Weber Searwood vs. Camp Chef Woodwind Pro: Pellet Grill Battle

[@MA4King]

I looked at the Searwood last spring when I was shopping for a new pellet grill, I bought the Wood Wind Pro 24 with a gas side burner with the grill box. It has worked great. I use chunks and chips with the smoke box and it delivers great smoke flavor and a good smoke ring. I have cold smoked fresh salmon with it as well. The pull handle to dump the fire box means you don’t have to bust out the shop vac after every cook, I’ve only done 2 cleanings all summer. The side grill does fantastic for a super hot sear or for a real fast gas grill cook on a late weeknight. Zero regrets, it has done everything well and has worked flawlessly.

[@trailheadjunkie]

My Weber Searwood 600 has been an amazing smoker and grill for me and does everything I want in all in one. No issues yet after 100+ plus hours of use.

[@BenSilber]

Smoke ring on the weber was great, but what about the flavor? I would think the smoke box on the camp chef should add flavor compared to the pellets only...

[@HansenMath]

^^ This!

[@Kiddro22]

Seems the Searwood heats up faster with a smaller box. As well as a higher temp offered. The Camp Chef seems to not have a higher temp offered like the Searwood. As well as the Camp Chef being pellet with a larger box. It’ll take more time to achieve that higher temp without opening as often. But may offer more flavor wise.

[@BenSilber]

@@Kiddro22 I’m talking specifically about the smoke box where you add flavor woods instead of pellets - it is supposed to add more flavor than pellets alone, but the only thing that gave the Weber the win here was the smoke ring…no mention of flavor.

[@Kiddro22]

@ I’m with you. I wasn’t disagreeing at all. 👍

[@BB-rs4sb]

I just broke in my weber searwood xl it was smokin' great at 325, the whole cook last night. Alot more smoke flavor compared to my 6 year old camp chef.Also the weber searwood is very easy to connect to app ​@BenSilber

[@jeffficht2230]

I have owned several pellet grills to include Traeger, Campchef, GMG, Weber Smokefire (which was returned due to issues) and even a high dollar yoder. The Yoder was obviously great but sold it when I changed my back yard. Now own a searwood and I gotta say I think it is one of the most versatile pellet grills I have ever owned. All pellet grills add about the same smoke flavor with IMO the Weber adding a little more due to design. Also as far as searing you could have got the grill hotter than 600 by setting the auger to 10 once temp got to 600 for an even better sear.

[@CaffyPvP]

Weber needs to do a better job documenting the manual mode. You can get a roaring fire going with it set to 10 and way more searing than just using the temperature controller.

[@tomm9493]

My Woodwind Pro has been totally reliable for me. Never an issue. I stupidly bought the side griddle, but never ever use it. I mean, if I want to make eggs, bacon, pancakes, whatever it's just easier to do that in the kitchen. Especially for clean up. Thanks for the cold smoke tip. I never thought of doing what was shown!

[@markvanduyn3514]

I love my Weber 600XL later. this week I'll be putting a Turkey on the rotisserie. I've done other things with the rotisserie. but being able to sear meat also with this has been a nice addition

[@frankyoung3626]

I have a Weber Smokefire 2 and when it works (about 90% of the time), it’s fantastic. The sear on steaks is great and the smoke flavor is as good as a pellet grill gets. The issues with the Smokefire were/are grease fires, grease control, cleaning, and once I had it die on an overnight cook. Because of the grease fires I mainly do steaks and burgers on my Weber kettle and use the Smokefire for low and slow cooking. That said, I’ve enjoyed Weber products and now that I’m in my 70s I like convenience and want to set it & forget it. Hope the Searwood is the perfected version of the what the Smokefire promised.

[@TheBarbecueLab]

I bought a Smokefire 1 used on Facebook marketplace hoping to try it out, but the auger was seized and the power had issues, so ended up telling them how to activate their warranty instead of taking it home. I wish I could have shot a Smokefire vs Searwood video to show the differences. There are some elements to the Smokefire I wish they kept around, but the Searwood is admittedly an upgrade to the challenges you pointed out.

[@stevehofer7824]

This what I’ve been waiting for; the searwood and woodwind were the 2 smokers I was deciding between

[@edl6026]

Don’t trust his opinion, there’s several videos where the camp chef went against several pellet grills even expensive competition pellet grills and the camp chef won due to the smoke box. After this conclusion how can someone trust his opinion, because he’s probably endorsed by Weber. The only grills that beat camp chef from what I saw on non bias KZbin grillers, was the master built gravity and of course off sets.

[@adammfharris]

@@edl6026I mean, I own three including these two, and the Searwood delivers the best flavor of the three.

[@clanggedin]

You won't get more smoke on the Woodwind Pro if you only put in 4 tiny slices of wood in the smokebox. You totally underutilized it which is a huge disservice. Use how it's supposed to and it will blow the Weber away in terms of smoke and taste. Also be careful using charcoal in the smokebox as it tends to light the wood chunks on fire and you get less smoke, but more charcoal flavoring and it increases the temp of the cook as you now have another fire going on.

[@ekill1395]

How do you assign a winner on a low & slow cook without even tasting?

[@JohnJohnDu4]

I just picked up a Weber Searwood XL and I love it so far…….even sold my LSG 20x42

[@TheBarbecueLab]

Wow! That’s intriguing. I don’t know if I’ve heard of someone leaving a LSG for a Searwood. What made the difference for you? I’d love to hear more about why the change and how it’s gone.

[@JohnJohnDu4]

@ don’t get me wrong the LSG was a awesome built pit but for $3500-$4000 I guess I expected it to be perfect and it wasn’t. My overall enjoyment level just wasn’t there lol. To be honest I’m more of a charcoal guy to begin with and I prefer hot n fast over low n slow but I do like the ease of a pellet grill sometimes and the searwood hits the spot perfectly.

[@Joey_DiGs]

That seems crazy, those LSGs are tanks. What were the problems you experienced with yours?

[@PeterH-f5h]

Your review seems consistent with what others experience with the searwood. If you want a better sear, preheat to 600 then switch to manual mode! I have the searwood not only as a smoker but as a grill, griddle, and rotisserie. What kind of pellets are you using?

[@mattsoule7589]

Newbie looking for a multipurpose grill for my new deck, family of 5. Like the way weber can do a steak. Should I consider something else?

[@Sheps246]

Great job on the review, I've been waiting for this comparison for a while. I hope you do some more comparisons between the two with brisket and longer smokes to see if the woodwind capitalizes on the real work smoke over a longer period. I think your suppose to use one large chunk of wood until it burns out and then add another one and continued that. Also I wish you would have tasted the pork to compare flavors as the smoke rings have been shown to not impact flavor on other review sites.

[@joelcopeland3018]

My cooking setup is Pellet grill blackstone griddle, weber kettle in a horseshoe type setup... I have pellets propane and charcoal so I can cook anyway I want to...

[@ElJoeRN]

Always pick a winner and say why. Let the audience decide what to get based on their finances. In this case, the Weber is actually cheaper, so it's a win win.

[@rpbonnette]

Since I only have one grill, it MUST be capable of both low and slow smoking AND grilling/searing temps. THAT’S why I own a Recteq in both my summer home AND my winter home. It smokes at a steady temp, holding within 2° overnight but also will hit at least 650° on my smaller RT-340 up to 750° on my RT-1250. Higher than your beloved Weber Searwood or basically any other pellet grill on the market. FYI, I knew before viewing that you would give the edge to the Weber. There was never any doubt.

[@wesleyderrick4326]

If I had to pick between the two, it’s Camp Chef all day. Neither do well grilling but I like the smoke box on the Camp Chef for smoking. Weber hasn’t figured out how to handle the grease fire issue yet.

[@user-tq8rq4rq4e]

I really enjoy your videos. I am trying to decide between the camp chef woodwind pro 36 and the masterbuilt gravity xt. could you do a comparison on these two or review the masterbuilt gravity xt?

[@Hello_its_me_mario]

Just in time for my black friday buy. Thank you sir.

[@goatranced]

I have an older Camp Chef that looks to resemble the DLX 24 with the side kick and I'm looking to replace it but will pass on the Camp Chef again. I've almost never used the side kick so it was a waste for me. My Camp Chef is a little over 4 years old and it's a rust bucket. The paint started bubbling off after about 2.5 years and at three years refused to reach any temperature above 350. I mistakenly recommended the camp chef to a co-worker at about the 2 year mark when I had no issues only to find out his went the exact same route at around the same time. When I compare that with my Weber gas grill I had before it lasted 15 years only replaced the burners and had no rust. I only got rid of it because I got the Camp Chef pellet grill. Because of this I will go for the Weber or a different brand that has some longevity to it.

[@arturoesquivel6625]

Multi Functional grill, for sure! Patio space is limited for some of us as well as time for maintenance and upkeep.

[@gerrick4291]

How long did you put wood in the camp chef for the pork butt?

[@arturoesquivel6625]

Finally more Searwood content. Love mine. I’ll be doing a Turkey next week.

[@mikesr3011]

I prefer it to be a pellet smoker. I was agonizing between the Weber and the Camp Chef. For me, I went with the Camp Chef WW Pro 24. Although the Weber is no slouch, my decision came down to the following factors: I liked the idea of the smoke box, the easy ash dump cup, a larger capacity hopper (with a pellet view window), stainless steel, gasket under the lid, and it has 4 wheels. I purchased mine with the Sidekick Sear so doing a steak on the grill and then searing it off on the Sidekick would give me the same results as the Weber would although at a higher cost. I really liked the ability to add a rotisserie on the Weber and the higher temps it is capable of achieving but the deal breaker for me was the lack of four wheels. I move my grill out from under my covered patio to use and it is very bumpy and uneven. The Weber is heavy (I tried lifting and rolling it on a flat surface in the store) and for me, NO BUENO! If it had four wheels like most of their other grills I would probably have one sitting in my yard. Hopefully, I'll be happy with the Camp Chef. Thank you for another informative review. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

[@MarkSullivan-n6e]

Good job David, I think the way you chose the winner was on point.

[@rickcormier9160]

The rotisserie option and the temp range have me favoring the Weber. Weber winning the pork butt test surprised me.

[@BenSilber]

the win was solely based on a smoke ring - we got zero comment on flavor from the smoke box on the pork butt

[@TheBarbecueLab]

Surprised me too. I wasn’t expecting it, but there’s so much more smoke coming out of the Searwood during a cook compared to almost every other grill out there. You might see bursts of smoke from the competition, but the Searwood gives way more smoke per hour than other grills I’ve tested, and I think that’s the secret to more flavor and a better looking exterior.

[@bloodgain]

I don't need my pellet smoker to get grill hot. In fact, running a smoker hot can easily cause it to start burning grease build-up. I sometimes do that on purpose, kind of like a self-cleaning cycle, but since I know that's a risk, I have to plan ahead if I want to run it at high temp for something. That said, I'm seeing some folks saying they can get better smoke out of a kamado-style grill, anyway. Those can run like a traditional grill just fine, and there are tons of accessories now to set them up to do all kinds of cooking. For 99% of the BBQ cooks most of us are doing, a large kamado has plenty of capacity, too. Unless you've got a huge outdoor kitchen space, you can only fit so many options in, and I'm starting to debate with myself whether a pellet smoker is the best use of its space.

[@StuffTested]

The camp chef at 500f should sear well. If doing this again, burgers and hot dogs would be a nice test for sear as well. Also, placing toast all over would tell how even it cooks too.

[@daveducker2688]

i'm planning next year on some new smokers. pitboss titan weber searwood and primogrills xxl

[@ronnieljones]

Thank you, I would like to hear your other thoughts on quality of build. Insulated boxes? Thickness of metal frame, etc. is the app with one better than the other? I think the these grills were 1 and 2 on your rib test earlier so they’ll be close here. Surprised the actual wood in the camp chef didn’t make that much difference.

[@dennis9358]

Smoker only.....pick a winner. look at grill clean up, features, fire safety. how easy to clean up. how likely to have a grease fire. pellet feeding and burning . what happens to all the grease that drips down...how you empty ash. smoke flavor of food.....

[@scottroberts3705]

Thanks for the video, these two would be the ones plus rectec I would consider if buying!

[@TheBarbecueLab]

Haven’t had a chance to test out the RecTeq, but either of these would be a great pick.

[@jaredherring7762]

The rrctec dualfire is a dual chamber grill. A indirect side and a direct side, both getting up to 700. Ive had steaks on the direct side and would get flare ups like on a charcoal grill. ​@TheBarbecueLab

[@nautygoesdeep]

I want a grill that can smoke, not the other way around. Thats why I went with a Recteq 590, hits 700*, and does low and slow well too.

[@polsok44]

Nice video 👍 if I could suggest somthing I would say to test the accuracy of the included temp probes. Would be nice to see if what they are reading is same as *insert trusted brand of instand read thermo here* I know from own experience somtimes the probes are junk and not accurate. Also if you could set up a wireless temp prob to see if 250* is actually close to 250, some pellet grills I have owned have been way way off the temp it stated it was at

[@markbrooks6979]

Yes, please pick winners. Regardless of whether I agree or disagree with a choice, it's still fun to think and talk about which one should have won.

[@sl1322]

What about smoke flavor? Smoke ring doesn't mean much to me. I'm in the market to get out of my stick burner and picking up a pellet smoker.

[@JohnJohnDu4]

You’ll never replace stick burner flavor with a pellet grill…….not one!

[@TheBarbecueLab]

I love my stick burners. They’re a lot of work, throwing a new split every 45 minutes, so I choose the pellet grill most of the time simply for convenience. That being said, pellet grills don’t have the same smoke and bark as an offset. There’s so much less air passing over the food compared to an offset with the draw set correctly. They just don’t operate the same. That being said, I’ve been using the Searwood for 9 months or so, while other pellet grills have made their way into storage. This one has stuck around for me, and I choose this over my offsets all the time.

[@edl6026]

@@sl1322 I’ve seen several videos where the camp chef went against many pellet grills even expensive competition pellet grills and Camp chef won due to the smoker box. Be careful of bias and sponsored KZbinrs who give bias opinions and watch several non bias KZbinrs grillers. All pellets grills will give the same light smoke profile due to being pellets. Camp chef will beat any pellet grill because of the addition of the smoke box plus pellets. I’ve only seen master built gravity feed and off-sets that beat the camp chef. Any one else say that a just only pellet grill beats camp chef is biased and probably sponsored.

[@paulhinson8492]

I think you first need to decide whether you're buying a pellet grill for a DIRECT HEAT grill (primarily) or as a SMOKER (primarily). I love the versatility of the Camp Chef and the fact that I "mostly" keep the smoke setting to 1 for greater temperature stability throughout the whole range. I can put heavy smoke on whatever I'm cooking, at whatever temperature, at whatever time on the Camp Chef. Its built like a tank and honestly looking at the Weber inside and out I'm not sure I could say the same thing about that grill. I was also concerned about fat buildup along the internal sides of Weber, whereas all fat in the Camp Chef is directed into the drip container hanging outside. So far (I've only gone through one season) but I totally love the Camp Chef, with my only regret being that I chose the smaller unit than the larger one.

[@jaredherring7762]

The recteq dualfire is both a direct and indirect smoker. Gets up to 700 in both Chambers

[@WillieKlondike9482]

Why is that everyone who always tests a pellet grill uses a Pork Butt or Pork Shoulder? I’m a Weber Searwood fan then again I have a Weber Kamado and a Weber Summit Propane grill. Yes pick a winner every time! That’s why I watch your videos to get an honest opinion!

[@Joey_DiGs]

When doing these comparisons can you please talk about the overall build quality as well

[@Joey_DiGs]

And also app functionality. Cuz that would play a huge role!

[@qwerty104]

I’m not sure the smokebox was used correctly for the pork butt on the camp chef… you need to keep refilling it about every 30-75 minutes to keep it producing smoke through the duration you want to keep it taking in smoke… for me that’s about 4-6 hours for a normal smoke… Lastly, the smoke ring is just a visual thing, but doesn’t actually impact the flavor profile… where grill marks (like on the chicken wings) are also a visual thing but I find they negatively impact the flavor as it’s more of a burning the meat than it is a crust… I don’t understand why people like that

[@TheBarbecueLab]

Thanks for asking. I kept adding wood chunks to the smoke box every 45 minutes until we wrapped the butts in foil for this test.

[@jaredherring7762]

You should try the recteq dualfire. It gets up to 700 in both Chambers

[@dennisblankenship1169]

@TheBarbecueLab - I think what was a key missing rating was the taste of the pork butt. There can have great color and smoke ring but smoke flavors can be off. Wish you would have given us your taste opinions between the two pork butts.

[@danwaligursky4258]

In the past I wanted my pellet smoker to sear, but now that I have a Weber kettle as well it’s not necessary.

[@smarytelevision8805]

Unfortunately this was not really apples to apples. While you stated they are both available in two sizes. The Weber and Camp Chef in your video were obvious different sizes with the Camp Chef being bigger.

[@babakbozorgnia9174]

This is a smoker made to smoke. If you want to sear use a charcoal grill or griddle

[@ShanePatrick-ev4gf]

Looks like the steak test was WAY off so you have a thin flat vs a thick narrow? Why weren't the steaks closer in size and shape? I have a 24 inch pro and the results you're showing are nothing like what I've been getting.

[@troyv8302]

I have the SmokeFire since 2021 and it's a searing machine. It gets the flame kiss on the steak which adds that grill flavor. It also has been pretty darn good in the low and slow department. The Searwood is supposed to be better at that and is what I would go with if and when my SF dies out. Great comparison!

[@TheBarbecueLab]

Glad to hear the SmokeFire is working so well for you. I know that’s what Weber wants, and if you’re willing to get a Searwood after owning the SmokeFire, that means they did something right for you. I know that’s what they hoped for. Happy grilling!

[@Smoke_N_EmbersBBQ]

@TheBarbecueLab nice review David and Melissa. David your hand transformed when you showed the watch timer 😂! I do enjoy when a winner is picked even if it's just your personal preference.

[@TheBarbecueLab]

Turns out our hands are interchangeable on video.

[@NipItInTheBud100]

So many people care about grill marks! I could care less about grill lines!

[@p23-v5w]

Any chance you'll be picking up the griddle for the Searwood? I'm curious if this could condense my smoker+blackstone to a single unit.

[@TheRealSuperDred]

Like Number 200 😁

[@robertsemp3086]

Sorry but don’t know how much Weber is paying you but if used correctly the Camp Chef is a far superior product for smoking.

[@TheChadillac]

So true. I have the CC WW pro 36” and I would NEVER trade it for the Weber. It’s hands down better.

[@bradenanderson9849]

I want my smoker to be a smoker. Just be AMAZING at smoking. No need to have to function as a grill for searing - I have a grill for that. And my dedicated grill will be better and grilling that a smoker ever will