ZPG-450A

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).

Disclaimer: I have not yet used the grill to actually cook anything. I am only really writing this review to comment on a few things that I experienced and observed during assembly and the first start-up, as I am a quality manager myself and would like to help out the Z-Grills team to better their product. I have no affiliation with Z-Grills and I have not been nor am I being compensated for this review in any way. The product was delivered safe and sound and in excellent condition, being delivered by the Amazon delivery team themselves, straight from SLC, Utah, to Logan, Utah. The box itself didn't have a scratch on it and was surprisingly clean all things considered. I wish all of my delivered items from Amazon were received in such a manner. Upon opening the packaging, I found that everything was neatly packed and nothing was loose that should not have been. There was nothing broken inside, and everything was very clean and organized. Reviewing the manual before starting assembly, I found that the "Simple Installation Instructions" were very difficult to understand, and, moving to the actual instruction manual, I found that they contradicted the actual instructions. Later, I realized that the "Simple Installation Instructions" included with the product was actually intended to rectify some instruction issues that were accidentally omitted in the assembly instructions in the manual as a customer notice (but it was not labeled as such, which was why I was confused). I found myself frustrated, having to go forward some pages, then backward, and finally just threw the manual away and put the product together using my best judgment and existing technical knowledge. Suggestion: Please improve the assembly instructions - all of your product literature is jumbled up inside of your lit pack and it is difficult to follow and even more difficult to use to put the product together. During assembly, I found that the included screwdriver and wrenches were insufficient. They will do the job, but they are extremely clumsy and will extend the length of a build unnecessarily. Power tools are a must here. That being said, when using an impact drill to assemble the product, both on the Philips head screws and the hex head bolts, I found that the metal used on the hardware is VERY brittle. I not only unintentionally stripped out the screws (actually SHATTERING the screws in several places), but found that there were several screws that were malformed and/or cracked through the heads. These broke when reaching adequate holding torque during assembly. Another major issue I found is that the wheel axle is MUCH too long - by about an inch or more (rough estimate as I did not have a tape or a set of calipers) - and causes a lot of slop and horizontal movement in the wheels, even after adding washers on either side of both wheels. The axle is likely used universally between other products and this one, however, so I can understand why it is so long. In this case, using bushings to eat up the slop and provide a tighter fit would be best, but it should otherwise be shortened up to fit the actual wheelbase. It is difficult to recommend a fix for this, as there could be many different variables affecting the hardness of the metal, as well as torsion, shear, etc. The first startup was somewhat of a learning process. I had thought that I broke the auger somehow, as the instructions for the first-time startup says it could take 1-2 minutes for the auger to spin up, but it took between 5 and 6 minutes for me. It did work, however, and seems to be able to easily keep up with the pellet load. The burner is also functional and seems to be working appropriately. Everything is heavily coated in rust preventative oil out of the box - but this is a GOOD thing. You simply will want to wipe it down gently (being careful to not actually remove all of the oil) before using it - especially inside of the fire bowl. One other observation on my first warm-up using pellets is that this thing HEMORRHAGES smoke, even with the lid closed - and not just from the chimney (which, by the way, does not have an adjustable closure). You may as well not even have a chimney on this thing, as the smoke leaks out of every gap on the thing except where the fiberglass gaskets between the main box and the chimney and the pellet hopper are located, which are great. But, adding a similar 1/8"-1/4" gasket around the lid as well as a tube of heat-proof silicone sealant for all of the holes (and perhaps some Loctite 242 for all of the screws) would be great additions to the product, and would help the quality of life and overall efficiency of this product immensely. Furthermore, lid locks on either side of the unit would also be extremely beneficial in the event that a heat-proof gasket is provided around the lid enclosure, and would help to keep the smoke inside of the box so it can do its job. All of these things are things that I plan to mod onto the product itself at a later time in order to improve its overall functionality and smoking effectiveness. With the above having been said, I was very impressed with the quality and gauge of the metal used for the actual grill, as well as the overall look, feel, and quality of the wheels, handles, feet, etc. The product seems to be surprisingly heavy-duty and well made. The hardware/assembly holes all aligned well enough and were clear of debris and thread damage (which is a HUGE plus on customer assembled products). So far, it seems like it will be a great product. I will update this review when I actually use it and if I can remember to do so.

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.