Can The Camp Chef Woodwind Pro Beat a REAL Offset Smoker? 

Scale of 1 – 10, can you compare kamado, offset, this campchef, a reg pellet grill with smoke tube, and mb gravity?

This is a great break down. Something I never see in these type of side by side reviews is a breakdown on fuel used and that cost. It's definitely something to consider and I appreciated getting that in this video.

Great video James. Watching your videos has got me curious about purchasing an offset smoker. Do you have a recommendation for a quality offset thats less then 3000 US dollars?

Love the video, and THANK YOU for talking about your fix for the App connectivity issues. Will try it today with my Camp Chef WW Pro.
One thing that isn't discussed in the manual is the openings of the vents. I have absolutely no idea if I should have them all the way open or closed and what the difference is. Any thoughts?

Were you running the baffle full open or partially open for the woodwin camp chef pro? the drawer you put the wood chunks in, I've seen others say it's too clean of a burn when it's full open and takes away the extra smokiness you would want, so they open it maybe 1/3 rather than full to make it more smokey. If you had it full open, maybe retest?

If you want hands off in an offset, use a charcoal basket. If you want Masterbuilt or Kamado Joe style mix of flavours in an offset use a charcoal basket. I use minion plates to make the fire burn in an "S" pattern to get about three hours unattended burns. Great for winter and parties.

Load the minion plates in the charcoal basket. Drop a layer of briquettes (for fire longevity) a layer of charcoal (for that kiss of charcoal) and whatever wood chunks you want (for that sweet wood taste). Light one corner with a torch and put a chunk of wood over that spot in five minutes.

If you're cooking "Jirby" style, you go a bit dirty with the smoke first and then clean it up, so you put the meat on right away. If not, wait. The burn is not too dependent on airflow anymore, so just use the flue to control the temps in the cook chamber.

When the last part of the "S" is almost exhausted, knock the ashes out and fill the now vacant area with briquettes, charcoal and wood chunks and the fire will reverse and go back to the beginning.

Vary the flavour profile by using different quantities of wood vs charcoal (the briquettes burn longer to regulate heat), vary the flavour profile by alternating wood chunks. You can have a chunk of cherry light a chunk of maple lighting a chunk of oak (not that I am telling you what woods combine to make the best smoke….yes I am…)

I'm telling you, a hot fire in a stick burner is going to give pizza oven flavour if you have the pie high enough and in the right spot…

Alright new experient for us lazy folks. Brisket -> 4 hours smoking on a cheap offset. Then set and forget it on the pellet grill versus a full cook on the offset.

You can switch up the meat but only use the offset for as long as the smoke penetration “matters” and finish it on the pellet.

Long the content lately! Subscription added. I appreciate how approachable you make cooking.

What about a Weber kettle with a spider venom wifi fan assist. Compare that with all wifi assist setups, because Weber/venom would be like connected joe at significant price difference. Just a thought keep up the good work!

As you said, if you could only have one you'd want something that covered as many bases as possible which is why I couldn't look past the MB Gravity series. 150f to 700f in one oven at the click of a button. Low and Slow, grill or flame sear and option for accessories like rotisserie, griddle or a pizza oven. Throw in some splits and run it like an offset for a similar experience and end result, or just top it off with charcoal and a few lumps of wood and go entirely hands free. Only other grill that comes close imo (and probably beats it in the fuel efficiency department) is the Konnected Joe, with it's only downfall being that it requires to be topped up mid cook. However I think the MB gravity beats out the joe on price and cooking space. Waiting patiently for the comparison between those two!

Appreciate including the fuel cost comparison .. great episode!

I cringed every time you used your miter saw for wood splits, but never wanted to tell you what to do. Now i am very sorry to have stayed quiet. Any time using a spinning blade the wood should be already machined flat and be firmly secured. What I wanted to suggest was a band saw which is much safer on non-dimentioned wood, like firewood splits. I'm sorry to have not said something before you got hurt.

I'm curious where you'd put your best KJ ribs on that scale from 1 to 10.

Great review as always sir

In addition to comparing to an offset and MB, a direct comparison to a "regular" pellet grill would be interesting! You're one of the most forthcoming content creators out there, so seeing if the ww pro is actually substantially better than the baseline pellet would be a huge help!

Thank you great job. I completely agree as I have done my own tests in relation to stick burner versus pellets. You just can't get the same kind of smoke ring from a pellet smoker that you do from a stick burner. When I want convenience I use a pellet smoker when I want real deal barbecue I use the stick burner. 👍

Sorry but more like `off putting smokers.` Not my thing at all after my horrendous attempts on a bargain basement offset smoker. I`m a firm Kamado man…

Excellent analysis & presentation (as per normal). Can't wait to see how the charcoal type cooker does against the Woodwind Pro.

Great video James! I’ve owned every generation of Camp chef pellet smokers since 2015 and the WW Pro is by far the best pellet grill I’ve used and the best smoke flavor from a pellet.