Pellet Grill/smoker recommendations under $700ish

Joined
Nov 16, 2017
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Central Oregon
I'm talking trager style. Although I think you pay alot for the name.
I do get the expertvoice deal on camp chef. But we dont discuss expert voice prices.
Green mountain.
Doesn't need to be super big just me and the lady.
Mostly interested in features and quality under $700
 

PNWGATOR

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Oct 14, 2014
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I did my due diligence and purchased a Grilla Silverback and am 100% satisfied. I LOVED the Kuma pellet grill, but could not bring myself to pull the trigger at their price point
 

Bigjay73

Lil-Rokslider
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Jan 23, 2019
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I have a traeger. If you're interested in quality, keep looking around. Decent grill, but I was disappointed in how flimsy they're built.
 
OP
BRTreedogs
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Nov 16, 2017
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Central Oregon
That silver bac does look nice.

Guess I should add I currently have a bbq grill and a gas smoker. Idk to much about the pellet grills.
Just want something easy to use.

Anyone have experience with the camp chef. My only real pull to them is I believe they are pro hunters.
 

hoff1ck

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Jul 13, 2016
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Michigan
No experience with any other brand as I'm on my first pellet grill, but I bought a Camp Chef XT24 3 or 4 months ago and love it. Use it quite a bit as a grill, but with the added jerky racks the space is equally as adequate as my smoker too. If you get them at a decent discount, I'd take a hard look at Camp Chef.
 

wilydawg

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Dec 27, 2018
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UT
I owned a Traeger for years, gave it to my daughter and upgraded to a very expensive Memphis Grill. It's a nice unit which I love for jerky, long smokes etc., and it will sear too, but it's kind of a pain re-configuring it to do so.

I wanted something to add to the collection, which would be usable to easily sear and hit high temps, and somewhat portable too so I could throw it in the trailer and use it away from home, but I wasn't interested in a tiny "tailgater" type unit.

So I got looking around and found the Rec-Tec Bullseye: https://www.rectecgrills.com/bullseye-rt-b380-wood-pellet-grill/

It's really designed as a full size grill, but it's lightweight, and has a fairly small footprint so it is pretty easily transported. It gets as hot as you would ever want it to, (much hotter than a Traeger, up to 600* - you won't need searing plates to get a good sear) and will go low temp for "low and slow" cooking. The only downside is that it doesn't have a algorithm type controller to keep a certain temperature that you set. So you have to learn where on the dial gets you to a particular temperature, which can change depending on ambient temps, so if you're primary use is low and slow, jerky etc. under a wide variety of ambient temps, it probably wouldn't be the best choice. But it lights and heats up very quickly, and turns out great food. So far for me it's been solid. (about a year now and I probably use it at least once a week average).

I haven't really used it for low temp stuff since I have the Memphis for that, so I view it as my "charcoal/gas bbq grill", but with the advantage of super easy fuel and killer smoke flavor.

I actually use it far more than I do the expensive unit. And they sell for $399 shipped. After owning it for a year, I'd buy another in a heartbeat and to me it's worth far more than the asking price.

Hope that helps...
 
Joined
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Idaho
I had a Traeger for about 5 years. Last year I bought the Cabelas Pro Series pellet stove and absolutely love it. Defiantly better built than the newer traegers. I have the 24" which is big enough to do whatever most people need. I believe they are $599 but I got mine on sale for just over $500. They also make a larger size if needed.
 

nickstone

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Dec 19, 2013
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El Dorado County, CA
I bought a green mountain grill last christmas and have been very happy with it. It feels like it is 2 times more heavy duty than the current model traegers. I did have a minor issue with the paint, but I called customer service and they took amazing care of me. Next time I see them on sale I'm planning on buying a 2nd one for my guys at work. Mine is the med sized one, I believe it's the Daniel Boone. I think I got the non wifi model for a little over 300 around christmas. Crazy good deal.
 

Bulldawg

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The cabelas are junk, had two of them, both quit working, first one caught the hopper on fire. I have a Traeger now and I like it. It’s -3 outside and I got some backstrap cooking right now.


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colersu22

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Wa
Costco had these on sale for around $750 a couple months ago.

https://www.costco.com/Louisiana-Grills-900-Pellet-Grill-with-Smoke-Box.product.100386742.html

I had a treager and didn’t like it, it was a struggle to get it over 400 degrees. I have a Yoder now, which is incredible but was over $1200.




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Those Yoder grills are a beast, isn’t it like 1/8 steel? A guy my father in law works with got one this summer and we got his hand me down green mountain (the bigger model) and then my father in law bought a Daniel Boone green mountain and we cook everything on those 2 green mountains.
 
OP
BRTreedogs
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Someone was telling me last year Blaz'n grills out of NB were really nice.
Pretty sure I can get Gmg at my local farm and ranch. See what kinda deal I can get there.
 

Jskaanland

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Washington
I've had a traeger lil tex for 12 years and just got a Green Mountain Jim Bowie in December and love it. I picked up the wifi model on sale for 650. It was 100 less than anywhere else near by.
 

twall13

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Jan 21, 2015
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Utah
Not much experience yet as I just got a camp chef from expert voice a few months ago as my first pellet grill but I've been very pleased with it so far. It's really easy to use but it does take a bit longer to start up than a gas grill. As long as you plan for that it works fine as a grill and the meats I've smoked have been awesome. Salmon, turkey, ribs, elk steak, etc. I didn't get the woodwind model but got the BBQ sear box as an add on and it works well. I think there are a lot of good brands out there at this point so pick the one that has the features you want at a price you can live with. As I mentioned, I haven't used any other brand but the ash dump feature on the camp chef sure seems like a smart idea and it's worked well for me up to this point.

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m274

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Jan 23, 2018
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Greater Seattle Area
Had a Traeger for only a few summer months. it had temp swings of up to 40 degress from the set temp. Got a Green Mountain and that has been so much better. Much more consistent. Just ran it for a 15 hour brisket smoke in 20 degree weather and it held within 10 degress of set temp even including left to right side of smoker variation (measured by a Fireboard with multiple probes). If you can wait a bit they have a new version coming out that may be appealing to you or may reduce price of current models. They usually have a great Black Friday price but that seems a bit far away from right now.
 
Joined
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Montana
Another vote for Green Mountain. Treager and Lousiana Grills I've been around were always needing parts.

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