If you’re looking at getting a new grill or maybe your very first one, you may not know quite where to start. The world of pellet grills is much bigger than most people may originally think so when it comes to deciding which brand and model to make yours, it can be a bit overwhelming. Especially if all you really need is a simple grill.
No matter what season you’re in, grilling is always a fun and delicious way to spend your time. Even if you don’t use the grill that often or know you won’t be breaking it out more than a couple of times each year, it’s a must-have item.
Choosing the best grill for your household can be difficult. Bigger families may want a bigger grill whereas households with only two or three people may not care if their grill is smaller. However, if you plan on hosting parties or using your grill often when the family comes around, it may be worthwhile to purchase a grill with more space. Another thing to consider is how it is powered (propane, wood, or pellet) and how hot it can cook. Of course, we’ll go over what to look for and keep in mind later.
To help you better understand Cuisinart’s great grill and all that it offers, we’ve put together this very thorough best pellet grill review and summary. Our guide below will help you discover whether this grill is for you or if your household could likely use something different.
Summary
The particular grill in this review is the Cuisinart Woodcreek 4-in-1 pellet grill. If you’ve heard of Cuisinart before, then there’s a pretty high chance your kitchen is already filled with bowls and utensils from them as well. There’s no mystery why, either. Cuisinart makes quality products that are easily affordable and long lasting. With Cuisinart, you won’t be lacking.
Cuisinart is always looking to make new products and recently, they’ve set their eyes on pellet grills. With a full line of pellet grills, gas grills, and even griddles, Cuisinart has really stepped up their game in the home kitchen department and has started to branch out even further. Their pellet grills are innovative and high quality so even if you don’t choose the Woodcreek 4-in-1 pellet grill mentioned here, they have plenty of other great pellet grills available too.
The Cuisinart Woodcreek 4-in-1 pellet grill meets all expectations as well. It’s a great grill for beginners and professionals alike and adds that extra bit of outdoorsy flare to your house. It had both basic and extra features, one of the most notable being its ability to grill, smoke, sear, and griddle all in one easy place.
- The Woodcreek 4-in-1 pellet grill by Cuisinart is a four in one grill that can sear, griddle, grill, and smoke. All necessary parts are included in the original package.
- Cuisinart’s Woodcreek 4-in-1 pellet grill offers innovative new features as well as those well-loved classics and basic features. Not only does it have Bluetooth connectivity options, but it also has cooking temperature control probes and an electronic temperature control system.
- This Woodcreek 4-in-1 pellet grill can cook at temperatures between 200 degrees and 500 degrees Fahrenheit to get your food nice and cooked. It heats fast and food is ready in just a short while.
- Cuisinart sells the Woodcreek 4-in-1 grill with all the parts and inserts such as a ceramic brisquette sear tray, a cast iron griddle stir-fry, and a charcoal basket so you can cook and grill however you like best.
- All additional parts can be easily stored either on or in the grill in special places made specifically for them. Cuisinart makes sure that you have the space necessary for everything so you don’t have to store your Woodcreek 4-in-1 grill in one place and the extra parts in a different place. Everything is easy to grab and ready to go.
Things to Keep in Mind When Buying Pellet Grills
Before you even start searching the market for a grill, you need to know what to expect and what to look for. If you go in completely unprepared, you’re bound to be overwhelmed and make a poor decision. Instead of leaving yourself to panic and potentially buy a grill that won’t suit your household, take a moment to read these few recommendations and make sure to keep them in mind when you hit the stores.
Temperature Range
A grill with a bigger temperature range will have more usability. When looking for a pellet grill, look for one with a high temperature range. Some grills can go from 160 degrees Fahrenheit to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously you may not always need to lowest or highest temperatures, but having them there makes them available for the times that you do need them.
A model with a higher temperature range is much more versatile than a model that has a range of only a couple hundred degrees. Searing happens at much higher temperatures than slow smoking and if you want to do both, you need both temperatures available. Pellet stoves don’t particularly excel at searing like gas or charcoal grills may, but the broader temperature range helps them do better.
Pellet Hopper Size
You may not know what a pellet hopper is yet, but that’s okay. A hopper is where you’ll put the fuel pellets for your grill when it’s time to heat it up and get grilling. Because the pellet hopper holds your fuel, it’s important you know how big it is and how many pellets it can hold at a time.
If your hopper is small, it will run out of fuel faster and need to be refilled earlier on. This may be alright if you don’t use the grill for long periods of time or don’t mind filling it back up. However, if you tend to spend lots of time at the grill, cooking up a huge and delicious meal, finding a pellet grill with a larger hopper will save you future hassle.
Overall Grill Size
While this isn’t really that important, it shouldn’t be left out of mind. Households that only have a small space for storing and using their grill shouldn’t buy a massive grill. Instead, look for something smaller that will be easy to store in the space you already have rather than require you find a whole new storage area for it.
If you have a large, open area that you plan on storing your grill and using it in, then size may not necessarily matter. Of course, if you don’t have need of a large grill, then you aren’t required to buy one. Just choose a size that will meet all your needs and fit your storage space.
Solid Construction
Obviously you don’t want to spend your money on something that is going to be easily broken. Grills are expensive and even the cheap ones will cost quite a bit, so make sure your money is going into a product that will last longer than one season.
When you’re in the store, feel free to grab the grill and jostle it around a bit. Don’t shake it harshly or kick it across the room, but you don’t have to treat it like it’s fragile. Jostling it a bit will test how sturdy it is and show you whether or not the grill is built well. At the same time, you don’t want a grill that is stiff or difficult to move, so mess around with a grill a bit before deciding to buy it.
What is the Cuisinart Pellet Grill?
Now that we’ve covered what you should keep in mind when looking at a grill for your home, it’s time we take a thorough look at the pellet grill by Cuisinart. We tested this grill with the different functions and evaluated all aspects of it to ensure you get the full idea of what it is capable of.
As we mentioned before, the Cuisinart Woodcreek pellet grill is a 4 in 1 grill that can grill, sear, smoke, and griddle. It comes with all necessary attachments as well as sufficient storage space so you won’t have to go looking for the add ons when you want to use them. The manual that this grill comes with provides you with clear instructions on how to mount the attachments and how you use them. Plus, if you have any problems or questions, you can always contact the support team.
When it comes to all the things this grill comes equipped with, the list is extensive. It has common and basic features such as a single layer lid, and a grease drain as well as more modern and advanced features like Bluetooth connectivity and electronic temperature control. We’ll go more in depth on the features of this grill further on in the review, but for now, we’ll just give them a quick glance over.
First of all, Cuisinart’s grill is ready for just about any party. It has 650 inches of cooking space, making it one of the largest pellet grills available today. It can cook loads of burgers at once to make enough for your house party. It also has a warming rack that offers 215 inches of space. Overall, this grill offers tons of available cooking space for any occasion or meal.
Although most pellet grills struggle when it comes to searing, it is not for the Cuisinart Woodcreek grill by Cuisinart. This grill powers through all four functions with ease thanks to the added accessories. It uses cast iron grates which leave great marks on seared food and retain heat better so you can cook at lower temperatures instead of having to use high temps at all times.
Cuisinart’s pellet grill uses pellets (obviously), but Cuisinart doesn’t just provide any old pellets. They offer two different pellet flavors that can easily be found at Walmart just like this grill itself. The wood pellets you can choose from are maple bourbon or cherry rum. Maple bourbon adds a delicious flavor of aged bourbon and maple wood whereas cherry rum gives off a warm cherry wood and aged rum flavor. Both are fairly basic, but this pellet grill can use pellets from other brands as well so you aren’t as limited as you may think.
Benefits
Any grill will provide your household with a great way to make meals together and make fun memories during the summer months. All around the globe, people use their grills at family events or parties and it’s almost always the highlight of the season. Obviously purchasing any old grill is fine, but why should you purchase the Cuisinart Woodcreek pellet grill over others?
The Cuisinart Woodcreek grill is a great blend between traditional grills and modern technology. It has iron grates for that perfect pattern and heat retention while also being versatile. The design is sleek with a beautiful mix of silver and black. It will match nicely with your house no matter how it’s decorated which, while it may not be a big concern, is definitely a nice little plus.
Not a lot of grills can perform all four functions (sear, griddle, grill, and smoke) with the same ability as the Woodcreek. Being able to sear, griddle, grill, and smoke meat is a huge advantage that Cuisinart’s pellet stove has over many others. Sure, this grill isn’t top notch in all four areas, but it does do pretty well for the low cost.
One thing we loved about this grill was that it had a transparent viewing window so you can see how your meat is doing. You don’t have to open the lid so often and let out all that heat just to see if your food is ready. Instead, you can peer through the transparent viewing window and see your meat just as easily while still letting it heat up.
Now it’s time to talk about that Bluetooth feature that keeps getting mentioned. Obviously, you can’t cook burgers entirely over Bluetooth. However, with the Cuisinart BBQ app, you can easily monitor your grill or meat’s temperature. It’s also easy to set timers based on the temperature of your meat or simply the time it’s been cooking. You can get pretty far from the grill too (120 feet) without disconnecting.
Cuisinart Woodcreek Grill Features
The Cuisinart Woodcreek grill has many features available. We’ve mentioned most of them throughout this review at least once, but in order to provide you with a more comprehensive list, we’ve written all of the grill’s features and specifications out below.
- Has a 22 pound pellet hopper to hold your fuel
- Gives up to 650 inches of cooking area and measures a total of 862 inches
- Temperature range of 200 degrees to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and easy temperature controlling
- Can use an app or digital screen for adjusting the temperature of the grill
- Has the ability to grill, sear, griddle, or smoke any food or meat
- Features cast iron grates that make that perfectly cooked pattern and retain heat well
- Made out of stainless steel to withstand the weather
- Comes with all necessary inserts for grilling, searing, smoking, or using the griddle as well as easy places to store them
- Has an easy to use pellet dump and easy to clean grease drain
- Option of electronic temperature controlling system
- Bluetooth app connection for easy monitoring
- Transparent window on lid to see how food is cooking
- Weighs just under 200 pounds
- Easy to roll with two wheels and two feet to keep it securely in place
Pros & Cons
When it comes right down to it, though, what are the pros and cons of the Cuisinart Woodcreek pellet grill? Here are our favorite things about this grill and what we think Cuisinart should improve.
Pros
- Super affordable Cuisinart Woodcreek grill that can be found in almost any store
- Has 4 in 1 versatility for grilling, searing, smoking, or using a griddle on the same thing
- Comes with all necessary and extra attachments for using the grill as well as hooks for hanging all your tools
- Easy to grill with and monitor thanks to the straightforward set up manual and instructions
- The ash charcoal tray and grease drain are easy to clean and empty when you’re finished with the grill
Cons
- Takes awhile to set up due to there being so many pieces to take out of the box and set aside
- Can be difficult to set your ideal temperatures and won’t go lower than 200 degrees Fahrenheit
- The app won’t let you change the Cuisinart woodcreek grill temp in the middle of a cook, so you’ll have to go out and change it yourself
Conclusion
At the end of the day, the Woodcreek grill by Cuisinart from United States is impressive. It’s a great grill for beginners and pros alike. Even if you don’t use all four possible functions, having them available is great and really frees you up. As far as pellet Woodcreek grills go, Cuisinart really exceeded expectations with this woodcreek grill and kept it at an affordable price. We hope this pellet grill review will help with your decision making.
