Help me spend my money!

[jholmgren]

Hey Folks - been quite a while since I've been in The Pit. Good to see everyone still appears to be really helpful and friendly!
(short story follows)
So - I'm an IT Director and was at a vendor sponsored event. Long story short, I won one of their door prizes - a Traeger Bronson 20. Hooray for me! Anyway - the nice people at the event asked me if I wanted to haul the display one home or if I'd prefer an AMEX gift card for $500. I chose the card, because I didn't have room in my car and didn't want the hassle of hauling it from DC to PA.

I now have the card in my hands,and honestly I could buy anything, but I feel like the spirit of the award should lead me to a pellet grill - so my next stop was this site to check reviews. I'm new to pellet grills, my current arsenal is a KJ Big Joe and a Weber Spirit gasser.

Question: For $500 (+/- $100) what would you get? I was about to pull the trigger on the Camp Chef PG24DLX but I saw someone mention the Grilla Silverback close-out sale. I think for $600 (yeah, I'll kick in $100) that seems like the better deal - includes free shipping and a couple of bags of pellets.
What say you? Is the Grilla the best $600 pellet grill available?

Thanks!
Jim

[Nate]

I’ve been leaning hard that direction for a while. I kind of like their philosophy and approach and they seem to be extremely responsive and engaged with their owners.

If you are on Facebook there is an owners page you should check out.

I’m still torn between the Original Grilla and the Silverbac.

[Randy-Phx]

Outdoorcooking.com has the Camp Chef DLX plus a sear box or sidekick for $600 on sale now. I’m not sure how long the sale will last but that’s a good deal.

[jholmgren]

Darn it Randy - you are NOT making this easier. LOL.

[dahcopilot]

The gmg Daniel Boone is about 500 bucks. Not tried the others, but very.happy with mine

[jholmgren]

Thanks - does look like a good deal, but they don't seem to sell them online.

[dahcopilot]

My theory has always been to buy local. Too many benefits to list here

[jholmgren]

I generally agree dahcopilot. I tend to shop locally where feasible. I bought my Big Joe at a local (Amish run) BBQ store.

[smn1285]

My buddy just got the camp chef and we smoked a couple of chickens on it to break it in. Worked great and seemed like a well built piece of equipment. He also smoked a turkey on it last week and said it was a home run!

[jholmgren]

Dug around a bit more - the only 'negative' I could find on the original Silverbac is the hopper clean out. The newer model has a spout, original one doesn't.
Given that Cyber Monday ends in < 2 hours, I pulled the trigger on the original Grilla Silverbac with 2 bags of pellets for $599 shipped. So - I'm out of pocket $99 and I have a brand new toy on the way!
Honestly, doesn't seem like I could have gone wrong with the Camp Chef either but something about the Grilla just appealed to me. I watched a ton of their videos, including their 'behind the scenes' on where their grills are made. I appreciated their honest and straightforward answer about why they no longer make them in the US.
I think this will pair nicely with my Big Joe and my Spirit. Thanks y'all!

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Between the options I think you made the right choice. I started looking at the first Woodwind and still think the side burner is a fantastic add on for a lot of folks. But my friend got a Woodwind SG and I got my hands on it, slightly better quality than your average chain box store but the internals left me with concerns about longevity ... He loves it though and it works, so that's a win!

[MBMorgan]

Congrats!

[rwalters]

I think you made a great choice! Grilla Grills really seem to put the heavier gauged metals in all the right places. Seems like a very solid build and great bang for the buck

[treesmacker]

Happy with my Rec Tec Trailblazer - might as well throw that into the mix...

https://www.rectecgrills.com/rec-tec-grills-trailblazer/

[FireMan]

I am not a pellet pooper but by the looks of Potkettleblack & MBMorgan I would lean in the Grilla direction.

[jholmgren]

Never thought I'd have one either, and probably wouldn't have considered it if I hadn't won the Traeger/Gift card. Now I'm really curious to see how well it works.

[jfmorris]

I think you made a good choice. I’m strapped for cash until I get past a wedding in January and college tuition for the Spring, otherwise I was sorely tempted by that same Grilla sale. Been doing a lot of window shopping and research, and am leaning towards the original Grilla if I ever have a spare $799 laying around.

[jholmgren]

I almost went the extra $ and got the new version, but $200 is a pretty big difference for some fairly minor modifications.
I also looked hard at the OG - that thing is just plain cool looking.

[jfmorris]

Yeah jholmgren the OG looks cool, but you are right - for $599 the Silverbac is a great deal. And more likely to fit the two turkeys I smoked for Thanksgiving on my offset. The OG is a one turkey cooker for sure.

[Nate]

As you get some money saved up or if folks need something to buy you for a gift you can get most of the parts that make the new silverbac what it is... including the pellet dump hopper and stainless steel components. They are listed for sale under parts instead of accessories.

[jholmgren]

Great to know - thanks Nate ! My biggest disappointment was the lack of a pellet dump for the hopper. Awesome to know I can retro-fit it if I decide.

[Nate]

One thing that Mark (the bald guy at Grilla oh and chief engineer) will tell you is they try to make things to retrofit as much as possible if they make changes to current designs. That isn’t possible with everything but with a lot though.

[Catmandu]

Traeger would be happy to know you ended up with the Grilla.

Congrats on the new cooker, and post pics of your first cook.

[LA Pork Butt]

I can’t help, but if could ignore the spirit of the win I would get a Joe Junior.

[jholmgren]

I upgraded from the Original Joe to the Big Joe this summer. Pushed many hundreds of pounds of pork across the grates of the OJ.
The Joe Jr. is cool, but I don't think I'd use it much. Usually when I BBQ, I have a standing list of people who want "leftovers" so I make a lot.