Best pellet smoker around $300

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motsyball

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 3, 2015
59
23
My traeger is on the fritz and the wife has me on a $300 budget. I've found a few pellet grills/smokers in that price range so ur opinion on which of these is best is appreciated. The priority is to use it as a smoker for butts & ribs but it would also be nice if it could grill steaks & burgers too. Main thing is that it holds a temp so I can set it and walk away plus bold smoke flavor

Pit boss Lexington 540 Sq in @ $297

Z grill 573 Sq in @ $379

Pitt boss 700 FB @ $297

Even embers 28 @ $299

Pitt boss PB440D2 @ $337

Z grills 450A @ $431
 
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If you're counting pennies, Pit Boss is great value for the buck. Of the 3 you mentioned, I'd sure favor the 700. The other two are fine for just cooking for two but for guests or parties, you'll like the bigger size of the 700. Plus only the 700 has the big hopper for longer un-attended cooks.
 
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Just saw this

Keith
 
Just saw this

Keith
Would u take a chance on that $400 surprise box? Is it still worth, even if they send me the least expensive grill/smoker?
 
Some of the pit boss models have a sliding plate that allows the flame to shoot thru which is supposed to help in searing meats which was one of your requirements. I don’t think the z grills has that
 
Looks like the $419 includes the accessory bundle of gloves, knife and cutting board.

Keith
 
Pit boss way over Z grills!! I have an older traeger but I looked at these 2 brands for when mine craps out. Z grills from Menards we’re very cheaply made vs comparable pit boss and the temp of z grills only goes to 450 ( and I read it has trouble getting there) so searing is out. Most pit boss will get to 550 with a sliding plate as mentioned for searing. The bigger pellet hopper is nice for longer cooks! Just my 2 cents
 
Z-Grills has a 30-day return policy, just not sure who pays the return postage if your $400 Flash Box is a disappointment to you.
 
Looks like the $419 includes the accessory bundle of gloves, knife and cutting board.

Keith
I bought the blind box from Z grills over the weekend for $419. Tracking info says it's 2 boxes, 1 from Canada and 1 from Texas. Is it safe to assume the grill would come in 1 box and the other is the accessory bundle of gloves, knife and cutting board?
 
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congrats on your new toy!! does the tracking info you can look at give the dimensions or weights of the boxes? might be able to tell something if it does.
 
congrats on your new toy!! does the tracking info you can look at give the dimensions or weights of the boxes? might be able to tell something if it does.
I looked it up and the box from Texas is 85.9 lbs & the box from Canada is 4.1 lbs. No dimensions given. By that weight can you tell which grill I am getting?
 
question for those who have and had a pellet grill, especially those of you hat upgraded from one to a Mak, yoder, rec tec, Smoke fire. Not getting into build quality/wifi and not looking to trash any decisions on what you chose. But is the smoke flavor/strength/profile any diffent from a Z-grill, pit boss, etc...compared to the higher end machines?
 
I looked it up and seems the 450 is the only one that fits that weight class
Pretty sure the blind box ad said I would get either the 700 or the 1000. The sale is still going on so you can click the link above and it shows the 700 or the 1000 so I was just assuming I would get one of those.
 
Pretty sure the blind box ad said I would get either the 700 or the 1000. The sale is still going on so you can click the link above and it shows the 700 or the 1000 so I was just assuming I would get one of those.
Screenshot_20220817_155346.png


The 550 comes in at about 94lb. Could be that one
 
This Amazon chart doesn't have the 550, but the 700 & 1000 weigh a lot more. TNJake's 450 guess looks awfull close.
1660772716786.png


Amazon gives the 550 at 85#, and it's on the list.
 
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