Thoughts on a Camp Chef SmokePro SE

[mlk18]

I have a buddy who owns a Camp Chef SmokePro SE and is going to be upgrading to a much newer Camp Chef with WiFi in a couple weeks. He is one of those guys who treats his property like it is irreplacable. When he showed me the SmokePro I asked him if he had ever even used the things, he replied about 20-25 times in the last 2 years. I would never have guessed more than 2-3 times. He would use it, thoroughly clean it, put the cover on, then roll it back into the garage. He said he was replacing it because it did a good job smoking but was a horrible grill. Instead of buying a sear station he wanted a newer model Camp Chef that grilled better and had WiFi. I don't need or want to grill on it, I don't want digital, PID, or WiFi. I want something I can throw a couple 6lb turkey breasts or a few racks of ribs on and a get a good smoke flavor from. He offered it to me for $200 to include the cover and a top rack. My budget is much higher than that but there is no need to spend money I don't have too. I am currently leaning toward a Weber kettle or WSM, but these thing looked pretty awesome and the price is definitely right. He is cooking something up on it for me this weekend to show me how well it works, so we'll see.

Thoughts on a Camp Chef SmokePro SE?

 

[BigW.]

Sounds like it may be a good deal. What do you have now?

 

[tx pitmaster]

i just pulled the trigger on the CC SG 24... this said, the unit your talking about is a great smoker, make no mistake about that! you may have more in your budget, but for pellet smokers the CC SP is a darn good unit.

um.. your comparing apples to oranges when trying compare pellet smokers to stick burners... totally different styles of smoking. stick burners are going to have much more smoke penetration than pellet smokers.. we 'my family' like our smoke to enhance the flavor of the meat.. not over power it. (just a personal preference for us)

as a side note, i really like the 22" WSM.., it'll hold 250 out of the box for 12 hours if set up correctly, i had 2 when on the circuit plus my traeger.

r-

 

[ironbrewer]

Sounds like a good deal to me, and if you regretted not having wifi PID controller you could retrofit with wifi for $200.

Gen 2 Retro Fit WIFI Pellet Grill Controller

Calling all Camp Chef pellet grill owners! Bring your existing pellet grills up to speed by installing the new PID and WIFI enabled controller. This quick and easy Retro Fit is not only sleek, but will have you kickin' your feet up on the couch while keeping an eye on your pellet grill contents...

www.campchef.com

.

 

[mlk18]

Sounds like it may be a good deal. What do you have now?

I have a Weber Genesis II 4 burner that I love and a local BBQ place that produces some amazing food. I had an MES for a few years but the build quality made 3rd string Chinese factory workers point and laugh. A part of me wants to jump into charcoal but I am inherently lazy on the weekends and I have a ton of kids (and dogs) and anything on 3 legs will likely find itself on its side with red coals spread across the patio.

 

[ironbrewer]

I have a Weber Genesis II 4 burner that I love and a local BBQ place that produces some amazing food. I had an MES for a few years but the build quality made 3rd string Chinese factory workers point and laugh. A part of me wants to jump into charcoal but I am inherently lazy on the weekends and I have a ton of kids (and dogs) and anything on 3 legs will likely find itself on its side with red coals spread across the patio.

I have an old school Weber Genesis 2, and it is great to have the Camp chef DLX 24. The 2 work well together.

 

[912smoker]

I don't need it but would snatch it up for $200 !