On his pellet grill my brother removes the deflector plate to sear. It looks like you don't have to do that with this. True? Thanks for the great review
For this model you don't have the direct grill feature and its a fair point. With the addition of the smoke box, it doesn't appear that Camp Chef could engineer the same option. But with the Sidekick set up it definitely will sear or if you use a grill grate or cast iron pan. It will get hot on grill setting.
We have done burgers and they come out great. Steaks aren't getting the same sear as the prior model. The prior model had a direct grill feature where you could expose the fire box and have the center greats with direct grilling. If you wanted a real sear I'd go cast iron, another grill, or use grill grates that have warmed up for about 20 minutes at the highest temp you can get the Camp Chef at. But if searing is your primary goal I would look at other grill types. The best pellet grill on the market that gets real sear at 600+ degrees is the MAK pellet grills. But they also start at over $2,300.
Have you tried searing with the sidekick? Curious to see how hot that searbox gets. Also, I am new to the pellet grill scene; what is the point of covering the deflector plate with aluminum foil and how does that effect the cooking style?
Jordan - sorry for delay - The foil makes for easy grease clean up between cooks. It's optional but we recommend it and it has no impact on the cooking process except when using the old model. Because the foil would cover the openings that made the direct grilling feature work. We use the sidekick and the grill feature gets hot. So technically if you are reverse searing, having the sidekick with propane gets really hot and finishes the job.
Jason - great question. This was sent to us as a media sample. But I can say that if we were buying this based on our family of 4, this size would do the job. It holds one large brisket, and it can handle multiple racks of ribs. It also has the second level grates. If you are one to entertain regularly - then I definitely recommend you consider the larger unit AND consider adding the gas grill attachment set up with the sear station. Or consider it down the road. Because that really allows for multi-tasking with searing off smoked steaks. You can add pizza oven attachments and flat tops as well so you can do it all on one cooker. Short answer: If you aren't too worried about the budget - the larger grills and smokers are always a better buy for the space. Hope that helps.
@@Vindulge Thank you for the reply. A decade ago I bought a size Large Big Green Egg and after the first cook I regretted not getting the XL size. Well, fast forward ten years and a careless moving company shattered my BGE recently and I don't want to make the same size mistake again!
@@jasonn8598 I totally get that!! We have a BGE XL and love it! When people ask our advice we always tell them to go one size bigger than they think they want, IF they can afford it!
Haha sorry about that! I was the one filming, behind the scenes! We need to finally teach Sean how to hold a camera so I can pop in more frequently!!! 😜
@@samburchard1778 yikes! Thanks for pointing that out! We had no idea. Sounds fine in editing and with no ear buds. Need to find out what went wrong. Thanks!!
Thanks for your review Sir, sure helped me with the "rain" matter.
No prob! Rainy climate folks have to look out for each other ;)
Fantastic video! I’ve been watching a ton of them on this grill. Would love to see more from you guys
Real nice thank you
Our pleasure!
On his pellet grill my brother removes the deflector plate to sear. It looks like you don't have to do that with this. True?
Thanks for the great review
Nevermind I just read comments about sear.
For this model you don't have the direct grill feature and its a fair point. With the addition of the smoke box, it doesn't appear that Camp Chef could engineer the same option. But with the Sidekick set up it definitely will sear or if you use a grill grate or cast iron pan. It will get hot on grill setting.
Have you cooked steaks or burgers on this?
We have done burgers and they come out great. Steaks aren't getting the same sear as the prior model. The prior model had a direct grill feature where you could expose the fire box and have the center greats with direct grilling. If you wanted a real sear I'd go cast iron, another grill, or use grill grates that have warmed up for about 20 minutes at the highest temp you can get the Camp Chef at.
But if searing is your primary goal I would look at other grill types. The best pellet grill on the market that gets real sear at 600+ degrees is the MAK pellet grills. But they also start at over $2,300.
Have you tried searing with the sidekick? Curious to see how hot that searbox gets. Also, I am new to the pellet grill scene; what is the point of covering the deflector plate with aluminum foil and how does that effect the cooking style?
Jordan - sorry for delay - The foil makes for easy grease clean up between cooks. It's optional but we recommend it and it has no impact on the cooking process except when using the old model. Because the foil would cover the openings that made the direct grilling feature work. We use the sidekick and the grill feature gets hot. So technically if you are reverse searing, having the sidekick with propane gets really hot and finishes the job.
Do you wish you would have got the 36" model instead?
Jason - great question. This was sent to us as a media sample. But I can say that if we were buying this based on our family of 4, this size would do the job. It holds one large brisket, and it can handle multiple racks of ribs. It also has the second level grates.
If you are one to entertain regularly - then I definitely recommend you consider the larger unit AND consider adding the gas grill attachment set up with the sear station. Or consider it down the road. Because that really allows for multi-tasking with searing off smoked steaks. You can add pizza oven attachments and flat tops as well so you can do it all on one cooker.
Short answer: If you aren't too worried about the budget - the larger grills and smokers are always a better buy for the space.
Hope that helps.
@@Vindulge Thank you for the reply. A decade ago I bought a size Large Big Green Egg and after the first cook I regretted not getting the XL size. Well, fast forward ten years and a careless moving company shattered my BGE recently and I don't want to make the same size mistake again!
@@jasonn8598 I totally get that!! We have a BGE XL and love it! When people ask our advice we always tell them to go one size bigger than they think they want, IF they can afford it!
Where did you get foil wide enough to cover the deflector in one piece!
Uhh Where is Mary? I wanted a female point of view on this grill
Haha sorry about that! I was the one filming, behind the scenes! We need to finally teach Sean how to hold a camera so I can pop in more frequently!!! 😜
The audio is forced to one channel on the left. Makes it impossible to watch unfortunately.
My left ear really enjoyed the intro! My right ear felt a little left out though
@@samburchard1778 yikes! Thanks for pointing that out! We had no idea. Sounds fine in editing and with no ear buds. Need to find out what went wrong. Thanks!!
It's not impossible to watch. LOL