What generic questions should one ask when researching/selecting a pellet

[FireMan]

And here ya’ll talkin bout cookers. I stopped on to see what could possibly be interesting about a generic pellet.

[Polarbear777]

My first question is how easy is it to clean, dump, service it when stuck or otherwise not working.

Waiting weeks for a specific part would suck.

[Murdy]

I would just recommend a Weber kettle until they figure out what they actually want

[Panhead John]

+100

[WillTravelForFood]

suggested this many, many a time to no avail.

it's been at least a year with no outdoor cookery option over there.

[WillTravelForFood]

[frantically making notes]

Lots of great pre-shopping advice already on this thread. Keep these thoughts a-coming.

[glitchy]

Thinking about this more, for someone with no grill and no preconceived biases towards fuel sources, but wanting convenience…a CampChef Woodwind with sidekick or searbox is definitely worth a look. The searbox or sidekick opens up a lot of options in a single footprint. As well, the popularity and continued existence of the searbox and sidekick and Traegers new fancy grill offering essentially the same thing in electric versus gas, it emphasizes the point several of us have made about weakness for most pellet grills at searing.

Most of us here are junkies and have multiple cookers to fit roles. When I walk the neighborhood, I’m always taking inventory of peoples cookers I can see. Only a few other houses have I seen more than one cooker. We are not normal people here.

Another option that does well for all in one is a Kamado. I’m partial to the Weber because I roll mine around a lot and like that if I do overshoot temps it doesn’t take hours to bring it down. It is also more briquette friendly than most ceramics. However, some people just don’t like charcoal. Whether it’s the feeling handling the fuel is dirty, the fear of hassle in lighting, eating food cooked by someone that loves lighter fluid, bad experience with poorly design charcoal grills than didn’t flow air well (soured me on charcoal for years), etc. There’s definitely a learning curve and some don’t have interest in that effort. If they want to grill more than smoke a Kamado could make them happier long term if they are willing to learn it.

[Old Glory]

The WSCG is the One Grill to Rule Them All. You can do anything on that grill.

Pellet cooking is all about convenience. My pellet cooker runs better than my oven. Set it to a temp it gets there fast and stays there adding a hint of smoke. It can grill but not well. I could not have it as my only cooker.

[rickgregory]

I'm a charcoal guy, but I understand the appeal of pellet grills. It's the set and forget aspect. You can grill burgers, steaks etc. You can use it like an oven at higher temps where the smoke (on most) is negligible. And if you want to smoke something, it's set and forget. Toss some rub on those ribs, fire up the pellet grill to whatever temp you want, toss the ribs on. Go for a walk, do whatever, no babying the fire.

But... I'm a charcoal guy.

[captainlee]

I started smoking in my Webber Summit which has a burner and box dedicated for wood chips. It worked ok, did a nice job on a longer cook like rotisserie chicken. I enjoy my Yoder, but don't like to grill on it, so i use it for smoking only. Maybe something like my Summit which give you a descent combo to see if you are really interested in both grilling and smoking.

[Murdy]

I did this as well with a Broil King Signet. Got one of those after market metal boxes you stick wood chips in and set down on the burner. I eventually added an A-Maz-N tube on the other side. Certainly wasn't a heavy smoke profile, but was pleasant.

[bbqLuv]

Traeger pellet grills really are great pellet grills. Love mine. Timberline 850. The Traeger will last 20+ years if taken care of.

$4,000 for the XL is a bit pricey. Traeger just came out with the Timberline XL. So, I don't know if there are any design flaws to be worked out. I have gotten nothing but compliments on the meals I made for others, chicken, ribs, brisket, pulled pork, bacon-wrapped Oreos, spam burnt ends, Pork belly burnt ends. and beef ribs.

When I was researching pellet grills, it seemed at the time every other pellet grill was compared to the Traeger.

I started off in the Pellet Grill world with a grill from Cabela's and used the low-cost Pit Boss pellets. I was very happy with it jammed and I broke the auger trying to unjam it. Then I upgraded to the Traeger Timberline 850.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

There's already lots of good things to look for posted, but I will say that his wife may be surprised to find she likes smoked things off a pellet grill. My wife was complaining the first few weeks I got my grill about me smoking everything, but over time she has begun to request things smoked (I made cookies the other day and she loved them).

[Potkettleblack]

We've tried to suggest that maybe Traeger isn't the best choice when similar and less expensive options are out there, but they love The Highest End Model of Everything, so apparently price is not a concern

If they want the top of the line, and the price is not an obstacle, maybe they shouldn't look at the bells and whistles on the traeger, and instead go to Memphis.

https://memphisgrills.com/

I think construction matters.
Making form follow intent matters.
Maybe it's a plus to be Made in America. Maybe it's a plus to be Veteran Owned.

So, if form follows intent, what's the weather like. If they have a cold winter, will they want to cook in it? If they live where it rains, will they want to cook in that? If they want to cook in the cold, double wall construction is necessary.

How often do they plan to use it? What kinds of things do they want to cook? What kind of space are they willing to cede to the cooker? How many people will they be cooking for? What level of cooking do they do already?

All of these are intent questions that should dictate form.

I have the Grilla 500 (the robot looking one), because I needed a cooker to fit a limited space, and the double walled cook chamber was a selling point in Chicago. Now that I have a yard, would I buy it again? I dunno. I love it, it's still double walled, it's built like a tank, and the customer service is FAN-TAST-IC, imo.

So, that's the decision tree. Determine the function, find the cooker that best fits it.

It's a shame that Masterbuilt is the company leading the charcoal as pellets cooker charge, because they wouldn't fill the desire to have a high end cooker. But would probably fit their bill best. A few years and someone with better construction will get in on that.

[glitchy]

Memphis Grills are no longer made in the USA. They moved all manufacturing from Minnesota to China a couple years ago. As well, my personal experience owning one is they are extremely susceptible to grease fires and have an extremely limited size searing area.

[Potkettleblack]

I don't have Memphis money, either way, so no skin off my teeth.

[StrikeBBQ]

My 1st and only question; Is it as good as a Rectec?

[rlozinak]

I like my Traeger, Easy to change pellets. Would not use for grilling though, It that regard it is just like an oven.

[Bernard]

I was in a similar situation to help my father in law select select a pellet grill. IMO, the baseline performance of most grills now is decent: they're all capable of smoking meat and can do so well. So like buying a car, the differentiator is more about the cooking experience.

1. Is WiFi control available, valued by the buyer, and if it is available does it work remotely or only within network?

2. What features does the grill have to insulate the fire box, improving temp control and pellet consumption? Eg double wall, super thick steel for the US made grills. Gross weight could be a proxy into heat retention. In my case, his budget precluded stainless steel so this seemed appropriate.

3. What ability to sear or offer direct flame access does the grill have? Important if your buyer wants an all-in-one; might be totally irrelevant to buyers with multiple grills. If searing/direct grilling is possible, how large is the searing area? How difficult is it to open it up?


4. What ability does the grill have to control/mitigate hot spots? Eg exhaust adjustment.

5. What guidance features does the app (if available) include? Eg. Temp alerts, pellet level detection.

6. For easy is it to drain the pellet hopper?

7. Does the controller include any enhancement features like smoke level adjustment? Cook to temp?
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[klflowers]

I think the best first question us what are they planning to cook and for how many. That goes a long way to deciding what to buy.

[Old Glory]

For all in one get the Smoke Fire. I think Weber has addressed many of the first release issues. They have a warranty and decent customer support. If budget is there step up to MAK.

I run a Blazn' Grid Iron. It is a great cooker functionally but I am having excessive rust issues though I have been told it will last for years because of the thickness of the steel.

When I replace it will be a MAK Stainless or Lone Star. I'd even consider the Smoke Fire at that point.