WOOD PELLET GRILL

Looks like a decent product, but I don't see any significant advantages over ceramic cookers (Kamado, Big Green Egg, etc.) and several disadvantages, including:

  • High cost of fuel (almost a dollar per pound for the pellets vs. $0.25-0.50 for lump charcoal)

    Pellet grill locks you into limited fuel sources. You can't pick more up at Home Depot or the grocery when you run out on a Sunday evening.

    Pellet grill uses more fuel (their stats vs. my experience with a #7 Kamado).

    Pellet grill requires AC electricity.

    Pellet grill gives you a maximum cooking temperature of about 450 F vs. 750+F for the ceramics. 450 F is not hot enough for grilling steaks or pizzas.

    Pellet grill doesn't allow you to use direct heat to cook; would you rather bake or broil your steak?

    Pellet grill is not insulated; the exterior likely gets very hot and it requires more fuel because of the high heat loss.

    Pellet grill is made of steel which will eventually corrode and which requires more maintenance.
 
Kansas74 said:
If anyone wants to make your 'BACKYARD OASIS' ever better check out this website www.traegergrills.com they have the best grill on the market. All you have to do is just 'taste the difference' and you will be hooked!!!

People who use the pellet grills seem to be really happy with them. You have to be careful using words like "best" though. Folks can be very particular about how they cook their "Q." 8)

Do you have any pictures of yours or any of the food you've cooked?
 
I see this posting is pretty old, but I have to throw in my 2 cents. I used to swear by my old Webber kettle grill. Cooked many a great steaks and turkey’s on it. Went to a Webber natural gas grill about 10 years ago for the convenience – I have 6 kids, and we like to BBQ year round. Only had to rebuild it once after it caught fire. Bought a Treager upon several recommendations, and we love it. There are a lot of great grills out there I’m sure, and a real grill master can BBQ great food on just about anything. What we love about our Traeger is 1) the taste of BBQ when grilled or smoked with wood (and yes, it’s real wood – just compressed into pellets). 2) just as convenient as gas – as long as I keep the hopper full of mesquite/oak/apple/hickory/whatever – all my wife has to do is flip a switch and she’s grilling or smoking 10 min latter. The pellets probably cost more than I was spending on natural gas. I go through about 20 bags a year, and negotiate a good price break by buying them all at once and throwing them in a plastic toy bin under the deck.

A lot of good grills out there. We sure love how easy our Treager is to use, and my old Webbers (kettle and gas) can’t touch the flavor.
 
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