Help me find the right pellet smoker/grill combo

[nickmv]

So I'm about to move out of a small apt into a house for rent, and looking to upgrade from my Weber Smokey Mountain (actually let's just say "complement it").

Naturally, I'm leaning towards an electronically controlled pellet smoker that serves double duty as a grill. I wanna be able to fire it up and do steaks, but also go on long smoke sessions with ribs, briskets, and more. I've experienced a Traeger before at a friend's house, but the controller was always going whack and letting the temp get out of control, etc.

I see the Rec Tec gets rave reviews, but it's also a Chinese product. I'd prefer American made if possible. My budget is $1200 shipped, however what's made the Rec Tec so appealing is that it's 24mos same-as-cash. I'd much rather pay it off interest free over 6-8mos, than to try to drop the full amount all at once.

Any recommendations? I'm all ears.

 

[beernuts]

I went with the GMG Daniel Boone with remote.  It's been great.  There are some nice features over the Traeger and Rec Tec but I wouldn't say one is way better than the other.  All of the units cook good barbecue.  As for steaks it's a bit of a stretch but they can do it if you rely on Grill Grates to get the heat you need to sear them properly.  All of the units are made in China.  There are a couple made in the US but as you can expect the price is going to be higher.  For a US made smoker there is the Yoder 480 for around $1200 and that's US made.  It's built like a tank and has a Digital controller.  I know I'm missing another US made product that has a removable fire pot for cleaning and that's about the same money.  

When you're in the $1200 range you should expect to get a smoker with a digital controller, heavy duty construction, and great performance.  With that said the China product from GMG, and RecTec are good units.  They have digital controls, decent sheet metal construction, and the GMG has a Turbo Boost to help with heat control and startup in cold temps.  Don't dismiss the less expensive units out of hand just be aware they're out there and offer good value for the money.  

 

[seenred]

I went with the GMG Daniel Boone with remote.  It's been great.  There are some nice features over the Traeger and Rec Tec but I wouldn't say one is way better than the other.  All of the units cook good barbecue.  As for steaks it's a bit of a stretch but they can do it if you rely on Grill Grates to get the heat you need to sear them properly.  All of the units are made in China.  There are a couple made in the US but as you can expect the price is going to be higher.  For a US made smoker there is the Yoder 480 for around $1200 and that's US made.  It's built like a tank and has a Digital controller.  I know I'm missing another US made product that has a removable fire pot for cleaning and that's about the same money.  

When you're in the $1200 range you should expect to get a smoker with a digital controller, heavy duty construction, and great performance.  With that said the China product from GMG, and RecTec are good units.  They have digital controls, decent sheet metal construction, and the GMG has a Turbo Boost to help with heat control and startup in cold temps.  Don't dismiss the less expensive units out of hand just be aware they're out there and offer good value for the money.  

I'm thinking the Blazin' Grill Works pellet pits are American made...Can anyone verify?  Like most everyone else, I would always buy American when possible, but the Yoders and BGW's are significantly (at least for my budget) more expensive.  It would be nice to see a side-by-side review and comparison of the features, construction, and overall quality of the American pits to those made in China (GMG, RecTec, etc.)  Has anyone ever found such a review/comparison?  Like most folks, I have to get the best bang for my buck...but I'm am definitely jonesing to own one of these pellet pits.

 

[weinnmann]

I dont know that you will get the best of both worlds with being able to grill steaks and cook low and slow with one grill. I know some may disagree with this but I have a traeger lil tex and it can be done but it is not easy nor convient. I thought the same when I bought my first pellet grill and have kept the gasser around because it cant do both easily.

My questions for you when choosing a brand do you have any dealers near you? I had a hard time buying mine site unseen and I regret it, looking at a tape measure and thinking this will be big enough is way different than seeing a grill loaded with food.

Second do you have a local dealer for pellets? It can get very spendy buying pellets in 20lb bags if there is not a dealer close, unless you want to buy a pallet of them at one time. I had very few options when I began and it got expensive in a hurry, expecially if you are trying to cook at high temps, by the time the grill is hot and then you cook the food you will burn through a fair amount of pellets. Thats the second reason I quit trying to grill steaks on the lil tex.

I may have said some negative things about the pellet cookers but these were things I learned and wasnt expecting, but I will tell you the BBQ foods that you cook low and slow will be amazing. Turkeys and chickens are great and soo juicy that you wonder how the oven dries them out so much.

 

[mossymo]

Have a Yoder YS640 since the January before last and am outrageously happy with it.

Can cold smoke in it with just the fan on if I choose and it will run as low as 150º and hit temps as high as 600º plus. The cook chamber is built like a tank with 10 gauge steel and the empty weight on the grill is 313 lbs of pure quality. Yoder offers free software upgrades as they are available, I don't believe other manufacturers even offer them. With the second optional shelf has 1070 square inches of cooking grate area and the warranty is 10 years on the grill body and 3 years on the control systems. Hands down there customer service is top notch.

If ours was ever stolen I know what I will be replacing it with!

 

[ptpalms]

I have cooked on several different Grand Slams and Grid Irons.  I own a Grid Iron. 

For what you are wanting, a Blazin Grand Slam w/ sear kit would would perfect. 

The Ortech controller on the Blazin's is NOT the sam pos that is on the treagers, so no fear there.

This is a quote from another person on a different forum, but Smokey pretty much addresses everything about the Blazin Grills.

[quote author=Smokey_Logger link=topic=19514.msg181623#msg181623 date=1365424882]
It seems that one of the more frequently questions asked on the forum is what pellet grill would you recommend, and why. So in an effort to answer this question from my prospective and as the owner of a Blaz'n Grill I've compiled the following information.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Following are a few of the things that influenced my decision in choosing the Blaz'n Grill over its competitors along with a few personal observations I've been able to make during the year + of using it.

• Blaz'n Grills come with the a top (second) interior shelf as standard equipment. (With most other manufacturers this is either an option or not available at all.)
• Blaz'n Grills come with a stainless steel exterior front shelf as standard equipment. (With most other manufacturers this is either an option or not available at all.)
• Blaz'n Grills have a 30 lb hopper  (Really handy for those long cooks, like when doing briskets or pork butts).
• Blaz'n Grills have a easy slide out burn pot, making clean out extremely easy and quick. (When the owners of another popular brand of smoker were asked  - What would you change on your grill if you could. - One of the most frequent replies was the addition of a slide out burn pot.)
• Blaz'n Grills use a round heavy duty, 10 gage stainless steel heat deflector.  (With it being round I believe it aids in dispersing the heat pretty evenly over the grills cooking surface when compared to some of the other grills with rectangular or square heat deflectors.)
• Blaz'n Grills drip pan and grates are made from heavy stainless steel (No problems with warping or rust, extending the overall longevity of the grill.)
• Blaz'n Grills lower body is doubled walled, which helps to reduce pellet consumption. (The majority of the grills made by other manufacturers are single walled.) 
• Blaz'n Grills are available in variety of  custom colors. (The ability to choose a custom color for a grill is not offered by most other manufacturers.)
• Blaz'n Grills use a digital temperature controller to manage the temperatures from 180 to 450+ degrees in the following increments 180-225-250-275-300-325-350-375-450 (High).  The controller also has a separate "Smoke Mode" which is handy for doing things like jerky at lower temperatures.  In Smoke Mode the controller can run the smoker from 155° to 225° (Temperatures may vary slightly depending on the ambient temperature.)
• Pretty even and stable temperature across the grates, the average variation from any give location to another on my grill is 10 degrees or less (I believe this is due to round the stainless steel heat deflector over the burn pot, and the extra heavy duty stainless steel grease drip pan/tray)

The following is a comment that _____made in another thread shortly after completing his performance test of the BGW Grand Slam.

[quote author=______link=topic=12654.msg128291#msg128291 date=1331846848]
Now that the Performance test is over, maybe I can let my hair down and make some subjective comments on the Grand Slam.  Of all the pits I have Performance Tested, it seemed to have the greatest stabilization of grill temperatures when it was loaded with meat.  I cant say that I have any empirical data to confirm it, was just using and watching temperature equipment as I cooked.
[/quote]

Blaz'n Grills are made in the good old US of A in Beatrice, Nebraska. (I realize this may not matter to some folks and that's fine, but to some extent it made a difference for me.)

Specifications:

• Primary Construction: Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel:  16 gauge main body - Lid 12 gauge - Heat deflector 10 gauge.
• Finish : Baked on powder coat paint (optional choice of colors)
• Grand Slam Grill Area: Main grill 468 sq. in. (24" x 19.5") - Second shelf 195 sq. in. (19.5"x10") - Total cooking surface = 663 sq. in.
• Grid Iron Grill Area Main grill 702 sq. in. (36"x19.5") - Second shelf 310 sq. in. (31"x10") - Total cooking surface = 1012 sq. in.
• Head Room: From the main grilling surface to the inside top of the grilling/smoking chamber 11.5 inches
• Grilling Surface - Stainless steel – You have a choice the more traditional roller grates or the Blaz'n laser cut grates. My choice would be to go with the traditional roller grates, as I believe they are more convenient especially when removing or moving items around on the grill surface. 
• Pellet Feed System: 1.8 RPM Auger - Tube feed direct to burn pot
• Fire pot dimension: 3.25 diameter by 2.78 deep.
• Pellet capacity: 30 lbs.
• Combustion Fan: 105 CFM
• Temperature Controller: Digital
• MSRP: Grand Slam $1099.00  ---- Grid Iron $1299.00
• Options and Accessories: Custom colors they will paint the main lid and hopper lid in your choice of color, Insulated Lid Panel, Direct Grilling & Searing Kit, Competition Wheel Kit, Custom cover.

As stated previously I've had my Blaz'n Grill for just over a year now, and in that time I've burned well over 1000 pounds of pellets in it. I've smoked jerky as low as 155°, grilled steaks and burgers at or over 500° and smoked just about everything in between. To this date the grill has performed flawlessly meeting all of my expectations and more. So far I've had absolutely no mechanical or electrical problems with the grill, which I think is pretty good considering the amount of hours its run and the quantity of pellets I've burned in it.

As far as BGW customer service goes I believe you will find it equal too that of its competitors. I have called Blaz'n Grill Works on four different occasions; The first time was to get additional information about their grills before buying, the second time was to order the grill and more recently a couple of times to get information on some of the new options that they came out with, on all occasions they were always very helpful and answered all my questions.

I have tried to keep this post as much as possible based on facts and not opinion.  In reality it actually doesn't matter to me what make or model grill you get. I've simply tried to give you the facts as I see them so that you can get the grill/smoker that best meets your needs, expectations, and budget. Take your time and read through the Pellet Unit Performance Testing section as well as the various manufacturers sections as they all have their good points and individual features that set them apart.

[/quote]

Anyway, these grills are definitely worth looking into. 

I believe that they are pretty cheap on shipping. 

I picked mine up from the dealer, but most people order factory direct. 

It came bolted to a small pallet that 3 of us unloaded easily.  Very good packing.

Good Luck on your search!