I bought this grill as a replacement for the Char-Griller Super Pro Model #2121 that I had and ultimately donated to my church after a "cook-off" as my church did not have a grill. There was nothing wrong with the Super Pro and I enjoyed it very much, but I wanted a little bigger cooking area as the spare ribs I often cook take up the entire cooking area on the Super Pro.

I found the Outlaw to meet my expectations in terms of size and the solid metal bottom rack is an added benefit. When I received the box from UPS, it was in a mess, with rips and gouge marks in the box, which was of a big concern, since if I had to return it I would have to pay the shipping. Once I opened the box, I found that everything was intact and no visible damage to the grill and parts expect that the side and front shelves were damaged. I called Amazon and my choices were to return the grill for a refund, an exchange of the grill or they would give me a partial refund because of the shelves. I took the partial refund. I am not very partial to the plastic wheels that come with the grill but these can easily be replaced with rubber ones. The tips of the included tool holder did not have a pointed tip on them that makes screwing them in to the side wood more difficult, but nothing a pilot hole will not take care of. After putting the grill together, I found that the cooking grates so not seem to be long enough; if you do not put them on precisely they will/could fall into the grill easily. I am going to compare the grates of the Super Pro and the Outlaw and see if there is a difference. My understanding of the difference between the Super Pro and the Outlaw is the Outlaw has an extra cast iron grate (total of 5) which increases the cooking area and it has a metal lower shelf while the Super Pro has a wire lower shelf and only 4 iron grates.

I did install the optional side fire box, that I had purchased for the Super Pro but never did attach it, which gives you an additional capability when using either grill. I am currently waiting to receive the cover from Amazon (currently out of stock). In spite of the little problems above I do recommend this grill to anyone that enjoys outdoor cooking and takes pride in their BBQ. The grill does everything you want it to do from direct heat to indirect heat grilling to smoking and you can purchase the optional Grill Rotisserie as well. The capabilities of the grill and the satisfaction I received from Amazon customer service make this 4 stars in my opinion.

Though the shipping box was nearly destroyed during transit, the grill displayed no damage. A few discrepancies exist with the directions and the pictures. A visit to the Char-Griller website will show you a current picture of the grill which will be helpful.

The directions are incorrect in some parts and leaves out information in others:

The instruction states:

"Insert all four corners of the BOTTOM WIRE SHELF in to the four holes located near the bottom inside of the four LEGS. See Fig. C. Next, rotate the LEGS upward until vertical. Important: Make sure the two Long Legs are on the same end."

No bottom wire shelf exists; it's a solid metal shelf. You must also attach and finger tighten four bolts and nuts through the holes at the conclusion of this step.

WARNING....No instruction exists in the Outlaw manual for preparing you to place an external firebox on the Outlaw. If you completely assemble this grill, you will need to partially disassemble much of the grill to remove the cutout for the external firebox!! This cutout proved difficult to remove.

Recommendations on assembly:

Purchase four (4) three-inch bolts and nuts to place through the legs into the bottom shelf. The bolts supplied barely are long enough to catch the nuts.

This grill will weather, so I purchased all stainless steel bolts and nuts to replace the factory cheap bolts. It cost about $20, but in the event of eventual repairs if the Outlaw needs to be partially disassembled removing the bolts will prove much easier.

One person can assemble this grill, but it won't be a particularly easy assembly if you add the external firebox.

Seasoning the grill:

I "seasoned" the grill as the instructions indicated and let it warm properly and seasoned the grates. It's best to coat the grates with vegetable oil before every use and clean the grates after every use and again coat them with vegetable oil. Coating the grates with vegetable oil after use and while warm causes the grates to "absorb" the oil. Doing this makes the grates function fairly much as non-stick.

Using the Grill:

After seasoning the grill, it works great. It's large enough to keep one area warm and the cooking area much hotter simply by adjusting where you place the food on the grill and the amount of coals you use.

If you place the coals in the middle of the cooking area, you can utilize the sides as the warming area. It comes with a thin metal rack for warming, but I find that thin rack bends under little weight and gets in the way when smoking meat.

The Outlaw works much better and feels substantially better than other charcoal/wood grills I have owned. It's sufficient enough to forgive being placed outside in one area, as long as you cover it. It takes little time to heat coals if you use a chimney.

Good to know:

The grill does have an ability to lose some paint, but any big box store carries paint specially manufactured to repaint effected areas.

The instructions to this grill were so poorly done it tells you to use bolts that they don't even give you or list in what's included. The nameplate was riveted on upside down which looks really stupid and I had to pound the grill back into shape after it was finally assembled because it was poorly handled and bent up so the grates wouldn't stay on the grill. Overall I would not buy this online if I could do it over. Once I finally got done with assembly and repair it is a great grill and I like it a lot

A friend has this grill and yes the paint will burn off with use. Psssst It's not porcelin baked. Another hint. Lowes hardware has these for around $139.00. Pick it up and no shipping problems, broken parts or costs. If "you get what you pay for" this grill beats the odds.

It is sad to say but the days of a solid American made product is dead! The smokers made by Char Griller boast that they are American made, and covered by a warranty...then in the small print it says 'the paint may peel off your smoker upon first use (it should say WILL peel off upon first use!), the paint is not covered by the warranty.' if you are unfortunate enough to own one of these then you know what I am talking about, both my grill and side smoker are all but devoid of paint. I called Char Griller and told them that I was appalled by their underhandedness, they didn't seem to care. well the best (or worst) advertising is word of mouth. and I have nothing good to say about this product!