Char-Broil Infrared Smoker, Roaster & Grill

Product Description

In New Orleans the holy trinity of cooking might be onion, bell pepper, and celery, but in Char-Broil's Big Easy the holy trinity of cooking is roasting, grilling, and smoking. Do them all with just one grill, and do... [Read more]

Top Reviews

Wow!!! My new favorite big boy toy!! Read this review!!
by Tommy (5 out of 5 stars)
December 8, 2017

If your reading reviews and wondering if it's worth the $$$.....go ahead, I promise you won't regret it. I don't review a whole lot of things unless they are just so good that it's worth my time to tell others about it. Thanksgiving turkey was my first reason to buy this thing.. Turkey was the best I've ever had...literally....ever!! Chicken, ribs, vegetables...u can put anything in here I believe. Lol. I'm a honest reviewer and wanted to try it multiple times before I posted a review on Amazon. I'm very well pleased and my dinner guests always seem amazed at the outcome. If you have a good meat thermometer, propane and some food....your set. Find out the safe temperature and let this grill do the work. Fall off the bone ribs...just like the steakhouse. I'm literally writing this while smoking ribs at this very moment. The smoker does better than what other reviews say. You refill the little basket about once per hour....because when u heat wood...drum roll....it burns up eventually. If you want to enter big competitions for mass quanities....then buy a true smoker. If your cooking for friends and family then this will be all you need. Got about 10 minutes left, then it's grub time. My wife and kids keep coming put here to get a smell every now and then... :) Being Serious, this is really worth the money on so many levels. I can't wait for Christmas to fry another turkey. Watch some YouTube videos on this thing and see for yourself!! Merry Christmas!!
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Easy to assemble and use
by Android Power User (5 out of 5 stars)
January 6, 2018

Easy to assemble and use. I have made some chicken and a bacon wrapped porkloin so far and both came out amazing.

Assembly:

I used locktite on ALL screws. I also removed existing screws and put locktite on them. I do not recommend using an electric drill as some of the screws may strip out the holes. Use a hand screwdriver so you can control the torque.

Break in:

Before cooking in the kettle you need to burn off the oils used to protect the metals. I recommend a slow burn in by selecting the lowest flame setting for about 15 min. If your kettle comes with the top grill, make sure that is installed.during the burn in and the lid stays closed as well. After 15 min, turn up the heat to max and run it for 5 more min before shutting it down and opening the lid to vent out the smells.

CLEANING:

Keeping the inner stainless steel cylinder clean is important. Its easily removed and cleaned with soap and water. Same for the grease trap. The basket is a pain to clean. I have tried spraying PAM to keep food from sticking...it helped a little. All in all its not too bad.

Temp control:

The temperature is easy to control if you use a temperature sensor to monitor the internal temps. Adjustments should be made in small increments to get to your desired level. Keeping the lid closed is key, so a wireless temp probe is the only way to go. I use the ThermoPro TP20 and it is amazing!

I mostly cook with wood or charcoal, but this Charbroil Big Easy is impressive and so easy to use.
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I've already used it and love it. Friends of ours that own this have ...
by The Karkars (5 out of 5 stars)
November 20, 2016

This thing is a monster, pictures do not do this unit justice. I've already used it and love it. Friends of ours that own this have said nothing but great things about it and I can see and taste why. "You can't mess things up, even if you tried", they said. Time is not key when cooking, temperature is. I am glad I purchased the SRG (Smoker, Roaster & Grill) over the normal Big Easy. Super versatile especially with the 22-Piece Turkey Fryer Accessory Kit.

Pros:

Easy to assemble... Some assembly required but it was fun and a snap doing so. Most of it was already pre-assembled from the factory.

I ordered the Char-Broil Big Easy on Thursday and received it that Saturday. I wasn't expecting it until Tuesday of the following week, so just in time for Thanksgiving!

Cons:

None really... This thing is solid.

So far I've cooked boneless pork ribs, my wife didn't think I meant bone in but honestly, they came out great. I can't wait to actually throw in some actual beef/pork ribs in there. I'll have to come back to this review after we get a verdict on the turkey after Thanksgiving.

Also make sure to season the inside with vegetable oil before use, super important.
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It works - but could be much better.
by Mike (3 out of 5 stars)
January 4, 2018

I've cooked two (2) turkeys so far and a couple of slabs of ribs; all came out well. The unit itself is nice, heats well but two issues drive me crazy. One, the wood chip / smoker door doesn't fit well at all. You fill it with chips and can barely get the thing back in, or out. I've damn near pulled the handle off trying to remove & replace it and will be sending them a note asking for a replacement part. Secondly, the drip tray doesn't fit at all, there's a good 3/4" gap on each side AND the top which lets a lot of additional air in and disrupts the even cooking. For the price, not a bad unit but it really appears there was little quality control as they knock these things out in an assembly line
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Char-Broil Big Easy TRU Infrared Smoker, Roaster, and Grill
by Jay Morano (4 out of 5 stars)
December 4, 2014

Most of what is being billed here is as-advertised, so I can at least say they are being honest about their product. I got the box from Amazon within the 2-day delivery my Prime membership promises. I was able to very easily put the fryer together with just a screwdriver in under 20 minutes. A couple days before my anticipated first cooking with the unit, I seasoned it by coating the inside barrell with peanut oil and turning on the fryer. I let it run top open until the oil was burned off and my pretty silver inside turned a nice bronze color.

A couple days later I tested out a whole chicken and the results were very positive. Skipping to the real reason for the purchase, I was cooking my first turkey alone on Thanksgiving with the entire family coming over with high expectations. I prepared the turkey by thawing, washing and drying it out. The afternoon before Thanksgiving, I dry-brined with a sea salt based mix (I don't believe in wet brining).

On Turkey day I took it out patted dry yet again and around 1030 AM began to cook it up. I coated the bird with peanut oil - important to know your oil burn temps, this thing does burn very hot. Olive oil is not really a great option for something like this. Then I used a sage, salt, pepper, etc. seasoning blend to coat the outside of the bird.

I turned on the propane and lit up the Big Easy, just laid the bird into the basket, breast up and lowered down in. I cooked with the top closed for about 35 min, then I left it open. The bird took almost exactly the 3 hours estimate using 10 min per pound to reach the proper temp (~ 165 degrees). I took out the backet and moved it - including bird - inside to a sheet, tented with foil and let sit for 15. I removed the bird from the basket easily which was surprising, I expect the parts that touched the basket to stick in a big way, but it didn't with a fork I could separate the bird from basket and not lose that prescious crispy skin. I then placed the bird on the serving plate, tented and let sit another 15 min on the table (see pic below). I then took the drippings tray out of the big easy (previously covered in foil for easy cleaning) and strained out the fat. I was left with quite a bit of very usable drippings for the gravy. I didn't have to use any water, broth or anything, there was way more drippings than I even needed.

My mom who has been cooking the turkeys for over 30 years annually, went as far as to say she's putting a turkey in the car from now on just in case she stops over some day. This was the "best turkey" we've had in years, maybe ever. It was unanimous at the table.

The inside was juicy (not watery like you get with wet brining), the skin was crizpy and delicious, not to mention fought over.

The Big Easy lived up to the billing. Later that night, it took me less than 20 min to clean it and be done. No muss, no fuss and the kitchen and oven was free for everything else. No waiting for "when will the turkey be ready I need to put in the green bean casserole..." type stuff.

It's not a smoker, it's truly a "hybrid" and I'm skeptical of hybrids but this one, does the job as advertised. No it won't replace your smoker or even your gass/charcoal grill. It won't do those things as well as they do, but it does have a nice niche and met all my expectations.

I rated 4 out of 5 stars because honestly, it feels right. As a hybrid the unit isn't perfect, there are limitations and drawbacks to what this fryer will do, but if you keep your expectations reasonable, I can't see how you won't be very happy with your purchase, I certainly have no regrets.
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Nice Easy Roaster
by Richard D. LeCour (5 out of 5 stars)
January 2, 2017

Within the first week, I used it for a 20-pound turkey, a prime rib, and two chickens -- all came out perfectly. For the prime rib, I added potatoes to the bottom of the rack and they came out perfectly cooked in the time it took to cook the roast. As for the two chickens, when the top one reached the proper temperature, it took another 10 or so minutes for the second to reach temp. Hey, I can only carve one chicken at a time anyway! Very pleased with this purchase. Glad I got this over the smaller but newer, lid-less version. I have a large five-burner grill and two fryers; this is a nice companion to the grill and will definitely replace the fryers! Assembly went fairly easily as well.
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Fast, simple way to great roasting results
by digerati (5 out of 5 stars)
June 20, 2017

I've had this for 2 years now and we use it nearly every week, and we love it! I bought this as we were hosting 26 for Thanksgiving and in previous years had deep fried the turkey, but we were now in a place where that was too much of a fire risk. I was not disappointed: the Big Easy totally delivered! I brined the turkey and then applied a rub to the skin -- something you can't do when deep frying -- placed it in the basket and inserted an electronic thermometer probe to keep track of temperature.

The trick to getting a moist turkey is to cook the bird as quickly as possible, so that you retain as much liquid inside the bird as possible. That's why deep frying works so well. With the Big Easy, I put the turkey in the basket as high up as I could and turned the burner up to full blast to get the most heat. And then you just leave it until it's done according to the thermometer -- about 9 minutes per pound, in the end. The result was a beautifully cooked turkey with crispy, flavorful skin and juicy, moist meat that was a huge hit with our guests.

Since then I have roasted all kinds of meats in the Big Easy as it's so easy to do. It's much faster than roasting in a regular oven, but the best thing to do is forget about timing -- just use a meat thermometer and remove the meat when it's done. We got a wireless meat thermometer so we can sit inside during winter and just go out when it's ready. The Big Easy also frees up the oven for breads, side dishes and the like, which was incredibly helpful at Thanksgiving.

Using wood chips for smoked ribs was a little trickier, because the smoker box is incredibly difficult to remove when the grill is hot -- the metal expands and it's wedge shaped, so it gets stuck. The fix? Load up the smoker box with wood before you turn on the heat! This is not a "low and slow" smoker; it will cook and smoke meats at the same time at typical roasting temperatures. That's good for imparting smoky flavor as the meat roasts.

On chickens, turkeys and ducks the placement (height) inside of the basket matters. At the top of the grill, the skin of the bird will turn dark brown but it will not burn. If you want a lighter color, move the bird down towards the bottom of the basket, or turn down the temperature. I have tried grilling on it, but it just doesn't get hot enough to do a good job so I do steaks and burgers on the regular grill.

This has been one of the best cooking purchases we've ever made. We use it so often that we feel like we get great value from it, and great results. When guests come over I can just drop in the meat and then not have to look at it again until the thermometer says it's done.
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Buy it and you will not regret it.
by james russell (5 out of 5 stars)
August 16, 2015

Got this grill and accessory kit for my birthday, and this thing is amazing!!! I cooked 4 racks of ribs, 6 chicken legs and four cobs of sweet corn on my first cook and they came out awesome. Assembly of the grill is straightforward and takes 15-20min. Just make sure to leave the screws loose on the lid hinges to make alignment easier, then torque them down. After assembly I oiled the cooking chamber and burned it in on high for about 20min to cook off any manufacturers residue and season the chamber. I dry rubbed the ribs in the morning and let sit covered until dinner. I bought preseasoned chicken legs and injected then with a creole butter. I let the meat sit out at room temperature about 30 min before cooking. Fired up the grill up on high and insterted the wood chips, about 12 min later it was rolling smoke, and I cut the temp to its lowest setting. Put the basket inside and closed the lid for 45 min. Then I bring the basket indoors and glaze the meat before wrapping it in foil and placing back in the basket. Ribs on bottom, then I put the grate attachment on and the chicken is stacked on top, , then I put another grate on and stack my corn in its husk. I put the basket back in for another 45 min turning the corn halfway through, and it was done. Let the meat rest in its foil for 5-10 min before slicing and dinner is served. I should mentioned I refilled the wood box after about an hour of use. This was such a delicious meal and easy to cook. I cannot wait to try other foods on this smoker/grill/oil-less fryer and experiment with different wood flavors. I bought the optional accessory kit and the extra meat hooks and grates, make it worth it. It also comes with a kabob holder which I am looking forward to using. I would definitely recommend you buy this, it is smoking made simple. Next I am going to buy a device Igrill Bluetooth thermometer so I can keep an eye on the temperature and fine tune my cooking.
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Awesome grill/smoker
by Stephen (5 out of 5 stars)
May 14, 2017

I've used this grill for about three months now, and it's been great! I'm a novice cook at best, but I've turned out some unbelievably good ribs, pork tenderloin, pork butt (pulled pork barbecue), chicken breast, steaks, pork chops, wings, bacon, sausage, and tons of vegetables (baked potatoes especially). This grill makes outdoor cooking easy and fun, without a lot of the the inconvenience and hassle. I also like that it doesn't take up much space on our patio. I have enjoyed it so much, I've bought several of the accessories to go along with it. I have had so many compliments about the food, especially the tenderloins and smoked chicken breast. The smoker feature adds a great taste too any meat you cook. I also like the grill top, so I can still use it to cook steaks, burgers, etc. I didn't think I would use that feature but I have a lot. I haven't used my other grill since I got this one, because it does everything I need. I'm looking forward to trying a turkey this thanksgiving. The assembly wasn't too bad, took about an hour and a half. Do yourself a favor and pick up a digital thermometer, and you'll be grilling and smoking to perfection very soon. Can't say enough good things about this product! You'll have a lot of fun trying out different wood flavors that go along with different cuts and types of meat. The smell of the wood smoke is awesome!
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Outstanding Roaster, Pretty Good Grill, Meh Smoker
by The Big Guy (5 out of 5 stars)
December 17, 2015

This is my third Big Easy! First one was great, but I used the heck out of it. The second one was not so good and could not come up to the right temperature that I wanted. Both were the basic Big Easy units.

So I tried again and this time, this product hit the jackpot!

Pros: Almost a "set it and forget it" cook. Chicken is done is about 45-50 minutes, tender, juicy. I do NOT cook the whole chicken, but only the parts. Legs and thighs below, breasts on the top with either an electronic temp probe or the all in one manual one. When the breasts are done, I take them out and cook the dark meat about 5 -10 minutes longer. Perfect!
The unit will function as a grill. I used an IR temp probe and got the top grill up to 535 degrees, hot enough for most meats. However, I use my Weber grill for searing (gets up to 750 degrees.

Cons: Surface area for grilling is small, compared to a regular grill, but may work for some people. The "smoker" feature is a stretch. This is NOT a true smoker. I have a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker specifically for smoking meats. However, the ability to add SOME smoke to my meats with this unit is a plus.
The other con is that the assembly directions are quite rudimentary and a good thing I had previous experience with Big Easys, but it still took me 1.5 hours to put together.

All in all, this unit is a valuable, flexible addition to my Weber grill and Weber smoker

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