Camp Chef XXL Pro WIFI Vertical Smoker - PGSBXXL

When it was time for me to add a dedicated smoker to the toolbox I looked at all the different pellet smokers that were available. This smoker checked all my boxes….easy to clean, large capacity,WiFi temperature controller, large pellet hopper, low temperature smoking and I could add real wood to intensify the smoke flavor. I have used this smoker many times and I think it is an awesome product! Every time I even think about using it I start to smile.I wanted to leave this review because I read all the reviews I could find before making my final decision. Assembly was easy because I watched a YouTube video.

I was hesitant to bury this based on a number of reviews, I am glad I did. Yes they were some assembly and initial start-up issues, but after a few cooks I have learned and it does a great job at what I bought it for, smoking. The assembly instructions could use work, it would also be nice if the latest version was online. But, if you can put IKEA together you can do this. My only other mistake was fully filling the hopper for the first run, I had a jam and that took some time to resolve. I now half fill the hopper and that is good for almost any cook. I have also had some inconsistencies with changing the temperature using the app, but that was never high on my priority list. What I purchased this for was as a smoker and the smoke box combined with the pellets do this amazingly. With just the pellets you get intermittent smoke, this is in the instructions. However using the smoke box with chunk wood provides consistent and very good smoke levels. I did not have the chunk wood for my first cook and the smoke ring on my brisket was ok but not great using some left over chips from my old electric smoker. When I purchased and started using chunk wood I saw a smoke ring comparable to any offset whole wood smoker. I used a separate temperature probe to verify temperature and it is within 15F in most sections and very close at the edges. It also held very well at 150F when making jerky and 350F when finishing a chicken. I have now made brisket, beef jerky, sausage and chicken and the results have been very good. The jerky was perfectly smoked and well dried, the chicken was nicely smoked and juicy, sausage and brisket turned out great also. I wanted a smoker that had some ease of using pellets, but primarily I wanted good results. The smoke box adds a lot to this unit and you can smoke as heavy as you want. It does the job it was purchased for.

I have two of them and I use them once a week make's awesome Beef jerky and pork loins and ribs can't beat it.

I love this smoker and I mean smoker it is NOT anything else but a smoker. I can cold smoke with the smoke box and the fan or I could do a low & Slow smoke . I do a lot of homemade Sausage and this Smoker puts out some great sausage highy recommend.

2 users found this review helpful

Easy to follow instruction for build, however, a few things are omitted. One being the ash cleanout slide. Install that on step 2. The other is the back wall internal. You'll figure it out. Now, I built it, did my first burn on it and so far, this thing is a great little device. The controller and the App are excellent. I have experience with many different grills and for the money, this is a game changer. The Firebox, that alone is worth it.

6 users found this review helpful

I've been waiting for months for the pro model. I had an xxl and it was great. Only thing is it didn't quite produce the amount of smoke flavor as my Weber 22 inch Smokey mountain cooker but the ease of operation and maintenance made it unbeatable for me (63 years old) and I'm not so good health. Sadly I lost it and 99% of every thing else I had in a fire 04/23. I'm reallly curious to see if the smoke box is really what puts camp chef on top in every smoker category.

4 users found this review unhelpful

After searching for months. I came across one in Bass Pro, last one in stock and snagged it. Bass Pro showed none available online but had it on the floor. This is my 3rd pellet smoker. First was a rec teq, then camp chef woodwind, now this. I've always considered pellet smokers to be diet smokers as far as smoke production goes. Using this one exceeded my expectations for the amount of smoke it can produce. Build quality to me is fine, no issues. Works as expected, smoke production is through the roof. Tons of room. The smoke box is genius, I just wish it was automatically fed too 🤣

2 users found this review unhelpful

I bought this a couple of weeks ago and had an issue during the installation as a few of the screws would not line up no matter what I did. I returned this unit and got a floor model that was already built from a local dealer. Unfortunately the floor model was not put together correctly so I ending up spending some time getting everything put together correctly. The smoker itself is great and I've already had some good cooks on it. The downside to this smoker has to be the directions. If you have no mechanical inclination whatsoever you are going to struggle trying to build this with the directions that are provided. My suggestion to camp chef was to either add more pictures, words, or maybe even a video of how to put this machine together. I was running 20 degrees cool like another review mentioned but after diagnosing the issue I realized that the temp probe was installed incorrectly. Since my unit was a floor model I somewhat fault the person who built it but only to a certain extent as I totally understand how you could mess up the installation as the directions leave much to be desired. Customer service with camp chef was great and they were very open and helpful when I spoke with them. After the frustration of installation I've been very pleased with the machine.

2 users found this review helpful

This machine is a beast. It's my first vertical smoker and I was amazed how much it can hold. My first cook was for a big party (risky I know), but it fit 10 pork butts packed full! It's probably not recommended to fit that much, but I wasn't let down! Very impressed overall and have had a few cooks since with no issues. The smoke box is a definite game changer. I've never had a better smoke from a pellet grill/smoker.

2 users found this review unhelpful

Bought this smoker in Dec.It was delivered by freight on a pallet with no Damage to the box or smoker. Assembly was easy with all parts in separate bags corresponding to each step of assembly. First smoke was 17lbs of tri tip. The smoker ran great on the #1 smoke setting and the wood chunk box added a great smoke flavor. The controler and iphone App worked great with no problems.

1 user found this review helpful