Camp Chef XXL Pro WIFI Vertical Smoker - PGSBXXL

Just a PSA to everyone there is a silver paddle looking device that is packed with the grates. It needs to be installed as part of step 2. If you don't do this you we have to almost completely dissemble the smoker. It was in the 90s today and I was unhappy to find that I had to almost start over. It's 2023 how is there not a notice on your web page with an updated assemble guide or at least a paragraph warning people.

1 user found this review helpful

The installation instructions are not that great. I took me about three hours to put this smoker together due to the frame being bent where the pellet hopper and the body connect. Had to beat it out with a hammer to straighten it out enough to go together where the screw holes would line up. There were several pieces missing. None of the cooking shelves and jerky racks were in the box. It was also missing the ash clean out plate, which is missing in step #2 in the installation instructions. I tried to call customer service and was on hold for an hour before it prompted me to leave a message and then hung up. I had to look up a direct phone number for the company and spoke to someone in HR to get any help. Someone finally took an order for the missing parts. I asked for the parts to be overnighted to me and they still have not shipped after a couple of days. I will never buy anything from this company again and would highly NOT recommend them to anyone else. I can't say whether this is a good smoker or not because I can't cook anything on it. Horrible customer service and horrible quality control.

6 users found this review helpful

Should have looked at the Q&A section before I put it together. Ash cleanout slide is omitted in instructions. Have to take it apart to install. All in all directions are pretty straight forward but leaving that step out (step 2) really makes you want to SHOUT!

2 users found this review helpful

I was originally super excited about this smoker, the size and features were exactly what I have been looking for. Unfortunately, this product has been disappointing from the start. It's clear that corners have been cut on this product. From missing steps in the instructions, one of the legs broken in the box, missing pieces in the box, door not flush with the frame, cheap materials, paint immediately peeling and metal warping. I expected more for the price. I didn't think there would be this much poor quality control and this much of a headache from a brand new product. I don't trust that this product will function properly over time and won't have more problems to come.

1 of 3 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

I finally took the plunge and got a pellet smoker after starting with an offset, and then moving to vertical propane smokers for the last several years. My main motivation for making the switch was having the electronic temperature control (no more manually adjusting the knobs to get the temperature just right). This smoker cost a lot more than the propane smoker it was replacing, but I thought it was going to be a lot nicer to work with. Installation was a bit of a task. The bolts didn't always thread cleanly into the preinstalled nuts. The door was warped, leaving a quarter-inch gap between the door and the frame of the smoker in one corner. Lots of little irritating things. By the time it was all put together, and I had pushed on the body a bit to try to get it into shape, the gap in the door was mostly gone, but the door rubs against the frame on the side opposite the gap when I open and close it. The hopper sits so tightly on the bottom of the smoker that you really have to yank on the shaft to open and close the ash cleanout. I'm worried that with a little residue buildup in there over time, it might become impossible to open it. We'll see. Burn-in went fine. Then the next day when I started it up to do my first smoke, my GFCI tripped three minutes in. I tried a few other plugs and could never get it to run more than five minutes before tripping again. I contacted customer service for help. It took them a week to respond to me, but they gave me instructions on how to troubleshoot it. With those instructions, I determined it was a bad hot rod that needed replacing. Customer service sent me a replacement, but it was a used hot rod with scratches and corrosion on the rod and frayed insulation on the wires. Not even wrapped in a bag or anything, just loose in a box. And no instructions on how to install it, even though I requested instructions. I figured this used hot rod might work better than the one tripping my GFCI so with the help of the Internet I figured out how to swap it out. One of the preinstalled screws holding down the fire pot would not unscrew all the way out, despite prying and pulling. I finally just had to cut the head of the screw off so I could get the fire pot out. After replacement, the smoker ran for an hour with no issue. So it's now been a month and I am ready for my first cook. When I ran it for an hour to make sure it was working, I put a thermometer in a couple of places inside the smoker to see how accurate the built-in thermometer was. My thermometer consistently showed 20 degrees lower than the built-in, regardless of where it was placed. At least the temperature throughout appears to be consistent. I have little faith that nothing is going to break again, given the lack of quality that appears to be used here. And now I have to worry that when something does break, I have to go through the fiasco I just went through to get the hot rod fixed. If I had to do it all over again, I would have just stuck with my propane smoker and dealt with the knobs. I didn't intend to pay a premium to make my life more difficult.

9 users found this review helpful