Bad experience thus far

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Smoked

New member
Hi All. First post, but have been lurking. I have been smoking meat for a few years now and decided to try pellet smoking. I didn't want to spend a ton so I bought a Camp Chef DLX to see if I was going to like pellet smoking or not.

When I put the grill together one of the wheeled legs was too short. Only three legs touch the ground. I sent them an email and am waiting a response. So I did the initial burn in and tried a cook, spare ribs, yesterday.

I had 30-40 degree temp swings. I know to expect some swing being a wood fire, but I thought that was excessive. It ended up taking 8 hours for one rack of spare ribs at 225 for about 4 hours and the remainder at 275 and foiled.

Smoke leaked out of the lid and grease drain horribly. More smoke coming from those two than out of the chimney. Was not expecting that.

At some point I had a flameout and there was no error noted on the controller, which it is supposed to do. I do not know how long it was out, but I emptied the ash cup and it was overflowing with unburned pellets so it must have been a while. I tried to check on it every hour or so.

I pulled to ribs and they looked great. Bit into them and they tasted ok except for I had not even a hint of smoke flavor and I was using mesquite.

The cooker did turn out a good looking rack, but not sure I can justify keeping it if I can't taste the smoke. Could have been the cheap camp chef pellets or could have been most of the smoke was wasted through the lid and grease drain. I don't know, but it wasn't a great first experience with pellets.

Being I read for a while about flavor profiles from pellet smokers I wasn't expecting a stick burner profile, but I was expecting some. I am hoping I just got a bad one as I do like some camp chef products. Anyone else had a similar experience with this grill? I have searched quite a bit on the net and most people are satisfied with theirs.
 
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
Wow...Ok let me say this in advance. Im sure you can cook great food on any pellet cooker. Thats the allure. What usually happens is the you but your starter one and quickly notice a few things....wild temp swings...inconsistent controller, not being able to get hot enough....leakage both from smoke and grease....SO the journey starts....I know I did it and look where it got me1 ahahaha

Generally speaking if you are an experienced smoker a starter unit will not meet your expectations. The profile I have found with these entry level ones is that it is fo the cook that couldnt make chicken without it being a hockey puck and raw in the middle....You will see a lot of the same quotes ranging from Scooter's Cry once buy the best..to my " the entry level cooker is the most expensive one you buy if you are serious because you end up getting a quality one anyways and there is no value to your even if it's used once starter cooker.

Brands I like are Green Mountain on the Chinese and MAK on the USA. THere are others such as Memphis that are fine but I love MAKS.

That being said I am a proponent of giving companies customer service a chance to fix issues. Maybe Camp Chef will fix this one or send you a replacement that makes everything great.
 
S

Smoked

New member
I hope they will. They seem to have good service. I have been smoking going on 10 years or so. I don't think it was me, but my wife tells me I'm wrong daily so I don't know.

I usually subscribe to the buy once cry once when I intend on sticking to something. I probably should have this time.
 
S

Smoked

New member
Just got an email from them. They are going to call me after work and get me up and running they said. Don't know what that means, but they are being responsive at least.
 
S

Smoked

New member
Wonderful customer service. They are sending me a new leg, controller and probe, and a bag of hickory pellets for my trouble. She said nothing can be done about the smoke leakage. I think I'll try a nomex gasket around the lid. Hopefully all of this will make my next cook more in line with my expectations. I'll be happy as long as I can at least taste some smoke. I plan to upgrade to a MAK 1 Star sometime if I end up liking this pellet stuff.
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Glad to hear they're going to get you fixed up! PLEASE keep us posted on how this works out, and how you are liking the pellet grill scene.


A couple of tips, if I may:

Keep in mind that most pellet grills tend to be a lighter smoke profile, AND, it's a much cleaner smoke, so you get NONE of that heavy creosote flavor some smokers tend to impart.


Unlike other grills, if you want more smoke, then DO NOT pre-heat your grill! Leave it cold, and put your meat on while it's still cold. You might also need to run your grill in smoke mode for a while, after you put the food on it, to get more smoke flavor.

Do yourself a favor and order some BBQer's delight pellets from Big Poppa Smokers. They are a premium pellet and may very well make a difference as well.



Oh, and a little FYI about these grills: The Cabelas Pellet grill and the Camp Chef are the same pellet grill.
 
S

Smoked

New member
Smoked said:
Wonderful customer service. They are sending me a new leg, controller and probe, and a bag of hickory pellets for my trouble. She said nothing can be done about the smoke leakage. I think I'll try a nomex gasket around the lid. Hopefully all of this will make my next cook more in line with my expectations. I'll be happy as long as I can at least taste some smoke. I plan to upgrade to a MAK 1 Star sometime if I end up liking this pellet stuff.
Click to expand...

Well the new leg they sent me is too short as well. The new controller they sent has larger temp swings than the one it replaced. Not worried about that as I have SS PID coming. I would not recommend this grill to anyone. How it gets so many positive reviews is beyond me, but their customer service is commendable. One success story so far is that the nomex gaskets took care of the lid leaks for the most part.
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Smoked said:
I would not recommend this grill to anyone. How it gets so many positive reviews is beyond me, but their customer service is commendable.
Click to expand...


Thanks for our honest and level headed report! Please keep us posted on how the Savannah Stoker PID works for you. It may be a good solution for others who have purchased this grill.
 
Quadman750

Quadman750

New member
Sorry to hear that pellet grill is not working out for you. You show a lot of class for not bashing the manufacturer. You should really look at returning it if you are not happy. Even if you have to wait a bit to save more cash for the MAK 1 Star you will be happier in the end.
 
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S

Smoked

New member
Thanks. The manufacturer has been totally responsive so I can't really fault them. It is my fault for buying Chinese. I will upgrade if this pellet smoking game plays out for me. I am still not satisfied with the smoke profile from the pellets yet. Granted the times I have cooked have been with Camp Chef pellets so that may play a role. I have 40 lbs of Lumberjack OHC pellets that I am going to try when my Mojo bricks get here. If that doesn't do it for me then I'll try BBQ Delight pellets. I just hope I can at least get the profile I get with my Bradley. I know I won't get the profile from my old stick burners. Wish I would've keep those now that I think back on it.
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
That too bad that you had such a bad experience, but please don't judge all of pellet smoking/grilling on one very poor example.

The bottom line is Camp Chef pellet grills (including the Cabelas version) do NOT represent the results you get from a higher end pellet grill whatsoever.
 
D

dc1956

New member
What Tent Said. I too am sorry that you did not give pellet smoking more of a chance. I was not going to post these pictures however I smoked a chuck roast this afternoon on a MAK 1 Star with an 18 inch Amazin' Tube smoker using BBQer's Delight Hickory pellets.





I can honestly say that the smoke flavor on this was just as strong as the same thing done on my Bradley Charcoal/Wood Chunk bullet smoker. Actually I think that if it had more smoke it would have been oversmoked. I also believe that I would have had close to the same results with my $350.00 Stoven pellet cooker as long as I supplemented it with the tube. Pellet smoking is just like any other type of BBQ in that it takes some time to learn how to get the best results out of what you are cooking on. I hope that at some point that you will give pellets another try.


Dave
 
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maestro72x

New member
Same Issues with Camp Chef.

I just bought a DLX Camp Chef with same exact issues.. Lots of smoke coming out of the lid also major temp swings in addition it cannot reach over 350 and now today I am making beef jerky and it keeps giving me "FLAME" issue.. no pellets in cup so you would think they are jammed up but all I have to do is turn the grill off and back on again then it starts filling up again and cooking for another 15 min.. So upset .. was so stoked to get this grill, now all my dreams have burned up. All thats left is a little dust for easy clean up of my sorrows...
 
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rwalters

New member
Man, that really stinks! My first experience with pellet grills started about 8 years ago. Bought a used Traeger off of CL. Was in great condition and all stainless steel. It was nice! But as far as laying a smoke profile down on the food that came off of it...just wasn't happening. Got frustrated and sold it about a year or so after buying. About 8 years went by, and I have smoked on many different smokers since then. Well, about a month ago, I had an opportunity to buy a used MAK 1 Star. Thought, "well, let's see if what everyone says about MAK is true?" All I can say is that you get what you pay for!!! I am absolutely thrilled with the performance and results of my 5 year old MAK. It's WELL seasoned, runs like a champ, and turns out killer food!!
 
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