Pellet grills used to be a joke. If you grew up tending a fire box on a rusty offset smoker, checking the dampers every twenty minutes, and smelling like hickory for three days, you probably looked at pellet grills as "outdoor ovens" for people who can't cook. Honestly, you weren't wrong. Most pellet grills provide convenience but sacrifice that deep, blue-smoke flavor that makes Texas brisket legendary. Then the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 showed up and basically insulted the status quo.
It’s a weird hybrid. It looks like a standard pellet grill, but it has this heavy-duty drawer—the Smoke Box—that lets you burn actual wood chunks, charcoal, or chips right over the burn pot. It bridges the gap. You get the "set it and forget it" PID controller logic, but you also get the dirty, authentic smoke profile of a stick burner.
The Smoke Box is the Only Reason This Grill Matters
Most people look at the specs and see 811 square inches of cooking space or the stainless steel build, but those are secondary. The heart of the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 is that butterfly-valve smoke drawer. Here is how it actually works in the backyard: you fill your hopper with standard hardwood pellets to maintain your ambient temperature. Then, you pull out the drawer and drop in two or three fist-sized chunks of kiln-dried hickory or oak.
The pellets provide the heat. The wood chunks provide the soul.
When those chunks sit over the induction fan, they don't just ignite and disappear. You control the oxygen. By twisting the handle, you can starve the wood of air to create a heavy cold smoke or open it up for a clean, hot burn. It changes everything. You aren't just relying on compressed sawdust anymore. You’re actually cooking with logs, just in a very controlled, lazy-man's way.
Why standard pellets often fail the flavor test
Pellets are made by compressing sawdust through a die. The friction creates heat, which releases lignin—a natural glue. While convenient, the combustion process of a pellet is incredibly efficient. Too efficient.
Efficient fires create less visible smoke. This is why your neighbor's pellet grill brisket tastes a bit like "pot roast plus." The Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 bypasses this limitation. By allowing raw wood to smolder alongside the pellets, it introduces complex phenolic compounds that you simply cannot get from a 100% pellet-fueled fire. It’s the difference between a recorded track and a live performance.
Technical Nuance: The PID Controller vs. Smoke Levels
Camp Chef uses a PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controller. In plain English? It’s a computer that does math to keep your temperature steady. If the temp drops by two degrees, the auger speeds up. If it overshoots, it slows down.
But there’s a catch.
High-precision temperature control usually means less smoke. To get smoke, you need an "incomplete" burn, which causes temperature swings. Camp Chef solved this by adding a "Smoke Level" setting from 1 to 10. If you crank it to 10, the controller intentionally allows the temperature to oscillate, letting the pellets smolder more frequently.
Pairing a Smoke Level of 10 with a drawer full of cherry wood chunks? That is how you get a smoke ring that looks like it was painted on with a Sharpie. It’s a level of customization that frankly makes the Traeger Ironwood series look a bit dated.
Build Quality and the Stainless Steel Argument
You’ll hear a lot of chatter about the "Pro" designation. On the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24, this mostly refers to the internal components. The fire box, the louvers, and the drip tray are all 304 stainless steel.
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This matters for longevity.
Standard carbon steel grates and heat deflectors eventually flake, rust, and warp under the intense heat of a sear. Stainless resists the corrosive nature of ash and grease. Is it a heavy-duty tank like a $4,000 Pitts & Spitts? No. But for a consumer-grade unit, it’s significantly more robust than the entry-level models you find at big-box hardware stores.
The lid gasket is another small but vital detail. It’s a felt-style seal that keeps the smoke inside the chamber rather than leaking out the sides. It sounds minor until you're trying to hold a steady 225°F on a windy November afternoon in Chicago.
The Sidekick: More Than a Side Burner
If you buy this grill without the Sidekick attachment, you’re missing half the point. The Sidekick is a 30,000 BTU propane burner that bolts onto the right side. It turns the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 into a full outdoor kitchen.
- The Griddle: Perfect for smash burgers while your brisket rests.
- The Pizza Oven: Reaches 700°F+ for Neapolitan-style crusts.
- The Sear Box: Essential for finishing steaks after a reverse sear.
Pellet grills suck at searing. They just do. Even with "direct flame" sliders, you rarely get the edge-to-edge crust that a dedicated propane burner or cast-iron surface provides. The Sidekick fixes the one major weakness of the pellet platform.
Real-World Pain Points: What the Manual Doesn't Tell You
Let’s be real for a second. No grill is perfect.
The ash cleanout system is brilliant—you just pull a knob and the ash falls into a cup—but you still have to vacuum the rest of the chamber every 3-5 cooks. If you don't, ash builds up in the nooks and crannies, which can lead to flameouts or, worse, a grease fire.
Also, the Smoke Box requires attention. Unlike the pellets, which feed automatically, the wood chunks in the drawer will burn out every 45 to 90 minutes. If you want that heavy smoke profile for a 12-hour pork shoulder, you have to be present. You have to physically get up and reload the drawer. For some, this ruins the "set it and forget it" appeal. For others, it’s the "ritual" of BBQ that they were missing.
Then there’s the WiFi. The Camp Chef Connect app has improved, but it can still be finicky during the initial pairing. If your home router is 50 feet away and through three brick walls, don't expect a rock-solid connection without an extender.
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Comparing the Woodwind Pro 24 to the 36
Size matters, but bigger isn't always better. The 24-inch model is the "Goldilocks" size for most families. It easily fits three briskets or four to six racks of ribs.
The 36-inch model is a beast, but it takes longer to heat up and burns through pellets significantly faster. Unless you are regularly cooking for the entire neighborhood or a high school football team, the 24 is more efficient. It maintains a more stable "micro-climate" inside the cook chamber because there is less dead air to move.
Is it worth the "Pro" price tag?
The Camp Chef Woodwind Pro 24 typically sits in the $1,200 to $1,500 range depending on sales and attachments. That’s a lot of money. You could buy two basic Pit Boss grills for that.
But you aren't paying for the metal. You’re paying for the patent on that smoke drawer.
If you are a "flavor purist" who is tired of the bland output of traditional pellet grills, but you also have a day job and can't spend 14 hours babysitting a fire, this is the only logical choice on the market right now. It is currently the only mass-market grill that successfully combines the ease of a computer-controlled auger with the raw output of actual wood combustion.
Actionable Next Steps for New Owners
- Source "Chunky" Wood: Don't use tiny wood chips in the smoke box; they burn up too fast. Buy high-quality kiln-dried chunks (Hickory for beef, Apple for pork).
- Calibrate Your Probes: Don't trust the internal probes blindly. Test them in a glass of ice water (should be 32°F) before your first expensive brisket.
- The "Slow Start" Method: For the best bark, start your cook at 200°F with Smoke Level 10 for the first three hours. Then, ramp up to 250°F to finish. This maximizes smoke absorption while the meat is still cold and tacky.
- Empty the Hopper: If you live in a humid climate, do not leave pellets in the hopper for weeks. They will absorb moisture, swell, and jam your auger. Keep them in a sealed five-gallon bucket.
- Manual Cleaning: Once a month, take a plastic putty knife and scrape the creosote off the inside of the lid. If you don't, it will eventually flake off and land on your food. Nobody likes "black pepper" that is actually bitter chimney soot.