ECO-71008 Wood Fired Oven and Smoker, Black and Stainless Steel

I have kept my eye on this unit for quite some time, trying to determine if it was worth the $. I finally broke down and purchased the EcoQue ECO-71008 Wood Fired Pizza Oven and Smoker and I have been very pleased up to this point with my decision.The unit itself is engineered quite well with seemingly sturdy parts and intelligent features. The wire grating on the side of the unit seemed at first to be an aesthetic feature, however after having my kids playing all around the unit, I now see that it is safety feature. It prevents the accidental touching of the hot surface by blocking it with the wire grating.The storage compartment on the bottom holds a lot of items. The wheels on the unit are sturdy and larger allowing for easy movement of the unit. The only change in design I would have added is an anti-tip device on the rear of the unit. It is top heavy and can easily tip over during a move so caution is advised. The pizza oven and smoker compartment are deceptively large b/c they are deep. The pizza oven can hold 2 medium sized pizzas and the smoker can easily hold a packer cut brisket. Ribs take some work to fit but two full size racks seem to work well side by side.The pizza oven does take a long time to heat up (2 hours). We have experimented quite a bit with fire management in this unit to perfect the ideal heating, fuel, time, etc. A few lessons we learned which I will pass along to anyone interested in purchasing this unit.1) Adding tons of charcoal to the fire box does not equate to faster rise in temp of the brick oven. I would suggest the use of both hard lump charcoal and the use of a properly season hardwood with a high BTU rating.2) If you are looking to get that pizza oven signature burned cheese/crust ON THE TOP of your pizza, this unit is not good at that. It does a great job of creating a crispy bottom crust, but it is difficult to obtain that on the top of the pizza.3) TEST THE DOOR THERMOMETER before smoking an expensive meat. The unit we received was 30 degrees off and it took us a few rounds of poorly produced ribs and brisket to figure it out. It is an easy adjustment to resolve the issue. Works perfectly now and producing very good results. Speaking of the thermometer gauge, it has been noted by other reviewers that the green glow-in-the-dark numbers are good in theory but actually make it harder to read during the day. I will agree with that reviewers opinion of the feature. Good idea that misses the mark.4) You will need two people to assemble, however the slide out handles are a nice feature and make it an easy job. Smart design feature.I will provide an update later regarding how the unit stands up to the test of time. That is the one item of information I wish was more readily available to me when I was trying to make a decision so I will add that to this post at a later date to help out others.

Try to order parts busy signal on company phone number for eco que number called 1-888-207-4737 # listed.5 working days tried several times each day busy signal. No response cannot order parts.

Ok I have had this BBQ for the entire summer. First this is a lot of money but you are getting two items in one with it. The package is large and heavy but easy for two people to manage. Unpacking this item took far longer than to set it up. Only four screws and it was time to load everything back into it (after taken the shipping packaging off the items). Once set up I found that all had arrived in good order and nothing was missing. I assembled this in my garage and rolled it into my backyard without much effort.The EcoQue www has great videos on this and how to use it. The initial burn in is critical (hot and smoky). I have smoked maybe 15 racks of pork ribs, a chicken, 2 briskets, sausage and 4 tri-tips. All came out great except the brisket was a little dry (cut was too thin for my method) - BBQ sauce to the rescue. I have been using the TX Crutch or the 1.2.3 method with great results. I have also smoke a bunch of veggies on it.Pizza has been over the top fantastic. What luck as my first pizza was perfect. I did get "goop" on the stone the 2nd and 3rd time I made pizza and calzones. So a word to the wise don't pack in more than your dough can handle for the calzones and make your pizza with an outside lip to contain the goodies.It does take a while for the oven to get up to 500 so plan ahead as much as you can. We have friends over to make personal pizzas all the time. We get around 12 bowls of toppings out and let everyone make what they want. Takes only 8-12 minutes to cook. (I would like to get it hotter but it takes a long time). Lump coal, briquettes, and hickory get the hottest of the easy to find fuels. I use a solder torch to start my fires as this reduces any chance of chemical after taste being introduced into the unit. One complaint - for the price the cover should be included - the amount of pans and grills it comes with is very nice and the food prep pan is the most useful item for me. Buy long BBQ oven mitts to protect your self.

This thing does not work. Burns through wood and does not get hot. Burns wood like crazy no matter which type wood we use. We are very disappointed and the unit was very expensive.

This product is excellent. It far exceeded our expectations, which were high, and works wonderfully. Their customer service is terrific. The unit is a true multi-tasker and my husband uses it at least 1-2 times per week. You can smoke food, cook food, make pizza, and make bread with great results. It's an attractive centerpiece of our outdoor entertainment space and is extremely versatile. You will need two people to stack it after unpacking. It just takes a few minutes to assemble. It's easy to move once assembled on its rear casters. The design is remarkable. It is very fuel efficient. We researched pizza ovens, smokers, outdoor ovens, etc., extensively and chose this product and we are glad we did. Buy it. It's worth every penny and more.

We've used this wood fired cooker on chicken, bread, and pizza's and have found it to be as advertised. We assembled it in less than an hour and found it easy to move around on the patio. It takes about an hour and half to get it up to 450 F. or higher, but once the high temperatures are reach, you can maintain them with little wood. The oven is very efficient when it burns wood. I highly recommend this wood fired oven for anyone wanting to bake bread, pizza, and smoke meats.

I have the generation one oven. Bought it three years ago. Couldn’t be happier. I cook in it all summer long from ribs roasts and baked goods. Sour dough bread comes out fabulous. It was a learning curve getting the fire going( never had to light a fire before) The generation to looks amazing

AMAZING!!! Don't know how I ever lived without it!!!!!!! Pizza comes out AMAZING smoking meats AMAZING so much fun!!!!