/storing, but the lids were warped and didn't seat properly against the inside lips. During assembly the wheeled leg lower shelf mounting holes weren't aligned so the wheels pointed in different directions. After some brute force and adjustments I was able to fix the problem while keeping the leg mounts securely attached. The welds and design of this unit leaves A LOT to be desired for $270. Some people will point out the "good" smokers are $800+, but still, nearly $300 for anything is a lot to spend for bad workmanship. It didn't even include a drip bucket. Mods: (1) Permatex high-temp red copper rtv to seal the 2-piece firebox and firebox to main chamber connection. (2) Used a ratcheting tie down, rubber mallet, and couple of crescent wrenches I had to re-align the main chamber and inside lid lip for a more uniform seal. (3) LavaLock gasket to seal main chamber lid and firebox lid. (4) Built my own 'minion method' coal box using safety wire and expanded metal sheets from Lowes (will rebuild using 3/4" expanded metal because ash not falling away with 1/2" expanded metal). First seasoning: Cleaned inside and out using water and Simple Green. Dried it out with a towel. Coated everything inside with vegetable oil. With one minion method load, I ran temp up to 500 then brought it back down to 300 and burn lasted 6 hours with another 3 hours of coals left. Points of interest: (1) With vent 3/4 open and intake completely closed internal temp never dropped below 260 (big gap in firebox door - need to seal before next test). Closed vent halfway, no change. (2) During initial temp increase, main chamber varied around 30 degrees between left and right side, but during a steady temp hold, temp stayed +/-3 degrees without any tuning plates. (3) Easy to maintain consistent temp for about 2 hours (problem became the ash in my coal box). (4) Using Maverick ET-733 wireless thermometer (monitoring left/right of main chamber) differences between grate temp and lid mounted thermometer (included) was 30-50 degrees different. After sealing the firebox door gap I expect complete control of main chamber temp so I can drop it to 200, since that's where I like to hold my long smokes. Overall, this smoker has potential, but I still hold the idea that for $300 I shouldn't have to do any mods. I don't think I'll need to mess with tuning plates since the main chamber temp seemed pretty even during steady holds.

Easy assembly with all the components fitting as they're supposed to. Good quality materials and heavy gauge metal. You can't tell the difference between the Highland and the twice as expensive Longhorn smoker. Heat was consistent and long lasting with minimal loss of smoke. The brisket, pork and turkey all came out great with the first cook!!