I was wondering if anyone has a Traeger Grill. I have a local dealer that offered me a Pro 34 at a great price along with a good deal on pellets. If you buy a grill from him you can buy pellets for $12 a bag instead of the usual $18 a bag as part of a club price. I know ceramic grills since I have a Kamado Joe and I know stick burners, but I know nothing about pellet grills. I appreciate any info. Thanks.

I love my Traeger.never had any issues food is always awesome. Only issue is my max temp is 495.

Got mine three months ago. We've cooked fish, chicken, steaks, veggies, you name it. I haven't smoked a brisket yet, but if the quality is anything close to the chicken I've made, I'll be ecstatic. Juiciest chicken I've ever made.

I paired my grill with some Weber thermometer probes that you can read via Bluetooth, so I get a beep from my phone when the internal temp of the meat is where I want it.

My only complaint is that the pellets don't always feed into the auger on their own, and you have to give them a little prod.

Admittedly, it does take away some of the more refined aspects of grilling, like standing around the grill for hours at a time and constantly babying the protein.

I am also looking at a Yoder YS640. The Yoder is is almost twice as much as the deal I was offered by my local Traeger dealer.

I've had my Traeger for about a year and a half now. It really does smoke food like a dream and still gives it the flavor you'd expect from using wood. We use ours twice a week and haven't ever had an issue with it. Traeger tells you that you have to use their pellets but that's not really true, as we've been using the less expensive cabela's pellets for the last six months.

Fishin Texas Aggie 05 said:

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Is your dealer looking to move some stock?

Asking for a friend, or board

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I don't know but I will ask him next week.

Obi Wan Ginobili said:

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Admittedly, it does take away some of the more refined aspects of grilling, like standing around the grill for hours at a time and constantly babying the protein.

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One of my favorite parts of smoking meat

Yoder. Those things are the beast. I would love to have one to compliment my egg. They turn out mighty fine BBQ and I've gathered they are built like tanks. The treager quality has suffered a little since they exploded. I've had several friends buy one in the last couple years that they have had to get warranties fixes. If you're looking at pellets, also consider Rec Tec. Fantastic customer service and great quality.

If I had money to blow id get a Yoder in a heart beat but since I havw competing priorities for my $ id get a rec Tec

The Yoder is built like a tank for sure. The Traeger would run me about $800 less so I have take that in to account. I do know that if I buy the Traeger the local dealer will do me right on any possible warranty stuff. It is a tough decision. I have also read that Yoder will burn almost twice as much pellets at the same temp that a Traeger will, so I am keeping that in mind as well. I looked at the Rec Tec but I have a difficult time buying something online that I can't see in person first. It does sound like some have the Traeger and like it.

I've just not been impressed with the meat coming off them or the quality of the smoker 2-3 years after purchase.

I've heard much better things about Rec Tec. One coworkers loves his. Another wishes he got one instead of his Traeger.

I've had a yoder ys640 for about 3 years now and I love it. Is it worth the premium over a treager? Depends on what is important to you. I looked at both and I saw the yoder as having much superior quality of build and better user controls. Also seems to be more flexible as you can grill at high heat on it as well. Yoder customer support has been great as well. I also happened to have some extra $$ on hand and decided to "treat yo self".

I'm sure treager gives good results- my brother in law has one and is happy with it.

I have the money to spend to get the Yoder, but if I can spend almost half the same money and get something else that does get my attention. I do think the Yoder will last longer just based off the thickness of the metal of the grill.

I'm tracking your decesion. I'm in the same boat.

I will make up my mind in the next couple of days. I do know if I get the Traeger I will have a great dealer that will stick by his product. The Yoder is thicker steel but costs more and is more expensive to run. It is a tough decision.

aggiechugger said:

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I will make up my mind in the next couple of days. I do know if I get the Traeger I will have a great dealer that will stick by his product. The Yoder is thicker steel but costs more and is more expensive to run. It is a tough decision.

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Why would the Yoder be more expensive to run? It should be cheaper to run as the thicker steel will retain heat better than the Traeger. The Yoder weighs more than twice the Traeger.

The first time I looked at a Traeger I came away with the opinion that with how thin the walls are it was designed to burn, and thus sell, a lot of pellet.

I really don't know for sure but I called Yoder and they told me it will burn 2 pounds of pellets at 225 degrees in moderate outside temps. Traeger burns about a pound an hour at 225.

Had my traeger for a couple of years now with only a few hiccups. I do the usual grilling fare at the highest temp. I've smoked ribs, pork butt, chickens, and a while turkey breast with results that match our offset smoker. I've yet to attempt brisket with it. You can get a 30 ish pound bag of mixed traeger pellets at Costco which is my go-to. Also shop Amazon during the off season for good deals and stock up. I've gotten hickory and mesquite pellets for $14 a bag during the winter months.

My yoder goes through about 1.5-2 lbs an hr when I am smoking on it.

One thing I use when smoking to get more smoke flavor is one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CS6YFIC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492993798&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=amazing+tube

Pellet Grills burn so clean that sometimes for something like a central Texas style brisket or pork shoulder you want more smoke flavor.

My green Mountain came with a built in meat temp probe and a wireless remote that displays grill temp, meat temp, and allows me to turn it up, down, on and off. The new ones are wifi and work with an app on your phone.

EskimoJoe said:

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My green Mountain came with a built in meat temp probe and a wireless remote that displays grill temp, meat temp, and allows me to turn it up, down, on and off. The new ones are wifi and work with an app on your phone.

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I've been considering a Green Mountain, seems like you get more for your money vs Traeger. The Yoder is nice, but I don't think I can justify the price on that one. I would think the Yoder would be better for sure in colder environments due to the thickness of the metal though.

Max Power said:

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EskimoJoe said:

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My green Mountain came with a built in meat temp probe and a wireless remote that displays grill temp, meat temp, and allows me to turn it up, down, on and off. The new ones are wifi and work with an app on your phone.

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I've been considering a Green Mountain, seems like you get more for your money vs Traeger. The Yoder is nice, but I don't think I can justify the price on that one. I would think the Yoder would be better for sure in colder environments due to the thickness of the metal though.

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I've used my green mountain when it was under 20 degrees and windy. It did fine. My buddy that has a traeger was there and couldn't believe it. Evidently his traeger doesn't hold temp in those conditions. The green mountain has a turbo boost or something that kicks in when it's cold so it will hold temp.

I have a Louisiana grill which is pretty much the same thing as the Traeger. I love it. Ease of gas with the benefit of wood smoke.

Electric temp settings are awesome (but are plus or minus 20 degrees accurate).

Only downside is that it is electric, and if you lose power to your house, you need a gas or charcoal backup.

I bought a Traeger back in January of this year. I have cooked brisket, chicken, pork butts, ribs, pizza, steak etc.. pretty much everything you can imagine ive cooked on it. I love this thing. The briskets have always turned out fantastic and with good smoke and bark.

People have been shocked when they have seen them bc they didn't think a pellet smoker could do that well on briskets. In fact brisket is what I probably do the best job of cooking on there.

The only thing I wish I had done was buy the 34. I went with a 22 bc I was initially skeptical. Now I find myself looking at upgrading again...

I guess I am leaning toward the Traeger. With the price difference between the Traeger and the Yoder I can get a rifle I have been wanting to buy as well.

I have a Green Mountain Smoker, which is a little better than a Traeger, but not as good as the Yoder.

I love it. Great brisket, ribs, chicken, whatever. I doubt many would be able to tell the difference in the end product between pellet smoker vs. traditional.

My FIL gave me a Traeger for Christmas this past year. He has been trying to get me to buy one for a couple of years now, but I always tell him that I like my regular wood smoker. I guess he finally couldn't take it, he just wanted me to have one too bad.

I love the thing. I have yet to fire up my other smoker ever since I got it. I have yet to do a brisket with it, but I've done just about everything else. Everything has been delicious. I got a few 25-30 lb wild piglets yesterday, and plan on throwing one on whole this weekend.

I replaced my Traeger with a Green Mountain a few weeks ago and couldn't be happier. The temps are much more even across the grate on the GMG. It was between that and a Yoder and for the price I couldn't justify the Yoder after seeing both. I'll use the savings to buy more meat and pellets. I've done two briskets, chicken, ribs, pizzas and everything has turned out great.

If you have a Komodo for grilling I would go Cookshack all day everyday.

Simple, electric and makes great BBQ. They are built like tanks, and I have not killed one yet.

Bought one used for $250 ran it 5-6 years and sold it for $250. Bought a second used unit that was built in the 80's that will hold about 20 chickens and still going strong 3-4 years later.

Edit: You have learned to run a stick burner, now learn to enjoy your free time. I have taken the first smaller one camping, put a brisket in, hit the lake all day and came back to BBQ. The smoker never left the back of my truck and could barely be seen over a closed tailgate back at camp.

I didn't ask the question, but have been thinking about a lot of these issues. Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm learning a lot.

I ended up buying the Traeger. I got the Pro 34. I think it was a good deal. I got the smoker, front shelf, bottom shelf, cover, and two bags of pellets for under $1000 including tax. I will fire it up for the burn in tomorrow.

Anyone make the plunge for a timberline?

pellets

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Anyone make the plunge for a timberline?

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Ordered...to be delivered next week hopefully. Replacing my 7 year old Lil' Tex that's been an awesome little workhorse.