# Camp chef



## sir smoke alot (Oct 24, 2016)

Does anyone have experience with the camp chef???


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## muelleraz (Oct 30, 2016)

Hello!  I too was hoping to read a few reviews about Camp Chef but it's pretty quiet on this one. After reading other sites it sounds like a winner. My one concern is the 1 year warranty when the competition is at least 2. Any reason this would hold anyone back?


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## txgunlover (Oct 31, 2016)

Go Rec-Tec.


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## yahoot (Nov 4, 2016)

I have been using other camp chef products for years. I don't own one personally, but I have a little experience with camp chef pellet smokers. If I were looking for another smoker, I would certainly put them high on my list - real price/performer.

I have been watching them for about 5 years at trade shows. They just get better and better. They are doing some really innovative stuff - ability to dump pellets from the hopper, feature to dump ash from the burn pot without disassembling, etc. really smart design. Much better/faster product evolution than I see from most other manufacturers. 

I hung out with the CF factory guys for several hours at an event where they were cooking and I got to play with the smoker a bit. Nice unit, cooked great, easy to manage.  I personally don't like center burn pots very much (auger fires, hard to clean out, etc.). I personally prefer side burn designs like Yoder and Louisiana smoker - but the ash/fire dump feature on the camp chef goes a long way to fixing some of the issues with the center burn design.

As far as warranty, I have always received great service - not sure that will carry over to their smokers, but they are really good about other products. I bought a remote thermometer from them a couple of years ago and it failed several months after the warranty expired. I called them up, explained the problem, they said they had issues with the probe design (now completely re-engineered), and they sent me a whole new thermometer kit free. Nice thing is that you can call and actually talk to the guys in Utah who design/make/sell/service their products.


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## redrocker65200 (Nov 5, 2016)

Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I have a smoke vault 18 smoker that is made by Camp Chef.  I am by no means an expert, so take this for what it is worth.  It is my first smoker, and it is propane.   Easy to use, in my opinion.  Temps can be a bit touchy, but I have overcome that by just enjoying a beer or three while smoking.  It has done what I have needed it to do, and has been an easy to use setup.  Would I like one of those fancy plug and forget pellet rigs?  Sure, but for now, this is just fine.  

Hope that helps, and if not, well, nevermind.  LOL.  

Dino "RedRocker"


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## yahoot (Nov 5, 2016)

Hey Redrocker - if you ever decide to come over to the dark side and get a pellet smoker, we do group buys of pellets directly from the factory (Bay Area).


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## redrocker65200 (Nov 5, 2016)

yahoot said:


> Hey Redrocker - if you ever decide to come over to the dark side and get a pellet smoker, we do group buys of pellets directly from the factory (Bay Area).


I have a smoke tube that I want to try in my Smoke Vault,  I just bought it at Target for clearance of about 5 bucks or so.  I might be interested.  Let me know when your next purchase is and how much.   Where in the Bay area are you?


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## yahoot (Nov 5, 2016)

Our group is mostly in San Jose/Sunnyvale/Fremont. If you ever get down this way, PM me and I will give you some samples to try in your tube (I buy many hundreds of pounds at a time - you need a few cups).

We order a couple of times a year. We just received a couple of tons last Friday. However, if you only want a bag or two, somebody is usually willing to sell them at cost to hold you over until the next order.


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## griffeyt (Jan 27, 2017)

I own a Camp Chef DLX smoker and really like it.  I purchased the sear add-on and it really makes the unit very versatile.  It smokes very well and the temperature stays very consistent.  I live in South Texas and the smoker is on an open back porch.  I've checked the temperature reported by the built-in probe with an external temperature probe and the two are always within a degree or two of each other.  One feature I really like is the ash cup that is simple to remove and empty.  I don't think some of the other smokers have this feature.  I've smoked turkeys, pork loins, ribs, briskets and chicken at the recipe temperatures and the estimated times are very close.  I've used the sear unit to grill hotdogs, veggies and etc.  
The unit is well-made and was impressed with the fitment of the parts when assembling it.  I really like the Camp Chef "competition" pellets which are a wood blend.  I've used their apple pellets with some pork and the results have been very tasty.  The pellets burn very cleanly and there is very little "dust" in the smoker and few ashes in the cup.
I've owned the grill about 6 months now and use it almost every week for something and have never had an issue with it.  They are nice units and would recommend adding the sear unit as you've got a smoker/grill combo and can cook just about anything with it.  Thanks!
TG


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## kloeshuman (Feb 5, 2017)

I have the smokepro SE and love it, I have only had mine for about 4 days but have done baby backs on it and now have a pork butt on it. Someone else mentioned the build quality and I agree, parts seem to fit together nicely. I think dollar for dollar they are hard to beat, and the ash clean out is a great feature that no one else has


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## c45br (Mar 2, 2017)

I'm very much considering the  Camp Chef DLX smoker. I'm glad for this thread. It helps with the research.


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## c45br (Mar 28, 2017)

Do not ever order one of these from The Home Depot.  I ordered it 3 weeks ago and between THD, YRC Freight, and Logan Outdoor Products LLC (the manufacturer), it has not been delivered yet. 

THD sold it, fulfilled and shipped from the manufacturer. They don't want to take credit for anything else. Logan, the chose the worst freight company imaginable. YRC, simply can not handle the volume of their business, unable to deliver as quoted and have no trucks smaller that semis which means no rural delivery unless they can turn around in your driveway. Not during mud season! 

Right now my smoker is passed off to a carrier with smaller trucks, that I haven't been told who it is, and that all tracking information says it was delivered to me today! I am SO sick and tired of talking to CS depts. of all three companies I could scream. I just hope the wait and frustration is worth it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## dacfan (May 11, 2017)

Ive used camp chef smoke pro for a month and have done pork butt, chuckys, baby back ribs, chicken, burgers, and kielbasa and everything has turned out great. Best investment ive ever made as far as cooking goes, don't miss my old rigg at all. It very easy to use, don't  have to do much baby sitting and you can concentrate on drinking more beer.


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## kloeshuman (May 12, 2017)

I have had my smoke pro SE for over 3 months now and love it! I even did a reverse sear chicken breast on it that turned out perfectly. And smoked corn on the cob is to die for! Camp chef is a brand I will stay with


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## dacfan (May 15, 2017)

How did you do the corn, i made some still in the husk and it was good.


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## kloeshuman (May 15, 2017)

I smoked it in the husk also, pulled the silk and soaked it in ice water for about 3 hours then on the smoker set at high smoke setting for about 3 hours. Next time I may let it go longer and use the smoke tube to add more smoke flavor


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## marauderrt10 (May 31, 2017)

Guys with the smokepro SE camp chef is having a sale on the digital controller to turn your SE into an STX for $35 bucks! I just purchased one for my SE. Its completely plug and play!


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## kloeshuman (May 31, 2017)

So just go to the site for that?


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## marauderrt10 (May 31, 2017)

KloesHuman said:


> So just go to the site for that?


call them up brother and speak to customer service but do it quick before their sale ends!

1-800-650-2433


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## zerowin (Jun 9, 2017)

Hiya Folks!

   I'm new here and just found this forum looking for pellet suggestions.  I wish I'd have seen it earlier, just for research on the smokers here, but if nothing else it's reassured my mindset with buying a camp chef STX, which should be delivered 6/13 if it's on schedule, I just ordered it yesterday.  I think I got a pretty good price on it, listed at http://www.campsaver.com/camp-chef-smokepro-stx-pellet-grill and when I bought it yesterday, there was a promo for 20% off any full priced item, which is already listed at 399.99 so I paid 319.99 free shipping no tax.  I can't see the promo code when I pull up the link, probably not available to me anymore, but it works from my phone still, the code was "TAKE20".  The next lowest price I could find was 344.00 for the SE from wal mart, so I hope this was a good buy!  I'm really looking forward to all my future reading here, and hopefully some help learning the tricks.  I've grilled on charcoal for 20 years, my wife and I have spent the last 15 getting our marinades down pat!  I can't wait to turn the hot and frantic grill pace down to low and slow!  Thanks in advance to all for all the advice to come!


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## c45br (Jun 9, 2017)

I doubt you'll be disappointed with the Campchef.


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## wanna-be-smoker (Jun 12, 2017)

Marauderrt10 said:


> Guys with the smokepro SE camp chef is having a sale on the digital controller to turn your SE into an STX for $35 bucks! I just purchased one for my SE. Its completely plug and play!


still on sale for 35$ and 5$ shipping. i ordered mine today and the lady even threw in the probe.

Don


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## hpo4483 (Jun 19, 2017)

I just bought my Camp Chef DLX about a month ago and LOVE IT!!!

I ordered on Walmart.com and had it shipped to my local store. It was there in great shape within the week.

I was concerned about the warranty too before I bought the grill. I had heard that Camp Chef offered an extended warranty so I contacted them and got bad/good news.

The bad news was that they did not offer an extended warranty, the good news is that all grills purchased after 1/1/2017 have a three year warranty included. That was the last bit of encouragement I needed to pull the trigger.


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## tosc7506 (Jul 18, 2017)

I've had my SmokePro DLX for about a month and I love it.  Made the switch from a gas grill and MES to this and I wish I'd done it a long time ago.  I plan on purchasing the sear box...looking at total cost I should have gone with the Woodwind since thats pretty much what I am going to end up spending when it's all said and done.


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## tdub mgw (Aug 2, 2017)

I have a Camp Chef DLX, chose it for the ability to clean easier than the Traeger.


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## wanna-be-smoker (Aug 3, 2017)

TDub MGW said:


> I have a Camp Chef DLX, chose it for the ability to clean easier than the Traeger.


I think the ash cup is a great feature but I hardly ever get any ash in the the cup and need to still pull it apart from time to time and shop vac out the ash. When it comes to pulling it/them apart they have the exact parts and one is no harder then the other to pull apart and clean


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## noboundaries (Jun 15, 2019)

I can't say which smoker is best, but I've used a Camp Chef Rainer stove for seven years, and just bought a single burner Camp Chef Pro 30 single burner. I love both of them.

I've had Camp Chef leather gloves for longer than I can remember. They only recently lost their heat resistance, but I'm restoring them with olive oil, so we'll see.


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## Jgh (Jun 19, 2019)

I bought the Camp Chef XXL Vertical a few weeks ago after owning Masterbuilts.  I smoked the best brisket I ever had. 17 lb packer cut, long and slow.  Easy to control and I even added a smoke tube to be safe,  I love it.  I have since done Jerky and Sausage.  Next is Reverse sear tomahawk chops and ribs.  The only question I have is the smoke comes out a hole in the upper third of the right side.  Wonderig if I would improve airflow by modding it with an added smokestack.


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## bregent (Jun 20, 2019)

Jgh said:


> Wonderig if I would improve airflow by modding it with an added smokestack.



What''s wrong with the airflow now? The fan should be able to ventilate the smoker without any mods.


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## Jgh (Jun 20, 2019)

bregent said:


> What''s wrong with the airflow now? The fan should be able to ventilate the smoker without any mods.


I forgot about the fan. It is my first pellet smoker. It seemed that it smoked around the seams when it first started up not not a lot out of the vent. I suppose it is fine because the brisket was great.


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## smokepuppet (May 9, 2020)

Just received and assembled a Camp Chef DLX pro. Did the initial burn in yesterday and went through the shutdown mode.  After it cooled down I tried to slide out the ash catch to clean out the ashes left. It will not slide out now to open it.  Any comments??


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## K9BIGDOG (May 9, 2020)

Not to sound too obvious, but did you loosen the knob on the ash catch and lift the little latch?


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## smokepuppet (May 9, 2020)

K9BIGDOG said:


> Not to sound too obvious, but did you loosen the knob on the ash catch and lift the little latch?


I did sir but thanks for the reply.  Im thinking once i heat it back up maybe it will pry lose...


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