Thanks Coletrain. I am going to have to do my Camp Chef a little more often. When I use either of the smoke settings, it has big temp swings until I vacuum it out. More so on the low smoke.
I started looking at the Daniel Boone model last night.
Yea if you notice the temps not not holding very steady then I know it’s time to vacuum the firebox out. I don’t have any experience with the camp chef model but I’m guessing it’s pretty similar. I have the Jim Bowie prime plus model now. I just got it earlier this summer. It’s a very nice grill and holds temp very nicely. The auger is a little more noisy than my old traeger but doesn’t bother me.
Definitely look at Rec Teq!
I was all set to buy a Rec Tec and then I discovered the Masterbuilt Gravity Series. You can set the temperature and walk away like a pellet grill, but it still uses real wood and lump charcoal. I’ve been really happy with it. Plus you can crank it up to 700 degrees and sear a steak!
This looks to be a very nice product. You will not get a pellet grill up to those temps and using real wood and lump charcoal delivers far better flavor.
I bought a Masterbuilt 560 gravity series a few months ago.
I can turn it on light the charcoal, close it up and I’m up to 250 in about 7 minutes. I control temps with the phone app. Very steady temps.
I like doing a reverse sear on my steaks. Start at 250, once the meat hits 120 I pull the steak and crank it up to 700 degrees. It takes about 5 minutes to reach 700. It does a nice job searing the steak.
I haven’t tried it yet but I’m sure with a pizza stone you could grill some wonderful pizzas with the grill at 700 degrees.
So far, I’m impressed with the Masterbuilt.
Any specific feature why the Rec Teq over the Green Mountain? Looks like a lot of them are doing about the same things anymore.
I did many pizzas on my Camp Chef SmokePro and they were good! I didn’t use a stone, just a disposable aluminum foil pizza pans.
i dont care for the rec tec hopper location. it makes the whole grill alot wider when trying to get through doors.
rec tec has 6 year warranty compared to gmg 3 years. rec tec does cost quite a bit more though. i got my jim bowie prime plus with the wifi and all the bells and whistles for $850 with tax. the rec tec was like $1200 for the comparable model. also the rec tec didnt come with the front folding shelf which i wanted. gmg also has the rotessorie attachment for there grills and it comes with the brackets already installed on the grills but the actual rotessorie has to be purched seperate. gmg has a pizza oven attachment you can purchase seperate also
I saw one of those Masterbuilt Gravity grills in my local Farm & Fleet store, but I couldn’t see how to shut it off and didn’t see that it gets up to 700. That’s outstanding. I’ve been holding out on getting a smoker till I found a pellet grill that has a propane ceramic sear plate. These MBG grills seem to fit my needs perfectly. I heard they have a slide gate that’s supposed to smother and extinguish the flame.
How big of a turkey do you think would fit in the 560 model? I’m really tempted to try smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving with one of these.
I’ve been holding out on getting a smoker till I found a pellet grill that has a propane ceramic sear plate.
Camp Chef makes one that attaches to many of their pellet grills. The Woodwind is one of their models that is of decent size. The sear box is not ceramic, but its cast iron coated so you should get fantastic searing on that.
Bought the Green Mountain Daniel Boone Prime Plus WiFi with the stainless hood. Had it about 3 months and just love it.
Camp Chef makes one that attaches to many of their pellet grills. The Woodwind is one of their models that is of decent size. The sear box is not ceramic, but its cast iron coated so you should get fantastic searing on that.
Cool, thanks. I’ll have to look into that.
From a prepper perspective though, being able to use lump charcoal is cool. Lump charcoal is easy to make. There’s tons of youtubes and websites about building and using a retort to make lump.
From a prepper perspective though, being able to use lump charcoal is cool. Lump charcoal is easy to make. There’s tons of youtubes and websites about building and using a retort to make lump.
I initially was going to get a pellet grill and researched them heavily. I had narrowed it down to the CampChef Woodwind and the rectec bull, but settled on a kamado instead and do not regret my purchase at all. The food that comes out of it is absolutely lights out. The ONLY issue I am having is finding lump charcoal right now. Whenever I happen to see it I buy at least one bag. No issue finding pellets, but lump is another story. Typically its not a problem, but you know 2020. 
Kamados retain heat so well and use so little fuel that you can get a ton of cooks and LONG cooks at that. Ive cooked for over 14 hours in a day and never had to add lump or anything. The hold the temps real well even in the winter which is nice. They do take a bit to get used to because its not just setting a dial and walking away, but that is half the fun of bbq especially if you making a day of it. Once its up to temp and steady there really is no babysitting though its just getting them where you want them.
When I build my BBQ shack in the yard, I will definitely pick up a pellet grill because I think its something my wife and kids wouldnt be intimidated by I just dont have room for it now.
Definitely look at Rec Teq!
Very high quality construction all around. Should outlast most other brands by a long ways.
If you want to sear a steak on a pellet grill Memphis is the one. Temp range up to 700 degrees. The Memphis has been the top shelf pellet grill since the beginning of pellet grills.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>jwellsy wrote:</div>
I’ve been holding out on getting a smoker till I found a pellet grill that has a propane ceramic sear plate.Camp Chef makes one that attaches to many of their pellet grills. The Woodwind is one of their models that is of decent size. The sear box is not ceramic, but its cast iron coated so you should get fantastic searing on that.
I did a lot of research and landed with camp chef. I went with the sidekick instead of the sear box though – it is so much more versatile. I got the grill box that heats to 700+ for searing, and it has many other options (grill, griddle, pizza oven, stovetop). If you wanted to put a ceramic stone on the sidekick it would work fine too. The sear box seems very one dimensional compared to the sidekick.
I was back and forth on a grill or smoker had a gas grill so figured I would use those for steaks and burgers. so went with a pitboss smoker. So far did turkeys ribs and Vinnie roast, brine all and were unbelievable. Put the probe in on roast and smoked till 125. Perfect medium rare. Needless to say on leftovers. Put in pitboss smoking whatever you are doing and they have a guy (u-tube) showing you how. Can’t wait to do a prime rib.
REC TEQ for sure. Whoever said temp swings on a pellet grill are normal probably owns a Traeger. If I watch mine and temps are off of the set point by more than 1 degree I start to think something is wrong. The main thing that puts REC TEQ over the top is customer service. Ask the owner of any other pellet grill if they have the cell # of the owner of the company. Ray Carnes gives his out. Check out any of the REC TEQ facebook pages and you will see nothing but stories of crazy customer service. There are also a lot of stories from people that switched from other smokers to REC TEQ
I think I’ve decided to purchase me a pellet Grill. I was about ready to purchase a smoker but, after a little more thought and eating some food that was cooked / Smoked on a pellet grill I changed my mind. That being said. What brands does everyone here have. I’d like to hear the pro’s and Con’s to what others are using to help me make a good decision. My buddy just purchased a Pit Boss and I thought it worked real well and put out some excellent food. It seemed like it was built real good and was really sturdy. I did a little research online and looked at a lot of reviews, and the reviews seemed to be all over the place. It seems like those from Traegar, Z Grill, Rec Tec, and Green mountain are on most reviews as the top 4 brands. I think I want a middle of the road model. I don’t want a cheap low end one that I either don’t want to use or end up wanting to replace right away. I don’t plan to do enough cooking and smoking on one to justify a High end one. I primarily want one that is fairly easy to use, Is well built and will last, and one that turns out good tasting food. Lets here what all of you have and your thoughts on them.
I have a Traeger 22 series and I love the thing. I had a smaller 20 series prior to this one. I only replaced the 20 series because of the size…. hard to fit turkeys on it. I don’t have any complaints about Traeger. I think their are better options but not in the price range. I think once you have it you will use it more than you think. I cook at least 3 times a week on mine in the winter. I use it almost every day in the summer. I even bake in it so I don’t heat up the house.
If you want to sear a steak on a pellet grill Memphis is the one. Temp range up to 700 degrees. The Memphis has been the top shelf pellet grill since the beginning of pellet grills.
If you have an extra $5400. hanging around you can get to 700 degrees!
Memphis Elite
Their normal back yard model is $2000 and only gets up to 550 degrees.
BEALE STREET
@fishthumper, what did you end up getting? If you stated, I surely missed it.
@fishthumper, what did you end up getting? If you stated, I surely missed it.
I ended up holding off. A few of the models I was interested in were not available locally at the time so I decided to wait till spring to get one
I picked up an older used Sams Club Smoke Grill that looks like a Masterpiece grill. What a pain, burn bowl fills with ash, rain got into the auger and turned the pellets into something like titanium. Need to find a grill that is more user friendly.
Anyone have issues getting their pellet smoker started when it is this cold?
Ran my Traeger 780 30 hours this weekend with no trouble. Burned more pellets than usual, but that’s expected when it’s -10.
I had to run a buddy heater under my Camp Chef for about 10 minutes before it would start.
My traeger was a little angry when I tried it for the first time in a couple months. But it was cold out. I leave pellets in the hopper all the time and have no issues with them swelling. The only issues I have experienced are loss of flame when the fire pot gets full of ash.
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