What Grill to Buy

[networkn]

Sorry, this may be a little long winded, as I try and work out the right thing to do.

Firstly. I am in New Zealand, and my pricing indicators are in NZ Dollars. It's easiest to just convert 1:1 (because spending power is approximate the same, milk costs the same etc blah blah)

I have had my eye on a pellet grill for over a year. I had decided not to do it until I saw that Wifi Control was a feature which would essentially be the killer feature, allowing me to be away from home during long cooks and monitor my brisketts etc. I have a Weber OTG now, and I have achieved a lot of great meals on it, but the longer low and slow like Briskett is just too hit and miss for my liking on a big bit of expensive meat. I've never had a hit. The OTG is also pretty small. So, I saw the announcement of the new Pro 575/780 and thought that was going to be perfect for me, then they announced the Ironwood, and that looked amazing. I started rationalising I could justify the cost based on what USD prices were.



I am a keen BBQ'r but I realistically BBQ about 12-20 times a year. More over summer, not much over winter which will change with a pellet grill, but potentially may just mean the number of cooks is spread more evenly). We are a family of 4 with 2 youngish kids. We do entertain infrequently.



So I have shortlisted the following ones:



Traeger Pro 575 (about $1600 NZD)

Lowest price, within budget, sort of) has everything I NEED with the latest technology in that series. Probably big enough too.



Traeger Pro 780 (About $1990 NZD)



Same as above, definitely big enough to almost overkill, outside of original budget by a decent margin, but would stump for it, if I was concerned that the 575 wasn't bit enough, simply because you can't upgrade without replacing which would be a significant cost.



Traeger Ironwood 650 ($2600 NZD)



This is what I want. Traeger NZ won't be bringing them in at least in the forseeable future. It's plenty big enough and has a couple of killer features I think would be significant improvements, namely the downdraft, Double side wall interior, Super smoke (less so) and keep warm, and extra 7cm of cooking height. Has a bigger hopper too, and a group of smaller benefits.



Traeger Ironwood 895 ($2995 with $700 free accessories and delivery).

This is available in New Zealand, currently. The issue is that the current stock has the older controller, and doesn't have the D2 technology. It's stupidly too big for me, but overall presents the best value of the units available in NZ, if you take into account the $700 accessories which is 6 bags of pellets, cover, drip tray liners, folding shelf and bottom shelf. If you deduct it at face value, the grill itself is $2300 which is way out of my budget, but I didn't want the extra features when I set the budget.



There is a chance that later in the year once the current generation of Ironwood 885 are cleared out of stock the new gen 885 will get here, but I believe if it does there will be no $700 accessory bundle which makes it way over the top budgetwise.



At the end of the day I can afford which ever one I want, but it's about justifying it. If the Ironwood key technology difference is a significant then I will pay the extra. Question is how big of a deal is the D2 stuff and the better controller, vs just buying the Current Ironwood which still has the downdraft and other improvements over the Pro 575/680 and a slightly more accessible price, or if I should be content with the Pro series.



In short I am suffering FOMO as it relates to key differences like Downdraft, D2 etc.





Would appreciate any thoughts you fine people might be prepared to share.

 

[old sarge]

I don't have a pellet grill but like anything else, get the largest unit you can afford. Extra grilling/smoking space is nice to have when needed, even infrequently. The direct drive (D2) sounds interesting; might be worth waiting for. BUT, if you cannot wait, the older tech is tried and true and you seem pretty interested in the Ironwood and it's package of goodies. That may be the way to go. Good luck!

 

[networkn]

Hi. Interesting one of the dealers called back to say he made a mistake, and the D2 is part of the Ironwood that are here already, the only difference is the controller and there are 2 features no available off the physical controller that are still controllable with the app, so materially for me, there is now no difference in the Ironwoods. Now it's a choice between the Ironwood 885 and the Pro

 

[old sarge]

Two beers and a coin toss

 

[JWFokker]

Are there other manufacturers selling pellet grills in NZ? Traeger quality is not what it used to be. I would not pay that much for a brand that has been having a lot of issues recently. The Timberline models in particular have been a disaster.

 

[networkn]

GMG are the only other brand that does Wifi in NZ and the two models here are Daniel Boone and Jim Bowie. As best I can tell they don't have equivalent technology, but happy to be corrected, esp as the Jim Bowie is $1800

 

[bregent]

If all you need Wifi for is monitoring temps, then there are several remote thermometers you could get. That might expand the selection of grills to consider.

 

[JWFokker]

Ouch. That's a pretty bad price on the GMG grills, but the Traeger prices are almost as bad. I feel sorry for you guys. I second the recommendation to look into a wifi probe unless you need remote control of the grill.

 

[networkn]

Remote Control of the Grill is what I want.
In the end I decided to stump up for the Ironwood. Dealers had it wrong, the D2 IS part of the Ironwood currently. Only the controller is different, and the differences don't matter (to me, since I'll use the app for everything anyway) and whilst it's crazy money), I just thought I'd regret buying the pro and knowing that the Ironwood had so many extra things, even if those things are relatively small.

Thanks for your insights, much appreciated.

 

[banderson7474]

Sorry, this may be a little long winded, as I try and work out the right thing to do.

Firstly. I am in New Zealand, and my pricing indicators are in NZ Dollars. It's easiest to just convert 1:1 (because spending power is approximate the same, milk costs the same etc blah blah)

I have had my eye on a pellet grill for over a year. I had decided not to do it until I saw that Wifi Control was a feature which would essentially be the killer feature, allowing me to be away from home during long cooks and monitor my brisketts etc. I have a Weber OTG now, and I have achieved a lot of great meals on it, but the longer low and slow like Briskett is just too hit and miss for my liking on a big bit of expensive meat. I've never had a hit. The OTG is also pretty small. So, I saw the announcement of the new Pro 575/780 and thought that was going to be perfect for me, then they announced the Ironwood, and that looked amazing. I started rationalising I could justify the cost based on what USD prices were.



I am a keen BBQ'r but I realistically BBQ about 12-20 times a year. More over summer, not much over winter which will change with a pellet grill, but potentially may just mean the number of cooks is spread more evenly). We are a family of 4 with 2 youngish kids. We do entertain infrequently.



So I have shortlisted the following ones:



Traeger Pro 575 (about $1600 NZD)

Lowest price, within budget, sort of) has everything I NEED with the latest technology in that series. Probably big enough too.



Traeger Pro 780 (About $1990 NZD)



Same as above, definitely big enough to almost overkill, outside of original budget by a decent margin, but would stump for it, if I was concerned that the 575 wasn't bit enough, simply because you can't upgrade without replacing which would be a significant cost.



Traeger Ironwood 650 ($2600 NZD)



This is what I want. Traeger NZ won't be bringing them in at least in the forseeable future. It's plenty big enough and has a couple of killer features I think would be significant improvements, namely the downdraft, Double side wall interior, Super smoke (less so) and keep warm, and extra 7cm of cooking height. Has a bigger hopper too, and a group of smaller benefits.



Traeger Ironwood 895 ($2995 with $700 free accessories and delivery).

This is available in New Zealand, currently. The issue is that the current stock has the older controller, and doesn't have the D2 technology. It's stupidly too big for me, but overall presents the best value of the units available in NZ, if you take into account the $700 accessories which is 6 bags of pellets, cover, drip tray liners, folding shelf and bottom shelf. If you deduct it at face value, the grill itself is $2300 which is way out of my budget, but I didn't want the extra features when I set the budget.



There is a chance that later in the year once the current generation of Ironwood 885 are cleared out of stock the new gen 885 will get here, but I believe if it does there will be no $700 accessory bundle which makes it way over the top budgetwise.



At the end of the day I can afford which ever one I want, but it's about justifying it. If the Ironwood key technology difference is a significant then I will pay the extra. Question is how big of a deal is the D2 stuff and the better controller, vs just buying the Current Ironwood which still has the downdraft and other improvements over the Pro 575/680 and a slightly more accessible price, or if I should be content with the Pro series.



In short I am suffering FOMO as it relates to key differences like Downdraft, D2 etc.





Would appreciate any thoughts you fine people might be prepared to share.

Have you had a chance to check out Rec Tec? My friend has the "bull" with all the add ons and he loves it. He also says the warranty is a lot better than other companies.

 

[old sarge]

Have you had a chance to check out Rec Tec? My friend has the "bull" with all the add ons and he loves it. He also says the warranty is a lot better than other companies.

The OP is limited to what is available in NZ. RecYec is not available. At least I could not locate a dealer.