Char-Broil Sierra vs. Chargriller Super Pro

Hello everyone!!

I am a recent convert to the BBQ religion (cult??) and have some questions on charcoal BBQ grill selection. I am looking for a smoker/grill combo but have had a difficult time finding some of the recommended ones here in Canada - as apparently have others.

I have found the Chargriller here in Ontario, but it is a few hours drive away (no shipping due to weight)...

What I have been looking at is the Char-Broil Sierra, (VERY similar to the New Braunfels Silver Smoker you guys have in the U.S. - just no easy access fire-door), which is available at the local Canadian Tire for pretty well the same price as the Super Pro w/offset smokerbox.

Does anybody have experience with this particular Char-Broil model? The manufacture seems to be very stable, built of heavy-gauge steel. Is Char-Broil a good name in the BBQ world? I have found a few references on the boards here, but am still unsure if maybe I should be taking a day trip to pick up the Chargriller.

Thanks in advance for any insight you guys can give - and thanks a lot for all the extremely useful information I have found here - and the loads of info I will be soaking in in the future!!

D.

I'm reluctant to say anything bad about Char Broil, as I will have some of thier gas grills for sale soon. But....Which Chargriller are you considering? If I had to make a decision between the Char Broil Sierra and a Chargriller Super Pro, I would pick the Charbroil due to the easy access door on the front for replenishing the coals. Now, if the decision were between the Sierra and the Chargriller Smokin Pro, I would go with the Chargriller due to the offset firebox and dual smoking/grilling capabilities. It seems to me that the Char Broil Sierra is nothing more than a very large charcoal grill.

My wife bought me the Charbroil model (from Canadian Tire) for my birthday a couple of months ago. I haven't used any of the other model so my opinion may be biased. So far the smoker has worked great! I haven't had any problems yet. So far I have done ribs, beef ribs and brisket on it, this weekend I am going to try pulled pork. All recipes I have tried have turned out excellent.

If you do purchase this model, make sure to season it as the instructions tell you, buy a cover for it to keep it dry. Also when cooking try to keep it out of the wind, you may not have the problems with wind as I do.... I live in Saskatchewan I purchase an external probe from The bay (around $40) to monitor the temperature inside the grill. I think it was definately a worth while investment.

MReynolds:

Hmm... I never thought that there may be another Sierra model - the one I was referring to was the Sierra Smoker which has an attached offset firebox. It's touted as a smoker, but you can grill & do indirect, etc...

As for the chargriller, I was considering the Super Pro with the optional offset firebox.

Here's a link to a picture of the Sierra Smoker - If it asks for a zip code try K8V5P4:
http://images.canadiantire.ca/media/ima ... _2dffd.jpg

Nice and sturdy, heavy gauge steel, and a large cooking surface. The two seem quite similar.

Alan:

Thanks for the input!! We live semi-rural on a bit of a hill so the wind can sometimes be a problem. Is the temperature easy to control? Also, can you get the main chamber fairly hot using indirect heat from the offset firebox?? (I was thinking of doing a few odd things in it like maybe a big pot of chili.. hehehe)

From reading various BBQ sites, it says the temperature can be hard to control on any model, I found you have to baby sit it more on windy days but killing the afternoon with it is half the fun. I found that after using it a couple times it is alot easier to control. Like anything I guess practice makes perfect.

You can get it fairly hot, when I wasn't watching the heat it got past 350 degrees. I think a pot of chili would work quite well on it. I have tried using it as a grill (not using the smoke chamber) it works, but to tell you the truth, I found it a bit hard to control the heat.

Not sure guys... I've seen the Charbroil Sierra smoker in person and I've seen the Chargriller on the web - can't get the Chargriller here in Vancouver as far as I know - anyway, the Charbroil is rather small - or I should say it's depth is skinny - based on the specs, I thinking the Chargriller is a lot bigger. But I guess it's really hard to say if one performs better than the other, unless you've used both. I will say after reading so many positive posts about the Chargriller, it's got me very interested. Good luck with your purchase.

Trevor

Daemien wrote:

MReynolds:

Hmm... I never thought that there may be another Sierra model - the one I was referring to was the Sierra Smoker which has an attached offset firebox. It's touted as a smoker, but you can grill & do indirect, etc...

Okay, that grill has a different nomenclature here in the states. Here that model is know as the Char Broil American Gourmet Deluxe Grill & Smoker.

I'd go with the Chargriller simply for it's versatility and usefulness. Get the Super Pro and the side firebox separately. I seem to recall everyone on the board talking about getting a few "extras" by doing it this way.

vfxtrev: I believe you are correct about the Sierra being "skinny".

I've seen this Charbroil smoker at the local Wally World. I wouldn't buy it because it's just too small for the amount of cooking I want to do.

Daemien: Do a search for Chargriller here on the forum. You'll get more info than you info than you can read. Board member BBcue-Z is the resident expert on this grill and has posted some great info.

Go with the Chargriller, you won't be disappointed.

lol.. that's part of the problem really. After reading all of the posts on here concerning the Chargriller I had my mind set on it - then after hunting around and not finding a dealer here in Canada I was starting to reconsider. The grill size difference between the two doesn't really bother me (don't think I'll be feeding any huge gatherings any time soon).. the main attraction to the Chargriller for me is the ease of cleanup. I'm notoriously lazy after I've filled my belly with good food

I found a place a couple of hours away from me that stocks the Chargriller and will ship - will be worth the shipping costs from what I can tell. The only problem now is that they are out of stock and aren't expecting any more in for 2-3 weeks... *sigh* Hope it's worth the wait!!

On a separate note, I just ordered the Barbecue Bible & the Sauce/Rub companion from Amazon! Will look great sitting beside my How To Grill - which got me started in all of this.. hehe

Thanks for all the input guys!! I won't be doing any real BBQ for a few weeks obviously but will let y'all know how it turns out..

D.

I can tell the advantage of the Char-Griller over other models is being able to smoke or grill all in one unit. This gives a room to grow without having to add another unit in the future. If you get the Char-Griller, please let me know if you need any help with it.
Good Luck!
Here is a link that compares this unit to similar models:
http://www.chargriller.com/chart.html

I wont say anything bad about either of your choices as I think you would be pleased with either. I have owned a Char-Griller and a New Braunfels Silver smoker and turned out some good Q. I now own a Pro-Q Excel 20 and a Big Green Egg. The Pro-Q has a distributer in Canada, but I am not sure how close or what the availability is like. It is a radical design change from the offsets you mention, but I found mine to be very versatile, grill, roast, smoke, etc... and easy to use. If you are interested you can see them here... http://www.napoleongrills.com/Gourmet-g ... moker.html

With those Canadian winters (you are planning on grilling/smoking in the winter, right?), you'll want either the highest gauge steel you can afford, or a vertical smoker like a Pro-Q or WSM.

QJuju....Am I seeing things or did you just answer a post that's 6 years old

I noticed that too. I think there was some "Spammer" called "RosyWhite" or something like that, that was commenting on old posts, to get people to click on the link provided. I think the moderators must have deleted the B.S. post. Good job, Moderators! I think Qjuju just didn't realize that was the case. I almost made the same mistake.

Whew... Thanks Dyal... I knew that post popped for a reason! I always click the "visit posts since last visit" link and I know that one came up. Looking at it now it certainly looks like I was digging through the old posts. I hope he got something before I posted.