Grill, sear, smoke, BBQ and so much more – whenever and wherever you want. It’s never been this easy to create smokehouse cuisinart griddler elite quality food while adventuring. GRILL HOUSING Remove the warming rack, cooking grates, flame tamers, and burners.
The most important thing for making more sophisticated food on any grill—gas, charcoal, or pellet—is the ability to control the heat source. For pellet grills, it’s a bit easier, because they have automated temperature control systems. To test the Hybrid Fire, we grilled burgers, cuisinart soup maker chicken, and steaks using propane, charcoal and wood, as well as whole chicken on the rotisserie using charcoal and the infrared burner. We filled one side of the grilling drawer with split oak logs, and the other with hardwood lump charcoal, then lit both with the gas burners.
One temperature probe is provided, but there are ports for three more. Smoking in the 560 is as easy as setting the temperature and a timer. Using lump charcoal will provide a smoky flavor, but if more smoke is needed, wood chips can be added in the ash bucket where they’ll burn slowly as embers fall on them. On our first cook, a small brisket we had on for almost 6 hours at 220°F developed a fantastic crust—it was so easy, and so tasty.
I spend a whole lot of time cooking outdoors, so I decided to build and design an outdoor kitchen with help from BBQGuys.com. I was browsing the Lowes website as I do from time to time to look for new pellet grill models and I came across a Camp Chef model I wasn’t familiar with, the MZGX24. This is where the Cuisinart Clermont actually has a one-up over the Pit Boss Lockhart which only currently features Bluetooth connectivity. However, the Pit Boss Lockhart does feature a PID temperature controller, where it doesn’t appear that’s the case on the Cuisinart Clermont. Also, while as I discuss above that I don’t think a very large 40 lb pellet hopper is really necessary, placing the control on top of the hopper makes it easier to read/use. This is a residential grade product that will likely be used at weekends etc.
Inside, it features three customizable racks for a total of 1400 square inches of cooking space. It also holds 40 pounds of pellets at once, twice the amount of most of the pellet grills we tested. These grills are not only wonderful for grillers of all skill levels, but they produce food that tastes as good as anything cooked over wood or charcoal. For a long time, the only downfall was that pellet grills could only provide indirect heat—so they were great for low-and-slow smoking but not searing. Many of today’s pellet grills have changed that stereotype, providing a built-in sear plate that transforms a pellet grill from a smoker to a multi-functional grill. Pellet grills are the ideal choice for anyone looking for an easy way to produce high-quality barbecue.
Giving your pellet grill a good clean does not require any fancy tools, and you can often get the job done well with materials you already have around the house. If storing the grill outdoors, close the wood pellet lid and cover the grill with a cover for protection from the weather. Never move a grill when it is hot or when objects are on the cooking surfaces. Place Griddle on top of cooking grates with the grease reservoir toward the back of the grill. It is best to locate the Griddle near the middle of the grill.