I have been the blessed recipient of many great home cooked meals, both in my native Idaho, and my two year sojourn in Georgia. During that time, I was often treated to a smoked meat slowly heated for hours, priming the flavorful juices of brisket, pork, roast, and many others one hour at a time. Many others may have had similar experiences to mine, and are left wondering if they should acquire a pellet grill of their own to smoke their own delicious meats. One brand of pellet stove in particular is very well known in the smoking community: Traeger. A great company known for great products, Traeger has made a name for itself, but, being a name brand, Traeger tends to be more expensive than its competitors. This leaves many wondering if buying a Traeger pellet grill is worth the name brand cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those readers who are unfamiliar with pellet grills, they are a great tool used to slow cook food (usually meats) over several hours by burning small wooden pellets of various wood types, leaving your food of choice soft, juicy, and tender while imbuing it with a great smoky flavor (I\u2019ve even seen tomatoes cooked this way, and it turned out great!). It is worth noting that pellet stoves in general tend to be pricey, but are well worth the additional cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make my judgement call, I looked at several different brands of pellet grills on www.homedepot.com, comparing and contrasting the capacity and reviews of Traeger grills against competitors of the same or similar cost marked as large. The names are as they appear on www.homedepot.com. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, a look at capacity and price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Traeger: <\/strong>Pro Series 22 Pellet Grill in Bronze<\/p>\n\n\n\n Camp Chef: <\/strong>Smoke Pro SG 24 WIFI Pellet Grill in Bronze<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traeger<\/strong>: Pro 575 Pellet Grill in Bronze<\/p>\n\n\n\n Camp Chef: <\/strong>Woodwind Wifi 24 Pellet Grill in Stainless Steel<\/p>\n\n\n\n Direct Wicker: <\/strong>Robinson Outdoor Wood Pellet BBQ Grill with Smoker and Digital Temperature Controls <\/p>\n\n\n\n Louisiana Grills: <\/strong>LG700 Pellet Grill with Flame Broiler<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traeger: <\/strong>Pro 780 Wifi Pellet Grill and Smoker in Black<\/p>\n\n\n\n Louisiana Grills: <\/strong>Champion LG900C Wood Pellet Grill with Smoke Box, Front Shelf and Grill Cover<\/p>\n\n\n\n Direct Wicker:<\/strong> Charles Wood Pellet BBQ Grill with Digital Temperature Controls and Smoker in Black<\/p>\n\n\n\n Broil King: <\/strong>Baron 500 Pellet Grill in Black<\/p>\n\n\n\n USSC: <\/strong>The Irondale USG890 Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker in Black<\/p>\n\n\n\n A look at this data reveals that for the same price that one may spend on a Traeger brand grill, they could get a grill of far greater capacity, even though almost all of the competitors that we looked at boast the same or similar features that the Traeger grills possess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, most people I know are not looking to slow cook one hundred-fourteen burgers all at once, but the trend is that one can get more bang for one\u2019s buck by choosing one of Traeger\u2019s competitors rather than the name brand itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Traeger brand products almost across the board are very well reviewed. None of the Traeger grills I looked at were rated lower than four stars, with most boasting an almost perfect review rating. The large number of reviews present at Home Depot\u2019s website reinforces Traeger\u2019s reputation for being a great product. Many of the competitors we looked at though have similar statistics, just with much lower numbers of reviews– like Camp Chef, but notably with Direct Wicker\u2019s grills going unreviewed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is also with noting, that Traeger has a product for just about anything that you may be up to, smoking wise, while other brands simply do not have that much variety.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGrills in the $700-$800 range<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Grills in the $900-$1000 range<\/h2>\n\n\n\n