Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I thoroughly investigated this product before buying it. I was aware of the complaints from some reviewers and now that I have the product and have used it I'd like to address some of the issues. By the way, the company seems to continually make changes to their products so it's important to know which model # you're getting. Mine is model #20070311 purchased 9/5/2012. Customer Service; I had some questions before and after sale. I emailed customer service and at their suggestion also called technical support. I had no problem getting an email response or in getting through to technical support. The representatives were pleasant, patient, helpful and knowledgeable I thought. I found them very easy to deal with and anxious to please. Door gasket seal and latch: The latch is adjustable and the manual suggests adjusting it as necessary to get the right amount of closing force. The door gasket seems to be a silicone product, not rubber as some people indicated (that would melt and smell). It seems adequate to the task, however I do have a small gap (1/32") at the top of the door which no amount of latch adjustment will close. Tech support indicated that the seal is not designed to be airtight and a certain amount of heat and smoke leakage is normal and can be expected. I sent them a picture of it and together we will decide whether the gap will appreciably affect smoker performance in winter. Yesterday I cooked two pork shoulders and a brisket; the smoker produced plenty of smoke and readily maintained the set temperature even though a small amount of smoke (and presumably heat) leaked from the top of the door. When I opened the door after a few hours' cooking to insert the meat probe, a quantity of smoke and steam billowed out; this unit does what it's supposed to. Controls: I found the remote works really well even from inside our house when the MES is parked on the opposite side of our garage. Both the remote and the control unit have buttons to turn the smoker on and off (just be careful not to accidentally hit the remote's Power Off button because as some people noted, this turns off the smoker, not just the remote!), set and change the desired temperature and cooking time and turn the inside light on and off. Displays: The control unit LCD alternatively displays remaining cooking time and smoker internal temperature. The remote's LCD displays both remaining time and set temperature separately, as well as indicating when the heater is operating. On the remote, to have it display the internal current temperature of the smoker, you can hit the Temp Set button twice and for a few seconds the temperature display will alternate between the set temp and the current internal temp. And of course on both the control unit and the remote, hitting the 'Meat Probe' button causes it to display the internal temp of the meat the probe is stuck into. I can't think of what more you would want from the controls except for an audible or visual indication of set temp being reached or the unit turning itself off. Setting the temperature: When setting the heater temperature, the display starts at 100 degrees. Using the + button will increase the temperature, but if you want a high temperature rather than scroll all the way through the temp range, just hit the - button and it will jump to 275 and go down from there. Cold smoking: The temperature range of the unit is 100 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. At temperatures below 180, the wood chips will not ignite, so no smoke is produced. I asked the customer rep about using an aftermarket smoke machine for cold smoking and discovered they have an electric Cold Smoker that attaches to the 30" or 40" Electric Smoker (where the chip loader usually goes) for $69.95 plus shipping available from them or at Bass Pro shops. Metallic taste from the chip loader paint: my chip loader isn't painted on any part of it that goes into the smoker, so I'm not expecting that to be an issue. Maybe earlier models had that problem but mine doesn't. Time will tell if I develop a metallic taste otherwise and I'll update the review if that happens. Assembly: Not difficult but allow at least 30 minutes as some of the screw or bolt holes don't readily line up the first time. Also, the instructions on how to mount the water bowl are kind of vague and make it look like you balance it on top of the wood chip burner but it actually fits into some indents in the bottom part of the bracket that holds the racks; once you realize this it's a no-brainer. Update: I made the mistake of completely filling the water bowl, resulting in it overflowing and making a mess on the bottom of the smoker. This is because the water bowl also acts to catch much of the drippings from the meat. In the future I'll just fill it half way and try that; in the 10 hours of smoking yesterday, the smoker produced plenty of moist smoke and steam but the water level didn't ever drop below the rim. Wheels and brackets; seem plenty sturdy - I haven't had a problem with them. Drip pan drain; there's a drain hole at the back of the pan that lines up with the tube that drains any drippings and fluids to the outside rear of the unit. If the pan is in backwards or the MES is tilted forward, then these fluids can instead drain out the front through the door seal. This isn't a defect - you just need to get the pan in the right way and have the smoker level then you shouldn't have any problem. The pan itself has a lip on the front that causes it to tilt toward the back of the unit; it's pretty obvious which way it's supposed to go in I think and you don't need to actually tip the smoker backwards to get the desired drainage. Be sure to periodically empty the grease tray at the back (outside) of the unit because the smoker produces a prodigious amount of delicious drippings...we had to drain ours (with a baster) while cooking 20+ lbs of pork and brisket. Bottom line is that I don't expect perfection from any product, particularly one priced this well and with so many features. As long as the company stands behind its product with good customer support, I can tolerate the inevitable issues that will arise from time to time with any mechanical / electrical / electronic device. So far, I'm pleased with my purchase and I've had a good experience dealing with the company. I'll let you know if that changes.