Hello everyone! I recently posted introducing myself, but thought I'd post here as well and ask for help! My wife and I are going to start a little side hustle with BBQ. I figure if I'm going to cook for my family, why not make extra and let others enjoy too! Anyways that being said, I currently have a GMG Daniel Boone and we love it, but I'd like to upgrade and be able to make more at a time. What suggestions do you have for $2k or less in the pellet smoker market? Thanks in advance for your feedback!
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Wanted: Help with picking new pellet smoker!
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Never had a pellet pooper, but interested to see what you pick. Maybe Jerod Broussard will weigh in. Seems like a question right up his alley.
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Club Member
- Jul 2019
- 2108
- Central IA
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MAK 2 Star General
KBQ C-60
Weber Summit Charcoal Grillw/ Big Joetisserie, SnS LP, and VortexWeber Genesis II - S-345
Weber Traveler
Fireboard 2 Drive
Anova Precision Sous Vide
All the (pellet) grills I’ve loved before:
Traeger Junior Elite^
GMG DB
Traeger Texas Elite
Memphis Pro§
Traeger Pro 575
CampChef SmokePro STX (ugly grills need love too)
Weber SmokeFire EX4§
Traeger Select
CampChef Woodwind WiFi w/SearBox^
Weber SmokeFire EX4§
^ = Favorites
§ = Love/Hate Relationships
With your budget, I'd probably look at the American made pits. I don't know if a Mak 1 star would get you much more capacity or not. They have some shelving units available and have a pretty tall chamber it appears. I've been very intrigued by the Pitts and Spits Maverick pellet grills, they look very nice and solid. They have a few different sizes and I think they have various shelf options as well.
Blaz'n, Yoder, Smokin' Brothers also have US made pellet grills and some others I'm not thinking of. Smokin Brothers I think has some huge grills and other two make at least 34-36 inch models.
Not in the same class build wise, but has been good for me is Camp Chef. They have the Woodwind 36 WiFi which would have a ton of space with the large upper shelves it has and right at half of your top dollar amount. I like my SmokeFire, but primarily smoking and your goals, I think managing tons of drip pans all the time might be cumbersome and durability questions might cause frustrations.Last edited by glitchy; July 29, 2020, 09:03 AM.
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Like glitchy said. I have the Blazen Grills Grid Iron and at the time I wanted the most space for the buck while maintaining a quality build. I've had it almost 2.5 years. If I was busier with cooking I'd get another.
Pitts and Spitts would have been my second choice, followed by Yoder.
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Club Member
- Mar 2020
- 3508
- Muskego, WI
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Current cookers:
Rec Tec RT700 "Bull" pellet cooker
Smokin-It model 2 electric smoker w/ Maverick 732 temp monitor and cold smoking kit
Weber Genesis 3 burner gas grill w/ rotisserie
Charbroil Grill2Go gas grill
Weber 22" Performer Deluxe kettle grill w/ThermoPro TP-20S temp monitor
Onlyfire rotisserie kit for 22" kettle
Weber Smokey Joe
SnS Deluxe
Vortex
The Orion Cooker convection cooker/smoker (two of them)
Pit Boss 29â€, 3 burner griddle
Joule Sous Vide circulator
Favorite beer: Anything that's cold!
Favorite cocktail: Bourbon neat
I have a Rec Tec RT 700 with the optional upper shelf. Cook chamber is about 36X20. Can really load it up. It's been flawless for me and would be in your budget range easily.
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Club Member
- Aug 2018
- 1094
- Heart of Dixie
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Kamado Joe Big Joe III, Recteq 1250, PKGO, Jumbo Joe and PBC. Weber kettle @ the hunting camp.
While I don't own a pellet anymore (owned a Traeger for 10yrs), my brother just recently purchased a Rec-Tec RT700. I helped him put it together and the build quality is superior to my old Traeger or any of the other's I've seen recently. He's not technically inclined, but raves about the wifi feature and has cooked all 4 (pork, chxn, ribs and brisket) on it. Claims the brisket is the best he's ever done. I think, if I ever got back into pellet grills, I'd jump all over this one properly accessorized of course.
I like the competition cart, extra int. shelf, griddle (not grill grates), cover, folding front shelf and smoke box. This would get right in line with your budget....
All that said, my second choice would be a Yoder YS640S Comp.
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Club Member
- Jun 2018
- 4848
- Brentwood CA
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LSG large insulated cabinet
Yoder YS640
LSG 48" Santa Maria Gill
SNS travel kettle
FireBoard controller and PitBull fan
FireBoard 2 Drive
Thermapen Mk4
Thermapen One
Avid Armor USV32 Vacuum Sealer
KWS 10" slicer
I have a Youder YS640, not the "S" model and love it. It's built rock solid and has room. I did a cook with just over 70# of pork butts. Took about 14 hours at 225F and turned out great. The "S" models now have Fireboard based WiFi and probes built in.Last edited by ofelles; July 30, 2020, 08:41 AM.
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Founding Member
- Jul 2014
- 5310
- Blue Earth, Minnesota
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LSG Adjustable Grill/Smoker, MAK Pellet Grill, Large BGE with Several Attachments from the Ceramic Grill Store, Weber Gasser, Cast Iron Pans & Griddle, Grill Grates, Mostly Thermoworks Thermometers, Avova SV Stick, BBQ Guru Controller and Fan
I agree with glitchy and Jerod Broussard . The brands they mention would be my choices for the price range you're in. I lean toward US made as well. Good luck with you're decision. Keep us all posted on your purchase.
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If you're going to side hustle with food, you could possibly make an LLC and all the fun legal stuff dealing with food entails. As such, you'd possibly be able to write of some or all of your next cooker (you'd have to talk to your tax person for your situation of course).
Obviously if it's just for family and friends you're probably not going that route, but figured I'd throw it out there
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Thanks all! I'm going to keep looking over the next few weeks and then I'll make a decision! Lots to digest there! My Daniel Boone GMG has been fantastic, I've literally had zero problems but I just posted on FB the other day that I was making brisket and sold 2 out in no time. There is no BBQ really in my hometown so I figure why not let others enjoy what I love so much! I've looked at the Yoders and Rec-Techs so far but not a few of the other models mentioned!
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Administrator
- May 2014
- 18988
- Clare, Michigan area
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Follow me on Instagram, huskeesbarbecue
Smokers / Grills- Yoder loaded Wichita offset smoker
- PBC
- Grilla Silverbac pellet grill
- Slow 'N Sear Deluxe Kamado (SnSK)
- Masterbuilt Gravity 560
- Masterbuilt Digital Charcoal Cabinet
- Weber 22" Original Kettle Premium (copper)
- Weber 26" Original Kettle Premium (light blue)
- Weber Jumbo Joe Gold (18.5")
- Weber Smokey Joe Silver (14.5")
- Brinkmann cabinet charcoal smoker (repurposed)
Thermometers- SnS 500 4-probe wireless
- (3) Maverick XR-50 4-probe Wireless Thermometers
- A few straggler Maverick ET-732s
- Maverick ET-735 Bluetooth (in box)
- Smoke X4 by ThermoWorks
- Thermapen MkII, orange & purple
- ThermoPop, yellow, plus a few more in a drawer for gifts
- ThermoWorks ChefAlarm (wife's)
- Morpilot 6-probe wireless
- ThermoWorks Infrared IRK2
- ThermoWorks fridge & freezer therms as well
Accessories- Instant Pot 6qt
- Anova Bluetooth SV
- Kitchen Aide mixer & meat grinder attachment
- Kindling Cracker King (XL)
- a couple BBQ Dragons
- Weber full & half chimneys, Char-Broil Half Time chimney
- Weber grill topper
- Slow 'N Sear Original, XL, and SnS Charcoal Basket (for Jumbo Joe)
- Drip 'N Griddle Pans, 22' Easy Spin Grate, and Elevated Cooking grate, by SnSGrills
- Pittsburgh Digital Moisture Meter
Beverages- Favorite summer beers: Leinenkugels Summer & Grapefruit Shandy, Hamm's, Michelob Ultra Pure Gold
- Fav other beers: Zombie Dust (an IPA by 3 Floyd's Brewing), Austin Bros IPA, DAB, Sam Adams regular, Third Shift amber or Coors Batch 19, Stella Artois
- Fav cheap beers: Pabst, High Life, Hamm's & Stroh's
- Most favorite beer: The one in your fridge
- Wine: Red- big, bold, tannic & peppery- Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauv, Sangiovese, Syrah, etc
- Whiskey: Buffalo Trace, E.H. Taylor, Blanton's, Old Forester 1870, Elijah Craig Toasted, Basil Hayden's. Neat please.
- Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About me
Real name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:- Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
Cookshack's Fast Eddy's line makes some high end commercial pellet cookers. One of them in the realms of your budget is the PG500 56" at $1,815.
https://www.pelletgrillpros.com/coll...0-pellet-grill
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I would go from pellet to chunk.
American made, and good BBQ.
https://cookshack.com/collections/re...ic-smoker-ovenLast edited by Cheef; July 30, 2020, 08:42 PM.
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