Camp Chef Apex Review 2023: Is It Really Worth $2000?
The Camp Chef Apex is a beast of a grill, but does it live up to the hype?
In this Camp Chef Apex review, I discuss the main features you’ll find on the grill, including its design, performance, and more.
I will also take a look at some of the things I like and don’t like about this grill.
At the end of this review, you’ll have all the information you need to make an informed decision about whether or not this is the right grill for your needs.
What Is Camp Chef Apex?
Camp Chef Apex is a new grill from Camp Chef’s high-end product line, designed for people who want a large, versatile grill. The Apex is available in 24-inch and 36-inch sizes and allows you to cook food with either pellets or propane (with an add-on).
Configurations
The Camp Chef Apex comes in four different configurations and two different sizes, 24 inches and 36 inches. You can get it as a pellet grill or with a gas kit.
The gas attachment gives you the 14-inch sidekick with the griddle and its six-burner system. Besides the griddle, you can purchase other attachments like a sear box for searing or a pizza oven box for baking pizza outdoors.
The 24-inch model with the gas system gives you the same thing, but it only features four instead of six gas burners.
This review will concentrate on the Camp Chef Apex 36″ with Apex gas kit since
Product Specs
| Product name | Weight (lbs) | Dimensions (inch) | Burners | Total Rack Area (sq. inches) | Price |
| Camp Chef Apex 24″ | 295 | 60.5 x 44 x 32 | X | 811 | Check Price |
| Camp Chef Apex 36″ | 279 | 72.5 x 44 x 32 | X | 1236 | Check Price |
| Camp Chef Apex 24″ (W/ Gas Kit) | 295 | 67.25 x 44 x 32 | 4 | 811 | Check Price |
| Camp Chef Apex 36″ (W/ Gas Kit) | 330 | 79.25 x 44 x 32 | 6 | 1236 | Check Price |
Camp Chef Apex Pros and Cons
The Ooni Koda 16 has many great features, but it’s not perfect. Here are some pros and cons of this unit:
Pros
Cons
Camp Chef Apex Review
Although the Camp Chef Apex is available at a hefty price, its features are worth every penny. This Camp Chef grill is built to last and has several features not found in other grills.
Design and Build Quality
Right off the bat, what captures my attention is the six-burn gas system on the front, which is covered in bright red, adding a touch of dramatic color to an otherwise functional object.
The 36-inch version of the Apex grill weighs 330 pounds, which is quite heavy, and measures 79.25″ long x 44″ high x 32″ wide, which makes it a huge grill that takes up some space in your outdoor kitchen.
With this heavy grill, moving it around could be a pain, but it comes with four caster wheels that make it easier to transport.
A lower shelf also helps keep the legs nice and stable and provides space for storing your grilling tools.
Although Camp does sell a front shelf as an add-on, it’s not included with the grill, so it’s important that you have a table or another surface nearby for preparing food.
The construction of this grill is solid and durable, with a stainless steel body that can withstand extreme temperatures and resist rusting or corrosion.
Along with the stainless steel, you’ll also have a lot of black-painted components that give the grill a sleek and modern look.
The Camp Chef Apex product line is one of the few that has managed to combine aesthetics and build quality into a single appliance.
One unique thing about this grill that you may have noticed is that there’s no smoke stack because this grill uses rear vents at the back to let the smoke out.
This great feature allows you to cook your food on the right-hand sidekick without interfering with the smoke from your main cooking chamber.
Two stainless steel cooking racks inside the cooking chamber provide roughly 7,000 cubic inches of volume for you to cook with.
The lower rack offers 663 square inches of cooking space, while the upper rack provides 573 square inches. This is huge and should allow you to cook various foods at once.
There’s also a 14-inch sidekick on the grill side that’s perfect for warming up side dishes or cooking homemade barbecue sauces.
Best Features of Camp Chef Apex
Double-walled Insulated Lid And Chamber
The double-walled chamber is one of the best features of this grill. It makes grilling easy in cold weather without worrying about the heat escaping and keeps the food from getting too hot or cold.
The lid is also double-insulated and features these gaskets along where the top of the grill will sit when it’s closed, which helps retain heat, so you’ll save on pellets.
30-pound Pellet Hopper With Sensor
The hopper on the Apex holds 30 pounds of pellets; this is a huge advantage for people who like to smoke large cuts of meat at once or do long cooks.
You’ll be able to get through many smoking sessions without having to refill the hopper.
Inside the hopper is a low pellet sensor; that sensor will trigger a warning when you have about one hour of fuel left.
Bluetooth And WIFI PID controller
On the left side, you’ll see a premium wifi-enabled digital controller integrated into a 30-pound pellet hopper, allowing you to dial in your smoke level and temperature.
If you are familiar with the Woodwind product line, a flagship Camp Chef pellet grill line, then you’ll notice that their Apex grill controller shares many similarities to the Woodwind version.
For long-term use, the controller is covered with a lid that protects it from rain and dust.
This controller lets you connect the grill to the Camp Chef app on your phone to control it remotely.
Four Meat Probes And A Magnetic Storage Box
Do you know what’s not so great about grilling outdoors?
Finding meat probes.
In fact, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve lost one of my probes, and the worst part is that it usually happens when I’m in a rush!
I’m busy cooking food and suddenly realize that my probe is nowhere to be found.
That’s why I was so excited when this Apex grill came out with four colored meat probes and a magnetic box for storing them when not in use. This great option keeps the probes handy but out of the way!
Four Caster Wheels
One of the best features of the Camp Chef Apex is that it has 4 caster wheels, one on each leg, allowing you to move the grill around easily.
Most pellet grills only have two, but with a super heavy 330-pound grill like this unit, it’s really nice to have four caster wheels. They make it easier for you to move the grill around, especially if you need to transport it.
True Convection-style Ventilation System (Down And Out)
According to Camp Chef, the smoke comes up, circles in the chamber, and then goes lower and out at the back. That’s why they call it a down-and-out exhaust system.
The Apex is the first grill that Camp Chef has produced without a smoke stack; instead, there are vents across the back to create that rolling effect and additional heat spread across the grill surface, so you’ll get a lot better cooking experience with that!
On the Apex, smoke circulates the grill before lowering it to escape through vents on its back. This creates a true convection-style system, allowing a more even cooking temperature throughout the grill.
14-inch Sidekick
On the right side is a 14-inch sidekick with a griddle attachment that comes with the grill.
The griddle is removable for easy cleaning and can also be replaced with other attachments like a pizza oven, BBQ box, or cast iron cookware. The sidekick is powered by a powerful 28K BTU burner that heats up to 700°F.
Six-Burner Heating System
As I mentioned, this grill comes with six internal propane burners as a $500 add-on.
With this independent gas system, you can instantly get a quick sear on your meat by twisting the knob to ignite the flame or easily turn it into a propane smoker without using pellets.
Each burner has an output of nearly 9,000 BTUs and can reach temperatures up to 650 degrees, so you can get a nice sear on your meat without waiting too long.
LED Light Inside The Grill
At the top of the cooking chamber, two LED lights help illuminate your cooks in the middle of the night when you have to go out there and poke them with a thermometer to ensure they’re done.
The lights are bright enough to see everything inside the chamber but not so bright that it hurts your eyes.
Easy Cleaning With Front Grease Tray, Grease Bucket & Ash Cleanout System
Not only does the Camp Chef Apex perform admirably, but it also allows for quick and easy cleanup after you’ve finished cooking.
While with some other grills, the only way to clean out that pellet burn chamber is to physically take all the racks and grease tray out and then get a vacuum in there and empty it, and you’d have to do that every cook or every couple cooks.
This is a waste of time and energy, but it’s easy to do with the Camp Chef pellet grill.
If you’re familiar with Camp Chef grills, you might have heard of their patented ash cleanout system, which features an ash pot on the bottom and a quick little lever to dump the pellets out of the burn chamber.
This process can happen within seconds without taking out all the cooking racks and grease trays on top of the burning chamber.
Cleaning the grease tray from an Apex grill differs from other grills since you don’t have to remove any cooking racks first.
The grease tray is now placed right on the front, and you can remove it by pulling on two knobs on the front of the grill and taking out the grease tray.
This is a great feature because it makes cleaning up after cooking so much easier, especially because cleaning the grease tray often also helps prevent grease fires, which can be pretty dangerous.
Like the lid, the drip tray door also has gaskets to help that heat stay in the grill, preventing it from escaping.
The grease tray does a pretty good job of catching grease, but it doesn’t fit in the grill very well; it seems to fall out easily.
Like all Camp Chef grills, the Apex has a grease bucket for catching and storing dripping grease. The difference is that the Apex has a grease bucket on the back, while normally, these buckets are located off to one side.
Camp Chef Apex Alternatives
If you’re looking for an alternative to Camp Chef Apex, several other options offer similar benefits for less money. Here are some of them:
- PIT BOSS PB1230G Wood Pellet and Gas Combo Grill
- Lifetime Gas Grill and Wood Pellet Smoker Combo
- Pit Boss PB1230SP Sportsman
- Camp Chef 24 in. WIFI Woodwind Pellet Grill & Smoker with Sidekick
- Pit Boss Pro Series II 1100
My Verdict: Should You Buy Camp Chef Apex Smoker Grill?
The Camp Chef Apex is an excellent option for a versatile smoker grill. It has plenty of cooking space and can be used with either gas or wood pellets, making it perfect for anyone who wants to maximize their grilling options.
I recommend the Apex to grill master willing to spend slightly more money on a smoker grill that can be used year-round, even in the winter.
It’s made of high-quality materials and built to last, so if you like to cook outdoors often, it may be worth investing in this model.