Pellet smoker advice

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Welp my wife just surprised me with a Traeger 1300 wifi as an early birthday gift. I overlooked them thinking they were sub-par. I have 10 days to return it if I so chose.
Returning/exchanging gifts could be tricky, but you know that relationship best. If no problem ...

I don’t have direct experience with all these, and probably not many here do, but I can say I still am a recovering engineer, drive my wife nuts with pre-purchase analysis, and I am getting a RecTeq RT700.

If only comparing these two ... I hear nothing but superlatives about RecTeq customer service and standing behind their products. Their quality and QA/QC seems to be on a par with top tier mfrs (unlike seemingly numerous reports about Traeger). Traegers claim of 1300 sq.in. Cooking area predicated on three grate surfaces ... the main grate is 20% smaller than the RT700, actually also smaller than the RT590 (if you are doing butts, turkeys, etc), and the total area gets pretty close with the addition of the second shelf to the RT700. Might be a bell or whistle more on the Traeger (pellet sensor, timer/speaker, some things on their app), but features very similar. And the RT700 is 40% less $ than the T1300.

Traeger sells a LOT of their grills (probably a lot more of their lower line Pro or Ironwood series), and a lot of people are making good or great food on them (including two of my friends), but the general consensus is they are living off being first to market and large installed base, are over priced for what you get, and not in the quality league with other lower priced mfrs, let alone premium ones like MAK.

If it were ME (just my opinion), I’d spend a lot less on a RecTeq and buy my wife something nice with the net refund. I need all the brownie points I can get! :emoji_wink:
 
MAK and Cookshack are top tier.

Have not heard much about them yet, but Coyote appear to have a similar build/features to Memphis, but priced considerably lower.

 
Have not heard much about them yet, but Coyote appear to have a similar build/features to Memphis, but priced considerably lower.


Never heard of Coyote. MAK and Cookshack have been around for a long time.
 
Never heard of Coyote. MAK and Cookshack have been around for a long time.

Coyote has been around since 2011, making gas grills. I think their entrance into pellets is fairly recent. Seems to be a reputable company, with design and materials similar to Memphis, but for less $$. Still, I don't know anyone that owns one yet, so not sure how comfortable I would be buying one.
 
Im very happy with my rec teq 700, much better than GMG and Traeger. I dont have any experience with Yoder but have heard great things about them
I bought a Rec Teq 340 in March. I got that one so I can take it on-the-go. I wish I got one sooner. Man that grill is something else. I rode with a friend to Rec Teq, which only about an hour away, and he bought a 590. I used mine twice today smoked an awesome turkey.
 
So the Yoder 640s and 1500s has caught my eye, after years of looking and being disappointed by GMG. Being that we don't smoke a lot of only about five times a year for 25-30 people does the 640s have capacity required?
 
It'll be cutting it close depending on what you're smoking and how much other food you're serving.
 
I have owned a Yoder YS480 for the last two years and like it. We looked at others and think most of them would cook great but believe the Yoder would cook a little better and outlast most due to the heavy construction. I think it has been addressed but the paint adhesion sucks - thankfully it is easily touched up.
 
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