Stuck deciding between Masterbuilt Gravity 800 vs Campchef Woodwind 24 (Sidekick)

[Facehair]

Hello everyone!

Completely new smoker guy here. Ever since I was a kid, I'd watch videos of people with their Traegers and Offsets and just became completely fascinated with smokers and smoked meat.

I've narrowed down my search to the Masterbuilt G800 vs Campchef Woodwind 24 w Sidekick.

My criteria is as much as I love authentic and playing around with the firebox, I just don't have the time sit around with an offset, plus I want to versatility of being able to grill, sear and make pizza (Does the Masterbuilt make pizza?)

I've never smoked any meats before, nothing at all. I live in the UK so our smoked BBQ joints are probably nowhere near as good as yours in the US. My point here is I don't have any real reference point to go off of for example doing research people say pure Charcoal (MB) beats out Pellet anyday etc but I don't have that reference point in the sense of if I went with the Campchef, I'd only know that taste y'know?

I'm torn between the two and just not really sure. For me, I love the ability to set it and forget it with both.

Pros and cons to both for me:

MB pros:

- Real charcoal and wood smoke
- Bigger grilling and griddling space
- Cheaper

Cons:

- Build quality?
- Harder to clean?

CC pros:

- Higher tech?
- Nostalgia as a kid as my very first smoker videos were pellet smokers
- Less fuel usage?

Cons

- Expensive - probably comes out as £400 - £500 extra with all the sidekick attachments + gas cylinder
- Smoke flavour lacks

I think what it'll come down to for me is the ability to clean each one. How has peoples experience been when cleaning the Masterbuilt? The same goes for the experience cleaning the Campchef.

People who have both the MB and CC, what's the cleaning comparison?

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

[JLeonard]

Cant offer an opinion...But welcome to the forums.

Jim

 

[negolien]

Well the price I saw on the camp chef was over $1100. No offense but that would be a no brainer for me as you can get a 1050 on sale for $400 sometimes same with the 800 if you absolutely must have a griddle built in. I would never go to a pellett now that I have used my gravity feed for over 3 years.

 

[Facehair]

Yeah the crazy thing is, the Camp Chef would cost me £1,650 for all the two sidekick attachments I wanted (grill box + pizza oven) + gas cylinder. A Masterbuilt 800 here would cost me £800 - £900 depending on the extras I add on and if I buy a pizza oven, total spend would be £1,000 to £1,100. So cost wise, I'm saving a minimum of £500.

How is the cleaning with the Masterbuilt?

 

[Facehair]

Well the price I saw on the camp chef was over $1100. No offense but that would be a no brainer for me as you can get a 1050 on sale for $400 sometimes same with the 800 if you absolutely must have a griddle built in. I would never go to a pellett now that I have used my gravity feed for over 3 years.

F Facehair​

Newbie​

Yeah the crazy thing is, the Camp Chef would cost me £1,650 for all the two sidekick attachments I wanted (grill box + pizza oven) + gas cylinder. A Masterbuilt 800 here would cost me £800 - £900 depending on the extras I add on and if I buy a pizza oven, total spend would be £1,000 to £1,100. So cost wise, I'm saving a minimum of £500.

How is the cleaning with the Masterbuilt?

 

[912smoker]

What extras are you talking about adding on with the MB 800 ?

As far as cleanup...very easy. I have the heat manifold lined with foil so just replace it as needed and clean the grease pan.

Keith

 

[clifish]

Well the price I saw on the camp chef was over $1100. No offense but that would be a no brainer for me as you can get a 1050 on sale for $400 sometimes same with the 800 if you absolutely must have a griddle built in. I would never go to a pellett now that I have used my gravity feed for over 3 years.

Where/when have you seen the 1050 for $400. HD just upped the price this week to $897. I just missed a brand new 1050 on FB for $597 and it was gone quick.

 

[Facehair]

What extras are you talking about adding on with the MB 800 ?

As far as cleanup...very easy. I have the heat manifold lined with foil so just replace it as needed and clean the grease pan.

Keith

Hey Keith, thanks for the answer!

Here's the extras I was talking about -

The Masterbuilt Gravity Fed Series 800 Griddle - UK's No.1 Dealer - Pro Smoke BBQ

The new Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 is equipped with a patent griddle system, while still being a gravity-fed charcoal grill and smoker, this cooker really does have it all. Buy with confidence and receive platinum support from the UK's number 1 Masterbuilt gravity series dealer.

prosmokebbq.co.uk

How's the smoke flavour like on the MB? Can you give me a rundown of your overall experience?

How's the searing/grilling especially?

Have you had/tasted a pellet smoker BBQ? How does it compare?

Thanks!

 

[negolien]

Where/when have you seen the 1050 for $400. HD just upped the price this week to $897. I just missed a brand new 1050 on FB for $597 and it was gone quick.

I see them on sale all the time at lowes home depot and walmart. As for op's last questions smoke falvor on teh MB and char griller is awesome. Searing and grilling hands down beats most pellets handily.

 

[clifish]

I see them on sale all the time at lowes home depot and walmart. As for op's last questions smoke falvor on teh MB and char griller is awesome. Searing and grilling hands down beats most pellets handily.

Well PM me when you see that again for either of the gravity feeds?

 

[Facehair]

I just wanted to add something in that I realised is important to my decision. Smokers aside and focusing on the grill function in the view of cleaning, I imagine myself using the grill function on either of these nearly everyday, more so than I would use it for smoking.

Just brainstorming, I'd grill chicken wings, chicken breast, thighs and steak, wouldn't it theoretically be easier to clean say the smaller grill box Sidekick attachment on the Campchef vs the Masterbuilt whole chamber/grates?

By no means am I attacking the Masterbuilt, I'm just trying to weigh up everything I can think of especially as I'm completely new to this and don't have the available resources or communities that you guys have over there in the US.

 

[negolien]

I just wanted to add something in that I realised is important to my decision. Smokers aside and focusing on the grill function in the view of cleaning, I imagine myself using the grill function on either of these nearly everyday, more so than I would use it for smoking.

Just brainstorming, I'd grill chicken wings, chicken breast, thighs and steak, wouldn't it theoretically be easier to clean say the smaller grill box Sidekick attachment on the Campchef vs the Masterbuilt whole chamber/grates?

By no means am I attacking the Masterbuilt, I'm just trying to weigh up everything I can think of especially as I'm completely new to this and don't have the available resources or communities that you guys have over there in the US.

No question is a bad question. Cleaning on the two brands of gravity feeds is much easier.... you just turn up the heat and burn everything off before or after cooks or both. One of the pro's of being able to get up to 700 degrees

 

[mcokevin]

My criteria is as much as I love authentic and playing around with the firebox, I just don't have the time sit around with an offset, plus I want to versatility of being able to grill, sear and make pizza (Does the Masterbuilt make pizza?)

Hey, yes it can make pizza. You can get rectangular pizza stones that are pretty close in size to the grates. You will want to get a manifold cover mod to direct the heat up (800 may come with that given it comes with a griddle). I bought the pizza stones but not the manifold cover yet.

I'm actually about to pull the trigger on a mod kit for my 1050 that has a griddle kit and manifold cover, since Masterbuilt doesn't offer that from the factory.

 

[912smoker]

How's the smoke flavour like on the MB? Can you give me a rundown of your overall experience?

How's the searing/grilling especially?

Have you had/tasted a pellet smoker BBQ? How does it compare?

You can get real close to the stick burner flavor with the addition of wood chunks in the ash pan and hopper. Most of us use a layer of charcoal then add a couple of chunks of choice and repeat.

Searing at 700*. It's like cooking on the sun !
I smoke a lot of pork shops and steak at 250 or so until they reach my desired temp (110 IT), then crank up the temp to 650 for a finish and sear with excellent results (for me).

I have never tasted the results from a pellet pooper so have no comparison there but would highly recommend the MBGF!

Keith

 

[Facehair]

Hey, yes it can make pizza. You can get rectangular pizza stones that are pretty close in size to the grates. You will want to get a manifold cover mod to direct the heat up (800 may come with that given it comes with a griddle). I bought the pizza stones but not the manifold cover yet.

I'm actually about to pull the trigger on a mod kit for my 1050 that has a griddle kit and manifold cover, since Masterbuilt doesn't offer that from the factory.

Woah that's pretty cool! Are there any videos that you know of that show this pizza making?

 

[Facehair]

No question is a bad question. Cleaning on the two brands of gravity feeds is much easier.... you just turn up the heat and burn everything off before or after cooks or both. One of the pro's of being able to get up to 700 degrees

That's pretty neat! I guess the high heat just makes every disintegrate away haha! Do you find that this uses a lot of fuel or is it quite minimal?

 

[negolien]

That's pretty neat! I guess the high heat just makes every disintegrate away haha! Do you find that this uses a lot of fuel or is it quite minimal?

Naw it goes thru a lot of fuel I get about 6 hours per hopper on average.

 

[Facehair]

You can get real close to the stick burner flavor with the addition of wood chunks in the ash pan and hopper. Most of us use a layer of charcoal then add a couple of chunks of choice and repeat.

Searing at 700*. It's like cooking on the sun !
I smoke a lot of pork shops and steak at 250 or so until they reach my desired temp (110 IT), then crank up the temp to 650 for a finish and sear with excellent results (for me).

I have never tasted the results from a pellet pooper so have no comparison there but would highly recommend the MBGF!

Keith

Oh fair enough! Thank you for the info.

I just wanted to ask, say like you weren't smoking and you were just wanting to grill a small amount of food, say enough for yourself for a dinner meal.

Naw it goes thru a lot of fuel I get about 6 hours per hopper on average.

Oh that's rough! Even for a small everyday grill for a dinner meal?

 

[negolien]

Oh fair enough! Thank you for the info.

I just wanted to ask, say like you weren't smoking and you were just wanting to grill a small amount of food, say enough for yourself for a dinner meal.

Oh that's rough! Even for a small everyday grill for a dinner meal?

No, that's a general time mine lasts I tend to do both grilling and smoking on a hopper. I tend to let it sit for a bit after getting to temp too when smoking to even inside temp and get smoke to lighten up. I also do burn offs before and after which uses up a good amount of the used amount but i don't ever have flare ups and my grates and stuff stay clean.

 

[jcam222]

I will say I’m pretty much a diehard stick burner now. That said I have friends with pellet grills and friends with the MB gravity. Flavor wise the MB rivals the stick burner imo