So when our tailgate grill hit the graveyard a few weeks ago I searched all around for a replacement. Saw some reviews about the overpowering heat that came off this grill, but since I have been grilling for 25 years I figured NO WORRIES! Absolutely love this grill. It is without a doubt the best portable grill I have ever had, but there are some things the average BBQ'er needs to know.First and foremost like some reviews mention you ABSOLUTELY need to unbox it and immediately first thing heat it up on high heat. You will certainly get a strong whiff of plastic but that is not only normal but also a good thing. You want to let it run for at least 15 minutes on high heat mostly until the plastic smell dissipates. Once that is completed we spread wood chips all over the entire grilling surface (make sure you presoak your wood chips in a bucket). Before you put the wood chips down we rubbed the grilling area with a little canola oil, and as soon as you lay down the woods chips my oh my you can smell it seasoning itself almost within seconds. Remember.......YOU MUST MUST MUST FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS!! When you close the grill and you see a ton of smoke bellowing out of the grill that means everything is going perfect! The more smoke you see the more it is seasoning.You want to keep the lid closed and let the smoke do its thing until you do not see anymore smoke coming out of the grill. Yes that will take awhile in fact if I am not mistaken it was a good 20 minutes. Side note to the seasoning part I would recommend either cherry, apple, pecan, or hickory wood chips. Hickory will give off the most "smoke" taste. We did cherry because that is all the store had that morning and I am very pleased with the results. When it is done smoking you will notice that the wood chips have all turned to ash or close to it (totally normal). From that point on once it has totally cooled for an hour or so remove the grill grates and dump the ash out and you are now set to go. Sounds tedious but so so worth going the extra step.Now as far as the grill itself and as far as the reviews you probably read before stumbling upon mine. I do believe this is a 5 star grill whole heartedly! I know grills and I know my way around grills and I know a good or bad grill when I see one and this grill is awesome no doubt about it. However, there is a lot of truth to what others posted that you definitely need some experience because this grill (aside with being the best portable grill I have used) is also without a doubt the hottest running grill. When I say hot I mean hot! So how do you combat that? Well this is where experience is really important. You can buy the regulators like a lot of reviews say, but that will help control the heat a little but wont solve the entire issue because it still runs hot. Me myself I did not buy the valve because I personally find (whether your experienced or not) as long as you open the lid for a moment every time it starts to get to 500 degrees or hotter you will be totally fine. In fact lets be honest most people that grill are infatuated with opening the grill every 5 minutes anyway so its really not a big deal. However, cooking your food properly is where the knowledge helps.I would like to also add that whatever surface you put the grill on is safe from catching fire. The grill gets hot but the heat does NOT transfer onto the surface its on. I grilled for almost an hour the other day and the surrounding surface was fine. But with that in mind I also need to point out that the handle that you use to open/close the grill does absolutely get hot after awhile so you will definitely want a potholder, towel, or gloves when you open it. As far as the grilling goes as long as you follow everything I wrote and as long as you open the grill every time you see it hit 500 degrees you shouldn't have any issues at all. Everything I cooked came out perfect and I am confident to say that this grill is perfect for camping, tailgating, or whatever small grill needs you have. I absolutely love and can say hands down that I have been camping and doing all of the above for years and this grill blows away every grill I have ever portable grill I have ever used by a mile. If you follow the directions to a T that I wrote above you will be thrilled with your results. I have left a few pictures to help show what I was talking about. First picture is the grill while it was seasoning. As you can see the smoke is pouring out (that's a good thing). The second picture is what the grill looked like once the seasoning is done. As you can see the chips are pretty well burnt (again that is good). Last but not least is a picture of the corn I made when my son and I went camping. I did make sure to turn it every few minutes but as you can tell from the picture it came out YUMMY. I also have an amazing grilled corn recipe I would be more than happy to share.If you read this review and you have any additional questions please feel free to email me at [email protected] and I will be sure to answer them for you as promptly as possible.