Camp Chef Pellet Grill & Smokers - Your Choice

I have a competitor pellet grill (the one you see in Costco, hehe)
I wish I had seen this one before, it looks nearly identical, at half the price. Not sure about quality of these grills, but I just had a quick chat with their support on the web, and at least customer service is there!

Now, regarding doing steaks on these - it’s not easy out of the box.
1st, I would recommend to get a blanket for it! Trae…ghhmmm…competitor has them readily available, this company should have them too. After that, you will have no issue reaching 450-500. GrillGrates will help you a lot too. Since I bough the pellet, my old grills stand abandoned, rusting in shame, in a corner.
Pellets may (or may not) be more expensive than gas, but they surely bring your food to 2-3 levels above gas. All this woody smoke is just fantastic.

If I did not already have a pellet grill (with lots of extras added on it) I would jump on this one.

I’ve wanted a pellet grill for several years and was going to resign myself to the Traeger from Costco. I say resign because the reviews are kind of Meh (!?). And they (<–) don’t have one today.
I’ve been researching this one for the last two hours and I’m in for one. Very good reviews at AmazingRibs and other sites, as good as Green Mountain. So this will go next to my gas (plumbed) grill.
Can’t wait for the turkey this year. And if he comes, I’ll cook him.

yes. i have the traeger jr elite. so the cooking area is larger (think big turkey, probably doable on this grill, not on mine).

stainless lid a nice touch, but not necessary.

Cleaning out ashes seems easier with this one. i have to remove grill/drip tray (no effort at all, just very dirty to the touch). but i’d imagine that you’d have to do the same with this grill. i am sure a fan circulates the air, which means ash will go all over the bottom, but i could be wrong.

the pellet hopper is huge. this isn’t a big deal if you’re not smoking for a long period of time. but, if you are, you would have to refill pellets with my grill. though you don’t want to leave 20 lbs. of pellets in the hopper, outside, for long periods- the weather will eventually do them in.

you can supposedly switch pellet flavors easier with this grill. though just digging them out of my hopper isn’t a big deal.

there is a built-in temp probe with a readout, with this one, if i read things right. that’s nice. because you don’t want to have to keep opening the lid to take a temperature. that’s a plus.

i am not sure about the temp control on this one. mine is just based on time - you set a temperature, and the pellets are fed every x seconds. the ‘x’ can be adjusted to a certain extent. but it doesn’t monitor the temp and adjust accordingly. i think higher end grills do this. but i am not sure how the grill for sale here works.

in the end. this is a nice upgrade from my point of view. the biggest pluses are the increased cooking area and the temperature probe and hopper size. other than that, i’d expect the performance to be similar.

if i had the choice to do it over again, i’d do the woot. but since i have a grill already, i am not sure. anyone else out there with the ‘higher-end’ grills that can offer advice?

good choice. i got the traeger from costco already, or i’d be making the same choice. and if you’re like me, your gas grill is going to collect dust.

traeger has great recipes on their web site - have a look, doesn’t matter with respect to brand of grill.

Ah, I have the Traeger Lil’ Tex, so looks like this wouldn’t be worth upgrading to.

Is the shelf the only difference between the PG24LTD and PG24S?

Do both models come with the hardwood pellets?

Been looking at pellet grills for the past 3 months trying to decide which unit to purchase. Have friends that have the “T” grill but could not justify the cost. Was going to Lowe’s today to buy the one they offer but got email from Amazon referring me to Woot!. After reviewing and watching several videos on the Camp chef pellet grill I made the purchase. Lot more options and larger cooking area and the price is the best I’ve found. Also the reviews show a lot more positives than other pellet grills.

na. i wouldn’t think so. but for someone in my position, maybe yes. and for someone getting a first grill, seems like a good way to go.

In case anyone has questions about pellet smokers here is a site which will give you some good answers. And the reviews are good as well. Unfortunately these models offered here are not reviewed;

Things I’ve learned on my Camp Chef. . .
No need for a water pan which is used in smoking to help regulate the temp and provide moisture. Wood pellets release moisture as they burn and temp is regulated via the electronic controls.

Pellets burn more efficiently at high temp and produce less smoke at higher temps.

Pellet quality and availability are important. Select quality hardwood that doesn’t add oils for flavoring. I don’t have a good local supply so I order “cookingpellets” perfect mix from the mothership prime with free shipping.

I augment smoke with a smoking tube that you fill with pellets and light like a candle. This makes up for the loss of smoke at higher temps.

There are mesh mats (such as frogmats) that I wouldn’t use over direct heat, but work great for items such as fish in the Camp Chef.

These units still require a power cord to run the auger and temp control.

I love the smell of a smoker. . .your neighbors may not.

If I buy, will I get this BEFORE Thanksgiving?

As with most pellet grills, these aren’t overly insulated. I don’t have the issue living in AZ, but some just throw a cheap welders blanket over them while cooking when its below freezing outside.

I’ve been eyeing a pellet smoker for awhile but wanted one under 500. The treagar seemed to be the best one and the one I know most my friends own, and they love it. When I happened upon this one I decided it was time. The traegar guys think this one may be a little better because of the internal temp probe. I think they will be similar enough but this one the price can’t be beat. On the camp chef website they show as 950.00 still. Go with the shelf model everyone I talk to says you will want that extra space and watching youtube videos of the camp chef guys cooking they use it a lot. A fast way to pull the product out wrap in in foil or take the foil off.

I’m excited for this purchase. I own other camp chef products and they have all been good. I have not ever had to call CS but I’ve heard they are good to work with.

Per Woot Staff, today’s Camp Chef Grills/Smokers should arrive before Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26th (weather conditions withstanding)

I have the char griller pellet grill, didnt think I would like it as much as I do. The pellet is the go-to for most things (steaks and burgers go on the egg) but its so easy to make good ribs and pork - almost too easy.

One big tip: Line the grease pan under the grates with foil to help in clean-up and to minimize grease smoke on your next cook - especially when going from low temp (ribs, butts, brisket) up to high temp (chops, chickens, etc.)

Hamburgers cook OK, not great. Sucks for steaks.
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this is 100% true. don’t expect to grill on these… you can put something like grillgrates.com on them and that will help with sear marks and put fire bricks in the bottom to raise temps… both will help

How about the assembly , how involved is it?

Assembly involved two bolts for each leg and attaching the handle to the lid.

That appears to be true. Anyone want to confirm that?

I’m very interested in your take on this. I’ve been pining for quite some time for either an Egg or Kamado Joe. Do you like the Camp Chef better? How does it do better than the Egg, for example?

Thanks so much for your feedback!