Camp Chef Woodwind Review [Pellet Grill & Smoker]

Camp Chef’s Classic series is regarded as one of the best backyard pellet smokers today. Armed with great features like WiFi control, heat deflectors, and slide and grill technology, there’s plenty to admire. Get the barbecue lowdown with our Camp Chef Woodwind review.

The Woodwind Classic pellet grill is one of the newest additions to the Camp Chef family, but it’s already made quite a statement. It features one of the most accurate and intuitive temperature PID control systems we’ve encountered and is already a serious contender for our favorite ever pellet smoker grill.

What makes this backyard wood cooker so special? Our in-depth review is here to assess the Woodwind’s best features, pros, and cons, and break down everything you need to know. Let’s get into it.

The Camp Chef Woodwind pellet grill delivers quite the punch for such a compact backyard cooker. Boasting the perfect combination of power and streamlined design, there’s a lot to love here. It offers a sleek, compact design and durable construction to provide years of barbecue enjoyment.

Cooking area

The Camp Chef Woodwind Classic features an innovative dual cook surface, giving you two distinct grilling zones for direct and indirect cooking. This top-and-bottom setup allows you to be flexible, quickly maneuvering between grilling styles.

These non-stick grates provide a total of 570 square inches of cooking surface to work with, which compares well to most pellet smokers.

The cooking chamber is large and gives you more cooking space than other models. The total chamber capacity is 4850 cubic inches. With this amount of space, it is easy to cook for a larger crowd. It offers a lot of room to play with inside its 24-inch grill box but is also available in 20 and 36 inches.

In addition to the cooking box being spacious, it has two levels on which you can cook. The top grates will give you 382 square inches of cooking space, while the bottom is 19.5 by 22inches. In total, you have 800 square inches of cooking space, which is more than enough space for more than three people. You can use this grill when you are entertaining and have plenty of food to go around!

Meat probes

It comes with four integrated meat probe ports that work hand-in-hand with the digital display, giving you an accurate reading of your meat’s internal temperature at all times. More probes and sensors usually mean higher accuracy levels while installed so that you don’t need to open the chamber lid and let hot air escape.

PID temperature control

They’re designed with a patented Smart Smoke Technology that maintains an ideal cooking temperature of 225 degrees. You can set your desired cooking temperature from 180 to 450 degrees in 5 degree increments. And they come with a built-in meat probe for added convenience. Plus, there’s no need to worry about running out of pellets because this grill has an automatic auger feed system which ensures that it never runs low on fuel!

One of the things that makes this grill cook well consistently is controlling the temperature. Unlike when you cook over an open flame and need to gauge your eyes when you think the meat is properly cooked, this feature allows you to control the temperature better. The PID controller helps to keep your food temperatures between +/-5˚F. It also helps control smoke.

The PID controller is precise and detailed. It is industrial grade and will give you precise, accurate temperatures that will have you cooking like a pro with minimal effort. The smoke controller tells you how much smoke is being released. The higher the number, the more smoke is being released. So if you set it to 8, you know that more smoke is being released than when it is set to 3. The lower the number, the tighter the temperatures hold.

High temperature range

This is something a lot of people ask about when it comes to grills. The Camp Chef Woodwind pellet grill reaches up to 500˚F. This is for indirect grilling and when you don’t need a lot of heat. Use high temperatures to infuse more heat. This will usually apply in cases where you need the smokey flavor. If you need to crank it up a notch, the camp chef woodwind can go up to 650˚F using direct heat from the pellets to sear a piece of meat.

You can reach high temperatures and still maintain good control. This is something you may miss when you use other types of grills, which use direct heat and gas or wood. The temperatures on this grill will range from 160˚F going all the way up.

WiFi control

This grill has WiFi connectivity, and this is what keeps it modern and up to speed. But what does it mean to have WiFi connectivity on a grill? WiFi connectivity means that you can always know how hot things are getting, as long as it is connected to the internet. You can then control smoke output levels using the camp chef connect app on your phone. Using this app, you can control smoke using a scale of 1 -10.

It’s convenient, and you only need to be within the WiFi range. WiFi control means you can control your grill from your sofa and don’t need to go to the grill physically to check on progress constantly. The app also means that you can independently control smoke.

Construction

It is sturdy and made to be able to withstand being outside. The firebox is made of stainless steel, which is durable and easy to clean. Also, stainless steel doesn’t only serve a practical purpose, but it also looks good. As long as you keep it clean, you will always have a shiny-looking grill that doesn’t rust.

You must clean the grill after every cooking session. This way, you maintain the integrity of the grill and the materials that it is made of.

The grill is set on heavy-duty legs. Two of them have wheels so that you can easily move the grill around without throwing out your back. Meanwhile, the other two legs are sturdy and will allow you to set the grill down and be sure that it won’t move around. The legs are 50mm and strong enough to hold up the grill as you cook up a storm.

Usability

Versatility is a big deal and one of the reasons why people like smokers. You can use them to smoke, grill, and bake outdoors, all while getting the earthy wooden flavor from the smoke. It is easy to use, and the WiFi connectivity enhances this quality even more.

Setting it up is a breeze and will not need too much expertise. When you first fire it up, it will need a bit of time to reach the set temperature. Allow it to run through its paces before loading it up and cooking.

Sidekick

The Camp Chef Woodwind Pellet Grill is not a one-trick pony. It has a sidekick, which adds to its versatility feature. The sidekick is like getting another grill and smoker all for the price of one. While traditional grills and smokers will have one function. The camp chef woodwind sidekick gives you options.

It has one burner and comes as an attachment to the grill. It is powered by propane and can easily be attached to most camp chef grills. The sidekick has 28 000 BTUs and is excellent for searing and getting the char grill to look on your food. The sidekick lets you do many cooking tasks at the same time.

The sidekick will also allow you to cook over direct flames. You can use a stockpot or use any other attachment to cook different meals. You can use a flat top griddle, for instance. The great thing about the sidekick is that it is compatible with different camp chef attachments.

Other highlights

Efficient ash cleanout system

As you cook, ash is inevitable. This is where the ash kickin’ cleanout comes in handy. There is a collection plate for the ash under the grill, and this allows you to empty it after every cook quickly. The ash plate can be removed while you cook. You do not need to take apart the entire grill to clean out the ash.

At the side of the grill, you will find a knob that you simply need to pull. This will release the ashes from the burn cup to a removable cup, which you can then easily pull out and empty. The knob provides an easy way for you to keep things clean and efficient.

Slide and grill

This grill has a knob at the side that has more than one purpose of cleaning out the ash. It also helps to switch between direct and indirect heat. Turning and pulling the knob will do this for you. There is a louvered drip tray that will let in flames to reach the bottom grill racks. This gives a variation to the way the flame and heat reach the meat.

Pull the grill knob to the left to move the deflector away from the firepot to allow heat to rise towards the meat on the grate.

Digital display

The Camp Chef Woodwind Pellet Grill has a full-color digital display. This helps you easily monitor temperatures and details concerning your cooking process. The display is easy to read and also looks good. So in as much as it may be an outdoor grill, it doesn’t mean that it needs to look rugged or unkempt.

To control the display, you turn and press the knob at the bottom of the display. The grill has a flap covering the display for protection.

Protective grill cover

Camp Chef offers a 24-inch grill cover that fits the Woodwind perfectly. It doesn’t come with the grill, but it’s a worthy investment, especially if you plan on keeping it on your patio or backyard. It’s made of weather-resistant lining, and when we’ve used it, it has stood up well to the long-term effects of cold and wet weather, as well as wind and mildew.

Final Verdict

Camp Chef’s Woodwind Classic is a fuel-efficient pellet grill that boasts huge hopper capacity, dual cooking, and wide temperature range. This is as good as pellet smokers get.

Camp Chef Woodwind Classic

• SMART SMOKE TECHNOLOGY- The digital temperature control and automatic auger feed pellets into...
• ENDLESS VERSATILITY- Grill, smoke, bake, roast, braise, and barbecue all your favorite foods...
• HUGE COOKING AREA- 570 square inches of cooking surface area and a removable upper warming rack...

BUY ON AMAZON Price incl. tax, excl. shipping

Last update on 2023-10-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API