Pit Boss 5-Series Wood Pellet Vertical Smoker

So this is my first smoker. I went back and forth deciding on an electric vs pellet. When I saw this smoker before it was released it seemed like a pretty cool concept. The fact it holds 60lbs of pellets is amazing. So far I have to say it works really well. The one review that says it's temp varies too much is correct. I have had mine set at 275 and it varies 20 degrees up and 15 degrees down. So basically 260 to 295 (this is the reading from the thermometer in the smoker that comes with it. I will have more regarding a separate thermometer I used later in the review). This is smoking outside with a temp of 50 degrees. The thing is the temp spikes are just that...spikes. It does not stay at those temps for that long it. It's definitely closer to 275 than the other temps most of the time. The thing you have to understand is that it's natural wood burning. It's impossible to keep the EXACT temp the whole time. Also if you think about it, charcoal/wood smokers are supposedly the "best" way to smoke meats. What do you think the temp does when you have to open the door to add charcoal/wood? Yes there are some models that have separate cabinets that help keep temps from dropping drastically when you add more charcoal or wood but it still takes time for those coals to heat up. So to me the temp variation isn't a big deal. I've never used an electric smoker but my guess is those units are more consistent with temp variation but I can tell you they aren't as cool as this pellet unit. So more on the temp variation. This smoker probe for the cabinet temp is placed on the back bottom of the unit. When I did my first smoke I hung my meat on the very top. I was smoking some Chinese bbq pork. I made hooks and hung them on the very top rack. The meat was about 20 inches from the bottom where the burner is. I set the smoker at 225 initially. Instead of using the meat probe from the smoker, I bought the ThermoPro TP-08S because I wanted to have a wireless probe so I didn't have to keep going outside to check the smoker. I'm absolutely ecstatic I bought the ThermoPro. The thing is amazing! Anyway again I initially set the smoker to 225. The ThermoPro has two probes. One for the meat and one for cabinet temp. I placed the cabinet temp probe at the same height as the meat. The hottest the cabinet temp reading got on the ThermoPro was 150. That's 75 degrees different than the reading from the smoker probe. If I wasn't using the ThermoPro I would've never known that where I had my meat (at the top) was definitely not getting to the temp of 225 that I had the smoker set at. Obviously there is a huge loss of temp that high up in the smoker. Remember I was smoking outside when it was 50 degress. I'm guessing when it's 90-100 degrees outside it'll be a little more consistent inside the cabinet. With that being said I had to bump up the temp to 275 to get the temp I needed to cook the meat. So remember the smoker cabinet probe varied from 260-295 with the smoker set at 275. The ThermoPro probe that I had up high with the meat varied 215-225. That's exactly perfect in my book. So I guess the only downside so far that I can say is the cabinet is so big that the temp from the bottom to the top varies quite a bit so if you plan on smoking with a full cabinet (that would be a lot of food), it'll be hard to control how all the meat would be cooked but I'm also guessing though with a FULL cabinet the temp should be more consistent since there isn't empty space between the burner and the top. Regardless this is not a big deal to me because there is no way I'll ever cook that much meat. ...THIS SMOKER IS HUGE!...imo. Next time I smoke I will be putting the meat closer to the bottom so I don't have to set the temp control as high. So to the quality of the machine. It is very heavy duty imo. I initially bought an electric smoker (returned because it was damaged). It was half the size but I could easily pick it up and load it into my SUV by myself. This smoker I needed help. Obviously it is bigger but the overall construction is much better. The door is heavy , the gauge metal used seems thicker. The racks are thicker than others and also ceramic coated. The owners manual says it weighs 127lbs! I also looked at many other models at an outdoor goods store. This by far felt heavier duty. FYI, the pellets I used were the Pit Boss Competition. I had absolutely no problems with them going through the auger. I am a firm believer to use the same manufacturers product in their machines. Manufacturers R&D their product with their own stuff. Obviously other brand pellets would work but using the same stuff the manufacturer uses would be the safest bet. One last thing I have to say. I can always tell if a product is backed up by how their customer service is. I was calling their customer support before I bought this unit to ask questions ( I called a few times). They were extremely willing to answer all my questions and were very pleasant to deal with. Also I was shocked that they have support Mon through Sun from 4am-8pm. That only shows me how important it is to help their customers. Anyway I hate buying things without a lot of reviews but I've been wanting to buy a smoker for a while and this smoker after researching it was worth the risk. So far I am a happy camper and have no regrets.