Z GRILLS-7002E

Bought my 7002E back in May, 2020. I wanted to cook several different things before I chose to write a thorough review on my overall experiences with this machine. First and foremost, while I am not a professional chef, I know how to prepare, cook, and present lots of different foods and meals. I’ve been grilling and smoking food for two decades. I’m not Aaron Franklin, but I can hold my own against most backyard champions. Pork butt/shoulder: Turned out terrific. Great bark. Good smoke flavor. Normal expected cook time. Pork back ribs: Came out pretty darned good, almost as good as I’ve ever made. I’d wager once I get the quirks down with this unit, I’ll be setting a new standard for myself. Pork spare ribs: Total blowout disaster. I’m 99.9% sure this was an operator error issue, so I’ll be doing more soon. Can’t win ‘em all, right? Rack of lamb: Absolutely ridiculous. I’ve made lamb on my Weber Kettle dozens of times, and in a cast iron and oven a hundred times, but somehow this machine was able to impart not just more smoke flavor, but a better one? I thought I was losing my mind, so I then did a side-by-side with my Z and my Weber. I’m blown away. The results from the rack of lamb alone are almost enough to warrant my purchase. Whole spatchcocked chicken and chicken quarters: This seems like a no-brainer, as chicken is mostly a blank slate waiting for someone to make it delicious. A good overnight wet brine will do the trick every time. But, with my Z, I didn’t get any hot spots like a 22” Kettle will generate (even with the snake method, hot spots are impossible to eliminate). The cooking area and chamber maintain a fairly uniform temperature. Highly impressed. Hot-smoked salmon: GTFOH! Wow. Just... wow. I’ve always had issues maintaining low temps, even on a gas grill, and even on a Masterbuilt Sportsman Elite I’ve had for what seems like forever. Temp swings on my Z were mostly in the +/- 7f to 8f range once the unit settled on the correct dialed temp (about 20 minutes), with the rate 10-12f dip or spike. Full packer brisket: Fantastic. The best I’ve ever made, and it’s probably because I’ve never had a cooking option that would handle a 20-pound hunk of beef. Either way, it came out great, even though the flat was a little dry (my fault for over-trimming the fat and not turning it, I think). Now, I’m not going to lie... 80%+ of what you can do with this machine can be accomplished with a decent gas grill and some experience and know-how. It’s true. Indirect heat cooking isn’t some mystical idea. It’s not difficult to accomplish. However, what these units provide is a “set it and forget it” approach, so you CAN start a brisket or pork butt at 10pm and rest easy knowing Ol’ Bessie or Chris P Bacon are going to be just fine while you sleep and dream up new recipes. Now for why I’ve found disappointing... 1. I cannot figure out how to change the “smoke” temp (p setting). Is this a firmware thing that can be modified? 2. The sidewalk between the hopper assembly and the chamber isn’t sturdy enough. It should be reinforced. A 130-pound grill being wheeled around by a connection with four #12 screws seems flimsy, and there’s a lot of flex in the hopper any time I move it. Not ideal. 3. No open flame option. Yeah, yeah... I know. I should have bought one with that option. I have a gas grill next to it, so it’s not a big deal (I like to sear at VERY high temps, like 600f+). 4. The honeycomb guard inside the hopper, which is there, I assume, to prevent hand injury while sitting pellets? All it does is get in the way and causes funneling. I removed mine. Not one issue since then. 5. No pellet dump feature. For anyone who has used pellet grills for a period of time, you know how convenient that option is. Back-burns happen occasionally. Strange weather and high humidity can spoil pellets. Cleaning out a hopper and augur tube is a massive PITA. Just a thought. 6. Lastly... poor seals around chamber lid and hopper lid. I added some high-temp gasket I got on my chamber lid, and a glazing gasket to my hopper lid and box. Bought them for a total of about $20. All in all, I recommend this machine for those new to smoking food and those new to pellet units. I am impressed with the overall build quality, despite a few raised eyebrows about assembly. One last note... For those who state that they’re even noticed a lot of ash in their units after cooking, or pellet consumption is much higher than the 1/2 pound per hour claim on the ZGrills page... buy better quality pellets, and learn about fuel consumption rates - poor quality pellets with fillers will burn faster, produce less or dirty smoke, and create much more ash; higher temp settings will create higher fuel consumption rates. If anyone reading this is considering buying a pellet smoker, find some FB groups focused on that and get to learnin’!

The grill was purchased for my son, as a present. He has been grilling on it every chance he gets and loves it.

Pretty good experience. First time using a pellet grill. Food turned out good. Was hoping for more smoke. Uses a lot of pellets which aren’t cheap.

This grill has been amazing and turns out great bbq!

Unit was not difficult to put together and works great. Be aware startup instructions say auger should start turning after a couple minutes, it was more like 10. Maybe that was because it was 35 degree's out when I did the startup instructions, I'm not sure. But the customer support got on the line quickly and told me to give it 20 minutes the first time, and sure enough she was right.