Need Advice: Traeger Timberline 1300 vs. KBQ C-60

[SavageSmoke]

Hello everyone,

I've been looking to upgrade my outdoor cooking setup and I've come across two options available in my area: the Traeger Timberline 1300 and the KBQ C-60. I have been going back and forth trying to decide which one would suit me best. I will include pics of the actual smokers for sale here. The Traeger is $1200 asking price and the KBQ is $1300. Here's what I've gathered so far about each:








Traeger Timberline 1300

Pros:

• It has a large cooking area (1,300 sq. inches), perfect for when I have to cater to a larger group.
• It comes with WiFIRE Technology allowing me to control the grill remotely from my smartphone.
• It has a three-tier grill system, giving flexibility in the amount and variety of food I can cook at once.
• The automated pellet feeding system is a handy feature, making the smoking process more automated and less hands-on.

Cons:

• The price point is a little high compared to other models on the market.
• I've heard a few mentions about reliability issues over time, particularly with the pellet feeding mechanism.
• The WiFIRE feature, while convenient, is dependent on my home Wi-Fi, and I've read about some users having connectivity issues.

KBQ C-60

Comes with fire poker, kill switch for easy stoppage of fan so you can check food or throw another split on, 3 grates and a cover.

Pros:

• Known for its Inverted Flame™ technology that provides a real wood flavor.
• This smoker is engineered for a "Set & Forget" control over the cooking temperature which makes the process easy.
• It's relatively portable as compared to other smokers, with a smaller footprint.

Cons:

• It has a smaller cooking space (960 sq. inches) which could be a problem when cooking for a large group.
• There is no built-in technology for remote monitoring or control.
• I've seen some reviews indicating a learning curve to mastering the fire control system.

I mainly cook for my family, but occasionally I host neighborhood get-togethers. I'm curious about the opinions of this community - if anyone has experience with these smokers, your insight would be much appreciated. Specifically, I'm interested in their long-term performance and reliability.

If you had to choose between the Traeger Timberline 1300 and the KBQ C-60, which one would you go for and why?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[Jfrosty27]

These two cookers are like apples vs. oranges. Completely different in every way. The Treager is set and forget convenience with some would say a mild smoke flavor. The KBQ is “authentic “ wood fired smoking that requires a good source for wood and constant tending of the fire. I am a pellet grill user primarily for convenience and because wifey and me prefer the more mild smoke profile. Which are you? I’m sure plenty more opinions will follow.

[WillTravelForFood]

Comes down to what you're trying to cook along with what your budget/quality ratio is.

Traegers, as has been oft-said around here, are pricey compared to other pellets with similar features and end result -- you can get the top of the line GMG, for example, for about $1100 (MSRP)

Just commenting on your PROS for the Traeger:

• It has a large cooking area (1,300 sq. inches), perfect for when I have to cater to a larger group.

How much of those extra racks are you truly going to use and/or find useful. Some manufacturers figure if they can squeeze a tiny third rack onto the grid, that'll add an extra 300+ sq in for advertising purposes. But is it truly something you'll need/use?

• It comes with WiFIRE Technology allowing me to control the grill remotely from my smartphone.

ALL pellet grills have at least one model that has WiFi tech. There's nothing unique here from Traeger, other than the quality of their app and controls vs other companies' app and controls.

• It has a three-tier grill system, giving flexibility in the amount and variety of food I can cook at once.

See above comment about whether that third rack is needed or not. How often are you going to be smoking chickens + sausage + brisket + ribs at the same time?

• The automated pellet feeding system is a handy feature, making the smoking process more automated and less hands-on.

Again, this shouldn't be unique to Traeger - it's how all pellets work.


(we will now wait for Those Smarter Than Us to make any corrections or additions to the above statements)

[lostclusters]

Regardless of what the numbers say the kbq's cooking area can not be smaller. Depending on the distance needed between selves the kbq can hold 4 - 6 full sheet pan racks. The designation c60 comes from the wieght of meat it can hold.

[Old Glory]

As JFrosty stated they are two wildly different machines. Get both? Kidding...not kidding...lol.

I have a Pellet Cooker and an Offset. The Pellet Cooker is truly set it and forget it. The Offset requires constant attention and feeding. Both are great. I use my Pellet Cooker 4-6 times per week. I use the Offset less than 10 times a year because of how much work and time is involved. I love both. Both make great food. I just cooked 15 racks of ribs and 6 butts for my daughter's grad party. I started the butts on the offset then switched them over to the pellet cooker after 5 hours to finish there. Then I put the ribs on the offset to cook. Everything came out great.

The KBQ will need to be fed every 20 minutes with smaller chunks of wood. You will need to source that wood then cut it to size. For some not a problem. I work full time and have active kids into sports so my schedule is pretty full.

[kenrobin]

I agree with the previous comments especially the aspect of these being completely different cookers. The Traeger will provide the convenience of the "set it and forget it" experience. Load the food, the pellets, set the temperature and go. If you're looking to cook several times per week with a quick start-up process that doesn't require you to baby-sit the cooker, then a pellet grill is probably the way to go. Like WillTravelForFood said, there are a ton of pellet grills on the market to choose from with similar features that maybe a better bang for the buck. Also, pellet grills have a much lighter smoke profile than offsets.

The KBQ is an offset smoker, therefore it will require wood splits that you will need to feed the wood into it throughout the cook. This requires a commitment of your time and attention. The payoff is that your food will have authentic wood-fired smoke flavor. Because the process is more involved, it may not be the cooker that you want if you plan to use it several times per week. If you go with the KBQ, you may want to supplement it down the road with a pellet grill or charcoal grill that you can turn to when you want to get in a quicker, less involved cook.

[TripleB]

I own a KBQ and would never own a pellet pooper. My reasons against pellet poopers:

1. I enjoy managing a fire. I like getting the wood ready, watching it catch fire, managing the coal bed, smelling the wood smoke. Set and forget does not really interest me. Since the firebox is outside on the KBQ, fire management is very easy and not as laborious as some have tried to state.
2. Too many things to break down on a pellet pooper. I have seen numerous posts about their PP's breaking down, the WiFi does not work, the system shuts down after heating a specific temp, the pellet augur stopped working, issues with dealing with customer service, etc. I think in one instance the PP actually caught fire.

[SavageSmoke]

Thank you for all the insightful responses so far, they have certainly given me a lot to consider. It seems to boil down to a matter of preference between the convenience of the 'set and forget' Traeger Timberline 1300 and the authentic smoke flavor and the satisfaction of managing a fire in the KBQ C-60.

I'm intrigued by the passion that comes with managing the fire and the deep smoke flavor that the KBQ provides. I don't mind the involvement as long as it’s manageable and the payoff is worthwhile. On the other hand, the convenience and ease of use of the Traeger, especially with my busy schedule, is something that's quite appealing.

I do have a couple follow-up questions for those of you who have experience with these units:

1. For the KBQ users, could you elaborate more on the process of managing the fire? How difficult is it to source and prepare the wood? Is it really as labor-intensive as it seems?
2. For the Traeger users, how reliable has the unit been for you, especially in terms of the WiFIRE feature and pellet feeding mechanism? Also, do you find the smoke flavor to be significantly milder compared to other smokers?

Your advice is greatly appreciated as I try to make an informed decision. Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

[WillTravelForFood]

[*]For the Traeger users, how reliable has the unit been for you, especially in terms of the WiFIRE feature and pellet feeding mechanism? Also, do you find the smoke flavor to be significantly milder compared to other smokers?[/LIST]
Your advice is greatly appreciated as I try to make an informed decision. Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

If the Pit has nothing else, it's opinions and a willingness to share them. Obviously, the reviews on the free site will give you more insights onto how the different cookers work.

All we can share is what we've read here on the Pit regarding pellets: they do take some (perhaps minimal, perhaps not) maintenance to ensure that firepot remains clean. Otherwise, you run the risk of grease fires.

Sometimes the auger will stop feeding pellets (whether it be an auger issue or a hopper issue or something in-between), which isn't great in the middle of a cook.

Others have stressed that the smoke flavor on a pellet is milder than via other cooking methods -- which is why some pellet makers have a special "more smoke" mode that we don't believe the Traegers have incorporated yet. Maybe they have.

Friends of ours love their Traegers so much they've purchased a few for various locations.

QUESTION: will you have any other cooking apparatus available for searing or non-Smoke-related cookery?

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

most of the problems you mention are more prevalent on cheaper grills and less common as you go up the price range regardless of brand. But at the end of the day, yes jammed augers are a possibility on any pellet grill, especially if one neglects to use their grill often and doesn't empty the auger between those long periods of unuse. Emptying the firepot isn't a grease fire issue on many, if any pellet grills, cleaning your grill or emptying the grease catch is a more likely cause

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

except for the gen 1 Smokefire and quite a few of those knock off copycat brand grills Which did/do have notorious hopper issues as well as grease fire issues due to poor drainage or overall design.

[SavageSmoke]

If the Pit has nothing else, it's opinions and a willingness to share them. Obviously, the reviews on the free site will give you more insights onto how the different cookers work.

All we can share is what we've read here on the Pit regarding pellets: they do take some (perhaps minimal, perhaps not) maintenance to ensure that firepot remains clean. Otherwise, you run the risk of grease fires.

Sometimes the auger will stop feeding pellets (whether it be an auger issue or a hopper issue or something in-between), which isn't great in the middle of a cook.

Others have stressed that the smoke flavor on a pellet is milder than via other cooking methods -- which is why some pellet makers have a special "more smoke" mode that we don't believe the Traegers have incorporated yet. Maybe they have.

Friends of ours love their Traegers so much they've purchased a few for various locations.

QUESTION: will you have any other cooking apparatus available for searing or non-Smoke-related cookery?

I have a Weber 26" kettle and a Blackstone.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

The biggest issues I would have (other than it being 2 wildly different cooker types) at that price point used is... will the company provide 2nd owner support and what are the chances of getting replacement parts reliably.

I would assume both companies would talk to ya, but unfortunately Traeger seems to be releasing vastly different models every couple years which means long term there might be some replacement parts that won't exist. You'd have to contact the company to find out for sure on that, I'm just guessing.

If those were the only 2 choices in front of me and I didn't own my current pellet grill, I'd likely opt to buy a new grill for a similar price point or I'd keep my eyes open for a used Yoder or MAK in the price point just because there's pretty much a repair/upgrade path (except for the very oldest MAK 2 stars and the pre-2018 1 stars which can't be fully upgraded but the important parts like controller, auger, and fan are the same). Or I'd be watching for the massive price reduction gen 2 Weber Smokefires with the new model coming out.

Having a pellet grill already, if I didn't have other near term cooker needs I'd be all over that KBQ

[Spinaker]

The real question is how involved do you want to be? You have to feed it. Other than that, you really do not need temp control or to really monitor it. It does have built in temperature control. It takes care of all of that for you with simple and very reliable components. I use a FireBoard to watch the food, but once I have the temp set, I don't worry about watching it the pit temp as the AutoDraft takes care of all of that. .

IMHO, the KBQ will make better food, subjective, but I’ve cooked on both and IMO there is no question that I would take the KBQ over any Traeger.

The KBQ is also built better, with fewer and more reliable components. The KBQ is 304 18 ga. -14 ga. stainless steel with simple but proven electronics that have been used for decades. (According to Bill Karu, since WWII) There is no auger to jam, igniter to fail, software updates or bugs, pellets to swell in a hopper etc.

As for cooking capacity, I’ve cooked for over 70 people with my KBQ. If you are cooking for more than that, you might wanna look at a large offset.

As for reliability, I have had my KBQ since 2015 and I have had zero problems with it. I have had it on road trips to Iowa, Utah, northern MN and countless trips around town to cook at different locations. Never had any issues. If I did, Bill is just a call away and very responsive from what I have heard. I have contacted him a few times for some KBQ items like the fire grate and a few more koozies and he got right back to me.

The only real learning curve is how to start it. Which is easy if you know how to use a charcoal chimney. Learn to feed the fire is easy, and you get the hang of that pretty quickly. Honestly, I would say any cooker, pellet, charcoal, stick burner or KBQ has some kind of learning curve. Every cooker has its nuances, and that is part of the fun of outdoor cooking.

One of the cons would be you have to make sure you are using it on a safe surface. (Which I would argue you should do with any outdoor cooker) Coals can drop from the firebox at times. I use a fire proof grill mat on my patio, more so it is easy to clean up. Cutting the logs to size can be a pain, but I use a Mitter saw that makes that really easy. There is more work with the KBQ, there is no question. However, I think the superior flavor way out weighs the work. (Which I actually find to be part of the fun)

So what it really comes down to is do you want to go for the best flavor or are you okay with an easier smoker that will give you more free time? The KBQ puts out the best flavor, IMHO. That being said, you do have to be present to feed it. For me, that is just fine, I love to run the KBQ. For me, BBQ is more than just setting something up like I would in an oven, pushing PLAY, adding the meat and walking away for 8 hours. If that is what you want, that is cool too. Then the pellet rig is probably for you. However, if you are after some of the best backyard BBQ you can make, and you don't mind the process, there is no question that the KBQ is the way you should go.

[jfmorris]

I have to bring this up, since apparently no one else has. Sure, Traeger basically invented the pellet game, but I am wondering how good the Traeger Timberline is compared to other pellet smokers. I would have a hard time spending $1300 on a used smoker unless I knew it was the BEST used smoker around! I read enough negatives on Traeger from other folks who have had one and then moved on to something else, to where I look at the ones I see in the big box stores with a grain of salt. I know some of them look real nice, but the goal is producing the best food, not having the prettiest grill.

glitchy and others on here may have comments on the Traeger Timberline from experience. If I were going to spend that much, I would spend it on a new pellet smoker with a warranty, versus a used Traeger, but that is just me. Brands I would personally look at include Grilla, Recteq, and a few others that might get you in with a nice unit for well under that $1300 price tag.

Of the two, I feel the KBQ is the higher quality unit that will produce better food, but you will have to have a source of suitable mini-splits to feed it with.

[Spinaker]

If you are gonna spend that on a pellet, save a little more and buy a Yoder YS 640. Much better smoker.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

that's why I said above there are other grills I'd spend that money on I THINK Traeger is 2 revisions past what this grill is so parts and longevity would be a concern for me...

[glitchy]

I think this thread is overstating the number of issues people actually have with pellet grills. Having used them as my primary cooker for almost 15 years now, my feelings are if you have a reliable one, you have a reliable one. Good ones don’t break regularly with just a little cleaning and care which is usually less work than the effort to even just use most other cookers. WiFi is also not nearly as challenging as it used to be. If you know the difference between 2.5 and 5Ghz networks and maintain you own home network, you’ll likely be just fine. People post here looking for help when they do have problems, so it can easily skew the perception. If everyone running poopers posted about every problem free cook they had, you’d have problems finding any other posts on the site. Grease fires in pellet grills are fake news in comparison to the number of grease fires that happen on all other types of grills/smokers. Outside of one very poorly designed (but super expensive) pellet grill, I’ve never had a grease fire. Keep the food over the drip tray and the grill just moderately clean and it’s just about impossible to have one.

While I’m not sure I’d ever buy another Traeger or not, they’re fine pellet grills. Just poor on the cost to value ratio compared to other brands. They’re also from my experience in the lighter side for smoke profile just like all the copycats of their design I’ve had. However, I’ve never used a Timberline. The new Timberline model actually looks like it could be a lot better for the smoke profile, but I haven’t studied this model. The back/downdraft exhaust is a good start though.

Haven’t used my KBQ enough to recommend one over the other. I think that’s more about if you want easy or super easy deciding between a KBQ and a pellet grill.

[Santamarina]

I’d choose the KBQ in a heartbeat. Don’t own one, but it’s been at the top of my smoker list for several years.

A few friends have pellet smokers, and the best food I’ve had off of them was “ok.” The best of the best didn’t compare to the average smoke on my stickburner. Nothing beats the smoke profile of a properly burning wood fire!