When I looked at new pellet grills I looked at stainless, powder coated, and the Yoder. I chose to pass on stainless because of the cost and you can never really keep stainless looking nice and smear-free. It’s hard enough with an indoor appliance let alone with an outdoor appliance.
I passed on the powder coated grills because I know a few owners and they start rusting after a few seasons just like cars in the Midwest. No matter how hard you try rust gets under that powder coat on the edges and joints. Good luck fixing rust cancer and even better luck trying to repaint it and make it look nice.
I went with the Yoder because it’s very heavy gauge, unlike the powder coated grills. Yoder can get the rap for rust, however, you can fix that rust rather easily And it’s so thick it’s rusting through in my lifetime. Better yet, you can sand it, paint it, and it will look like new.
Grills get messy over time and you never see the big offset pit owners care the least about how pristine their pits look. I wanted a beefy, heavy grill. Yoder made sense for how I was going to cook and more sense for how I was going to clean and even restore it.
To me, you buy stainless to look nice. Then, you hope it can cook and stay looking nice. And, maybe it will. I have 3 different grills and I didn’t buy any of them for the looks. So, decide what you want to pay, find a pellet grill that has the right features for you, and then decide how much looks matter.
One last thing, this forum is never sort on opinions so expect a ton of advice that’s all over the map And enjoy sorting through it. That’s a big part of the fun.