Full Review – Cuisinart Clermont Pellet Grill and Smoker
The Cuisinart Clermont Pellet Grill and Smoker is a large and feature-rich pellet grill that offers a lot of cooking space and versatility. It has meat temperature probes that plug into ports inside the grill, an ash cleanout system, a pellet dump mechanism, a direct grilling option, and several lights and sensors to monitor the cooking process. It also has two large doors with windows that let you see inside the grill without opening it.
However, this pellet grill may not be as durable or reliable as it looks. The quality of the construction and materials is low for such a big and heavy grill. The price of $700USD seems too good to be true for what this grill promises to deliver. You may end up disappointed with its performance and longevity. This is a classic case of getting what you pay for.
Also included with this grill are an ash cleanout, pellet dump, direct grilling baffle, pellet hopper window, pellet hopper level sensor, a pellet hopper light, and two lights inside the grill. You can get many of these on other grills, but few have all of them at this kind of price. At $700USD the Cuisinart Clermont seems like a steal. It is also a pretty attractive pellet grill.
How the Cuisinart Clermont Works
Functionally, this is still a pellet grill. It has all the usual pellet grill parts. The cooking chamber is large. With 1,400 square inches of cooking area, this is a big grill. There are two cooking levels, with the top one being removable or adjustable. This grill can handle almost everything you want to throw at it. The cooking chamber is accessed by two large ‘french’ doors with built-in windows. You can monitor cooking and meat temperatures, watch the process, and never open the cooking chamber.
So why don’t I think more of this grill? Despite the great features, this is a large, big-box pellet grill that sells for $700USD. Despite the 233 pounds that this grill weighs, the quality is limited. Obviously, great attention was paid to the design of this grill. Unfortunately, the same attention isn’t being applied to the manufacturer. This is too much grill for the price and quality suffers. I really want to like this grill, I don’t believe it will last very long.
Specifications
- 1,400 square inches of primary cooking space for a total of 862 square inches
- 200 to 500 degree F. temperature range
- 40-pound pellet hopper
- Stainless steel cooking grates
- Powered-coated steel and stainless steel construction
- Large double glass door access
- Two internal halogen lights
- Lit hopper with pellet level sensor
- Wifi Connectivity with a proprietary app
- Two internal temperature probe ports
- Firepot ash cleanout
- Pellet dump
- Grease drains into the bottom-mounted tray
- Total weight of 233 pounds
- Made in China by The Fulham Group under the Cuisinart brand name
PROS
- Large Capacity
- WiFi Connectivity
- Extra Large Hopper
- Ash Cleanout
- Direct Searing Capability
CONS
- Poor Construction Quality
- High Rate of Pellet Consumption
- Long assembly time
- Metal Body Discolors Quickly
Cuisinart Clermont Pellet Grill Review
Summary
The Cuisinart Clermont Pellet Grill is designed to look innovative and offers a huge smoking space. While I will agree that this pellet smoker has some innovation, I can’t say that I like it. First of all, Cuisinart talks about it being an 8 in 1 cooker. They say it can bake, roast, smoke, chargrill, etc. The truth is, that this is a basic pellet smoker.
Now I do like the double door design. The Clermont is set up for smoking. It would be better with more vertical height since you have to remove cooking grates to smoke large items. However, where this grill falls down is in the quality. At more than $700USD, this is an inexpensive pellet grill, but one that will frustrate you down the line.
The Cuisinart Brand is among the best known in the food world. They are famous for their small appliances. Unfortunately, they know the value of that brand name. The Cuisinart Clermont Pellet Grill and Smoker is not built like those appliances. In fact, Cuisinart has little to do with this grill. Cuisinart takes responsibility for it, but it is designed and built largely under contract to take advantage of their brand name.
One response to “Cuisinart Clermont Pellet Grill and Smoker”
Got this grill a year ago first problem was pellet sensor unhooked works fine
Second problem infirst two weeks temperature probe wouldn’t read correctly contacted customer service they told me I should get a pair in the mail never received.
Third problem the piece of metal between the doors to keep the left door shut broken now only one door stays shut.
I’ve contacted them 4 times in a week no response. Wil not be purchasing anything from cuisinart again .and would have thought you paid 800.00 for something it should last more than one year and customer service sucks they never tried as far as I can see