Pellet Grill thoughts?

[bass]

OK so I spent the better part of yesterday cleaning my old gas grill. Its an older DCS grill - I got it on a going out of business clearance sale, ordinarily would not spend that kind of $ on a gas grill. But its nearly 15 YO and is a real pain in the canastas to properly clean.

If it doesent properly fire and cook I'm considering a pellet grill to replace it. I
already have other smokers - the WSM 18" and my big gravity feed (a clone of the Stumps Classic) and a 22" weber kettle grill.

Looking for the temperature control of the PID loop in a pellet unit with the convenience of a gas grill. Considering the new Traeger Woodridge - anyone have experience with these? A Recteq

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

I would buy a Weber gas grill.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I'd choose a pitboss over a traeger. A Recteq put them both to shame though.

 

[sandyut]

Skip the traeger for sure.

I have a weber genesis and a rec teq RT700 (older version of the flagship). I like having both, gives me more options depending on what I am making.

The weber is old AF and still run perfectly. I clean it once a year. Replaced the stock grates with grill grates.

The Rec Teq is 10+ years old and runs like new every time. HIGHLY recommend the brand for all the reasons that matter. Searing is not its strong point, smoking is amazing

They make the X-Fire which sounds like it does both, but im old school and not into combo units. And I have no experience with it.

Feel free to fire off questions. Have fun shopping!

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

^ My Traeger Pro 22 works great.

 

[chopsaw]

A Recteq put them both to shame though.

Which Rec-tec do you have ?

Considering the new Traeger Woodridge -

I looked at one at Home depot last week . Nice unit .

 

[bdawg]

Gotta say, I LOVE my Recteq 700. I pimped it out with the side cold smoke cabinet, the add-on front shelf, and the large removeable interior shelf. My old Pitboss used to have problems with pellets turning into concrete in the long side oriented auger tube (I lived at the time in rainy WA state), and the only solution to that was to have to completely empty the hopper after every smoke and let the auger empty out. Then, after 2 bouts of having to change out the starter heating element (I had to resort to lighting the burn pot by hand with my propane torch while waiting for parts), I finally got fed up.

I moved to the Recteq with its back hopper and short rear-to-front oriented auger tube and it was an absolute Godsend. It never gets stuck like the Pitboss did, even with my move to hot and humid Tampa. Plus, the wifi controller lets me keep an eye on the temps and even adjust setpoints on my phone. This is great because I work remote from home, and can have a smoke going outside while I'm at my desk working.

 

[bass]

Appreciate everybody's feedback - Auger / pellet hopper fires have been a concern - i hear about it internittantly but not enough that I'm nervous nervous about getting one.

I like my gravity feed for smoking & it can handle big cooks, and the WSM is great for little stuff.
The weber kettle is a classic but it takes time to get it ready & if its a big meal the grate gets full in a hurry. Mainly i'm lookijg for a big grill...

I think I'll try & find a store that carries the RecTeq product line & take a look. There's a couple of ACE hardware locations not too far away that are dealers.

 

[chopsaw]

Auger / pellet hopper fires have been a concern

That was a concern for me as well . That's why I wanted a pellet grill with a drop auger .
Like this . Pellets get fed up by the auger , then trickle down the chute to the burn pot .

Do some research on features you want , then make a list . Compare the different brands to your list . Cross things off , or see what you can live with or without .

 

[bdawg]

That's really cool, Chopsaw. What make/model does that? First time I've ever seen it (though I admit it wasn't something that I ever looked for).

 

[chopsaw]

That's really cool, Chopsaw. What make/model does that?

Well , it gets weird for me . Lol . Because I'm not here to promote what I have . That's why I didn't mention it . I'm just trying to help with your question .
Some pellet grills have that drop design , and some don't . Like a pellet hopper dump . Some have it , some don't . That's why I suggest making a list . Then take the grills you're interested in and see which ones have those features .
There's a bunch of great pellet grills out there . Take advice from guys that Actually have experience with the grills they suggest . Like post 4 , 5 , and 7 . They own and use the grills they recommend .

I have a Gen 2 Weber EX4 SmokeFire . It's been upgraded (?) to the Weber Searwood , no longer making the SmokeFire .
I'm not sure what features the searwood has , so no input on it .
Pellet grill is a great platform . I was in the camp of " Never " . Mine is the most used grill / smoker I have .

 

[bdawg]

Yeah, like I said, I love my Recteq (post 7). I just never saw that design before and was intrigued.

 

[chopsaw]

That tells you where I'm at . Thought you were the OP . Sorry .
I like the drop auger . That slotted burn pot drops the ash into a removable tray . Pull the tray and dump it .
That picture is actually when I went in to clean it after a full hopper cook . Had not done anything to it yet . Clean up is a breeze .

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Which Rec-tec do you have ?

I don't my daughter my daughter has the 1200. I have the PB1150PS2.

 

[chopsaw]

daughter has the 1200.

I've looked at those on the website . That's a nice grill .

Nothing wrong with that Pit Boss either .

 

[schlotz]

Hmm... the OP is contemplating replacing a gas grill for a pellet. While you can 'grill' on a pellet (some models do it better than others) I'm of the belief that grilling should be left to dedicated grills. When you want to smoke, get a smoker. Multi-taskers rarely excel at doing everything. JMTC

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I've looked at those on the website . That's a nice grill .

Nothing wrong with that Pit Boss either .

Yea I really like the stainless and how high the temps can get on the recteq.

My pit boss has served me well but the app for it is junk.

 

[sandyut]

Hmm... the OP is contemplating replacing a gas grill for a pellet. While you can 'grill' on a pellet (some models do it better than others) I'm of the belief that grilling should be left to dedicated grills. When you want to smoke, get a smoker. Multi-taskers rarely excel at doing everything. JMTC

Exactly how I feel on that as well!

 

[SmokinEdge]

OK so I spent the better part of yesterday cleaning my old gas grill. Its an older DCS grill - I got it on a going out of business clearance sale, ordinarily would not spend that kind of $ on a gas grill. But its nearly 15 YO and is a real pain in the canastas to properly clean.

If it doesent properly fire and cook I'm considering a pellet grill to replace it. I
already have other smokers - the WSM 18" and my big gravity feed (a clone of the Stumps Classic) and a 22" weber kettle grill.

Looking for the temperature control of the PID loop in a pellet unit with the convenience of a gas grill. Considering the new Traeger Woodridge - anyone have experience with these? A Recteq

I have the Yoder ys640 I’ve owned it since 2017. The thing is built like a tank, it cooks perfect in Colorado cold winter as well. I cook 2-3 times a week on it pretty much year around. So it gets used heavy and is very reliable. This last year I finally had to do a new fan kit and upgrade the igniter but that 7 years hard use with practically zero problems. The Yoder has a drop pellet configuration (which I really like) and also has the removable door in the heat deflector directly over the fire box allowing easy access to clean ash and the ability to sear or grill directly over flame. The ys640 also has a tuning baffle that slide in the bottom allowing you to slide it up to the firebox (left side of pit and not in the center which I like much better) to hold the heat on the left side for searing but then slides all the way to the right side allowing you to tune the heat across the whole grate surface (eliminating hot spots). Exhaust is on the right side.

I don’t regret the purchase at all, but if I were in the market today and just looking at features and price point (Yoder 640 is around $2600 today) I would look hard at the Webber Searwood or the RecTeq Dual fire. At the price point (half of the Yoder) combined with features like direct grill/sear these seem to be great grill/smokers. Lots of options out there so make sure you cover all your bases. Pretty much anything you want is out there these days, it’s a very competitive market today.

 

[Randy1]

I was like you OP. I took my gas grilll grates out of my old gas grill and stacked me a set of fire bricks then used my old gas grill grates to make me a low charcoal grill. Then bought a pellet grill-smoker.

On auger fires. keeping the pellet grill clean of built up ash, grease and old pellets is a must. The old youtube stuff where a lid gets popped open by an explosion is premodern day pellete grills..

I do not recommend the brand I have albeit it has it's some really good features. Oklahoma Joe's is two generations behind other brands in controller technology. It has a built in 25F too high controller error. Customer support is a crap shoot at best. Often they are out of stock of parts. Once you develop work arounds you can make really good Q.