Cookshack PG500 Fast Eddy's Pellet Grill

This Pellet Pooper is awesome... I've always cooked with an offset BBQ pit and decided to pull the trigger on this one. It was a tough choice between the PG500 and the Yoda 640. The all stainless was the deciding factor. I've cooked on it twice now, the 1st was a simple try out with a pork loin and some chicken breast. The pork loin tasted great and was very juicy, however it was missing the distinct smoke ring. The chicken was cooked on the direct grill side with perfect grill marks and tasted fantastic. For my 2nd cook we did a Pork Shoulder and a rack of ribs. Slow and low is the secret behind smoking on this grill. 210 to 225 degrees will give you all the smoke you desire. Above 235, and there is a noticeable dissipation of smoke. We dialed in 225 degrees and cooked for 13 hrs to an IT of 195 degrees for the Pork Shoulder and 5 hours on the ribs. Normally I aluminum foil 1/3/1 for my ribs, but decided I wanted to see how this cooker would do by having them just placed on the low and slow side. Let's say both cooked to perfection. The Pork Shoulder had a beautiful bark and jiggled like jello, needless to say she just pulled apart and had a fantastic smoke flavor. The ribs pulled back on the bone and had that beautiful smoke ring that everyone is looking for. All the pork was juicy and it must have tasted good, there was just enough pork left to make a few sandwiches the next day. I'm very impressed with the results and you'll quickly understand you don't have any job left once you dial in your desired temperature. There's no poking the fire and easy clean up....

I called cook shack directly on new pg500 fast eddy's grill. I expressed we had an abundance of ash on top of product they expressed it was the wind, odd this was used in my pole barn. I expressed the doors are leaking, they said the do not offer gaskets for sale, a lot of money to spend for poor quality build, it really looks great but I don't want to clean my smoker every time I use it, it would not take much to correct the design flaws or come up with solution tech rep does not care, I think they should look for some one who does care. would give it 5 stars if they can come up with solution for the leaky doors, and ash all over my product.

Wish it was insulated to hold the temperature better, otherwise, works great!

One issue that makes this grill a nightmare to use is the way you have to go about to change the HHT setting.There should have been a separate control knob to change the setting, this would have made controlling the temp. swings MUCH,MUCH easer!

My husband is the primary user of the grill, while the rest of us are participants of output. :-)Pros:1. The grill is SOLID stainless steel2. Pellets make the grill very easy to use - fool-proof once you get to know the grill3. Temp control is not hard once you know how to manage it4. Issues resolved immediately by the company...when we received our unit, it had a defective component that was causing the grill not to light. My husband called and spoke with the company and the man that answered was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He knew exactly what was damaged in shipping and immediately shipped us a new part. He then helped my husband install it after we received it by walking him through it over the phone.Cons:1. Temp control takes time to learn/troubleshoot

I’ve updated my review to three stars. I’ve played with the original factory settings and it’s become more reliable. Crazy temperature swings aren’t as extreme. I still wouldn’t recommend it though unfortunately.Thus far can’t get it to stay lit for more than three hours. To add insult to injury, the doors have blown open on me, fortunately with no serious injury (but lots of lost hair).My first pellet grill cost 10 percent of this one and is way better in every way except for size. I’ll amend my review if customer service can fix this but felt the need as of now to tell potential buyers to be wary.I try buy made in the USA when possible regardless of price which is why I bought this. This is the first time I’ve been let down by that philosophy.

This is a top notch grill, and I cannot wait to sear and smoke a steak on it. I am in a wheel chair and it is the perfect height!I was missing a few parts and Cookshack’s customer service took care of me the following morning. I purchased mine directly from amazon and their customer was also very helpful.

First time smoking and this thing made it very easy! Tried pork butts at 225 overnight and they came out fantastic. One thing I will add is make sure you move the metal piece that sits over the burning pot when you open it. It took me a minute to figure out what was wrong at first lol