If you had to choose between the Camp Chef Xxx smoker or the pit boss pro series what one would you go with and why?
Camp Chef, because Walton’s will be selling them in the immediate future. I also really don’t like PitBoss because walmart sells them.
I like my amp chef because of the clean out it has
Camp Chef, I have the 36" Woodwind and the XXL. Both serve different purposes. They both control very well, although the Woodwind is very tight temp control (2-3 degrees either side of setpoint). The XXL is 5-6 degrees. I bought a pit boss before the XXL, had to take it back due to 30 degree temp swings either side of the setpoint creating dirty smoke.
I have a CC XXL and am very happy with it. I use the XXL for hanging summer sausages. Temps are close to the settings. Fir brisket or shoulder, I add a pellet tube, as I like heavy smoke on those meats. I also have their stove and many of the accessories for it. They work very well, and have for years.
I’ve never used a Pit Boss, but I love my Camp Chef.
Wal Mart sells camp chef smokers and grills Tex
Scott Springer I’ve never owned a Camp Chef but I did own the Series 7 Pitboss vertical smoker for about 1 year before I returned it to C*****s. The location of the controls on the pro series is an issue and needs to be redesigned.
Scott Springer If I can give you one very solid piece of advice it would be to go ahead and spend the extra money on a very well built/high quality smoker. I have gone through several of the last several years and I would’ve been $ ahead had I spent the $ initially.
erich52 Pitboss pro here…first smoker. What do you reccomend on the high end? Thanks!
caryfr5 on the high end would be Yoder, Memphis, Treager Timberline series, etc. The PK100 would be top of line if just wanting something mainly for sausage.
Tex_77 thanks! went with the pitboss for price and warranty…probably 200hrs of use, maybe 300 and no problems. and like the hanging room. actually researching custom built (homemade) and have some good ideas i’m looking at. especially for jerky as i don’t care for a heavy smoke in jerky and electric finish or home built souis vide for both jerky and summer sausage/snack sticks will save on pellet price! buying components and will be experimenting soon! cheers!
caryfr5 Depends on fuel source you are shooting for and the capacity you are looking for from a production standpoint. We like to process our own deer and make large quantities of snack sticks and sausage so we like smokers that have a larger cabinet and that has a large temperature range from low to high. (70-500 degree F) If I did it all over again I would buy an Ole Hickory CTO. I have a large cabinet style gravity feed smoker now which I am very happy with but even that was 1600. The CTO is around 5000. There are several pellet feed smokers out there so do your homework on any version of those.
erich52 thanks for the input! let me make another attempt at explaining. i don’t care for heavy smoke jerky. i am looking at designs to finish summer sausage, snack sticks and jerky in a heat box…electric heating element…digital controller and such, to eliminate 4-8 hours of pellet use as the heat source. i’ve done many batches of summer sausage, full time in smoker, and 1hr smoke and finish in oven…very little difference in finish. just looking at alternatives to burning pellets for days…Lots of guys on here beating thier chests…“look at my $5000 smoker”
erich52 not sure you really read and thought about my previous post…cheers bud!
caryfr5 Gravity feed smokers are run by charcoal and when controlled by a digital fan are very versatile for all of the meats you are trying to do and allow you to apply as much or as little smoke to your cook as you would like. The Ole Hickory lines can be controlled by charcoal or propane and you are able to do the same with those as you could use a chunk of your favorite wood and once it is done your smoke would be done. So you could utilize those to dry meats, cold smoke, or any other smoke you would like. I make lots of deer sausage jerky and we apply a light smoke for limited time during our process. Hope this helps!!!
caryfr5 if you use an electric element you can apply smoke as needed in your box. The gravity feed box design would give you exactly what you need and you could utilize your element at the bottom of the box. You could use pellets for the smoke but not as Heat source. So you can get your length of time how you would like it. I would also recommend a fan to get a good air flow/Heat movement in your box. There are several gravity feed designs out there to utilize. Basically they just use 1"-2" insulation board and wrap with metal and weld together.
erich52 Thank you for your suggestions. Much appreciated! Only been at it for about 9 months and getting hooked!
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