Photo: ghpgroupinc.com
What We Like
- Superior 1,890 sq. in. cooking area
- High 150-pound food capacity
- Optimized for smoking efficiently
- Easy to clean and maintain
- Built-in temperature gauge
What We Don’t Like
- No grill cover included
- Heavy and not very mobile
Bottom Line
A value-packed smoker whose capacity is top of its class in the consumer category, making it great for family and party meals.
Introduction
If you have a large family or like to have guests over regularly, Dyna-Glo DGO1890BDC-D is the smoker you need to get.
With its superior 1,890-square-inch cooking area, you can smoke a wide array of foods all at the same time, while capitalizing on the smoker’s heating efficacy to infuse all the rich smoky flavors into your meats.
Dyna-Glo DGO1890BDC-D Review
Photo: Dyna-Glo
Performance: High-Capacity and Versatile Smoker
Dyna-Glo DGO1890BDC-D is the perfect blend of performance and efficiency, which is a rare combination in consumer charcoal smoker. But this model excels at both, and then some.
One of the smoker’s major highlights is its superior cooking area and ridiculously high food capacity. It offers you a staggering 1,890 square inches of cooking area for large family-to-party-sized meal preparations. You can smoke all your meats, fish, bacon, hams, ribs, nuts, sausages, and so many other ingredients all at once.
And to optimize this immense space such that all of it is utilized efficiently, this smoker comes equipped with 6 premium cooking grates that are height-adjustable so that you never have to squeeze any food on them.
But that’s not even the good part. Each of these grates can hold up to 25 pounds of food, at one go. In total, expect the entire smoker to hold up to 150 pounds of food at full capacity. Unless you are holding a party, this is a capacity that you may never reach, but it’s great to know that when you need it, space is there.
To make the smoker even more versatile, a chrome-plated rib rack and sausage hooks have been provided to offer you additional cooking options, and to spur some cooking creativity.
Design: Offset for Smoking Efficiency
Because the DGO1890BDC-D is a high-capacity smoker, a lot of thought went into designing the unit such that the unit performs efficiently, even when filled with food.
It adopts a vertical design, which embraces the principle of naturally-rising heat so that all the food in it, even that on the top racks, will be heated evenly to maximize on smoke flavor retention.
Besides the natural redirection of heat, the offset design, which puts the charcoal management system outside the main smoking chamber, goes a step further to keep direct heat away from the food being cooked to support slow cooking.
This capability is especially important in preventing bottom-rack food from overcooking or burning because of being in the burner’s proximity.
Also, the 4 legs that elevate the entire unit from the ground play a significant role in ensuring that the main smoking chamber is easier to access without excessive bending, while protecting it from elements that can damage its housing.
Installation: Fast with Detailed Steps
Setting up the smoker requires you to find the most suitable installation spot around your home. That way, you don’t have to think about moving it for a while. At 83 pounds in gross weight, don’t expect to be shifting the unit around your home, unless there’s someone around to give you a hand.
Installing the DGO1890BDC-D shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes when you follow the steps on the user manual keenly. The only tools you require for this task are a Phillips screwdriver, pliers, and an adjustable wrench, which are not included with the smoker.
A point of caution is that since the smoker is assembled upside down, it is recommended that you seek someone’s assistance when standing the unit on its legs because it is heavy. Doing so will help minimize any risks of injury.
It is rather disappointing, however, that Dyna-Glo does not offer this model with a cover included. To protect is against the elements, you will need to buy the recommended Dyna-Glo Premium Cover for this model.
Smoking Setup: Optimized for Effective Smoking
The smoking setup on this smoker is built for efficiency and consistent performance across all foods and cooking demands. And much of the efficiency is embedded in the unit’s design.
To start with, the smoking chamber is an offset one, meaning it is separate from the food chamber, as noted earlier. This separation allows the chamber’s design to be independently optimized for the best performance.
Dyna-Glo got this component right. The chamber is porcelain-enameled, which helps keep the charcoal briquettes tightly-stacked to enhance burning efficiency.
Also, when you need to interact with the smoking chamber, it is possible to do this without ever touching with the food chamber and risking interfering with temperature and smoke distribution. Simply operate some chamber and its output will be transferred seamlessly to the food.
Heating: Reliable with High Burn Efficiency
DGO1890BDC-D’s heating performance is boosted by the smoking setup’s efficiency. The heating system is effective in ensuring that no heat is lost through leakage. To achieve that, a seal has been installed around the primary door. The sealing is effective at preventing heat and smoke loss, ensuring the smoking process runs smoothly.
Heating efficiency is further enhanced by the smokestack installed on top of the smoker. The stack comes with an adjustable flue, which not only boosts your food’s flavors but has proven reliable in temperature regulation. Adjusting it is quite easy.
While Dyna-Glo does not make clear the maximum internal temperature this smoker can reach, a look at the recommended cooking temperatures for different foods suggests that it can achieve highs of at least 300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is pretty impressive.
Also, still on the manual, if you are just getting started with smokers and decided to pick up a DGO1890BDC-D, there is a compressive list of the many foods you can smoke and cook with it, inside the user manual. And most importantly, it includes their suggested smoking temperatures.
Cleaning: Easy to Maintain
Much of the cleaning you’ll do on this smoker involves the main chamber and the ash pan. When it comes to the main chamber, its regular rectangular shape simplifies the process.
Starting on the inside, removing the 6 cooking grates grants you access to the entire chamber without any restrictions. Using a gentle cleaning agent such as a grill spray, you can easily remove any grease and debris on both the grates and any other section in the chamber.
Read More: The Best Grill Cleaner
Obviously, any surface that requires a bit of effort to dislodge the dirt could benefit from a gentle brush, which can also simplify the process for you. Avoid abrasive agents that could remove the coating from some of the smoker’s surfaces.
You’ll appreciate the smoker’s large removable ash pan whose size allows it to hold large amounts of ash for a long time before requiring maintenance.
Occasionally, you may need to clean the smoker’s exterior especially because this is an outdoor machine that will likely gather some dust and other forms of dirt over time.
Price: A Bargain for the Superior Capacity
When you consider the immense cooking area and food capacity offered by the DGO1890BDC-D, then its price is a big bargain for you. You can smoke whatever amount of food using this smoker, and it will never run out of space.
You’ll appreciate this value when you are cooking for many and the smoker is able to accommodate a large quantity and variety of food, all in a single run. Also, there is a lot of efficiencies built into it. A rival model such as the Char-Griller E1224 costs almost twice as much but offers a lower food capacity and is much heavier even with its 2 portability wheels.
Verdict
The ultimate smoker for a large family and party meals with a touch of efficiency for superior smoking performance.
There’s no doubt that the spacious DGO1890BDC-D can handle pretty much everything you put in it, and with superior temperature control, its slow-cooking capability maximizes efficient food flavoring.
Specs
- Product Name: Dyna-Glo DGO1890BDC-D
- Product Brand: Dyna-Glo
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 43.3 x 50.2 inches
- Total Cooking Area: 1,890 square inches
- Number of Cooking Grates: 6
- Single Grate Capacity: 25 pounds
- Fuel Type: Charcoal
- Main Material: Steel
- Warranty: 1 year (limited)
- Product Weight: 83 pounds
Key Features
- A superior total cooking area of 1,890 square inches for large meals
- 6 height-adjustable grates with a 25-pound food capacity, each
- The porcelain-enameled chamber improved burning efficiency
- High-capacity ash pan reduces maintenance frequency
- Pre-installed rope seal helps improve heat and smoke retention
- Heavy-duty and accurate temperature gauge