Camp chef XXL vs. Pitboss copperhead cabinet pellet smoker

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CivilTrojan

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Anyone here have any knowledge of both of these? Camp chef has a PID, you can control the level of smoke, and connects to WiFi, but I believe it is only single wall construction. Pitboss has double wall construction and several people on here have them, but I don’t think they have any of the control features of the camp chef. Can anyone here help compare how well these work?

We have a gas grill that we normally use; that, price, and capacity is why I’m considering this type of smoker instead of the normal pellet grill. I currently have an electric smoker but want to upgrade; would this fit the bill or should I go to something like a WSM?

Thanks for any input! I’ve been researching and thinking about this for months but BBQguys.com has camp chef on sell for $500 so I suddenly feel like I need to make a decision quick!
 
I did a quick search and found that the Camp Chef doesn't have wifi control. Pit Boss has a longer warranty.I have no idea where anything is in relation to LA, but Brickseek shows the Pit Boss for $320 at a Walmart in Torrence.
 
I have a Camp Chef DLX and a Traeger, both the narrow (24"?) versions. I have been looking at the copperhead for a couple of reasons: First, it will hold more food. Second, it looked like I could hang pork bellies for smoking.

I don't think the double walls are worth much extra cost, nor is WiFi control. A temp monitor that shows history, like my HeaterMeter is nice though. Some investigation but no personal measurements makes be believe that the copperhead is not tall enough to hang pork bellies, but with an A-Maze-N maze it would still make a good cold smoker. I use my 24" Camp Chef Smoke Vault for that now, only for that, so if I got the copperhead I could get that old tin box off the deck.

Life's a tradeoff. If I didn't already have a cooker I would probably lean towards the copperhead. But the Camp Chef sear station is very useful and you can't easily duplicate that on the copperhead.

WSM, UDS, etc. have never interested me. Having to hang the meat looks like too much of a hassle.
 
I think I've seen some pretty iffy reviews for that CampChef. It's one I've considered as I do enjoy my Copperhead, but I like to think about "what's next?"

There is a new version of the Copperhead that has PID and WiFi controls. Should be sold at walmart, doesn't appear to be out yet. It's also more contained and doesn't have that hopper box sticking out the side. I love verticals and feel like with the pellet smokers you go from the Copperhead, to the FEC's. I haven't found anything in between, but I'd sure like to know if there is something!
 
airedale said:
I have a Camp Chef DLX and a Traeger, both the narrow (24"?) versions. I have been looking at the copperhead for a couple of reasons: First, it will hold more food. Second, it looked like I could hang pork bellies for smoking.

I don't think the double walls are worth much extra cost, nor is WiFi control. A temp monitor that shows history, like my HeaterMeter is nice though. Some investigation but no personal measurements makes be believe that the copperhead is not tall enough to hang pork bellies, but with an A-Maze-N maze it would still make a good cold smoker. I use my 24" Camp Chef Smoke Vault for that now, only for that, so if I got the copperhead I could get that old tin box off the deck.

Life's a tradeoff. If I didn't already have a cooker I would probably lean towards the copperhead. But the Camp Chef sear station is very useful and you can't easily duplicate that on the copperhead.

WSM, UDS, etc. have never interested me. Having to hang the meat looks like too much of a hassle.
Click to expand...

The camp chef I’m looking at is cabinet style like the copperhead and I don’t believe it has the sear station. Thanks for the thoughts about hanging meat, the camp chef also has several hooks for hanging meat, the website says they’re for sausage but I’m sure they could handle a pork belly too.
 
Have had the series 5 copperhead about a week now. First cook was horrible.
All the heat went straight up out the top with minimal heating above lowest grate.
Wrapped foil around one of the grates and used it as a baffle above grates i was cooking on and salvaged the cook.
Made a sheetmetal tube to fit inside the exhaust that extended about 8 inches down inside the cook chamber. Set the grate with aluminum foil about an inch below this tube.
This made a world of difference evening out the heat and cut pellet consumption probably by a third on the second cook.
It could be a good smoker with some mods and tweaks, but as it is out of the box you may not like it.
 
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