Pellet Grills

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dhungy

Feeling the Heat
Jan 7, 2010
304
Fingerlakes
OK... so my local stove dealer carries traeger pellet grills. I haven't bought a grill in about 5 years so I am ready for a new one. Anyone have one of these? My wife thinks i'm just obsessed with pellets.. she is probably right If anyone has any brand of pellet grill let me know how you like it!
 
dhungy- my brother-in-law has one. Im not sure of what kind. I know he fills the back with a bag I guess. Its to go all night?He buys his bags in bulk.By him they r very expensive. I guess its worth it.How much does it cost you to run the winter?You buy the bags in bulk?
 
Im referring to a Pellet Grill that you cook food on rather than a pellet stove that you heat with.
 
I have been interested as well. But there pricey buggers! I have been burning the flavored pellets in a basket in my charcoal grill. The pellets are pricey too! So I will stay with charcoal for now!

What are they asing for the grill near you?
 
jtakeman said:
.....But there pricey buggers!.......What are they asing for the grill near you?

Cheapest I've seen the Traeger Jr model is about $400, and about $600 for the full size model......I'll stick with my Weber.
 
I've been seeing them around for a while now...yes, big dollars!

Not much to them...gas models have more to them than these pellet models...me thinks a handy person could convert an old gas one over to pellets. ;)

Surprised they haven't hit the big box stores yet.
 
I was able to find one for $299.99 which is comparable to a nice gas or charcoal at the box stores.
 
I was able to pick up a Treager Lil' Tex in February when a local store was closing for $377. I have used it 3-4 time a week since and absolutely love it. Since the purchase I've upgraded the controller from the standard 3 position switch to a digital controller that goes from 180 to max which is about 450. I've made pork butt, brisket, pizza, burgers, steak, ribs, fried chicken, whole chicken, etc... If you do most of your cooking on the grill it's a great investment. Another brand that has a few more features is the Green Mountain Grill. If I had to do it all over again I'd buy the GMG over the Treager.

As for the pellets; I began buying the pellets made specifically for pellet grills, but at $17 for 20lb it got expensive quickly. After doing some research I found out that I could use my heating pellets, Barefoot, for my grill as they're all virgin wood, and they use a vegetable based lubricant for the press. The cost is now down to about $5.00 for 40lbs, which lasts between 20-40 hours of smoking/cooking. A great forum for info on pellet grills is pelletheads.com. That site has helped me drastically improve my cooking on the grill.

Hopefully I didn't ramble on too much, and gave some pertinent info.

Good Luck

Rick
 
Wow great info.. I only use barefoot to heat in my stove so its great to hear! I have heard that it is difficult to get use to the pellet grilling/smoking is this true?
 
We sell them in our shop and 5 or 6 of our employees (inluding myself) use them. These grills are bullet proof. Powder coated stainless steel. So yeah, 500 bucks is sooooo much money. When you consider the home depot $150 grill will probably crap the bed every 3 or 4 years, the Traeger looks like a good investment. Mine (the 070) is about 5 years old. It sits in my backyard all year, rain and snow, always uncovered. It lights every single time and cooks better than any grill I ever cooked on. When selling them in the showroom, it feels good knowing any customer who buys one will be 100% happy. If you can afford it, it is well worth the money, for reliability and performance. If you cant manage 300-400 dollars, just buy a cheap charbroil every 3 years and keep home depot in business.
 
Franks said:
If you can afford it, it is well worth the money, for reliability and performance. If you cant manage 300-400 dollars, just buy a cheap charbroil every 3 years and keep home depot in business.

Hmmm, Do I sense some bigbox resentment???

I bought an $89.00(on sale) Weber about 5 years ago. Made in USA even. And "yes" I bought it Home Depot in a fall close out sale at 50% off. I can buy a lot a Webers for the price of that Traeger. I still want one, Just can't pull the trigger in this economy!
 
dhungy said:
Wow great info.. I only use barefoot to heat in my stove so its great to hear! I have heard that it is difficult to get use to the pellet grilling/smoking is this true?

It's very easy to use, but does take a few takes to learn the difference when cooking on it.
 
Guys,

We sell the Green Mountain Pellet Grills - Until you have cooked and eaten the food off this grill or any other pellet grill you haven't had great food at home. We cook everything on this grill 4 to 5 times a week. If you like to eat ribs, pulled pork brisket and cook with lump or wood it is just sooooo hard to control the fire and temp. With a pellet grill you set the temp and do other chores or sit back and have a beer. The pellets are a little pricey - but if you compare it to LP gas it ends up cheaper by about $8.00. Believe me the food is so worth it.

We demo the grill every Saturday and if you stop by at lunch most days we are cooking something. BTW - the best burger you will eat comes off this grill.

Steve
 

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absolutely love my JR.
 
jackiec said:
Are Okanagan pellets ok to use in grills?

You'd need to speak with Okanagan or a Rep from Okanagan to see what the pellets are made from and what type of lubricant is used in the presses before using them to cook food.
 
jackiec said:
Are Okanagan pellets ok to use in grills?

When using a pellet grill you should only use a food grade wood pellet to cook with. A food grade pellet is made using controlled fiber and pressed with a mill using a lubricant that is vegetable based. Also the fiber used is all hardwood and a blend of wood to make the smoke just right. Some companies make a pellet that is 100 % a specific hardwood. It is not necessary to have a 100% product, a good blend such as Premium Gold gets great results. Some on this site and others have used a heating hardwood pellet. If you are going to do this make sure it is from a hardwood flooring company or other premium hardwood pellet manufacturer. Email the company and ask what they use for a lubricant in the pellet mill.


Do not use a softwood pellet such as Okanagan.
 
500 bucks and they can't afford a temperature gauge, though they do have a plugged knockout for one (Traeger), heat distribution is not great, and beware - the wind can blow the lid shut on your arm while you're reaching inside, plus you get to listen to a blower and trip over a cord. I'll take my big old wood-chunk fired grill any day - controlling temperature is part of the fun and challenge.
 
we have a danson "little louie" pellet grill at the shop... We've never used any of the fancy "food grade" pellets in it, just cubex, and more recently, barefoots. They work very well, the food comes out very tasty w/ a natural "smokey" flavor to it. I' have found it takes longer to heat up than a gas grill (for obvious reasons), but the heat stays very steady. The best, if you are a low and slow griller like me, is the low range and smoke settings. The higher ranges for searing I dont think get quite as hot as a gas grill, however. They are neat gadgets, and work very well , over all.
 
I had heard you can you barefoot in the grills. Like I said I have found the traeger Jr grill on ebay for only $299.99 free shipping Seems to be the best price around.
 
purplereign said:
500 bucks and they can't afford a temperature gauge, though they do have a plugged knockout for one (Traeger), heat distribution is not great, and beware - the wind can blow the lid shut on your arm while you're reaching inside, plus you get to listen to a blower and trip over a cord. I'll take my big old wood-chunk fired grill any day - controlling temperature is part of the fun and challenge.

What bbq'er relies on the temp gauge that's built into the smoker...

Not sure what you mean by heat distro not being good, it's within 5 degrees across the cooking grate on my Traeger. If you leave your cord running across the ground where you walk you deserve to trip over it, and fan noise bothers you when you're in bed sleeping because you don't have to babysit the grill all night? Sounds like you just don't like change. I had a stick burner for years, and it was no fun staying up at night to monitor the temp for a butt or brisket. I can't imagine going back to a stick burner; not to mention I can also cook burgers, steaks, pizza, etc. on it because it's also a grill.
 
dhungy said:
I had heard you can you barefoot in the grills. Like I said I have found the traeger Jr grill on ebay for only $299.99 free shipping Seems to be the best price around.

Are there any dealers in your area that sell the grills? The one near me is selling the Jr. for about the same price. You also want to consider adding the digital controller. It lets you set the temp you want rather than just smoke, med and high. The Jr is very small and fine for 2-4 people, but would be pressed if having a party. Just some food for thought.
 
I have a Traeger Grill and I do like it for slow cooking and smoking. It does have a few drawbacks but for the most part it is worth the money as long as you are not a speed griller.

Eric
 
<>Until you have cooked and eaten the food off this grill or any other pellet grill you haven't had great food at home.<>

In your opinion...

<>We cook everything on this grill 4 to 5 times a week. If you like to eat ribs, pulled pork brisket and cook with lump or wood it is just sooooo hard to control the fire and temp.<>

My money's on the Big Green Egg.
Once you get used to using it the temperature control is there.
Took my GF two whole times to figure it out.
It's not as hard as you say it is

<>With a pellet grill you set the temp and do other chores or sit back and have a beer.

BGE is the same...

<>The pellets are a little pricey - but if you compare it to LP gas it ends up cheaper by about $8.00.<>

Lump charcoal is even less, & the fact that you can extinguish it & save up to 50% of the fuel is a BIG bonus.

<>Believe me the food is so worth it.
We demo the grill every Saturday and if you stop by at lunch most days we are cooking something. BTW - the best burger you will eat comes off this grill.<>

We demo them every OTHER Saturday, as well. Food is as good on the BGE, but running lead cords is a PITA...
We sell them, but I'd rather not have to need electricity to get my grill going.
We have folks up in the mountains round these parts who make & sell hardwood
lump charcoal, so I can support the local economy when I cook my food.
I did 4 racks of Baby backs tonite.
Did a pizza two nites ago.
Burgers, pork butt, ham, Leg of Lamb, nothing like it.

To each his own, tho & after all, this IS the Pellet forum...
 
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