This would be a five star except that the cooking grill fits very loosely, so much so that it easily slides so far to one edge that a portion drops into the coals. This happens while flipping food during cooking if you aren’t careful. It also makes it difficult to place the cooking grill after the coals are ready.

It gets a four because everything else is well done and high quality.

I have to say, however, the problem with the cooking grill being insecure could be a deal breaker for a lot of people.

This is my third Smokey Joe I’ve owned. The first now lives with my parents (who use it nonstop all summer) and the second couldn’t make a big move, so was adopted by friends, who almost convinced me that they were doing me a favor. Weber’s strong reputation is deserved.

But seriously, unless you’re bbq-ing for a large family or day-long event, you don’t need a big grille. This little fella is more than up to the task. Current record: 4 hours of non-stop bbq-ing (one bit of additional briquettes at hour 3) and feeding very happy friends.

Amazing service from Buckingham garden centre. Very prompt service with an eye out for possible mistakes in ordering! Had emails and phone call to rectify this. Smokey Joe needs no review except paying for the premium product is money well spent.

I bought this recently but so far it has been a lovely little barbecue – you can see it has been well thought through and designed beautifully for its purpose. I’ve cooked sausages and vegetables and spatchcock chicken and it’s always been surprisingly fast and lovely to use. Really easy to extinguish as well just by closing the vents. I can see how it would be great for camping – I just have a tiny garden so I didn’t want a big barbecue, and it’s much better than a disposable! I would be happy to take this out to the park or to a friend’s house for a barbecue it’s such a good size. For such a small barbecue it cooks a reasonable amount on it (12 sausages, a couple of peppers and room to spare) and cooks so quickly it’s a great find for more people than you might expect.

It is really easy to put together, it only took me about 10 minutes to have a fully functioning barbecue. It’s my first barbecue but it was really easy to use and the little instructions booklet is good. I stood it on a table – the stand doesn’t get hot – and set the coals, it doesn’t take too long to cook on, the air vents in the lid and sides mean that you can put the lid on to keep in the heat while bringing in exactly the right amount of oxygen to keep the coals alight. Once finished just close the holes and it cools down quickly. It is really well made and coated and comes with an ash catcher, you can empty the coals off the tray and then the ash out of the catcher and just wipe it down really easily. The grills need a bit of cleaning as you’d expect but it’s a lot easier than with a big barbecue, you can clean the grills in the sink!