So, my $100 walmart propane grill that I bought a week after we moved into our house ~7 years ago finally gave up the ghost (but honestly, what a great fucking grill for the money). Looking at getting a replacement propane grill and seeing all kinds of info on pellet grills and now that's where I'm leaning. What's the good/bad/etc.? Any brands to avoid and/or things I wouldn't know by some cursory research? Are they worth it? We grill ~40 times a year currently. Also, my plan was for it to be located on my deck - bad idea or the worst idea ever known to man? Thanks everybody.
A friend has one. To me they seem like a lot of work and aren’t necessarily consistent due to differences in pellet manufacturing, brands of pellets, etc. There’s a bit of maintenance to be done on it every year or two with rust cleanup and re-painting. I too have a cheap grill I bought on sale. The replacement will be either one of the Big Green Egg types or a stainless steel constructed infrared. TEC makes a good one. They’re expensive but long term serviceable as needed.
I almost feel as though we deserve some more explanation for the above.... As far as pellet grills, another knuckle dragging millwright I work with purchased one off of Amazon a few months ago and can't stop telling me about it. Seems like they burn a lot of pellets but I do like the ability to control heat and smoke output some. That said, I already have a smoker, 2 Weber kettles, a gas grill and Orion cooker. The Webers have never let me down.
wood pellet grill can explode if they go out. be careful with them. a traeger user was just in the news about his blowing up in his face.
Dude was set to marry a hottie, but, the more he thought about how she was financially burying them, what her true desires were, etc., he pulled the plug on her and her family (because her mom was stoking that fire, too) during the week prior to the wedding. Better to have gotten out before it was too late, no matter how good she looked.
LOL! I honestly don’t even remember her name. It was three years ago, he lives ~600mi away, and I’m not digging at the scab.
traeger FTW! you can over cook items but, unless you are a total idiot, you can't burn anything, there is no flame. steaks and burgers are AWESOME, slow cooked smoke items, are now available at your own home. if there is a flame, it is unit maintenance, and or operator error. as far as exploding... there is a lot more to that story, i would like to hear. Ski
PitBoss-About half the price of Traeger and has a good reputation for customer service. I had an ignitor go out, shipped me a new one under warranty right away. Absolutely love it. Haven’t started the gas grill since we got the pellet grill.
I have 2 Traegers that have seen a ridiculous amount of use. I’ve only had one issue and customer service was great. As somebody mentioned they are virtually idiot proof. A friend has a Traeger at home and a Pit Boss at his apartment for work, the performance is almost identical. The opposite end of the spectrum would be a Yoder $$$$. Others to look at are Green Mountain Grills and Louisiana Grills (Costco). They are great for long cooks. You can drink as much as you want or get good sleep and not have to worry about your fire. Pellets are available everywhere now and not much more than buying wood. You have to really try hard to put out bad food. The cons are they need power and I think they could use more smoke flavor. This is based off the original Traegers. The newest ones are supposed to add more smoke if you want it. I keep mine under my back patio and haven’t burned the house down...yet.
July 4th I made some Sirloins on my Traeger for the first time. Girlfriend covered them in Montreal Steak seasoning, then I slow cooked them on the pellet grill. She said, "Oh my God these are delicious!" They were cooked medium, juicy and just absolutely perfect.
Decide what you cook the most then decide between a pellet grill and a BGE. I have both. I have a Rec Tec pellet grill(kicks the shit out of a Traeger), but I still prefer the Egg for most things. I got both because I wanted to do some veggies at the same time I was using my egg for high temp steak sears.
I’ve got a Camp Chef Woodwind with the sear box. LOVE it. It just doesn’t everything well, and you won’t find a better tool for doing a reverse sear. Couple it with Lumberjack char hickory pellets and you’re rolling smoke like a champ.
I’ve tried to do steaks every way I can think of on the Traeger but it just doesn’t get hot enough IMO. I still prefer them on my Egg, well the Pit Boss Costco version, or the gas grill if I don’t have charcoal.
Aren’t pellets just bonded saw dust? What’s the bonding agent? I stopped using charcoal Briquettes because I could taste the petroleum bonding agent in my food. I only use natural hardwood charcoal now. Your results may vary in your pellet grill.