Z GRILLS ZPG-450A Wood Pellet Grill & Smoker with PID V2.1 Controller, 450 Sq in Cook Area, Meat Probe, 8 in 1 BBQ Grill Outdoor Auto Temperature Control, Black

So far I’ve use basic pellets without any problems. Below is my reviewAssembly; I easily assembled this alone. The “Quick” guide was useless as it offered no info on what screw, washers etc. we’re being used. The printed manual provided that info but due to poor print quality it was difficult to read. The inclusion of almost all the necessary tools was nice. I say almost as there was no wrench big enough for the wheel axels. Manual needs to be tweaked, it has you installing lid handles and then several steps later installing the lift handle??? The lack of a method to store the power cord when not in use was easily overcome with a Command Strip hook. Otherwise assembly was rather easy. I’m glad this unit included a cover. Living in SE AZ, I made not need it much, the question is, how long will it hold up in the AZ sun?Startup; Followed instructions to the letter. One to two minutes for the pellets to reach the fire pot…… I didn’t time it, but it seemed like it was a lot longer than that. All went well and did the initial burn off as instructed. It does emit much more noise than I expected.Actual use; Did. Say I there was a big learning curve? This is where things get frustrating. There is a big temp difference between the left and right side. Part of that could have been the unit not being level. Even after leveling, the temp swing was a bit much. Smoke leakage, yep leaks like mad via the lid. A starter roll of their high temp tape would have been nice. Temp front to back, not sure I want to check this as the grease pan is curved the higher temps will be in the middle. No problem due to the fan, you say, not sure I agree with that. Upper Rack, it’s there and mainly useless. If your cooking chicken or anything over a few inches high, it will need to be removed. Otherwise you cannot put much on it, what you can put on it has to be thin. Also this rack is s a little bothersome to put in and take out. The temp swing while cooking also varies widely. It could be that it’s spring and the wind is playing a bigger part than expected, even with a slight breeze. I haven’t tried smoking anything yet, but will very soon. Sadly I’m sure that will entail a somewhat complex and time consuming task of removing current pellets and refilling the hopper, yes I bought a basic model with no way to quickly change pellets, my bad. Smoking; haven’t tried it yet but I’m wondering, since the hat on the chimney is threaded can one adjust its height to help control the smoke and heat? I’ve seen such adjustments on other pellet smokers.Speaking of all the wonderful functions this unit offers, how do you utilize them? I know I set the temp to what I want to in order to bake. What temp is recommended when grilling? Or the other functions? If the smoke is drastically reduced when the grill temp is over 180, how do you get the good smoky flavor? These questions should have already been answered in the manual, as we did buy a basic, beginners model smoker. Looking for some interesting recipes, they have them on their website with everything you need to know except the blend of pellets recommended to get the most flavor out of your food. Guess you need to check the pellet bags then do some trial and error.With everything I’ve pointed out that may appear negative, I’m very happy with my ZGrill (Happy Birthday to me). Now if I could just get out of the habit of opening the lid while things are cooking.