Howdy - I am a relative newbie to smoking. I have an MES that I received as a Christmas gift and I have been pretty pleased with my results thus far. At at a point where I need to replace my propane grill and I have been thinking that a pellet grill might be the way to go. Originally I was leaning towards a Traeger but the GMG is American made and I love 'merica. I know there are other manufacturers out there, Yoder for one, and I'd like feedback from pellet grill owners, good or bad about there respective units. Thanks in advance!
Hello! First of all, this looks like your first post here at SMF, so welcome aboard! Now on to your discussion on pellet cookers!
I'm pretty sure GMG grills are not made in USA...they are China imports. If someone has proof of otherwise, please feel free to correct me. That doesn't mean they're not good cookers...I know plenty of guys who cook on GMGs and love them. To get an American made cooker, you'll have to spend a little more. The most affordable of these begin at around the $1200, and can run up to $4K or more. This may not be a complete list, but the US made pellet cookers I'm aware of are Yoder, Blazin Grill Works, Memphis, MAK, Fast Eddy by Cookshack. This is surely not all of them, but that's the ones that come to mind. All of the brands I've mentioned above make wonderful cookers...well made products with great customer satisfaction. You'd be tickled pink with any of them.
For under $1K, the only options I know about are imported: The GMG you already mentioned, plus
Rec Tec, Traeger, Louisiana Grills...these are a few that come to mind. Most folks who cook on these are quite satisfied with them...including yours truly. I've owned a
Rec Tec for 3 years, and I'm very happy with it. It's very well made for a cooker costing only 1K.
Best advice I have is to do some browsing through different threads in the pellet smoker forums, as well as the Pellet Smoker Group:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/groups/show/33/pellet-smokers-group
There is also another forum out there on the 'net that is dedicated to only pellet cooking. I won't promote that here on SMF, but you can Google it if you don't already know what I'm talking about.
After you've had the chance to do some reading/research into different cookers, you'll have a better picture of what's right for you. And if you have questions about
Rec Tec specifically, just ask and I'll help any way I can.
Sorry this got a little long winded...good luck in your search!
Red