US Made Mid-range Pellet Smoker Choices

[TruckLoan]

Its time to replace my 8 year old LG 800 Which was a great all around cooker for a first pellet smoker. It still runs and cooks fine but starting to get rusty and needs a new heat deflector and a few other parts replaced plus someone ripped the side shelf partway off trying to move the thing and now it won't hold any weight. (tried several ways to fix but the aforementioned surface rust made that tougher).

I decided I only want to buy American made so most of the usual suspects are off the list and even though I would have considered another Canadian built model, LG is all made in China now too. Price range when I started thinking about this last summer was up to $2,000 but 3 of the 4 I had on the list are now closer to $2,500, so I've adjusted. My list last year was MAK 1-Star, Yoder 640s, Blazin' Grillworks Gridiron and Smokin' Brothers Premium 30".
The MAK now that they no longer offer free shipping is too far above the price cutoff.
Yoder and Blazn' are very similar, each with one or two pluses and minuses over the other. Like the heavier steel on Yoder has plusses & minuses to it, the 2 meat probe inputs a plus. The pull-out firepot on the Blazin' looks like a big plus for cleanup, and the 30 Lb. hopper capacity can't hurt for longer cooks.

So the Smokin' Brother is looking like it checks all the boxes and is a little closer to the price comfort zone. The only think I'm not totally sure on is their version of searing is a little different. One reason I chose the old LG for my 1st was the direct flame access. This one is the only one of these 3 without it but they claim the SearMate with GrillGrates is just as good. If it works, it might even be better as I can't deny I've charred a few things once that flame gets going and I forget to watch something close enough.

Anyone have experience with the SearMate, or Smokin' Brothers in general and any thoughts I may not have had why I should pay $400-600 more for either the Yoder or Blazin GrillWorks models.

[DavidNorcross]

Not sure what happened to you here TruckLoan....you are showing as a "former member". Sorry we were not able to give you a proper AR welcome.

[Spinaker]

It's a glitch in the Matrix.

[Alan Brice]

I have seen that, recently, on at least one other.

[Panhead John]

They keep doing that to me, hoping I’ll take the hint….🥸

[Sid P]

My co-worker wanted a US made pellet grill, and got a Yoder 640 because LSG’s lead time was too long. He absolutely loves it.

[RonB]

I can't help. but welcome (back).

[Spinaker]

I would go for the Yoder or the Grill Works. You are guying quality for sure with those two models. Plus, I would not want to mess with the Grill Grates and Sear Mate every time I need to sear something. (I got rid of my Grill Grates years ago, PITA if you ask me)

The Yoder sears very well, with the HD removed. I sear on my brother in laws all the time when I am over there for stuff.

I do like the more compact design of the Sear Brothers Pellet Grill.

All of this being said, I would not make your choice on searing ability. (Unless they were the same price, maybe) Go for other things like cooking space, hopper size, build quality, etc. If you are spending this kind of money, get the one you really want. And if one is a little out of your price range, wait a little bit and save a little more. It sounds like you still have some time with your LG 800. Granted the ways things are going, we might see prices going up even more.

[TruckLoan]

I would not say searing is my primary decision maker, just prefer to have it as an option if it isn’t too much work to set up. I have a gasser nearby but prefer not to fire it up just to sear something I smoked. With my LG I just had to slide open the panel over the fire pot from above, no removing grates. All of these look like a bit more work to switch. Many other mfgs seem to be copying the LG feature and adding a handle outside to slide but alas those are all made in China.

[Spinaker]

Yeah I would buy from China either, if I could help it.

[Draznnl]

I can’t compare the Yoder to the others, I can only say that I really like my Yoder 640s. My only real objection is there is no easy way to empty the hopper if you want to change wood.

[Donw]

Have you tried a bucket top vacuum similar to the home depot one? Works great.

[rlozinak]

I would suggest that you look at the LSG pellet smokers. I have one and it hits all your points. The only drawback is the long wait time from order to deliver. Took me 5 months to get. But I though it was well worth the wait. The thing is a beast.

[TruckLoan]

Man I wish I hadn’t even heard of LSG. I thought I’d fallen in love. As you said, it hits all the points and have every feature on my must-haves and pretty much everything on my wish list too. But there’s a price for that, my entire list of choices is over my original budget but I just can’t justify going this much over. At least thinking about the 14+ week wait helps my regrets in not just going for it.

[Bogy]

Obviously you are still in the decision making process. I never did make an actual post about my Blaz'n. I'll make make more of a post tomorrow when I have an actual keyboard. Let me just say for now that I really like mine, and I have worked with the company after the new owners took over in ordering some parts and they were very helpful and the parts arrived promptly. Hopefully manufacturing quality is back to where it was.

[Deeremaxx]

I’m just happy someone wants American made products, I’m an offset “ built in Texas” guy so I’m not much help

[STEbbq]

I’d agree the LSG pellet smoker is worth considering but factoring in shipping, it might be close to 3k if not more.

I would also be somewhat leery of the Smokin” Brothers and GrillGrates as Spinaker suggested.

Blazin” I think has mixed reviews here. Not sure where Bogy and Old Glory stand on their smokers right now with the new owners.

Process of elimination suggests Yoder, which should be a really solid pick. Touching up paint and rust seem to be the most common issues.

[Old Glory]

As a cooker my Grid Iron has been flawless. I love cooking on it. The pull out firepot makes clean up a breeze.

The biggest con is the rust issues I continue to have. A year and a half in and I have pretty significant rust.

Add Pitts and Spits to your list as well.

**EDIT TO ADD PHOTOS*

The Powder Coating has failed.

[Sid P]

Dang, that’s ridiculous.

[Bogy]

Wow, mine looks nothing like that. Mine dates back to their dealer days. Something obviously happened to their manufacturing process.

[TruckLoan]

That’s looking similar to my rusting LG 800Elite but it was 5+ years before it showed up. And that is a Chinese made unit with much lower pricing. They actually use the same controller though. Definitely gives me pause about Blazn’ Grillworks but hopefully it was a fluke and the new owners will be more open to helping you out. As far as rust I see far more mentions of that being an issue on Yoders than most other high end makes.

[Sid P]

Yoder has dealers who stock them. My buddy ordered his on a Friday and received it the following Tuesday.

[Donw]

I was lucky when I bought my Yoder 640 years ago. Dealer had stock, didn’t charge shipping, and the state doesn’t collect sales tax. Worth the hundred mile drive.

[TruckLoan]

Thanks for the info and the welcomes. Not sure why it says Former Member except that I had let my membership lapse and just renewed today.

I did look at LSG and they look awesome but all in well above the budget?
Pitts and Spitts looks like good rigs, might have to give them another hard look also.

I guess I’m unsure about the grill grates option because even with the Yoder and Blazin Grill they seem to recommend the grates for searing to keep the grease from dripping into the fire pot. And I assume to keep the flames off the meat on the Yoder when the flame is really raging.

I do also like the size of the 30” with Smokin Brothers. The 24” seems too small and while 36” isn’t huge I worry I’ll be burning a lot of excess pellets while it’s unlikely I will ever use it’s full capacity.
The concept of the Sear Mate makes sense but anyone actually tried them?
Swapping in that feature doesn’t look any more difficult than removing a grid and pulling out the panel in the deflector for the others’ sear options. Plus Smokin Brothers makes a neat little wooden handled tool to pull out the grates.
I do also feel like their connection with Myron Mixon gives me some added comfort knowing how highly rated his cookers are even though I have neither the budget nor need for those much bigger capacity models.

[BrisketKing]

Feel free to give me a call at the factory. 844.650.6250.

Coy

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

If it helps, ANY pellet grill should be able to sear with some assistance... but IMO avoid grill grates unless they make a custom fit for the pellet grill you want AND the manufacturer doesn't explicitly say not to use them (many do because of airflow issues, and pellet grills need airflow)... get yourself a cast iron pan or griddle that fits whatever cooker you choose and you should be able to sear... really though it's still actually more convenient if you have the space to have a second high heat/searing cooker like a flat top grill or other gasser.

Unfortunately most of the pellet grills made in the US have gone well beyond "mid teir" when it comes to prices thanks to inflation and supply chain stuff so the options are slim in the 2K range.

Personally, of your choices I'd lean towards Yoder. Not specifically for any capability... but if I'm gonna spend 2K+ I want to KNOW that I can get parts or have an upgrade path down the road and Yoder has a proven track record with backwards compatibility for future upgrades. Only reason I didn't go with them instead of MAK is I wanted a stainless cooker for ease of cleaning and maintenance.

[TruckLoan]

All of my selected options sell sear kits which include the grill grates to fit them so I see that as an endorsement. The Smokin Brothers Sear Mate is available with grill grates and/or a griddle made to fit, thinking if I went that way I’d get the kit with both. They claim the Sear Mate uses the airflow and directs it to hit surface temps up to 200 degrees above the chamber temp.

[Old Glory]

The Grid Iron sear kit includes them as part of the kit. It works well.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

TruckLoan yeah if they advertise or sell the kit you should be good to go. What I do on my grill to cheat sometimes is I use a little spray olive oil to initiate a flare up situation under my steaks to sear on stock grates if I don't feel like busting out a pan. I had grill grates and they do work, but because they sat on the stock grates they just slid all over and were a pain to clean so I gave 'em to a friend and haven't missed them. But if they had been full size it woulda been a nonissue

[WillTravelForFood]

For searing, the Weber smokefire is said to be decent (at least according to that recent thread earlier this week.). Dunno if it would meet your other criteria or not

[TruckLoan]

Unfortunately Weber doesn’t make anything here in the US anymore.

[texastweeter]

Quality product here

https://pitmaker.com/pm-ar-20-pellet/