I'd been trying to decide what smoker to get next - I've never been happy with the smoking performance of my Louisiana Grills CS-450 (decent grill at 350+, but a terrible smoker). A Yoder, Mac, or Memphis has always been my dream, but I just can't justify that much money. So, after looking at the Copperhead vertical, and seriously considering the new RecTec RT700, I happened to be in the local ranch+farm supply and saw they are selling CampChef and had the XT on sale for $299. Seemed like too good of a deal to pass up!

Seems to be designed and runs much like the old Traeger 070 up at some family property, which is exactly what I want - lots of smoke output and I can sear on another BBQ if I really need high temps. Should be putting it through it's paces here for Memorial Day Weekend and in the next week. So far it seems to be exactly what I want in a basic pellet smoker, just need to pick up a front shelf. I'm completely fine with it being a basic feed rate, non-PID controller - they work better for smoking in my opinion.

I have the SE version.  It has the simple controller and plain legs.  The thing makes great BBQ.  I just smoked a ham and a pork loin this weekend.  Both came out great!

I have done ribs and brisket, both coming out very moist.  It is a great little smoker.

First meal in the XT was chicken fajitas, it ran great at 400. Today I'll do some 1-2-3 pork ribs.

First meal in the XT was chicken fajitas, it ran great at 400. Today I'll do some 1-2-3 pork ribs.

What are 1-2-3 pork ribs?

First meal in the XT was chicken fajitas, it ran great at 400. Today I'll do some 1-2-3 pork ribs.

What are 1-2-3 pork ribs?

I may be wrong, but I believe ScottE meant to write 3-2-1.

First meal in the XT was chicken fajitas, it ran great at 400. Today I'll do some 1-2-3 pork ribs.

What are 1-2-3 pork ribs?

I may be wrong, but I believe ScottE meant to write 3-2-1.

I thought that may be the case too but was curious if there was a 1-2-3 technique I have never heard of.

Darn it, yes I meant 3-2-1 but I guess I'm a bit backwards today. Holiday brain ;-). Sorry about that!

Darn it, yes I meant 3-2-1 but I guess I'm a bit backwards today. Holiday brain ;-). Sorry about that!

No problem...let us know how they turn out.

The ribs turned out great! Overall I'm really impressed with this smoker - excellent smoke output and the ash cleanout system is just plain ducky. I started the ribs on "lo smoke" and did have a flameout after an hour - the smoker was in direct sun and it was fairly windy, so I'm hoping that either the wind blew it out or the controller just couldn't get the temp down. Time will tell, but I hope this isn't a recurring issue. After rescuing the ribs as restart brought the temps up above 300, I did the rest of the cook on "hi smoke", which worked great (temps were ~250 indicated, but warm day and direct sunlight, so I'm OK with that. After foiling I set it to 225 - and it stayed in the neighborhood of that setting consistently. The ribs, which were very lean and meaty back ribs were perfect! The meat was tender without being overcooked - and just starting pull away. Happy that I don't need to use a smoker tube like I do in my Dansons smoker, which produces nearly zero smoke with it's controller.

I'm going to look past the one flameout due to environmental conditions for now - will see if that happens again. Coming up hot after restart is no problem - something I expect with this controller, so that's OK. So, my verdict is that this was a great purchase for $299 and I'm happier with it than my $799 LG CS-450 which has been a constant struggle to get it to do anything right.

(I'll try and post pictures as separate posts - I'm on a slow cellular connection and it's timing out.)

Pic 1

Pic 2

PIc 3

Prepared with a mustard base and Hi Mountain Seasonings Rib Rub from Riverton, WY that I found at the ranch store - it's a nice rub.

Nice rack!