Which pellet grill for the money?

[smokepuppet]

Sold my Masterbuilt smoker and going to pull the trigger on a pellet grill. Staying around a 500.00 budget. So many brands and types of pellet grills its getting confusing.
Been looking at Traeger, Camp Chef, Pitboss Grills on line.

Welcome all or any comments as to quality, features and favorites and why would be appreciated.

Thanks Smokepuppet


Thanks for everyones input! I ordered the Camp Chef Pro DLX last night. Of all places I found the best price at Target online. Getting excited!!

 

[Wasi]

Are you dead set on a pellet grill? If I had to do it all over and they had this when I was looking this is what I would have bought.

Robot or human?

 

[schlotz]

Man, this question has been prevalent lately. So many posts on the subject. It must be the dreaded and deathly 'smokervirus-20' that has infested and consumed so many units over the past 6 months!

 

[smokepuppet]

Are you dead set on a pellet grill? If I had to do it all over and they had this when I was looking this is what I would have bought.

Robot or human?

Im open to suggestions! ty ill look at that

 

[smokepuppet]

Man, this question has been prevalent lately. So many posts on the subject. It must be the dreaded and deathly 'smokervirus-20' that has infested and consumed so many units over the past 6 months!

 

[SmokyMose]

I'll be watching with you, smokepuppet. I've noticed that a lot of folks here are using pellet smokers.
It's like the hot new thing. I've been toying with the idea, but if I got one I'd have to get rid of the offset (which I really like) because if I added another cooker to the patio I'd probably have to sleep on the patio LOL!
I also worry about pellet availabilty. I can always slice up some firewood for the offset. How much pellet does one of those things use for a cook?
I hope you get some replies.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

$500.00, is not going to get you much in the way of a good good sized pellet grill.

 

[smokerjim]

I have a pit boss 1000t2 which I'm pretty happy with, my wife got it for me last year I think she paid around 350.00-400.00. As for the amount of pellets you use it all depends on the temps ya cook at.

 

[sandyut]

its a budget driven decision most of the time... if you could cough up a few more buck i would recommend a Rec Tec.

 

[Winterrider]

I think that $$$ range, i would lean towards Pit Boss Austin XL

 

[JWFokker]

Pit Boss or the Masterbuilt gravity fed as others have mentioned.

 

[Buckeye1]

I gotta the smaller Rec Tec for $599 delivered. It is a solid grill and Wi-Fi controller.
To me Wi-Fi is a great tool.

 

[retfr8flyr]

One thing I will say about pellet grills is they all work exactly the same, it doesn't matter if you pay $$, or $$$$, they work the same way. There is a hopper for the pellets, an auger for delivering the pellets to the fire pot and a controller to tell the auger how many pellets to deliver. You are paying for convince, better materials in construction and bells and whistles, with the higher priced grills. The food will taste the same from a cheap grill or an expensive one. I have the Timberline 1300 because I like the features and heavy duty construction.

 

[Buttah Butts]

Save a little extra and go with Rec Tec. I made the mistake of getting a traeger which was horrible then I wasted money on a GMG Daniel Boone which was better than the traeger but still had huge temp swings. I finally went with a Rec Tec which is a great grill no issues and that thing holds temp amazing.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

One thing I will say about pellet grills is they all work exactly the same, it doesn't matter if you pay $$, or $$$$, they work the same way. There is a hopper for the pellets, an auger for delivering the pellets to the fire pot and a controller to tell the auger how many pellets to deliver. You are paying for convince, better materials in construction and bells and whistles, with the higher priced grills. The food will taste the same from a cheap grill or an expensive one. I have the Timberline 1300 because I like the features and heavy duty construction.

You're also paying for warranty, customer service and support after the sale with the more expensive grills.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

Save a little extra and go with Rec Tec. I made the mistake of getting a traeger which was horrible then I wasted money on a GMG Daniel Boone which was better than the traeger but still had huge temp swings. I finally went with a Rec Tec which is a great grill no issues and that thing holds temp amazing.

Wow. Were you able to recoup some of your money from the Traeger and the GMG Daniel Boone?

That's a lot of money tied up in pellet grills.

Talk about "buy once, cry once". Looks like you bought 3 times and cried twice.

 

[Buttah Butts]

Wow. Were you able to recoup some of your money from the Traeger and the GMG Daniel Boone?

That's a lot of money tied up in pellet grills.

Talk about "buy once, cry once". Looks like you bought 3 times and cried twice.

I gave the traeger away to my neighbor it was about 6 months old after 6 months he threw it out and bought a Rec Tec. The GMG i sold for 300 after about 2 or 3 months. You live and learn I guess. I just had heard so much about Traeger that I thought they were a decent brand but i was wrong. The GMG was alot better that the Traeger but still had huge temp swings that I didnt like. Im happy with the Rec Tec

 

[smokepuppet]

One thing I will say about pellet grills is they all work exactly the same, it doesn't matter if you pay $$, or $$$$, they work the same way. There is a hopper for the pellets, an auger for delivering the pellets to the fire pot and a controller to tell the auger how many pellets to deliver. You are paying for convince, better materials in construction and bells and whistles, with the higher priced grills. The food will taste the same from a cheap grill or an expensive one. I have the Timberline 1300 because I like the features and heavy duty construction.

Thank you so much!!!

 

[smokepuppet]

I gave the traeger away to my neighbor it was about 6 months old after 6 months he threw it out and bought a Rec Tec. The GMG i sold for 300 after about 2 or 3 months. You live and learn I guess. I just had heard so much about Traeger that I thought they were a decent brand but i was wrong. The GMG was alot better that the Traeger but still had huge temp swings that I didnt like. Im happy with the Rec Tec

This is great to know, I will look hard at the RecTec

 

[smokepuppet]

I gave the traeger away to my neighbor it was about 6 months old after 6 months he threw it out and bought a Rec Tec. The GMG i sold for 300 after about 2 or 3 months. You live and learn I guess. I just had heard so much about Traeger that I thought they were a decent brand but i was wrong. The GMG was alot better that the Traeger but still had huge temp swings that I didnt like. Im happy with the Rec Tec

Im going to have to check out the RecTec thank you!!