Customer reviews from oklahomajoes.com
Char-Broil - Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX Outdoor Pellet Grill - Black
Average customer rating
4.3
(180 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 180 reviews
5 Stars
128
4 Stars
19
3 Stars
6
2 Stars
7
1 Star
20
84%of customers recommend this product.
(
145 out of
173)
Customer Reviews for Char-Broil - Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX Outdoor Pellet Grill - Black
Customer Rating
5
High heat and low temp smoke!
on April 28, 2021
Posted by: HogOps
from Alabama
Gender:Male
Length of ownership:1 month
I have owned and used many smokers, grills and pits fueled by charcoal, lump, gas and stick wood. There is a bit of art and science you learn from all these methods. The Rider DLX is no exception, however the learning curve is short.
Cooking capability: excellent, this grill will maintain a temp variant between 180-230 at low setting. The pellet auto feed cycle causes a fluctuating rise in temp. This grill will reach 600+ degrees in sear heat with open flame, this not the setting for frozen burger patties or 1/2” cut steaks, you will get a grease fire and over cook thin cuts of meat, hotdog survivability is zero.
As with any large cooker there are hot spots and cool spots, the pellet fire is bottom center of barrel. Long, low temp smokes may need a water pan.
Cooking capability: excellent, this grill will maintain a temp variant between 180-230 at low setting. The pellet auto feed cycle causes a fluctuating rise in temp. This grill will reach 600+ degrees in sear heat with open flame, this not the setting for frozen burger patties or 1/2” cut steaks, you will get a grease fire and over cook thin cuts of meat, hotdog survivability is zero.
As with any large cooker there are hot spots and cool spots, the pellet fire is bottom center of barrel. Long, low temp smokes may need a water pan.
Material Quality: Good, this grill is better then most at the price point. However, it has electronics and should be stored in a dry place out of the elements. Temperature......know this, the temp is consistent over many hours. The temp gauges provided are also consistent but inaccurate +\- 35d. With that said, I have never had a grill that came with accurate temp gauges, ever.
I strongly recommend sourcing your own temp gauge for meat and grill.
I strongly recommend sourcing your own temp gauge for meat and grill.
Overall review: I have never owned a cooker that I didn’t give some modifications to out of the box. The Rider evacuates smoke pretty quickly out of the 2 large chimneys, a little tin foil under the caps will slow it down and keep the smoke in the barrel longer for long, low temp cooks. There is some smoke leaks around the lid and the the sear/smoke handle, again very typical of any grill on the market and a easy modification but not needed. If you cook butts or briskets get your own good quality temp tools as this is a no brainer for any grill. As with any grill, you need to season the inner barrel cooking area after first heat up, I use cooking oil spray. The pellet ashes are inside the lower barrel and the ash cap. I also use a real small shop vac with a small hose attachment to vacuum ashes inside before each cook. As with any cooker, if you don’t clean out old ashes it will get to flying around inside and get on your food and restrict grease flow to the buckets and cause a potential for fire.
Customer service: I have had my Rider for almost 3 months now. My 2nd cook, week one, was a pork butt for about 6 hours at low temp. The paint coating on the lower barrel exterior began to flake off around the ash cap. I submitted a online warranty claim and had a response a few days, I sent requested pics and had resolution to provide a new one the next day. I was happy to resolve this quickly, although I was disappointed to experience this in the first week of use. This a good cooker with great cooking qualities, experienced grillers will find it easy to use and effective for backyard and competition. The novice, this is an ideal setup to gain some skill smoking. The overall price point and value is great for the grill size and capabilities.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Response from oklahomajoes.comBy SME, January 15, 2024
Thank you for your review.
Written by a customer while visiting oklahomajoes.com
Customer Rating
1
More trouble than its worth
on May 31, 2021
Posted by: K Lane
from Old River, Texas
Gender:Male
Length of ownership:6 months
Where to start?? In about 14 months I have had to replace the igniter 3 times and IS NOT a simple and easy fix. It is on the absolute center of the smokers inner workings and after being used a couple times... good luck getting those screws out. There are some screws that I had to cut out with a dremmel just to replace the igniter
Used it last weekend to smoke some chickens.... perfect. Emptied the hopper, let it cool down and burn the pellets remaining in the auger, emptied the ash collector, cleaned it up and put the cover on it..Went to fire it up to smoke ribs yesterday and nothing, will not ignite. I’m done and am goin to haul it to the curb for the garbage truck to haul off and am going to buy a Pit Boss or Traeger
Used it last weekend to smoke some chickens.... perfect. Emptied the hopper, let it cool down and burn the pellets remaining in the auger, emptied the ash collector, cleaned it up and put the cover on it..Went to fire it up to smoke ribs yesterday and nothing, will not ignite. I’m done and am goin to haul it to the curb for the garbage truck to haul off and am going to buy a Pit Boss or Traeger
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from oklahomajoes.comBy Dustin, SME, June 1, 2021
We're very sorry to hear of the frustrations. We have found your case and see where a warranty order has been placed. Please reach out to us if you experience any further issues with this pellet grill and we'll be happy to further assist.
Written by a customer while visiting oklahomajoes.com
Customer Rating
2
If I could use it
on July 2, 2021
Posted by: Charles75
from Maryville, Mo
Gender:Male
Level of expertise:Intermediate
Length of ownership:6 months
Got this Grill about a year ago, used it a couple of times then got the Error code for the ignitor, got sent a new ignitor replaced it the new one did not work, got sent a new control panel, the ignitor code went away but now the auger will not turn. Would like to use my grill not work on it.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from oklahomajoes.comBy Dustin, SME, July 7, 2021
We're very sorry to hear this. Please follow this link (bit.ly/2VQqS7p) or give us a call at 1-800-318-7744 and we will be able to investigate and help
Written by a customer while visiting oklahomajoes.com
Customer Rating
5
Flavor on a whole new level!
on July 15, 2021
Posted by: Hayleyc925
from Moriches, NY
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] My husband and I had the opportunity to assemble and utilize Oklahoma Joe's Rider Deluxe Pellet Grill on several occasions now. This Pellet Grill is an absolute gamechanger in performance and flavor. Assembly of this product took just over an hour, and my husband found the directions to be clear and straightforward from the manual. The Rider Deluxe Pellet Grill is absolutely solid in design-- featuring a heavy-duty steel frame and body, with cast iron grilling grates. We love that this unit features a dual smoke stack system for better air circulation. I do wish this grill came with the cover, although we purchased one on the brands website. Because smoking versus grilling is a novel technique for us, we were sure to read the start-up guide and to do some research in regard to best cooking temperatures, methods, etc.. Initial setup requires a lengthy initial burn-off, cool down and re-heatup process. Although it wasn't necessary, we chose to season our cast iron grates with some high quality olive oil. The Rider Deluxe Pellet Grill is just an all-aroung amazing smoker. With this grill, you can choose to sear or smoke your menu, and adjustable racks enable you to cook multiple food items with varying configurations. The auger system has worked nicely for us, and we have now sampled and experiments with various brands of pellets/flavors to find what we like. Because we are hoping to prevent any clogging or clumping of pellets within the auger, we always follow cool down protocol and empty any remnants burnt off during the process. We have experienced some pellets falling from the auger chamber during a cook, but simply leave our pellet container on the ground below the convenient storage-slide drawer. Overall, we are absolutely blown away by how well the Rider Deluxe Pellet Grill infuses our food. We typically eat chicken, steak, burgers and hot dogs regularly in the summer. We have now tried cooking all of the above foods on our grill and will not go back to our standard propane grill. This grill works tremendously well for smoking meats slowly on a lower head setting (between 225-250) and also exceptionally well for preparing juicy burgers and hot dogs on a higher searing temperature. With the ability to burn up to 650 degrees, the cooking options are endless. The control panel functions are super simple to navigate and straightforward in utilization. You can even utilize both cooking techniques, by reverse cooking a steak or burger. Not only have we smoked and seared meats, we have also prepared roasted corn, vegetable medelys and even pizza on the pellet grill. Although surely a learning curve for maximum flavor achievement, we find ourselves getting more and more flavor with each attempt. Everything has been so deliciously juicy, tender and flavorful, and guests have raved about our barbecue chicken and steak. If you are looking to amp up flavor of your favorite foods, the Deluxe Rider Pellet Grill will leave you drooling after each meal. Bold, smoky, barbecue flavor!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Response from oklahomajoes.comBy SME, January 15, 2024
Thank you for your review.
Written by a customer while visiting oklahomajoes.com
Customer Rating
4
Great Food is Now Easy to Make
on July 15, 2021
Posted by: mslittlex
from Nashville, TN
Gender:Male
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This is my first pellet grill and I have been very surprised by how easy it is to make very good food, even for someone new to it like myself. I've never been great with a grill, limited mostly to hot dogs and hamburgers because I tend to over- or undercook anything else. I have made some of the best food I've ever had with this grill, and I am now constantly looking for new recipes to try.
This comes with the electronic components already connected, you just have to screw a few things into place and the control system is together. The grill itself took a bit more, mostly because this is a very heavy machine. The instructions say two people, and they really mean that; even moving it around in the box is tough, it's around 250 pounds. It takes about an hour to get together and the instructions are clear. I'm not a huge fan of the giant sticker that comes on the lid, very hard to peel off. There were other stickers, but that is the one that is really a problem and one that would cause the most problems if you didn't get it off. The design is well thought out, with the holder for the pellet bucket being exactly where you would want it and the two little buckets to catch the drippings are well placed. The easily removable, screw-on ashcan is perfect, but this grill generates a surprisingly small amount of ash.
Using the grill is very easy, there aren't a ton of options to choose from on the selector knob, but everything you need is there. The temperatures for the smoke setting go in 25-degree increments, up to 300, which is more than I've seen anyone use to smoke something anyway. The grill setting has three options, Low, Medium, and High. I've found it takes about 15 minutes after startup before the heat really starts to build, so I have had to plan ahead a little more. I'm usually smoking something for a few hours, so a short wait just gives me time to make sure everything is ready to go.
Adding the pellets to the hopper is pretty straightforward, just dump it in and close the lid. I haven't had to add any pellets during cooking yet, so the capacity is more than adequate. I like being able to easily dump the unused pellets at the end, just put the bucket under it and pull the handle, a very simple operation.
There is more space inside than I have been able to fill so far. The two adjustable racks are a great feature, and they can also just be removed if you need more room. The sear feature is unique, and I was able to get a really good sear on my steak for the first time while using the grill in grilling mode rather than as a smoker. Changing from Smoke to Sear is just a handle that moves and setting the proper position on the selector.
There is a built-in port to plug in the included temperature probe, and it routes through a small hole on the left side of the grill. I did not find the probe to be very accurate, but I think it may work better on a large piece of meat, like pork shoulder, where it isn't as exposed to the heat of the grill instead of the inside of the meat. You can set a temperature or time alarm on the display and it will sound when it reaches where you want it, but it does not work as a trigger to shut down the grill, just informational. I really like the display that gives the internal temp constantly, it helps to keep an eye on things without using a separate device.
Shutting down is easy, just turn the dial off and it initializes the shutdown burn, which clears the auger. You turn it off, drain the pellets using the bucket and handle, and whatever is already in the pipeline gets burned and then the grill shuts off. This takes about 30 minutes.
The only real negative I've found with this grill has been the paint. They are very clear in the instructions that you should not run the high setting on the grill and leave the sear lever set to Smoke, as that will damage the paint. What isn't mentioned, but happened to me, is that also applies to the shutdown burn. My new, fantastic, beautiful grill has flaking paint on the bottom after just 3 weeks of use, and I'm not happy about that at all. I did as they said in the manual and got some high temp paint and used it, but it still flakes off. This is a 5-star grill if not for this problem. It is cosmetic only, the grill is still the best I've ever used and I'm very happy outside of this one issue.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Response from oklahomajoes.comBy SME, January 11, 2024
Thank you for your review.
Written by a customer while visiting oklahomajoes.com
Customer Rating
5
Awesome electric smoker pellet grill!
on July 18, 2021
Posted by: Je848
from delaware, OH
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] My new pellet grill is awesome! This does not come with pellets, I did have to buy some. It is also electric, which may be a downside for some people. But if you prefer propane this isn’t the grill for you. It did not seem to work without the pellets at all. So you do have to have those in there. It works well with grilling/smoking hot dogs and hamburgers. It does have a large capacity, so you can fit quite a few hot dogs and hamburgers and there are 2 grilling racks almost half racks above the main grilling portion. It heats up very quickly, again with the pellets. It will not heat without the pellets.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Response from oklahomajoes.comBy SME, January 15, 2024
Thank you for your review.
Written by a customer while visiting oklahomajoes.com
Customer Rating
5
Most awesome grill and smoker!!
on July 28, 2021
Posted by: Farmwife
from Ohio
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This pellet grill really knocks it out of the park! We have been tried and true Weber grill people….until this! We haven’t used the Weber since we started cooking on this. Everything we have cooked and/or smoked on this thing has been delicious! It was easy to put together and easy to use. The internal meat thermometer is awesome. I have no negative things to say. Get one….you will not be disappointed!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Response from oklahomajoes.comBy SME, January 15, 2024
Thank you for your review.
Written by a customer while visiting oklahomajoes.com
Customer Rating
5
Real world review
on September 5, 2021
Posted by: alyoun
from Edwardsville, IL
Gender:Male
Length of ownership:1 month
I bought the smoker in June 2021. I love the grill and I have used it a lot! Ribs, burgers, pork butt, many Tritip roast, whole chickens, you name it, I am trying it. Just a couple of real world cautions. The metal wheels rusted right away. This is probably a product of rolling it across the concrete but still a caution for you concrete patio owners. I am seeing minor paint fade and some damage to the temp readout. I keep it covered most of the time but I got caught in the rain once or twice. My recommendation, keep it covered all the time and be cautious of the weather. Overall, I make great food and the pellet hopper, pellet bucket and dump system is better than any of the others out there. The interior is holding up great and shows little wear. I clean the pellet burn area regularly so it is holding up well also.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Response from oklahomajoes.comBy SME, January 16, 2024
Thank you for your review.
Written by a customer while visiting oklahomajoes.com