I’ve been playing with my pellet grill to get a more smoke forward taste. One thing I noticed is that you started the cook at a pretty high temp., 270. I just cooked a butt recently and started it @225 for two hours using Bear Mountain Bold pellets. I think the lower temp and bolder pellets helped tremendously. I proceeded to cook @ 275 for another 2 hrs, then moved it to the oven @325 to finish. I was very happy with the results. Not sure what pellets you used but I think it makes a difference too at least in my experience.
I would concur with your observations. 270 on the CC is a little hot. Found mine performs best around 225. Also, the bold pellets from bear mountain work well. I did a brisket this weekend and had great results. Other thing not mentioned was the flavor of the pellets in the CC. Trial and error for sure. But interesting
I agree, it's too bad you had to get rid of it as I find the sake 200-225 gives much more smoke flavour, I almost never raise it to 275 unless I'm finishing off a cook or getting through the stall.
This is 100% accurate. You cannot take two different types of cookers, use them in the same way, and expect them to give similar results. Different cookers require different methods, depending on what you want for the outcome. My go to on my pellet grill is 190-200F overnight, ramp up temps to finish the next morning.
Great vid (as always). The thing I love you often mention is something I think the vast majority of home BBQ folks don't understand... the fact that pellet grills don't really have a problem with not making enough 'smoke' per se,, it's that the actual fuel itself (the compressed sawdust pellets) don't produce the 'right kind' of smoke people are looking for to impart into their food. That's why even when people supplement their pellet grill with pellet smoke tubes they still can't achieve the smoke flavor they're wanting to get to in their food (been there/done that). Pellet grills make good food but for most folks' bbq preference, they just cannot do as good a job with smoke flavor as the other types of cookers you mention. I started out with gas grills & used them for decades, then went to a pellet smoker. I still have both & use them more now for ovens vs actual bbq'ing because my $200 Kettle Joe (thanks Lowe's blowout sale last end of summer) makes much more flavorful food, & it's not close. I have 50 cooks on my Kettle Joe now as the flavor of charcoal & flavor wood is night/day better than what I can get out of my gas &/or pellet grills. Very cool of Camp Chef to have made something like the Woodwind Pro & very cool of them to give you the grill then allow you to pay it forward.
I gotta say I really appreciate all these videos you’ve done with the Konnected Joe even though it’s not what you would typically use on a normal day. You helped me decide it’s the right grill for me and I just placed my order! I’m super excited over the idea that I can throw on a brisket before bed and let it do it’s thing or I can sit outside all day with a cooler nearby and take on things manually. I’ll be keeping up with any other Konnected videos you release to make sure I copy your tricks and methods because it all looks fantastic!
One thing I've noticed on all the channels testing the camp chef, everyone is wiggling, or tapping, or generally messing with the smoke drawer when closing it. It will interesting to see how this drawer holds up over a couple of seasons use, will it get damaged and not close properly or is it ridged enough to take some man handling.
Yea although James tried to open the smoke box with the butterfly valve in the open position. That’s why he was wiggling it. What that does is usually dislodge the heat deflector from the tabs, which is a pain because you have to take everything out to reset it properly.
I have the camp chef it’s good but not great for smoking since it’s still a pellet smoker.. Have it mostly for convenience. You have to use the 2nd rack or the right side of the 1st rack if you have 36 inch. The smoke box handle has been replaced and again its loose again. The problem is when your need to grill after smoking with all that grease on the heat deflector, I used the side burner for searing or grilling. I’ve even tried grill grates, it works just way too much smoke. Don’t have a kamado joe but i do have Weber Summit Kamado and Keveri and get better smoke. Thanks for another great test.
My question is do you think the result would be better if you added charcoal and wood chucks to the Camp Chef? Then you would get the additional smoke flavor from the charcoal as well as the wood chunks. Just a thought…I’m considering the Camp Chef for the convenience but also the ability to get better smoke than other pellet grills.
I agree this test was not on an equal playing field, you didn't add charcoal to the windwood pro. This test needs to be done again with an equal opportunity for both of them. It's obvious you favor the Kamado but at least conduct the test accordingly.
Great video as usual. I did the same test with my WW Pro and Big Joe 3 and got different results, albeit I didn’t have blind tasters. How many chunks did you put into the smoke box in total? I usually start WW out at 180 for an hour or 2.
EXCELLENT video! No long warm rest ? Did you notice any significant difference between this brisket & the last video that you had the long rest. I'm not sure I have the patience or time for the long rest.
Another great review. I find it interesting that my wife also prefers food from my pellet grill as opposed to when i had a stick burner and propane smoker. Yet my son and I still prefer a more smoky profile. While both results are great just comes down to personal preference.
Interesting video as always. A few thoughts. I’ve got the camp chef and a Kamado joe and like both of them. I think you’re underselling the camp chef a bit. I susiect you’d get better results and flavor if you started off your cooks on it at much lower temps. I do my briskets at 180 and ramp up slowly to 250 and have been getting great results. Starting so high on a pellet grill is just not suiting its strong points. Also a note on fans. I’m a Fireboard devotee. It’s an awesome, awesome data collection device and ram controller. Not a huge fan of their fan (pun intended). Luckily it can drive all sorts of fans and I’ve tried a bunch! My favorite fan by far is the pit viper by bbq guru. That plus the Fireboard has absolutely been the sweet spot for me and many others and I highly recommend you consider it. The pit viper has much better adapters for connecting to grills as well. Good luck!
I don’t think the camp chef got any Justice doing it this method. From my experience 270 is too hot for brisket. I normally start it at 225 and add wood chunks every hour until it hits the stall. This way the brisket can absorb as much smoke as possible and it create a really good bark. After the stall I increase the temp to 250+ to finish it up. That smoke box is the star of the show for the wood wind pro and that’s why it separates itself from the rest of the pellet grills out there. Also the butterfly valve needs to be closed before opening the box, that’s why u were struggling to open it.
James thank you so much for this video as I recently asked for this exact video to be done! I made sure to give it an instant watch and pushed me over the line to get the KJ. I think I can get creative and fit a couple things on the grill grate if needed as well. Thanks again James and looking forward to more videos from you. Cheers
James, you nailed it for me with the "analogue" comment. Dumped my Timberline because I couldn't stand that constant electric whine during a cook. Not sure if the connected joe is any different, but I think I'll stick to the simplicity and efficiency of the KJ Classic 3 :)
It’s great how much you seem to be able to donate to that local charity. I guess there’s only so much the smoking dad family can use the leftovers for. :-)
Hmmmm.. makes me wonder two things: 1-such a thing as charcoal pellets to blend 80:20 with hardwood pellets? 2-Tom Horseman seared steak recently on pellet grill using cast iron plat and sweet pecan shell pellets. I'd wonder if something like this would burn more like regular wood than regular hardwood pellets
My question is if you could only buy 1 device for smoking, grilling, griddle etc. Also should add this is for 2 people so not looking for a huge cooking space. What would you reccomend?
Great comparison. Very interesting, considering both use wood chunks. Please correct me if I am wrong, It seems like you have found a bigger difference here than the difference between the MB Gravity and the Woodwind Pro. They say women prefer lighter smoke flavor. I am liking the group taste tests.
Thanks for doing this test with others! So what does Sarah think of the smoke favor between you Offsets and your Big Joe? Does she like you Big Joe favor if you don/t go heavy on the smoking wood?
I think you misrepresented the woodwind pro, maybe you do not know its capabilities, you fill that pellet hopper with pecan shell pellets and pull out that front door and fill it with post oak wood chunks every thirty minutes from the start and when that brisket hits 190° it will be black bark and full of smoke
My Konnected Joe arrived on May 3rd and cooked good for less than a week. Then had probe failures and the fan stopped working. Kamado Joe service has been awful. Still no solution weeks later. They were thinking about sending a new probe and then never did. I have no idea what is going on now. Probably going to have to return it. :(
Does it matter which one you try first? I wonder if you taste more smoke on a clean palette vs trying to taste it after already having a smoked piece of meat? 🤔
Camp chef woodwind runs hot with the rolling rear to front air. You need to smoke at like 200-225f imo. It runs hotter than my old pit boss. Smoke ring is like 20% of what you could have.
Looking for some t houghts on charcoal. I'm using a Weber kettle and had pretty good luck with old fashioned Kingsford as far as temp control. But I've switched to hardwood lump for the taste based on a what it seems a lot of cooks are using. However I'm having a horrible time with temp control and keeping a consistent burn going. I'm using the snake method but several times it seems like the fire just dies completely with plenty of unburned charcoal left, and I have to relight, resulting in a lot of startup smoke and widely swinging temps. Anyone have thoughts on that?
I own the KJ Classic II and love it. Once you get things dialed in a bit (just watch some Smoking dad videos!) it's extremely low maintenance for low and slow smoking. I honestly don't think I could recommend the "robot" method to even my laziest friends seeking real smoke flavor. edit: I do however recommend the meater+ so I have a "robot" to monitor temps, that keeps my butt firmly planted in my favorite chair for nearly the entire cook.
So I got my Kamado Joe Classic II in yesterday and smoked a packer brisket. That wasn't able to get the ashtray thing to work. Any tips on getting it lighted or do I just need smaller chunks?
Still not buying that `Konnected` thing. BBQ blasphemy....😖I haven`t spent ages studying and learning from Smoking Dad videos ( and now Eat more Vegans ) to use bbq autopilot !
I have something for you to try if you have not done it yet , Brisket , trim or not makes, no difference , Substitute white pepper for black pepper , otherwise same ration between salt ,pepper and Lowery's, i believe you will find the cook and the bark interesting
I’ve been playing with my pellet grill to get a more smoke forward taste. One thing I noticed is that you started the cook at a pretty high temp., 270. I just cooked a butt recently and started it @225 for two hours using Bear Mountain Bold pellets. I think the lower temp and bolder pellets helped tremendously. I proceeded to cook @ 275 for another 2 hrs, then moved it to the oven @325 to finish. I was very happy with the results. Not sure what pellets you used but I think it makes a difference too at least in my experience.
I would concur with your observations. 270 on the CC is a little hot. Found mine performs best around 225. Also, the bold pellets from bear mountain work well. I did a brisket this weekend and had great results. Other thing not mentioned was the flavor of the pellets in the CC. Trial and error for sure. But interesting
I agree, it's too bad you had to get rid of it as I find the sake 200-225 gives much more smoke flavour, I almost never raise it to 275 unless I'm finishing off a cook or getting through the stall.
Nice vid man, gotta smoke 180/225 on the pellet to get get max smoke, anything above 225 on most pellets will just burn pellet to maintain heat
This is 100% accurate. You cannot take two different types of cookers, use them in the same way, and expect them to give similar results. Different cookers require different methods, depending on what you want for the outcome.
My go to on my pellet grill is 190-200F overnight, ramp up temps to finish the next morning.
Great vid (as always). The thing I love you often mention is something I think the vast majority of home BBQ folks don't understand... the fact that pellet grills don't really have a problem with not making enough 'smoke' per se,, it's that the actual fuel itself (the compressed sawdust pellets) don't produce the 'right kind' of smoke people are looking for to impart into their food. That's why even when people supplement their pellet grill with pellet smoke tubes they still can't achieve the smoke flavor they're wanting to get to in their food (been there/done that). Pellet grills make good food but for most folks' bbq preference, they just cannot do as good a job with smoke flavor as the other types of cookers you mention.
I started out with gas grills & used them for decades, then went to a pellet smoker. I still have both & use them more now for ovens vs actual bbq'ing because my $200 Kettle Joe (thanks Lowe's blowout sale last end of summer) makes much more flavorful food, & it's not close. I have 50 cooks on my Kettle Joe now as the flavor of charcoal & flavor wood is night/day better than what I can get out of my gas &/or pellet grills.
Very cool of Camp Chef to have made something like the Woodwind Pro & very cool of them to give you the grill then allow you to pay it forward.
I gotta say I really appreciate all these videos you’ve done with the Konnected Joe even though it’s not what you would typically use on a normal day. You helped me decide it’s the right grill for me and I just placed my order! I’m super excited over the idea that I can throw on a brisket before bed and let it do it’s thing or I can sit outside all day with a cooler nearby and take on things manually. I’ll be keeping up with any other Konnected videos you release to make sure I copy your tricks and methods because it all looks fantastic!
enjoy your new Joe!
One thing I've noticed on all the channels testing the camp chef, everyone is wiggling, or tapping, or generally messing with the smoke drawer when closing it.
It will interesting to see how this drawer holds up over a couple of seasons use, will it get damaged and not close properly or is it ridged enough to take some man handling.
Yea although James tried to open the smoke box with the butterfly valve in the open position. That’s why he was wiggling it. What that does is usually dislodge the heat deflector from the tabs, which is a pain because you have to take everything out to reset it properly.
You have open the smoke box with the lever closed, I would bet the heat deflector was dislodged by not following the proper open and close procedure.
@@wbwatts43 Perhaps they should do a mod where the drawer can't be opened without the handle being in the correct position.
I have the camp chef it’s good but not great for smoking since it’s still a pellet smoker.. Have it mostly for convenience. You have to use the 2nd rack or the right side of the 1st rack if you have 36 inch. The smoke box handle has been replaced and again its loose again. The problem is when your need to grill after smoking with all that grease on the heat deflector, I used the side burner for searing or grilling. I’ve even tried grill grates, it works just way too much smoke. Don’t have a kamado joe but i do have Weber Summit Kamado and Keveri and get better smoke. Thanks for another great test.
My question is do you think the result would be better if you added charcoal and wood chucks to the Camp Chef? Then you would get the additional smoke flavor from the charcoal as well as the wood chunks. Just a thought…I’m considering the Camp Chef for the convenience but also the ability to get better smoke than other pellet grills.
I agree this test was not on an equal playing field, you didn't add charcoal to the windwood pro. This test needs to be done again with an equal opportunity for both of them. It's obvious you favor the Kamado but at least conduct the test accordingly.
Great video as usual. I did the same test with my WW Pro and Big Joe 3 and got different results, albeit I didn’t have blind tasters. How many chunks did you put into the smoke box in total? I usually start WW out at 180 for an hour or 2.
EXCELLENT video! No long warm rest ? Did you notice any significant difference between this brisket & the last video that you had the long rest. I'm not sure I have the patience or time for the long rest.
Another great review. I find it interesting that my wife also prefers food from my pellet grill as opposed to when i had a stick burner and propane smoker. Yet my son and I still prefer a more smoky profile. While both results are great just comes down to personal preference.
That rings a bell. It is said that women tend to prefer lighter smoke, even if they are BBQ judges.
@@CoolJay77 So true. Never really thought about it until I bought a pellet smoker and both my wife and daughter preferred the food from it.
Interesting video as always. A few thoughts. I’ve got the camp chef and a Kamado joe and like both of them. I think you’re underselling the camp chef a bit. I susiect you’d get better results and flavor if you started off your cooks on it at much lower temps. I do my briskets at 180 and ramp up slowly to 250 and have been getting great results. Starting so high on a pellet grill is just not suiting its strong points.
Also a note on fans. I’m a Fireboard devotee. It’s an awesome, awesome data collection device and ram controller. Not a huge fan of their fan (pun intended). Luckily it can drive all sorts of fans and I’ve tried a bunch! My favorite fan by far is the pit viper by bbq guru. That plus the Fireboard has absolutely been the sweet spot for me and many others and I highly recommend you consider it. The pit viper has much better adapters for connecting to grills as well. Good luck!
I don’t think the camp chef got any Justice doing it this method.
From my experience 270 is too hot for brisket. I normally start it at 225 and add wood chunks every hour until it hits the stall. This way the brisket can absorb as much smoke as possible and it create a really good bark. After the stall I increase the temp to 250+ to finish it up.
That smoke box is the star of the show for the wood wind pro and that’s why it separates itself from the rest of the pellet grills out there.
Also the butterfly valve needs to be closed before opening the box, that’s why u were struggling to open it.
I was surprised by the smoke ring on the woodwind. Even with wood chunks it wasn't really pronounced. 🍻
As a person with a CC Woodwind pro 24, watching you try and yank the smoke box out WITHOUT closing the butterfly valve…. Is painful….
I eventually learned that. Look the other way for the time being
Thanks, James. Very good honest review!
Thanks
James thank you so much for this video as I recently asked for this exact video to be done! I made sure to give it an instant watch and pushed me over the line to get the KJ. I think I can get creative and fit a couple things on the grill grate if needed as well. Thanks again James and looking forward to more videos from you. Cheers
cheers!
James, you nailed it for me with the "analogue" comment. Dumped my Timberline because I couldn't stand that constant electric whine during a cook. Not sure if the connected joe is any different, but I think I'll stick to the simplicity and efficiency of the KJ Classic 3 :)
It’s great how much you seem to be able to donate to that local charity. I guess there’s only so much the smoking dad family can use the leftovers for. :-)
Hmmmm.. makes me wonder two things:
1-such a thing as charcoal pellets to blend 80:20 with hardwood pellets?
2-Tom Horseman seared steak recently on pellet grill using cast iron plat and sweet pecan shell pellets. I'd wonder if something like this would burn more like regular wood than regular hardwood pellets
Excited for the fan/controller episode already (although it's too late for me- went with the Fireboard Drive / Pitboss fan combo for my Akorn)
Dude ive been smoking with peach wood lately and now im hooked. Tried post oak today and didn't find it as smooth flavored like i used to😮
No surprise as pellet grills just don't infuse the same level of smoke.
My question is if you could only buy 1 device for smoking, grilling, griddle etc. Also should add this is for 2 people so not looking for a huge cooking space. What would you reccomend?
I like my flame boss with my BGE. It’s 5-6 years old at this point, will be interested to see what’s new in this arena.
I like the addition of several blind taste testers.
trying to organize that more often so its not just my opinion
You said your using charcoal on kamado and pellets on woodwind pro, why not pull open the door in front and add post oak wood chunks every 30 minutes
Oh no 😮. Miss SDBBQ prevented the shutout 😅
Oh boy I’m not optimistic for Camp Chef’s prospects for the test I’m doing this weekend!
Unless it’s a gas or a lesser pellet grill I would share your concern
Great comparison. Very interesting, considering both use wood chunks. Please correct me if I am wrong, It seems like you have found a bigger difference here than the difference between the MB Gravity and the Woodwind Pro. They say women prefer lighter smoke flavor. I am liking the group taste tests.
another awesome vid! Have you tested out the Traegers? if so what were your thoughts?
I would think that the Bellows should be able to hold temp at 140 degrees on my plainold joe
Thanks for doing this test with others! So what does Sarah think of the smoke favor between you Offsets and your Big Joe? Does she like you Big Joe favor if you don/t go heavy on the smoking wood?
she actually doesn't mind the smoke on the offset, guessing cause its clean smoke
I think you misrepresented the woodwind pro, maybe you do not know its capabilities, you fill that pellet hopper with pecan shell pellets and pull out that front door and fill it with post oak wood chunks every thirty minutes from the start and when that brisket hits 190° it will be black bark and full of smoke
My Konnected Joe arrived on May 3rd and cooked good for less than a week. Then had probe failures and the fan stopped working. Kamado Joe service has been awful. Still no solution weeks later. They were thinking about sending a new probe and then never did. I have no idea what is going on now. Probably going to have to return it. :(
Does it matter which one you try first?
I wonder if you taste more smoke on a clean palette vs trying to taste it after already having a smoked piece of meat? 🤔
Camp chef woodwind runs hot with the rolling rear to front air. You need to smoke at like 200-225f imo. It runs hotter than my old pit boss. Smoke ring is like 20% of what you could have.
I bought some meater 2's and verified this recently. The campchef woodwind pro at 165-177f was running ambient on the meater 2 closer to 215. -225f
Any experience using a Weber Smokey mountain?
Got a Kamado because of your videos! Any idea when your video on automated fans will be coming out ? I want to buy one , but waiting on your opinion.
So, will you be doing a komodo connected joe vs. Masterbuilt gravity feed??
Looking for some t houghts on charcoal. I'm using a Weber kettle and had pretty good luck with old fashioned Kingsford as far as temp control. But I've switched to hardwood lump for the taste based on a what it seems a lot of cooks are using. However I'm having a horrible time with temp control and keeping a consistent burn going. I'm using the snake method but several times it seems like the fire just dies completely with plenty of unburned charcoal left, and I have to relight, resulting in a lot of startup smoke and widely swinging temps. Anyone have thoughts on that?
I own the KJ Classic II and love it. Once you get things dialed in a bit (just watch some Smoking dad videos!) it's extremely low maintenance for low and slow smoking. I honestly don't think I could recommend the "robot" method to even my laziest friends seeking real smoke flavor.
edit: I do however recommend the meater+ so I have a "robot" to monitor temps, that keeps my butt firmly planted in my favorite chair for nearly the entire cook.
Spot on mate once you learn your temp settings on the Old school Joe your set …
So I got my Kamado Joe Classic II in yesterday and smoked a packer brisket. That wasn't able to get the ashtray thing to work. Any tips on getting it lighted or do I just need smaller chunks?
just cant beat a charcoal smoker and wood for smokey flavor other than a stick burner
But can you, on the komodo Joe, put a pan of bbq beans or some other side while the Brisket is cooking like you can on the Camp Chef Pro? 🤔🤔
What's The Link For The Blacks Seasoning???
store.blacksbbq.com/mobile/original-1932-dry-rub-each-p27.aspx
Nice James. Next pellet grill that comes your way, you might look at charcoal pellets.
I don't understand the purpose of charcoal pellets. They are also made using different processes. Is there a brand that you like?
@@CoolJay77 royal oak.
Love it!
thanks!
Still not buying that `Konnected` thing. BBQ blasphemy....😖I haven`t spent ages studying and learning from Smoking Dad videos ( and now Eat more Vegans ) to use bbq autopilot !
It leaves the yard in one more video as it’s not for me but for those who insist it’s better than some other smart grills
@@SmokingDadBBQ Quite right. This thing warrants a British `tsk` - which on the scale of British understatement is pretty strong stuff... :)
14:24
Lol Bella does that all the time without me knowing then I go to edit the video and find she’s keeping an eye on the food lol
What was the fuel cost on these in this challenge?
mmm outgassing delicious...
I have something for you to try if you have not done it yet , Brisket , trim or not makes, no difference , Substitute white pepper for black pepper , otherwise same ration between salt ,pepper and Lowery's, i believe you will find the cook and the bark interesting
Dude ive been smoking with peach wood lately and now im hooked. Tried post oak today and didn't find it as smooth flavored like i used to😮