Pit Boss 3-Series Gas Smoker in Red Hammertone - PBV3G1

Instructions were wrong about screw size. Other hsn that it was it wasn't hard. With two of us working together we assembled it in less than hour. It was well packed.

This was purchased for me as a replacement that was damaged by someone else, I love this smoker! I give it five stars regardless of the only issue. From the very start the push in igniter never worked for me. But this thing smokes like a champ!

The assembly of the Pit Boss PBV3G1 was very easy. The total time for unpacking, assembly and discard of the packaging was 48 minutes!!

Great little smoker a little bit hard to ignite we have a push the igniter 3 or 4 times before in lights. The temperature gauge at the top has moisture in it from the very first use. Though it still a nice smoker and just the right size for our space.

Let me begin by saying that yesterday was the first time I have ever used a smoker. Clearly I am on the bottom end, as regards knowledge and experience, when it comes to smoking. My first time out was, for me, labor intensive. My first issue was the starter, or ignition not working. This is problematic in the Portland Oregon area due to the Colombia Gorge and the relatively high likelihood of wind. After using a long handled lighter and blocking the rear of the unit with a table, I was good to go. I was trying to slow cook a moderate sized chicken. I found that the wood chips burned too rapidly. That resulted in having to dump and reload the small hopper, in my estimation, too frequently. Each time I emptied and reloaded the hopper the cooking chamber lost a lot of heat. This negated the consistency that I wanted and extended the cook time exponentially. I am very happy with the vertical smoker. For the price and after reviewing a host of options, I determined that the Pit Boss product line was solid. I am not displeased with my purchase. I know from looking at a page or two, on this site, that the Pit Boss brand is used to sell, at least, wood pellets. My first conclusion, again, from my first ever smoke, is that a hopper that size needs a particular size of Wood Chunks. This would, theoretically, create a longer sustained burn of the wood? So, that is my take. Pit Boss, please use your connections to create wood chunks engineered specifically for the hopper on the PBV3G1.

Just finished assembling my new series 3 gas vertical. It was so much easier to assemble than the Masterbuilt. It appears and feels to be a more solid build. And it has more features such as glass door, an actual rubber seal on door, easy access wood chip tray and more. So long as this performs as well in smoking as it did in assembly and features I will be very pleased.

Assembly sucks hard to get to some of the screw hole with a screw driver. But nice unit overall now to see how it holds heat

Been using it in Michigan. Doesn't seem to want to go over 250 deg. but the resulting food has been fantastic!

I have had one of these for a few years now and it is very easy to use but as it has aged, it has become very inconsistent regarding flame/temperature control. To the point where a 1/16 inch adjustment results in too high or too low of a temperature and I am constantly having to readjust the flame. The temp gauge in the door is also 40 degrees lower than the actual temp. Even though I have gotten satisfactory results, the constant adjustments I need to make over a 10 hour cook time makes me hesitant to ever buy one in the future.

Dent on the top. A big one about 6 inches . Dents and winkle around the bottom hinge on the side. Package was not tore up this made it through quality inspection. This is from a welder metal fabrication supervisor.