Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I felt compelled to write a review after reading some "reviews" from people who don't know how to use a smoker/grill and should probably just stick to using their oven and leave smoking and grilling to people who know how or to people who want to learn how. I've owned my highland for almost a year now and have cooked on it at least 20-30 times and it STILL LOOKS BRAND NEW and I have never painted it. The most food I've cooked at one time was a large brisket and four racks of pork ribs! There's ample room to feed a large hungry family on this grill! Here's how I keep my Highland looking new: 1. Seasoning creates a layer of carbon that coats the steel and prevents rust. You ABSOLUTELY MUST season your smoker/grill. Failure to do this will ensure that you have a temporary setup because it will rust very quickly. The manual says to coat the inside with cooking oil. Having owned a smoker for maaaany years, this is not a complete step in the seasoning process. I used my wifes grease can, that she puts bacon and sausage grease in, and a paint brush to liberally coat the entire inside. Fire box, cook chamber, grates, lids.. everything. Then I coated the outside of the grill the same way. YES, the outside.. You want your grill to look like a very well seasoned cast iron skillet right? Then you have to season it like one. Inside and out. 2. I use a coal basket that I built, which I highly recommend! I filled it half way with coals and hard wood chunks. Then I dumped my coal chimney on top of that. Having a coal basket makes it much easier to control the temp. I let the grill season for 6 hrs. In that time, I only had to top off the coal basket once. You have to let the grill season long enough to build up a good coating to protect it. so 4-6 hrs should be a target time frame. 3. After seasoning you are ready to use your smoker/grill to your hearts content! TIPS: Never, ever, never use lighter fluid! Invest in a coal chimney and ditch the fluid. 1. Because fluid creates a super hot fire that is outside of the range of just about every paint to reliably hold up..that should be pretty self evident but some people don't understand paint is not a permanent solution in the face of 500+ temps. NOT using lighter fluid is a HUGE step in maintaining a smoker/grill in pristine condition for many years. 2. Because it takes awhile to burn off the chemicals. That's precious time that can be used to cook. One full chimney on top of my coals in the basket gets my grill up to 250-275 in about 8 minutes! I NEVER use my smoker to grill. You certainly CAN use it.. but it's not recommended and I don't. I look at it like using an expensive chefs knife to cut open food packaging.. sure you can.. but it's not the smartest way to use it. I have a small $50 barrel grill that i use for steaks, burgers and hot dogs. Grilling involves temps that are higher than what you want for smoking so a small cheap grill works great to cook fast with direct heat and saves wear, tear and cleaning on your smoker. I clean my grill just as I do my smoker. Never leave ashes in your grill longer that you have to. If I grill today, I clean it tomorrow. I have a paint brush specifically for the purpose of brushing out every bit of ash that I can. get a cover or tarp. Something waterproof to cover your grill immediately after you clean it and keep it covered until you are ready to use it again. Simple right? Keep the rain, morning dew, bird droppings, squirrel nuts and pests away. Here's a couple of cooking tips I use a large aluminum food pan half filled with water next to the opening between the fire box and cook chamber. This gives the heat some moisture for the meat, evens out the temp and prevents the fire box side from being overly hot. I can cook food across the entire cook surface with no problems. SEE PICS! The first picture is 3 hrs into the seasoning process. I started at night when it was cool. Notice the difference in the color where the lid overlaps the body. The second picture is from the next morning after the process was complete. Notice the nice shiny black coating! That's what you are shooting for. Good luck and happy smoking!