Great smoker going on 3 years of smoking Great food

I've had this smoker for about two, maybe three years now, and unfortunately, several issues have become hard to ignore. The most frustrating problem is the heat distribution. With the fire directly beneath the meat, the entire cooking surface becomes a hot spot. I tried mitigating this by placing two water pans on either side and a griddle in the center. While that setup did help stabilize the temperature — my Meater probes showed it cooking about 25 degrees hotter — the results were still uneven. Another design flaw that really bothers me is the limited access to the cooking area. The lid doesn’t open wide enough to expose the full grate, which makes managing the cook unnecessarily difficult. That might seem minor to some, but for me, it feels like a missed opportunity in the design. Lastly, the built-in probes have consistently failed to maintain accurate temperatures, which is disappointing. It’s tough to say this, because I’ve always been a fan of Oklahoma Joe products, but this smoker just hasn’t lived up to expectations. Sadly, I think it’s time to move on and consider a different brand for my next smoker and grill.

Super frustrating to use. I do not understand why, or how it has the pit control thermostat, but ignores the numbers completely. If I set it to 225 barrel temp, I get 250-260 in the shade on a 75 degree day. If I set it to 200, I get 245, and if I set it to low, it will drop lower than 200. It's built like a tank, looks great, is fun to show off, never clogs and always heats up, but no matter what I try, I can't keep it from going super hot. I've completely ruined a few meals already.

Had our pellet grill for 2 & a half years. Had to replace the circuit board 3 times. Had to change the ignitor 3 times & It still wouldn't work!! We were doing cooking Chicken & the grill shut off during the cook & wouldn't turn back on. Switched out the circuit board & the ignitor for the 3rd time & I keep getting the "ER2" Message even after replacing both parts. I WILL NEVER BUY ANY OKLAHOMA JOE GRILLS EVER AGAIN!!! Complete waste of money!!