Camp Chef Pellet Grills has a knack for coming up with simple solutions to common pellet grill complaints that, in hindsight, seem head-slappingly obvious.
Don’t like removing your greasy grates and drip pan to clean out the firepot? Camp Chef adds a slide-out panel under the firepot that lets ash drop into a disposable cup for easy removal. Can’t reach hot enough temps to sear a steak? Camp Chef plants a high-powered gas burner on the side. Want stronger smoke flavor and aroma? Here they go again. Camp Chef’s Woodwind Pro adds a smoke box that slides in from the front over the firepot to burn wood chunks over the hot wood pellet fuel.
Well anyone could have done that, right? But only Camp Chef did.
Solid, Meat and Potatoes Design and Construction
The Woodwind Pro 24 has dimensions of 50″W x 44.5″H x 26″D and weighs 152 pounds. A larger Woodwind Pro 36 model is also available. Both are made predominantly of powder coated steel and stainless steel. Check out those sturdy legs and lower storage shelf.
The double walled hood is sealed with a thick ribbon of insulation.
Ventilation
Instead of a chimney, Pro has two adjustable exhaust vents in the back which Camp Chef dubs their “Down and Out” design, meant to circulate heat and smoke evenly from the lower front upward across the top then down the back and finally out.
Close the vents down to minimize circulation and hold smoke in or open wide for the opposite effect. We left ours about half opened for all tests. Woodland Pro’s controller also has Smoke Settings from 1 (mild smoke) to 10 (strong smoke). For our tests we cranked it all the way to 10.
The primary cooking grates are coated steel rods. The two, slide-out stainless steel rod upper racks almost double Pro’s cooking capacity and can easily be removed when not in use.
Pro’s 22 pound pellet hopper includes a slide out pellet removal chute, a bottle opener and Woodwind’s new, upgraded, Wi-Fi controller.
The control panel has inputs for up to four food temperature probes; two are included.
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Control Panel
Most Woodwind Pro control functions are typical of today’s Wi-Fi models. Fan mode is unique to Woodwind Pro and is meant to work with Pro’s Smoke Box for cold smoking. We’ll explain fan mode shortly.
Woodwind’s smartphone app is also fairly typical, although it exhibits the same no frills, practical characteristics of Pro. You can control Woodwind Pro the old fashioned way at the control panel, but even if you choose not to use the app, you should still connect to your home network because the control system software will occasionally need updates just like your computer.
And, of course, it includes Camp Chef’s famous ash removal system which consists of a removable cup that catches ash from a slide-out trap door under the firepot.
Woodwind
Camp Chef’s Woodwind came out in 2017. Responding to consumer complaints that pellet smokers weren’t able to reach high, searing temps, Woodwind introduced “SideKick”; a gas burner that replaced the right side shelf.
Sidekick has one, 30,000 BTU cast aluminum burner.
This powerful burner, capable of reaching 900°F temps, made Woodwind a true All-In-One Pellet Smoker/Grill. But that ain’t all folks. Camp Chef offers a variety of Sidekick accessories to extend versatility.
Woodwind Pro models come with a plain right side shelf. Sidekick and the various accessories above are extras.
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To tout their achievement, Camp Chef created a humorous ad campaign featuring “The Grill God” that still makes me chuckle to this day.
But Camp Chef wasn’t done yet. Restless and inquisitive, they asked, “What else? What else can we add to expand Woodwind’s versatility? Their answer was Woodwind Pro and the Woodwind Pro Smokebox.
Woodwind Pro Smoke Box
The Smoke Box is perfect for smoke lovers who complain smoke from pellet smokers is too mild for their tastes; an interesting and thought provoking solution. Fill it with wood chunks and slide it right above the firepot. The burning wood pellets ignite the wood chunks.
Smoke Box operation is straightforward.
Low and Slow
To kick off our cooking tests we started with brisket smoked at 225°F, smoke setting 10, rear exhaust vents half open. A single brisket was cut from top to bottom with the plan to A/B test Pro’s smoky results, with and without the smoke box, on two half briskets from the same hunk of meat.
Here are the results from smoking Brisket #1 without the Smoke Box.
It was as good as it looks. Onward and upward!
Second Test
Brisket #2. We filled the Smoke Box with wood chunks, tossed on our second half of beef and started smokin’. Cooking temp, smoke setting and exhaust vents remained the same.
You can use charcoal too, or a combo of wood chunks and charcoal. Don’t bother with wood chips, they burn up too fast. And click here to learn why soaking wood is not necessary.
We kept the Smoke Box going for four hours, replenishing chunks every half hour. Although foods theoretically continue to take on smoke indefinitely, after three to four hours they realistically reach the flavor, aroma and color capacity of the smoker.
We smoked each half brisket for just under 12 hours and both came out looking, smelling and tasting the same. Both were great. In a blind taste test, we couldn’t distinguish which was which.
We tried ribs and got the same results. Perhaps the long low and slow barbecue time saturated the meat with smoke and reached a point of diminishing returns.
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Mid-range Smoking
So what about something that cooks in the midrange, around 325°F? Next up – Chicken Wings.
The magic of barbecue happens when meat is cooked at low temperature for a long duration while being bathed in light, sweet smoke. Low and slow cooking breaks down connective tissue and turns tough muscle fiber into buttery deliciousness. But wood smolders when damped down to hold low temperature, and that smoldering smoke turns meat black with bitter creosote. Competition pit masters with their big, submarine shaped wood burning smokers, master the art of fire maintenance and often stay up all night, fiddling with fire, to hold their cooking temperature down low without producing dirty, smoldering smoke. Click here to learn more.
Fueling Your Smoker
Wood pellets burn cleaner than wood and pellet smokers are designed to hold your set temp efficiently. Too clean and efficient for some tastes, hence the common complaint of weak smoke from pellet smokers. Most pellet smokers, including Woodwind Pro, have smoke settings that increase smoke generation by increasing the dwell time pellets burn in the firepot before the auger and fan kick in to replenish fuel. This gives the pellets a short smoke break at low temperature settings. But the higher the set temp, the hotter the pellet fire. And the hotter the pellet fire, the less dwell time. And the less dwell time, the less smoke is generated. Got all that?
Pro’s Smoke Box provides smoke at any set temp for as long as you supply wood chunks. The chicken wings on the left were cooked at 325°F using the smoke box. The wings on the right were cooked at the same temp, same duration, no smoke box. This time, there was no question which batch was smoke boxed visually or in our blind taste tests.
All things being equal then, when cooking mid to high range on Woodwind Pro, the smoke box delivers on Camp Chef’s promise of more smoke. This is where Pro really shines.
Cold Smoking Risks
“Can you say nova lox? Lebanon baloney? Kielbasa? Smoked chub or sable? All fabulous and all cold smoked. Can you also say botulism?” ~Meathead
Cold smoking is an old method where food cooks without heat during the smoking process. Hot smoking kills pathogens, cold smoking does not. Although cold smoking cheese, nuts and tofu is relatively safe, we never recommend cold smoking any meats or fish. Click here to learn why the risk is just too great.
Be that as it may, fan mode is made for cold smoking. Fan mode shuts down Pro’s pellet feed and fire pot, enabling you to cook solely on the small amount of wood in the Smoke Box. The temp display, fan mode settings and other functions stay on.
Fan Mode: The Saga of Smoked Cheese
Mmmmm, the promise of tasty smoked cheese was sure appealing, so we made that our next test, but quickly discovered there was one additional risk for cold smoking on Pro – ambient weather.
We all know cheese melts at high temps. Camp Chef’s cold smoked cheese recipe calls for a target smoking temp of around 85° to 90°F. Our ambient weather temp was in the upper 60s, so we gave it a go. But heat from the small amount of wood in the Smoke Box quickly shot up past 90°F.
That was the beginning of a long, frustrating saga; a tale of babysitting a tiny wood fire that would have made competition pit bosses with their big, wood burning offset smokers well up with tears (albeit tears of laughter). We even tried trays of ice under the hood to no avail. We just couldn’t effectively keep the temp down into the cold smoking range.
Camp Chef helped, but finally conceded, “when ambient temp is above 55°F, cold smoking on Pro is tough.” Then added, “In the winter it’s way easier, in the winter it’s amazing.” As proof they offer these instructive videos.
High Temperature Searing
Pro gets pretty hot under the hood. At its highest setting it hit 560°F. Not bad, but not steak temps. If it’s high temperature searing you seek, Woodwind’s sidekick is more than capable.
Packaging and Assembly
The packaging was excellent and able to withstand the pummeling FedEx gave without damage to any parts.
It came in two boxes. One contained the almost fully assembled pellet hopper, control system and auger feed. The other was the smoker body and cart. Assembly and instructions were typical with no unpleasant surprises.
Conclusion
Woodwind Pro delivers the solid quality and rustic yet innovative design we expect from Camp Chef. Online reviews from happy owners concur. You may not need Pro’s Smoke Box for traditional barbecue because Woodwind is already a great low and slow smoker. However, by separating the wood smoke generation from the wood fire cooking, Pro lets you smoke effectively at any temperature. It’s a new tool in your backyard toolbox to play with and when winter comes you can take a stab at cold smoking cheese and nuts. No meat! We want you to make it to spring.
The Grill God continues to smile upon Camp Chef. We give Woodwind Pro our top AmazingRibs.com Best Value Platinum Medal.
Warranty
Three year limited warranty.
We thank Camp Chef for providing a Woodwind Pro for our tests.
