OT: Pellet grills

[SBDawg]

I've seen several post in the past with some of you and your pellet grills. I'm considering investing in one but have questions for the pack
1)Are the pellet grills a pain to clean?
2) Anybody have a pit boss? I'm leaning in this direction for price and they make some models that seem like they would be easier to get to the firebox for cleaning. And the direct flame broiling seems like a good feature for when you want a sear
3) If you own a pit boss does the quality seem to be there? Obviously I want this thing to last, and I know that you get what you pay for when it comes to these types of things.
4) What are your recommendations when it comes to pellet grills in general?

And.... Go....

 

[Eleven Bravo]

I have yet to purchase one of these pellet grills. I’m still using a kamado and I have a couple of big smokers mounted on trailers. I have a couple of friends who have the pellet grills and have cooked on them-one is a Traeger and the other is a Pit Boss. I like the consistency as far as temperature and smoke on both of them as there is really no “fight” necessary in keeping the temperature where you want it. Both seem to hold pretty much where you set them (of course, I can keep my kamado temperature right where I want it as well. I would give the edge to the Pit Boss because it seems to be heavier than the Traeger and the construction is definitely more quality and it is heavier. I’ll end up buying a pellet grill and it will be a Pit Boss based upon my experience (although limited) with pellet grills. I honestly don’t think you could go wrong with the Pit Boss. As I type this I am putting some hickory chunks in water to soak overnight to cook an 18# brisket tomorrow. Get you a Pit Boss and fire that mother up!

 

[msudawg12]

Recteq

 

[PBRME]

I never could find a pellet grill, on display, at the store that didn’t feel cheap. After watching a few videos my choices came down to grilla, recteq, and Yoder. Went with recteq for the warranty and price. It’s unbelievable how much more solid it is over box store brands. It’s been on an uncovered patio for 2 years without the first sign of rust.

I have 2 friends that bought camp chef with the searing station. They both seem to really like it. I’m jealous of how the fire pot comes off from outside. It does tend to rust making it hard to remove.

If you haven’t considered it, I’d look at the masterbilt gravity series. Works like a pellet grill with charcoal and wood. Love my pellet grill, but the flavor charcoal and wood add is not comparable.

 

[aTotal360]

1) Not a pain to clean if you take the proper precautions. Put foil over the drip pan on the inside and buy the disposable bucket liners. You don't have to do it, but it makes life easier. I have a shop vac dedicated to sucking out ash as well. Buy the cheapest one you can find on amazon.

2) I have a Traeger. IMO, they are all roughly the same. You'll eventually figure out how to work around every manufacturers shortcomings. To me, RecTec feels like it's "heavier", but who the hell knows. That doesn't mean it cooks better. I promise you the controller is more important that how heavy the lid is.

3) Never had one.

4) Wifi and a good app. That's why I bought a next gen Traeger. It's so damn easy. The app works really well when you figure it out. I cooked ribs yesterday and only opened my grill 4 times over the course of 5 hours. Once to put them on, once to take them off, wrapped them, then again to put them back on, then taking them off. I know Traeger gets **** on because they are basically the Yeti of the pellet market, but their grills are fool proof.

The only knock I have on Traeger is that it does have hot spots. I lined the entire grill grate area with slice bread, cut it up to 250F and monitored what pieces were turning to toast really quickly. That gave me a perfect heat map of my cooking space. Now I know where to avoid putting meat (front left corner, back right corner).

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

I never could find a pellet grill, on display, at the store that didn’t feel cheap. After watching a few videos my choices came down to grilla, recteq, and Yoder. Went with recteq for the warranty and price. It’s unbelievable how much more solid it is over box store brands. It’s been on an uncovered patio for 2 years without the first sign of rust.

I have 2 friends that bought camp chef with the searing station. They both seem to really like it. I’m jealous of how the fire pot comes off from outside. It does tend to rust making it hard to remove.

If you haven’t considered it, I’d look at the masterbilt gravity series. Works like a pellet grill with charcoal and wood. Love my pellet grill, but the flavor charcoal and wood add is not comparable.

I just started looking at the gravity after a friend of mine sent pics of his. It is more appealing to me than a pellet grill. Charcoal is what I know, so I don’t really want to have to learn yet another type of grilling.

 

[LittleBigDog]

If you're near Ridgeland, go check out Grills of MS...

The biggest negative I had with my PitBoss is temperature differentiation from one side to the other...with no damper to control it. Yoder is very, very nice! Much more expensive but worth it in my experience. Much more smoke flavor than the PitBoss...and much better quality of food all the way around. I have also heard good things about the Green Mountain Grills that they sell their, but no personal experience.

 

[ronpolk]

Not difficult to clean at all. Probably once a month or so I take the shop vac and clean up all the ash. It’s similar to cleaning a charcoal grill except for the drip pan. A lot of people put foil on that and I think that is a fine option. I usually don’t. I just use a paint scraper to get it clean.

I have a green mountain grill. I bought it almost 2 years ago. I like it a lot. I do like it better as a smoker. It gets plenty hot enough to grill with but I’ve discovered I like the direct heat on some things. Luckily I kept my Weber kettle. I’d definitely recommend keeping your charcoal to go along with the pellet.

 

[Chris Mannix]

The reason Yoder is so expensive is because they are worth it. I have had a Yoder y640 competition set up for about six months. I also have a chubby box smoker and a BGE. The Yoder is not hard to clean, dedicate a shop vac to it. The Yoder is by far the best and most reliable smoker I have ever owned. They are a bit more expensive, but again the quality is worth the price. I would go into grills of Mississippi and just talk to those guys, they have demo models that you can compare. I said for years I will never cook on anything but charcoal, got a pellet smoker and have never looked back.

 

[Xenomorph]

I’m on my second Camp Chef. Have absolutely loved them and used the heck out of them. The clean out system on them is a breeze. Just pull the rod and then dump the cup.

 

[Bud.sixpack]

The direct flame searing is awful bad to flame up, the fan makes it almost impossible to prevent. That being said, I have 2 traegers, they will both get plenty hot to sear given ample time.

Cleaning is very easy, put foil on the drip pan, change when needed, vacuum fire box and surrounding area once a month. I don't have to worry about cleaning the grease bucket, coons keep mine licked clean

 

[mcdawg22]

I’m not gonna lie. When I first got my RecTec I was replacing the foil every cook and vacuuming every 4 or so. I stopped doing that. I replace the foil every 4 cooks or so and I haven’t vacuumed in a while. It seems to smoke better when it’s a little dirty. The drip pan liners are a must. I also use Pitt boss pellets. They are cheaper and seem to do the job fine. Whatever you get don’t dismiss wifi. It is really useful to check up on your food if you are out and about. Especially if you run out of pellets!

 

[Crazy Cotton]

Yoder pellet grills are made in Nebraska and will last a lifetime. And they cook outstanding.

 

[MaxwellSmart]

1) Not a pain to clean if you take the proper precautions. Put foil over the drip pan on the inside and buy the disposable bucket liners. You don't have to do it, but it makes life easier. I have a shop vac dedicated to sucking out ash as well. Buy the cheapest one you can find on amazon.

2) I have a Traeger. IMO, they are all roughly the same. You'll eventually figure out how to work around every manufacturers shortcomings. To me, RecTec feels like it's "heavier", but who the hell knows. That doesn't mean it cooks better. I promise you the controller is more important that how heavy the lid is.

3) Never had one.

4) Wifi and a good app. That's why I bought a next gen Traeger. It's so damn easy. The app works really well when you figure it out. I cooked ribs yesterday and only opened my grill 4 times over the course of 5 hours. Once to put them on, once to take them off, wrapped them, then again to put them back on, then taking them off. I know Traeger gets **** on because they are basically the Yeti of the pellet market, but their grills are fool proof.

The only knock I have on Traeger is that it does have hot spots. I lined the entire grill grate area with slice bread, cut it up to 250F and monitored what pieces were turning to toast really quickly. That gave me a perfect heat map of my cooking space. Now I know where to avoid putting meat (front left corner, back right corner).

The wife bought a Traeger off QVC a couple of years ago and I really thought it would be a waste but I was wrong. It is basically and easy bake oven with a little smoke. It does chicken great every time. Brisket is really good too. Cleaning is simple just like 360 said. I got a small shop vac and keep the drip pan wrapped in foil. It's been on an uncovered patio since day one and no rust or other problems. As far as the hot spots go, mine is the same way. I just position things accordingly and rotate when I flip. About the only thing I don't like on it is steak and it could use some more smoke.

 

[goodknight]

Have a RecTec 590. Easy to clean and will do whatever you want it to do. Grilled burgers, steak and fish and smoked a Boston butt this weekend. Can’t see using anything else now.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

I’ve been wanting to find an upgrade to my 30 in masterbuilt electric. I have a big wood burner side smoker. I have another Weber I use mostly to just grill. Was thinking about getting a pit boss vertical smoker but they have some bad reviews like retiring out after just a couple of smokes. Was thinking about just getting a bigger masterbuilt electric than my old small electric. Wanting something vertical mainly for space on the porch. Has anyone tried the pit boss vertical that lows and academy have? Just wanting something I can set and not have to touch when I don’t have time to sit with it like my wood burner. Electric is fine but I like the pellet smoke. It’s closer to doing the wood burners. Anyone know of a good vertical pellet smoker outside of the pit boss V5?