Thinking about adding a pellet smoker to the arsenal
I am thinking about a portable pellet smoker to add to the collection. I want one for fixing a small amount of items and want something easy and hassle free. Thanksgiving I was doing a dip for the family and it got me thinking that a pellet would have been very handy for it.
Any thoughts - I have been looking at The GMG Trek, Traeger Tailgater, and Grilla Chimp - but am open to others as well...
I would any feedback people can provide, positive and negative...
I have a Recteq pellet cooker but a full sized unit. As far as small units, I don’t have one and have never used one. But was at my local bbq supply store recently and they are a Green Moun dealer. They had the Trek on display both with and without the optional cart. I had a chance to look it over closely. I was impressed with build quality and feature set. Can’t believe I didn’t buy one on the spot. Still may go back and get it. I know that’s not much but all I have on the subject. Good luck and keep us posted!
've thought about this too and one thing with the Chimp that I like are the folding legs. I wouldnt use it as a portable grill much if at all but for times where I want to smoke something with little/no worry about monitoring so I want it at a close to regular grill height.
Come on over to the Pellet side. I have a Traeger Timberline 850. Love it and the food cooked on it.
So far not one, not one complaint. Overnight cooks, hot and fast, low and slow it does it all with temperatures from 165 to 500*F.
With the WIFI I no longer have to monitor the fire from the patio. The cook can be controlled from the cell phone as long as there is cell service. This is either a positive or a negative depending on the enjoyment of tending the fire or the "set it and forget" feature.
I’d vote for the Chimp. We have had a lot of positive experiences from fellow members, the customer service is outstanding, and the feature set is really just unbeatable for the price. Make sure you take advantage of Black Friday pricing!
My first cooker was a vertical pit boss pellet cooker. I like it for the ease of some cooks. I did have issues with Erl codes. Replaced the control box with an aftermarket box, and no issues since.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Anova sous vide circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
Are you looking for "portable" (something for camping, tailgating, meals at grandma's house, etc.) or are you looking for something with a small footprint (will always stay at home but won't eat up half your limited patio space)? If it's portability you need, then the list you provided in your OP is a great place to start. If on the other hand, you're looking for a small footprint, then I'd definitely add the Grilla Grills Original smoker to your list ... up to 630 sq.in. cooking space but with a footprint not much different than a Weber 22" kettle.
I have the Chimp and I use it more than anything else these days. After I added the Alpha Connect controller it became even more user friendly. Now I can control it from anywhere with my phone. It is well built and the customer service from the Grilla guys is excellent. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
My first pellet grill was a Traeger Junior, which is a tailgater without foldable legs (they did or maybe do still sell a leg kit to convert them). I really liked it, it was a good little grill and got me addicted to pellet poopers. However, at that time there wasn't near as much competition in the market as there is today. I'd probably still have it if it were not for BBCS (Bigger Better Cooker Syndrome).
If I were looking at a portable today, I would definitely consider it again, but would more likely go with a Grilla Chimp or CampChef Pursuit. The Grilla seems to have better construction than Traeger, by the specs at least. The CampChef has better features for the money.
As far as the GMG, I'd check a number of reviews and do some Google searches for common issues. They kinda had the niche on the fully functional but still maneuverable travel market for quite some time. The Davy Crocket just doesn't have a match in the market for the cooking space vs portability. However, I've seen a lot of complaints about temperature unevenness and problems keeping lower temps over the years. They may have updated firmware and/or parts to resolve that, I don't know as I don't really follow the product, just know I've seen it reported in several different places in the past. The Trek also has some redesign it appears, so hard to say if it would have same problems.
Also, I think the Traeger and Chimp are enough bigger than the GMG to function more like an everyday pellet smoker, the Trek is only 219 SQ inches, while the Traeger and Chimp are 300+. I was able to cook smaller packers on the junior, I'm not sure that's possible on a Trek.
Last edited by glitchy; November 29, 2021, 11:53 AM.
Is using a pellet grill really much different than connecting your BBQ Guru to your WSM, PKs, or Kettle? Between my WSCG and my pellet grill the difference is a lighter and waiting longer to get to temp.
I got my Broil King Keg about 10 years ago. It served me pretty well and really got me into Kamado style cooking. Then the bottom rusted out almost completely after 4 years. I could no longer seal it tight around the bottom damper and so I scrapped it. It sat in the back yard, all alone for years. Until this year, when we
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