This smaller unit cycles the air within about 500 square feet twice hourly and within 250 square feet four times hourly. The auger will not run 100% of the time, it cycles on and off depending on the temperature setting. When selecting a temperature setting, the auger will feed pellets for several minutes. This will momentarily raise the temperature, but the temperature will decrease and stabilize after minutes. If you are transporting your grill in a vehicle after cooking on it, make sure the fire is completely out and the grill is cold before placing it in any vehicle.
However, the Pit Boss Lockhart provides a total cooking area of 2,136 square inches, hence quite a bit more than the Clermont. Some may be what are commonly referred to as ‘Traeger clones’, but many others are offering cuisinart soup maker their own unique designs and features. Well, Cuisinart state that a cooking area of 1,400 square inches is provided. However, with cooking areas on pellet grills/smokers, you always have to take the figures in context.
However, the Cuisinart Clermont is not the first pellet grill/smoker to follow this design, as you can see from the image below the Pit Boss Lockhart has a very similar design. Pellets can hang up in the pellet hopper after cooking for a long period of time. It’s important to monitor the pellet level and mix the pellets by hand to ensure they flow into the auger. A pellet grill/smoker is only as good as the BBQ pellets you put into it. The type/quality of the BBQ wood pellets you use will impact temperature performance and smoke flavour. There are many pellet flavours including Apple, Hickory, Mapel, Oak and Walnut to name but a few.
Finally, I discuss the new kid on the block, charcoal pellets and their special attributes compared to all other hardwood BBQ pellets. If you’re not sure what a PID control panel is, and importantly, why you want one, my article linked above explains more. Put simply, a PID control panel can regulate the temperature inside the pellet grill/smoker much more precisely. This means two things, first, you get a better cook, but you also don’t waste pellets heating the grill to unnecessarily high temperatures. The missing PID functionality of the Cuisinart Clermont I do think is not great on a pellet grill/smoker for this price.
Back in 2007 when I first become aware of pellet grills and smokers the only brand I was really aware of was Traeger. Traeger is really where this whole concept of cooking with pellets started in the 1980s. It was a ‘slow burner’ but since the 2010s is really when pellet grills and smokers started to get mainstream awareness, discussed alongside gas and charcoal grills. There are now over 30 pellet grill/smoker brands that I’m aware of, and the link above goes to my A to Z list of brands article. Protect your Clermont Smoker from the elements with the Cuisinart Clermont Pellet Grill & Smoker Cover!
My general thoughts on the Clermont match the phase ‘two steps forward, one step back’. Hence, there is some progress here, however, its not where it needs to be on price/features. Always wash hands thoroughly with soap and hot water prior to handling food and after handling raw meat, uncooked poultry or seafood. It cycles the air within approximately 1,000 square feet twice every hour and within 500 square feet four times every hour. Or, for your kitchen or smaller areas, take a look at the PuRXium Medium Room / Countertop Air Purifier.