Traeger Help

[CApighunter]

I’ve got the Lowe’s special edition pit boss, love it. It’s got the seat slots in the middle that the traegers don’t have. For $500 I couldn’t be happier. Some ribs from the weekend.

 

[trazerr]

I just got a Camp Chef DLX a few months ago and its been great. My parents have one of the first traegers and it has been a tank as well. No digital display or anything fancy on theirs. However, they bought it long before Traeger cheaped out. I have a friend with a Camp Chef SG that he loves which is mainly why I went with a CC. Have another buddy with a newer Traeger that has been alright. However, it cost him over 1k and doesnt do anything better than mine. I paid about $700 less than he did..

I have done chicken breasts, whole chickens, pork butts, elk and deer steaks, sausage links, hamburgers, etc. It has worked perfectly every time so far. It also has the easy cleanout feature underneath which is a big plus.

 

[eagle#eyes]

I saved up for years to buy a Traeger but ended up buying a Green Mountain Grill Jim Bowie Prime. The prime model GMG grills come with wifi and a higher temperature range than the Traegers. All of my brothers/sisters and my wife's brother/sisters own Traeger grills and you would have to spend several hundred dollars more on a Traeger to compete with the GMG.

Also, the pizza oven attachment for the GMG grills is worth its weight in gold. With it, you can cook pizzas (of course) and sear steaks at 800 degrees.

I went the same route. My neighbor has a Traeger and loves it with zero issues, but, i saved a couple hundred bucks and got more features than he did. I also have no regrets. The pizza oven attachment is next on my list. Now, if I could just stop buying briskets, I would be there in no time.

 

[Mosster47]

I went through this about eight years ago. I ended with a GMG over a Traeger. It has been bulletproof.

At the time I narrowed it down to a GMG and a Louisiana. The price for the Louisiana was quite a bit more. I did like the features and the racks on the Louisiana, but these make up for that: Racks

My two pieces of advice is go as big as you can afford and get a thermal blanket for whatever you decide on. It saves you a ton of pellets which aren't cheap.

 

[carmanusa]

Like many have said all can do the job and there are some pros and cons...I have the traeger timberline 1300 and like the size and adjustability and the wifi is nice to watch, many have this option avail and I second the meat probe addition. For me the best addition I have is the grill grates with the pellet these can really get the temp up for sear marks!

 

[huntaholic123]

GMG has been a solid investment. I have a traeger as well but feel there quality has dropped off once they moved production overseas. The pellet grill market has really blown up the past few years. Lots of good options at a lower price than the Traeger. Feel like you are just buying the name. Just my opinion but I recommend GMG.

 

[Scoot]

I've got a Traeger Ironwood 650 and have been very happy with it. If I were to get one today, I'd look at a GMG and a couple others mentioned above. I love the wifi control option that came with mine- super nice and uber convenient!

 

[HunterEng]

If trager u need to go with the ironwood or timberline....they will get hot. Otherwise go with a yoder, rectec. So it kinda comes down to how much I want to spend....if the 500 to 600 range....look at gmg when on sale

 

[Fishn4eyes]

Just my opinion but I spent a TON of time researching pellet grills and ended up buying a RECTEC 700.

Liked it so much I bought a Stampede 590 for our lake cabin and a Trailblazer for hunting camp.

I am really impressed with them and their customer service is great from what I understand. I haven't needed it yet.

My Dad has a Traeger and it's been a piece of shit but maybe just an anomaly.

I see Yoder is mentioned a few times too and that looks like an outstanding grill as well. That was high on my list too but the RECTEC was a little more economical for me.

 

[Rodéo]

Just my opinion but I spent a TON of time researching pellet grills and ended up buying a RECTEC 700.

Liked it so much I bought a Stampede 590 for our lake cabin and a Trailblazer for hunting camp.

I am really impressed with them and their customer service is great from what I understand. I haven't needed it yet.

My Dad has a Traeger and it's been a piece of shit but maybe just an anomaly.

I see Yoder is mentioned a few times too and that looks like an outstanding grill as well. That was high on my list too but the RECTEC was a little more economical for me.

My neighbor just put out his rectec 700 with a "for free" sign on it this last weekend! Wheeled it over to my place and it looks like the only problem with it was that the fan on the backend had to be rigged with zip ties since the metal cover had fallen off. Smoked some ribs and they turned out great. Tried some burgers just for fun but this smoker seems to not be capable of direct flame, leading to what were essentially smoked burgers. Not bad, but I'll stick to charcoal for burgers from now on.

I'd never heard of RecTec before but it's a solid build and seems to hold temp pretty well based on my limited usage.

 

[Agross]

My neighbor just put out his rectec 700 with a "for free" sign on it this last weekend! Wheeled it over to my place and it looks like the only problem with it was that the fan on the backend had to be rigged with zip ties since the metal cover had fallen off. Smoked some ribs and they turned out great. Tried some burgers just for fun but this smoker seems to not be capable of direct flame, leading to what were essentially smoked burgers. Not bad, but I'll stick to charcoal for burgers from now on.

I'd never heard of RecTec before but it's a solid build and seems to hold temp pretty well based on my limited usage.

Wow! You did good! That's a 1200$ grill. How old is it ? They have a six year warranty on anything. Maybe yer neighbor could help you ou. Either way you scored!

 

[805Bowhunter]

Do any of you with Traegers have issue with rust? I live relatively close to the ocean and have been very hesitant as I am afraid it will rust

 

[timmymac24]

I was going to buy a pellet grill a few years ago and after doing some reading online I went with a Kamado Joe. Apples to oranges comparison but just doing some thinking on what you're after with the grill. The KJ has worked out well, no regrets not buying a pellet grill. Good eats on the way regardless of what you buy.

 

[Rodéo]

Wow! You did good! That's a 1200$ grill. How old is it ? They have a six year warranty on anything. Maybe yer neighbor could help you ou. Either way you scored!

Thanks for the info! Yeah I figured any smoker that big that worked would be worth at least $400, even used. Planned on tinkering with it to make it work but that wasn't necessary. I'll contact RecTec and see what they can do warranty wise for a second-owner. It's definitely not the newer version since it doesn't have the wifi motherboard or the probe thermometer attached like the newer models. I'm thinking it's the previous model, 5-6 years old max.

 

[Wellsdw]

Love my traeger 22. Gets to 450 no problem. I work occasionally at a small hardware store that sells them, and they have sold hundreds over years. Very few complaints and or repairs over the years. I can’t apeak for interchangeable parts with other brands. Almost all traeger problems are human errors, “me included” and you can call their CS and get a American human in seconds. I’d go for the smallest possible bc more cu inch more pellets. I have no experience with other brands.

 

[rbrent]

Between Traeger and Green Mountain, the GMG are more reliable grills. Traeger quality went down when they moved production out of Oregon. I don't have any experience with Camp Chef, Pit Boss, or the other brands out there.

 

[DBoone]

Love my traeger 22. Gets to 450 no problem. I work occasionally at a small hardware store that sells them, and they have sold hundreds over years. Very few complaints and or repairs over the years. I can’t apeak for interchangeable parts with other brands. Almost all traeger problems are human errors, “me included” and you can call their CS and get a American human in seconds. I’d go for the smallest possible bc more cu inch more pellets. I have no experience with other brands.

I’ve had three Traeger grills over the years, I keep getting a larger size, and have the 34 now but all the “problems” that I’ve ever had have been user error that most of the time fall under the category of not keeping the hot pot cleaned out. Pellet grills produce a lot of ash and after about every bag of pellets the grill should be vacuumed out and cleaned. This will ensure you of a very consistent grill and hold temps like a champ. If you are wanting temps over 500 then look past Traeger grills but from my experience, I cook at 300 and below almost all the time and only go to 400 for veggies. Low and slow and if you want that sear, reverse sear it on some cast iron.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MTHunter20]

Check out the Spider Grills pellet adapter for Weber kettle grills. It turns your standard Weber charcoal grill into a pellet grill/smoker. You can go back to charcoal by just taking it off. Last I looked they were about $280. I’ve been using mine for a couple months and smoked about everything you can on it with great results. I’ve looked into the bigger name pellet grills and almost bought one but I’m glad I didn’t now that I have this setup. It’s way cheaper and turns out great food.

Cooking some burnt ends after smoking a brisket that turned out awesome.

 

[lif]

Lots of good info to go off of boys! Appreciate it.

 

[TSAMP]

I bought a GMG prime David Bowie. Middle size model. I returned it due to rust issues within 3 months and it was stored indoors when not in use. GMG shipped me a new grill within a week. That one began to rust as well. They basically gave me every accessory and touch up paint. I hated the thing for awhile. But admittedly i was new to pellet grills. I think a lot of bad reviews on these (most manufacturers) are from folks who are new users or simply inexperienced. Updating your grills firmware for example. Like wtf... im an engineer and even i was like cmon. I liked traegers powder coating, since i had all these rust issues but have stuck it out with my tricked out GMG and were getting along alright. My advice would be find a cheaaap one and figure out if you even like them. They are kind of a niche thing, they grill slower then your propane, mainly because of startup/preheat and dont get as smokey of a flavor as your wood chip standard smoker.