Finally!

[luhnlaw]

After nearly 18-months of shopping, comparing, fretting and second-guessing, I finally bit the bullet and ordered my first pellet smoker (I hesitate to call it a "grill" -- I've got my Weber "Genesis" for that): a Camp Chef Woodwind Classic + Sidekick package (with cover, pellets, and an optional thermal blanket -- hey, it gets cold up here this time of year!). I'm looking forward to reading everyone's tips-and-tricks and, of course, recipe suggestions. By all means, send them along!

[Donw]

Congratulations on your new pellet smoker. I know you will enjoy it.

[ofelles]

Welcome to the wonderful world of pellets, enjoy

[Dewesq55]

Welcome! 2 questions: 1) Where upstate? 2) What's your area of practice? I do plaintiff PI in the NYC Metro area.

[THE Humble Texan]

For steaks and burgers I set my GMG to 500 and throw an old heavy grill section on top of the light grates that come on the GMG. (a GrillGrate will porbably work great too) I throw the steaks or burgers on right out of the fridge when the temp hits 475. I put a probe in the middle of the steak at the start and flip it when it gets to 70-75 degrees. I cooked a turkey last year and it came out great. Test for grate temp vs the CC temp readout. My GMG runs hotter than it indicates.

[mountainsmoker]

Welcome from the mountains of NC. I have spent some time in Oswego in the winter so can only pity your poor winters. I would recommend getting a Maverick 72 or Thermoworks Smoke so that you can check the grill temp and meat temp as you cook your meats. Also a good instant read thermometer I have the TW Mk4 they often go on sale.

[RonB]

Congrats on the new cooker.

[dubob]

After nearly 18-months of shopping, comparing, fretting and second-guessing, I finally bit the bullet and ordered my first pellet smoker (I hesitate to call it a "grill" -- I've got my Weber "Genesis" for that): a Camp Chef Woodwind Classic + Sidekick package (with cover, pellets, and an optional thermal blanket -- hey, it gets cold up here this time of year!). I'm looking forward to reading everyone's tips-and-tricks and, of course, recipe suggestions. By all means, send them along!

I've had my Woodwind SG since February. I have the insulated blanket as well - day-time winter temps here can be single digits. I have produced some excellent pulled pork, pork/beef ribs, smoked fish, and game jerky on mine. The one thing that I think is a hoax in their advertising is the fire pot cleanout. Its a joke. You will have to clean/vacuum the entire grill at least every other cook if not after every cook. This is a given from others comments on here for almost every brand of pellet machine. Learning to use it is a fun and short curve in my experience, especially if you already have some experience with BBQ (which you indicated you do). I did a combination cook last week of sous vide/pellet smoke on some wild duck breasts. Turned out very good. Life is good and smoked food is better.

[FireMan]

Congrats! Waitin on the pics of arrival & unboxing. 🕶

[Huskee]

Congrats! I call them pellet "cookers" since they are neither a smoker or a grill, but they are also both a smoker and a grill... how's that for semantics?

[luhnlaw]

Up at 5:30 A.M. and braved the 16 degrees on my deck, chipped away 2” of ice on my Camp Chef, and put a 4# shoulder in there. Temp set at 225. Hope to be feasting by 6 P.M. tonight with a nice cab and my sweetie. The smoking season starts today! Neither ice, snow, rain ...