Just checked those out online... I bought my OKJ highland reverse for under $300, I think $500 is a lot of money for a home smoker that's made over seas. I do like the full size door on the Kingsford for the firebox. The upper lid would be welded shut, no need.
I actually have one, it's ok... as in the build quality is fine, the main smoke chamber has a gasket to keep the smoke in. I made the move from a verticle offset to the Rancher XL... There are a couple of issues, for anyone purchasing here are mine:
1) Exhaust pipe: The pipe is at the top side of the chamber. I think this should have been placed at the center on par with the cooking rack or slightly lower.
2) Smoke box tray: The dinky tray provided should have been a basket for wood or charcoal, instead it's more of a tray that allows coals to fall overboard like rats fleeing a ship.
3) Smoke Chamber: No baffle, this one REALLY needs a baffle/tuning plate. The heat/smoke from the firebox travels over the cooking rack straight out the pipe. Yes, the chamber heats up, but it doesnt distribute smoke and heat evenly across the chamber. Stock, you'll end up with a temp varience of nearly 30 degrees towards the exhaust end. So lets say you loaded up with chicken, the chicken closest to the firebox will obviously be hotter, but the with no baffle, chicken mid way to exhaust will have a 25+ degree internal difference. That's the difference between undercooked chicken and raw... NOGO!!
4) Lower cook shelf: Don't even think about it, nothing will cook that far below the heat coming from the firebox. It does get warm, but since the heat from the firebox is traveling up and over the surface exscaping out the exhaust pipe fairly quick, the risk to messing up your food is too great.
I've used it roughly 8 times after my burn in and seasoning, and have had to go back to my verticle, for smoking, grilling burgers, dogs, and brats you can just put coals on the bottom grates, but for smoking... in my experience, it needs that baffle if you are smoking anything, which is what actually brought me to this site...
HELLO ALL, heck of a first post right.