Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24-Inch Pellet Grill - PG24WWSB

Was assembly easy? The Instruction booklet is useless. We can read. Use words. The pics are useless. There is, however a good video on YouTube that guides you through the assembly, but of course they make it look effortless, when in fact getting screws and nuts into those tight places will drive you nuts. Step 9.4 Yeah its not in the kindergarten picture book and not on the video, but it is important and necessary, which you will find out in step 13. You have to add that bracket to the auger to be able to screw it down in step 13. You'll figure it out once you know you need to add it. Step 14 was a freakin nightmare. Putting the shielding on the probe cable with approximately 3 atomic units distance for your fingers to hold the screws takes a ghastly amount of time, drops, and restarts. And then there was the hopper issue. The lid doesn't come attached and there's no instructions for putting it on. Once you figure it out, getting those screws in is also near impossible going thru 3 layers and one screw fell into the auger. Good thing I have neodymium magnets. In fact I had to use 4 32lb neodymium magnets to hold the tray in place while I tried to thread the screws threw the screen, the hopper, and the door hinge. I also had to use a flexible grabber claw to hold the back nuts for the top shelf rails. I had to install, uninstall, and reinstall the hopper 3 times because of step 9.4, then because I trapped the probe wires between the hopper and the wall. You need a good long screwdriver because your electric isn't going to reach in those tight places. Haven't used it yet. It was 90° out there today and this took hours. I'll smoke a brisket this weekend and let you know if the pain was worth it.

Purchased the Woodwind Pro 24 after much thought, research, and comparisons. First I had to decide between 24" and 36". I decided 36" would be too big for my space, and I'm happy with that decision. I'm new to smoking, and rarely am making large quantities of food. Camp Chef uses FedEx for delivery - the delivery left a bit to be desired - it came in two boxes, and one box was too heavy for one person to lift, and I don't know if the driver had a dolly or not, but he did not use one, and instead "rolled" the heavy box from the street to my porch. I had it on video in case there was any damage to the grill. Luckily, despite the boxes looking terrible on the outside, the packaging was good enough inside that I could find no damage. Assembly was fairly straightforward, though ran into a few problems, there is a bag of parts labeled 9.4, but no instructions related to those parts. It wasn't until later in the process that I realized that it was a bracket for securing the hopper/burn cup assembly to the grill enclosure. And the lever/arm for the smoke box was a little confusing to put on. In my case, the confusion was because the set screw was already inserted, and inserted too far into the lever arm. I didn't realize this at first, and was trying to screw the lever on to the post, and tighten, and it just wouldn't work. At this point it was getting dark and I gave up till next day. in light of day I realized the set screw was already in there. I had to apply great force to loosen and unscrew the set screw enough to allow the lever to attach properly--the set screw is damaged, but the lever is working, so I'm not too concerned. The only other issue I had was the machine was extremely loud. I was concerned because with the noise it was making, I definitely would upset the neighbors if I smoked overnight. Feeling around the pellet hopper, I realized the noise was coming from a loose screen over the fan - air intake underneath the hopper. Once I tightened those screws, the machine was MUCH quieter. I've grilled twice now with it, and have been very happy so far. The smoke box is a great addition allowing you to get more smoke, closer to offset smoker, but still the convenience that brought us to a pellet grill. I'm very happy with the product, and if not for the few very minor hiccups with assembly, I'd say Camp Chef has an amazing product. Oh, one other thing. Connecting the device to wifi--I had issues, but I was initially trying to go thru the setup withOUT creating an account. Once I created an account, setting up the device on wifi worked perfectly. Again, just a minor thing. I hope my experience helps others out there. Don't let any of this deter you--I'm super happy and can't wait to do more grilling.

The pellet grill works great, is easy to use, and the wood box definitely delivers the extra needed flavor when smoking. Plus, the sidekick sear is an amazing gas grill - it is big enough to cook for a family of four, it heats up fast, and it gets super hot (I like it so much that I'd rather use it than my stand alone gas grill).

Bought the woodwind pro to replace my old gas grill and have been happy with choice. It is so simple to get to the correct temp just set it and it let it do it's thing. It does take a little while, at least 15-20 minutes after startup, but once it settles in temp seems to hold within a few degrees of where you want it. The meat thermometers take all the guess work out of grilling, and the smoke flavor it a definite upgrade over my old gas grill. My only complaint would be that the grease drip tray has a tendency of warping at high temps and the grease can build up on the back edge of the tray, but with regular cleaning hasn't lead to any problems with cooking or operation.

The Woodwind Pro 24 is truly a real BBQ pit in your yard. The smoke box combined with traditional pellet system has truly found that hybrid sweet spot between the labor intensive offset pit and the hands off backyard weekend BBQ. System is easy to use with all the modern features and super easy to clean. Can't recommend enough.

If you liked your Woodwind, or if you didn't, your going to love the Woodwind Pro. The build quality is far and beyond the previous model, and they've addressed every issue. Excellent R&D Camp Chef!

1 user found this review helpful

The grill itself is fantastic. My only complaint so far would be that the hopper guard is a pain and removing it is easily done before you attach the hopper. The buying experience however was mediocre. My first grill arrived heavily damaged which they replaced with a new one. The new one was missing screws which they sent the wrong replacement screws. While Campchef is not completely to blame, it was quite the saga. In the end I'm thrilled with my grill.

Just bought it, used it once and it did great! Ready to try adding wood chunks next and see how it does!

Previously owned an older Camp Chef 24. When the Woodwinds Pro was released I purchased the Woodwinds Pro 24. The firebox does really increase the smoke flavor. So much so on some longer cooks I only use the firebox for the 1st 4 hours. Update came along and this unit went through it in a few minutes. The thing I am most impressed with is it will settle in after an hour and on longs cooks the chamber temp will only vary up and down around 4 or 5 degrees. It is surprising how long it spends right at set temp. That is impossible on a stick burner. End result, long cooks with steady clean smoke and temp.

Solid construction and consistent cooks. So far, so good. Love the smoke box as it really throws some smoke with chunks.