Traeger Grills

We have a Green Mountain Davey Crockett. We smoke our steaks (on smoke) for 30 minutes, then take the steaks off, crank the smoker up to 450. Once it hits that temp, we put the steaks on for about 2 minutes on each side. Makes wonderfully delicious smoked steaks with a bit of char. Unless we are cooking something that takes a long time like a pork butt or ribs, we cook everything like this with 30 minutes of smoke. Not as fast as a portable gas grill but the flavor cannot be beat. We usually cook in bulk and then freeze the extra in a vacuum packager. Then we have an easy and tasty meal on travel days (we are full timers).

I love my pellet grill. I do not have a Traeger but some general comments:

IMHO -

1. I look at mine as a wood fueled stove. Anything you can cook in a propane stove, you can cook in one of these, with the added bonus that you will get some added smoky flavor. It's temperature controllable from very low to pretty high and it stays at the temp you pick very nicely. As SuperDave said, pellet grills do not give the heavy smoke flavor many people like (as from a real wood smoker) but I think they are great for general use.

2. Get one with a digital controller. These allow you to control the temp much more exactly.

3. They seem to work best when you want to cook something slow - ribs, pork roast, tri-tips, etc. I cook ribs in mine for 6 hours and they turn out great.

4. I agree with those who say they don't give a great sear on steaks - although there are ways to get that accomplished. I do it the simple way and just carry a charcoal grill along with my pellet grill for steaks and burgers.

5. Costco was selling one of the Traeger grills a few years ago and still carries Traeger pellets seasonally I think, so I would look there for a good deal if still interested in a Traeger.

6. They are generally very heavy. My small one still weighs over 60 pounds, if I recall. For camping use get one of the small ones that are built for travel.

7. If you have a local BBQ store, they probably carry pellet grills and very often have food demos on a Sat or Sun afternoon. Maybe contact one and ask ?

You asked about cost -

On edit - My Green Mountain Grills Davy Crockett WiFi model is on sale now for $350 (per the GMG site). That is for sure the cheapest I have seen them - and less then I paid for mine. This is their smallest model - runs on 110v or 12v.

Super_Dave wrote:
3 dog nights, eat some food cooked with pellets before you buy any pellet fired smoker/bbq. I don't think it compares to real wood and am therefore not a fan of pellet anything.

Double ditto.

3 dog nights, eat some food cooked with pellets before you buy any pellet fired smoker/bbq. I don't think it compares to real wood and am therefore not a fan of pellet anything.

We've had ours for over 20yrs. Works as good now as it did then. It does have a problem with wind like BL has said.

I like the cooler temps, it cooks slower leaving the meat more tender and juicier, even steaks. Have had both beef and wild meat done on ours, does a good job on both.

One tip, keep it clean so they last. The handle over the fire box cover has rusted out and the tray that holds the lava rock needs replacing but otherwise still works well. Not bad for a 25yr old BBQ.

they old traegers were built like tanks.
but the new ones from china. not so much. paint peels
electronics fail often. seems the metal is even thinner now
vs the older models.

We have the Traeger 'Lil Tex and it continues to produce excellent results. Initially, we had various parts go on us, which were covered under warranty, which is great, but that still doesn't excuse the changed dinner plans, or the personal time involved in replacing parts! Anyway, once we had these items sorted out & i upgraded to a digital controller, the unit is purring along & it goes good side by side with my Volcano stove c.w Dutch Oven. Lots of tasty meals!!!

Disappointing performance for me. Won't hold temperature. Don't bother on a windy day. Overpriced and under built.

I have a Traeger for home use. So far, the finish is peeling off of the lid and the main barrel. It lives in the garage except when in use so the peeling can't be blamed on being outside in the elements.Very disappointed.

My friend has a Green Mountain Davey Crockett that he is very happy with. It is portable and he hauls it everywhere.

If I had it to do over again, I'd buy the Green Mountain, I think you get more for your money. Traeger is living on their past reputation

I got one and my other really nice AOG grill sat unused for over a year, so I got rid of it. I like the pellet grill because it's just so easy to get great results on everything BBQ unless you like meats heavily seared and on the rare side of doneness. The super even heat in any weather condition provides use of the whole grill surface. There's a lot of pellet grill choices in the last few years but I've never seen one yet that was near small enough for our smallish RV use.