If you're not smoking anything, just get a gas grill. I'm about to retire my Traeger and will either be getting a MAK or Rec Tec.

 

Gas grill for sure I have both but generally just use my Green Mountain for pizza and also do my smoked fish on it. Don’t think you can go wrong with a Weber grill easy to work and and get parts.


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Got a green mountain Jim Bowie recently. For the most part it functions as a gas grill if you just want to do burgers or dogs etc... however, the ability to turn the temp down and smoke a turkey, brisket, ribs, etc... is really nice. I got the pizza oven accessory as well. Pretty cool.

 

I have to disagree respectfully at least for me the pellet grill takes to long to heat up when I want to throw a burger or chicken breast on.

Also frankly the pellet grill is kinda spendy to operate the pellets aren’t cheap. I don’t always want that smoked flavor but you can get around that by using a milder pellet such as apple.

I enjoy using both but if I just had one it would be a gas grill.




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And I will respectfully disagree with you about time to heat up with a pellet grill. The extra ten minutes is worth it in my opinion. One of life's simplest pleasures is good food and a few minutes more to get that is worth it IMO.

You may not like a wonderful wood fired flavor, but others may? With a pellet grill you lose the flare ups you have with a gas grill. You also have the ability to cook in so many other ways over a conventional gas grill. You can grill, smoke, bake, roast, braise, and BBQ. Can't do that with a gas grill.

Don't know why one would be pushed to buy a RecTec or GMG? They are both manufactured in China. The new Pro series Traeger grills are also manufactured in China, but have some great improvements. They are heavier, have a one piece auger/motor system with brushless motors. Double insulated interior and have wifi. Many good things and the original pellet grill.

Buy whatever turns you on, but at least check out the latest and greatest original. When Traeger's patent expired in '06, everybody jumped in to do what was already done.

 

There are as many opinions as there are cooks, I have had a Trager and gave it to my Son,I then bought a Mak, pricy but much better than a Trager, my Son then dumped the Trager and got a RecTec, your just going to have to bite the bullet and dive in, they all work, I like the Mak for the side cold smoke panel to where I built a cold smoke rack................works for me.

 

For whatever reason, I've accumulated a couple Weber gas grills and Green mountain pellet grills. Since it's just my wife and I, I almost alwys use the small GM Davy Crockett. I also take it with me on longer camping trips. It works extremely well from my standpoint.

 

The biggest reason people can't account for the usefulness of a pellet grill is IQ...

You can't not cook anything, and you can't ruin anything... Unless...

Unless you're...

 

The biggest reason people can't account for the usefulness of a pellet grill is IQ...



You can't not cook anything, and you can't ruin anything... Unless...



Unless you're...

The problem is when folks begin to view them as the panacea, perfect for everything. Remember the old saying that when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

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Unless you need to burn the living **** out of the surface of the piece of meat you wish to eat, you can do it all with a pellet grill.

Other than that, they are the perfect grill. You can't do the things on a gas grill you can do on a pellet grill, period.

Period...

 

Unless you need to burn the living **** out of the surface of the piece of meat you wish to eat, you can do it all with a pellet grill.



Other than that, they are the perfect grill. You can't do the things on a gas grill you can do on a pellet grill, period.



Period...

It's always harder when you try to do everything with a single tool. The compromises mean very little is optimal. That's why I argued that if the OP only wants one tool, they should be honest about what they really want to use it for and chose the best tool for that job. Clearly, you're comfortable with the tradeoffs.

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Been using a pellet grill for 10 years and will never go back to gas or propane.

 

I'll stick to my $100.00 Charbroil briquette grill.
Took me 1/2 hour to assemble 4 years ago. and still doing pretty much what I ask it to do.
I almost always stand over the grill and make sure I have my timer running.
If I want to smoke something. I use my Big Chief.
Simple and effective.



and cheap.

 

If your going to buy one besure you check out the Rec Tec. I looked at all the upper scale grills and i settled on the rec tec. Easy to operate and built lake a tank. Their customer service cant be beat. Not that i've had any problems with mine.

 

After further review I will not be buying a pellet grill but will instead just get another gas grill.
A quick steak, whole fish or pack of drumsticks is all I am needing. I have a little chef for the few times I need to smoke meat. Pork chops or chicken in the smoker for an hour then grilled is mighty fine.

At least this thread was able to begin a few arguments and gather opinions having nothing to do with the op.

 

At least this thread was able to begin a few arguments and gather opinions having nothing to do with the op.

Well it is ifish. If that didnt happen I'd be suspicious as to what was going on. Itd be like waking up in a parallel dimension. Happy grilling.

 

Before I bought my Traeger, we just used our gas grill for everything but low and slow. If I wanted some smokey flavor in my steak or burger or maybe some chicken I'd just use a pellet pack. I'd wrap a handful of cooking pellets in a foil pouch, poke some holes in the top with a fork and throw it on the grill. Once the pellets got to smoking I'd put the meat on and cook with the grill lid down. Always got a pretty good smokey flavor, but not over powering.......

A gas grill sounds like the right direction for you based on the grilling style you're looking to do....

 

Yoder Pellet Grills Made in the USA from 10-gauge steel, I've been through two traegers this Yoder is a tank and will out last me.

 

Yep, my Yoder is a tank. I love it.

Myron Mixon has a grill out that looks great as well. It's also coated, which the Yoder is not.

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Gotta have both

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Gotta have both

:yeahthat:

Each has a purpose and does things the other can't do well.

 

I've used a pellet cooker anywhere from 2-7 times a week for many years. I have two flat top Blackstones (different sizes) a single 20k btu burner on a stand and a new Blaz'n Grill works pellet cooker. I have never missed not having a gas grill. I also have a couple charcoal grills if I need to use them. Just cooked a couple dozen oysters in the shell last night on my pellet grill - set it to run at 375 degrees - worked like a champ. I have my old GMG on the classified page - if you want to invest a few bucks you could have a nice pellet cooker at about 1/2 price (or less) than a new one.

 

Sorta the same here. GMG, Blackstone 28" griddle and some walmart offset charcoal/wood smoker/grill I got for $50 new in the box. I'm covered!

 

I use my Weber gas grill once for every 10 times I use my Treager. Even then, I usually smoke whatever I’m going to grill first and then finish it on the high heat of the gas grill. Try smoking at nice thick steak at 275 until it hits 120 internal, get your gas grill screaming hot 600+ and sear for a minute each side. Better than any steak at any restaurant.

 

Pellets aren't for everyone. I will stick with mine, though. What I do not miss about the gas and charcoal grills are the flair ups and grease fires. For what I spend on the food, the cost of pellets doesn't really seem like an issue. Adding smokey goodness does not require a pellet grill, however. Take a peak at the smoke tube thread.

 

Cummins? Duramax? Power stroke? Different strokes for different folks is what your hearing in this thread.. it sounds like your a light it up, rip up the gas burners until you hear “the sound” , imagine a jet engine, lots of dudes like that sound, and a grill it up in 30 minutes flat, kinda guy... well sir, I would highly advise against a pellet grill because you will get the opposite of that. Especially with the traegers that will only get 450degrees... won’t even sizzle a steak...
Green mountain will sizzle at 500, but your basically cooking a steak in an oven. Burgers, chicken, pork chops, pork butts, tri tips, prime rib all go on my pellet grill. The only thing that doesn’t go on my grill is steaks. And fish.. won’t go there, something about mesquite pellet smoke/salmon funk that’ll take a grade A prime rib to a grade C... ....A 40$ kettle Weber grill takes care of my steaks.
Also if you stick with the gas and your home also has gas, I’d highly recommend plumbing a NG line to your patio and getting gas conversion kit for your grill. That’s if your existing gas line size can accommodate the additional btu load..

 

Just now doing the initial oil burn off on my new camp chef pellet grill. The sear box on the side gets 900 degrees so steaks on this baby wont be an issue and I'll get the sear I want.

 

Tomato tomahto... it comes down to your personal preference. If you dig the Smokey flavor and have the time, go with a pellet grill. I love my Green Mountain and cook everything on it. Given the brands mentioned you can’t go wrong.

 

I have a GMG and Webber. If I had to buy a Pelet grill again I would get a Rec Tec. If I didn’t have my Webber I would get grill grates for the Rec Tec.


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Green Mountain has a new version out called the Prime with a lot of new upgrades.
There firebox and controller is better than any of the other brands keeps a better more stable temperature. That’s what matters most when cooking especially low and slow!

 

I have the new prime. It broke after less than a month there is a pin that drives the auger it couples the motor to the auger shaft. The pin was very low quality when I called them they knew exactly what the problem was supposedly they have fixed the issue with the rest of them. I bought a very new release about 4-6 weeks ago. They sent me a new motor with the upgraded pin I put it on the shelf I just put a new pin in it. The pin is a roll pin and the one that failed shattered into pieces. The design is fine the pin was just not heat treated properly it was very brittle.

I like the new grill it is my second Daniel Boone this one has the wifi and I like that it also now has a high temp of 550* my old one only went to 500*. The nicest thing about it is it has a vacuum clean out port to clean the fire pot without any disassembly. I use to hate taking it apart to vacuum out now I don't have too do it as often since I can clear the fire pot and occasional cleaning to clean the rest of the grill can be done but not nearly as often.

The new prime also has a clear window in the hood but it smokes up so if you want to look through it you must clean it fairly often. It has a clear window on the pellet hopper which is handy to see your pellet level at a glance. There is a pellet drain hatch so you can empty the pellet hopper if you like for changing pellet types.

The thing that I think is kind of crappy is you have to fix their product under warranty they just send you parts. The guy told me some of the pins have failed during the first couple uses.

I have not owned a Rec-Tec but I did look into them and did not like the low temp being 200* I like to smoke fish at 180* or less. I would have bought a Yoder but was told they did not have a wifi option but my understanding is they do now. The Yoder with the options I wanted was about $1800 the GMG DB Prime was $699. The Yoder is a much more quality unit and you get what you pay for. My last GMG had a few issues over the 8 years I owned it 2 new controls, one ignition rod and a hopper fan I gave it away the other day and it needed a new heat deflector shield. I would not expect as many failures on a Yoder. I do think the GMG is the best one for that price point.

Mike Miller

 

I grill using a Weber gas grill with a seat station and I smoke using a green egg. I cannot say enough about each. The Weber is hotter for searing steaks and burgers, chicken and fish. I use a griddle plate to prevent flare up and soot. The Green egg is far superior smoker than any pellet system. I have never had a better turkey breast or a beer can chicken than on my green egg.

 

I will start off by saying I am not a fan of pellet smokers. That being said I had some brisket and tri-tip cooked on one of Myron Mixon's gravity fed pellet grills recently. It is a cabinet smoker the is heated by charcoal, you can you a smart fan (BBQ guru, Flameboss, etc.) to control the temperature or you can just manually control the damper. If being able to cook without electricity interests you this a very very ingenious way to go. I think they had 6 briskets and 4 tri-tips cooking at once.

If you make a trip down to Sam's NW BBQ in Sherwood you will be able to get some great information about GMG, Yoder, Myron's and others. Great people and you will start dreaming about BBQ. :dance:

 

A 22" Weber Kettle does everything, and I mean everything. Hot and fast, low and slow, indirect and sear, pizza, meatloaf, throw a cast iron on it... It literally does everything.



Pellet grills are great for what they do well which is 90% of stuff. The only thing it doesn't do is crispy skin chicken and a high heat sear. Everything else they are great for. To the OP, I don't think you would be unhappy with any of the higher end pellet grills. Get one for the pizza alone, its a great twist on your standard papa murphys pizza

 

I have no problem getting crispy skin on chicken with my little treager. That’s one of the advantages to having the fan blowing like a convection oven. Brined whole chickens cooked at 450 come out very crispy.

But the lack of a high heat sear I definitely agree with you