The Bottom Line: If you're looking for a reasonably priced, entry level, smoker then I would recommend the Brinkmann Gourmet Charcoal smoker. Practice make perfect.

I have used my Brinkmann Gourmet smoker twice over the last two weeks and had acceptable results both times. Smoking/BBQing food is different from grilling, even indirect heat grilling, and takes some practice.

I found the Gourmet grill easy to assemble. My son and I had it ready for charcoal in about 30 minutes. We actually read the instructions!

I use a charcoal chimney to start my coals. For my first fire in the Gourmet I lit up a full chimney of coals and put an additional chimney-worth of charcoal in the firepan. When the coals in the chimney were getting ashey I poured them over the cold charcoal and then added about three handfuls of soaked hickory wood chips.

As the smoke started I put my first load of meat in to the smoker. For my inaugural smoke outing I did two slabs of pork spare ribs. I used a rib rack and cut the slabs into two pieced each for a total of four pieces of meat in the rib rack. I put the rack with the ribs on the lowest grill rack - right over the water pan. I had filled the water pan with hot water to within about 1 inch of the top of the pan.

I put the lid on the smoker and then monitored the heat for the next 30 minutes or so. The heat came up to "ideal" on the provided thermometer. I checked this heat with an oven thermometer on the rack next to the meat. "Ideal" range is approximately 200-275 degrees according to my test with the oven thermometer.

After about 1 hour of cooking I lit off another chimney of charcoal and then added it to the firepan. I, unfortuately, added more hickory chips at the same time. I have come to find out that adding smoking wood after the first hour or so is not condusive to good BBQ. Also, I have seen mixed reviews on soaking or not soaking the chips or chunks.

As the ribs cooked I basted them with a simple oil/worchestershire sauce/vinegar baste about every 30 minutes. After about 3 hours of cooking I wrapped my ribs in foil and then returned them to the cooker for another two hours. At the end of two hours (5 hours total) I checked the ribs and determined that they were ready to eat. The meat had pulled nicely back from the ends of the bones and the meat was almost ready to fall off the bones.

I collected comments from my wife and guests and they concluded that the ribs were very good. I thought they were a little heavy on smoke flavor but then I added no additional sauce to the meat.

The second weekend I used the Gourmet I did two 5 pound Boston butts for pulled pork. I setup the fire as I did for the ribs but did not soak the hickory chips. I added about three fist sized chunks around the edge of the fire and then added the meat. Again, after about an hour I added another chimney of coals and then left the fire alone. The hickory chunks were moved about to ensure they smoked and burned but I did not add additional chunks or soak them.

After about 5 hours the pork was up to 180 degrees. I pulled one piece off and tried to "pull" the pork. It was not quite tender enough to pull so I sliced/chunked it for dinner. I left the second pork butt on the smoker for another hour. I then pulle the second butt off the smoker and put it in an insulated ice chest for an additional hour. The meat, when checked, was ready to pull off the bone.

The Brinkmann Gourmet performed as I expected. I do wish it had some form of draft control. The fires pan has slits in the bottom and the gaps in the body of the smoker and the firepan and at the top provide the chimney effect. In spite of the lack of draft I seem to be able to get consistent temperatures and the fire stays up to heat for a reasonable period of time.

I would definately buy another Gourmet smoker and would consider other trying other Brinkmann products based on the results of my last two cookouts.