Big Green Egg versus Traeger Grill

TigerDunes

I am quite familiar with the BGE. But not the Traeger. Any pros and cons from the pros on this forum? I notice Traeger just went public and the stock has been doing quite well. I am sure some of the pros have both! Thanks for reading and any comments.

Teefus

A friend has both and uses the Traeger quite a bit. He likes the "set it and forget it" nature of the grill. He uses it for ribs mostly, but has done brisket and pork butt too. To each his own I guess.

iudex

I have read some things on Traegers here and there and the biggest con would seem that you cannot get it up to high temps (be it searing or pizzas).

This only further justifies having both (as per Teefus' remark), but the only real pro I can see is the huge amount of space compared to a LGE.

Would love to mess around with one, though.

lousubcap

There may be some insights in this thread:

Re: BGE vs. Traeger?   FWIW-

EzraBrooks

My neighbor has a Traeger.  To me, when he runs it it smells like a wood-burning pen, which is not a pleasant smell.  I have never eaten any food off of it, but I did gift them some pulled pork after they had their baby and they raved about how good it was, so in this one instance it would appear BGE delivers a better product.  However I'm sure choice of pellets probably has a lot to do with final product.

lkapigian

they all have a place, they all have a different flavor profile ...you can get much more set it and forget it than a BGE, even without a controller ..Trager is good, but as with anything with moving parts/electronics more things to go wrong 

I say, buy one of each and make your own decision 

nolaegghead

My pellet smoker hopper isn't big enough to go through a low and slow without adding pellets.  I don't have that problem on the BGE.

JohnInCarolina

lkapigian said:

they all have a place, they all have a different flavor profile ...you can get much more set it and forget it than a BGE, even without a controller ..Trager is good, but as with anything with moving parts/electronics more things to go wrong 

I say, buy one of each and make your own decision 

alaskanassasin

one big difference is that you can cook with charcoal only one the bge, with the traeger you always have a smoke flavor 

nolaegghead

alaskanassasin said:

one big difference is that you can cook with charcoal only one the bge, with the traeger you always have a smoke flavor 

I dunno about that.  One of the biggest pellet smoker complaints is about the lack of smoke flavor.  I think you have to add a foil pack of wood chips to the pellet smoker just like you need to add smoke wood to the lump.

That said, I'm sure there are enough differences in pellet smokers where some don't burn the pellets as hot and you get some smoke flavor.

TEXASBGE2018

Well one you have to plug in like a vacuum cleaner and the other is a real grill. That's about all I can contribute.

alaskanassasin

nolaegghead said:

alaskanassasin said:

one big difference is that you can cook with charcoal only one the bge, with the traeger you always have a smoke flavor 

I dunno about that.  One of the biggest pellet smoker complaints is about the lack of smoke flavor.  I think you have to add a foil pack of wood chips to the pellet smoker just like you need to add smoke wood to the lump.

That said, I'm sure there are enough differences in pellet smokers where some don't burn the pellets as hot and you get some smoke flavor.

  I don't know, that was my uncles complaint, he has one and said if he wanted to cook something and not impart a smoke flavor he had no options.

nolaegghead

xfire_ATX

My neighbor just went all in on a $2k Traeger Timberline and he already has an XL BGE.   He frankly doesn't use his BGE very often, more likely was using an ok Gasser which the new Pellet Grill replaced.  He used his BGE for longer cooks.

My thoughts-
Positive- the phone app of set it and forget it is very appealing.  It tells him when the pellets get low during a cook so it wont go out.  It holds a lot of whatever, the inside is huge.
Negative- the unit is massive, requires electricity (which for me is far from my cooking area).  For the 4th of July we did a neighborhood brisket cook off and judging by the leftovers the BGE won (could be hunk of cow helped!).

I still look at them for the set and forget but if I do it, it will be a 2nd one I likely buy used for a decent price.

lousubcap

Here's another thread that may have some value:
OT My son (married and a one year old) wants a pellet grill ($700-800 top spend); inputs welcome OT  

danhoo

I would not want to generalize all pellets as the same, nor all Traeger pellet grills as the same. 

I have both a large BGE and a pellet ( not a Traeger ) and I'll be candid, both have a learning curve and both can cook amazing food.

my 2 cents of advice is join the Traeger forum and read about what their owners describe is going well, and not so well. Some, perhaps most is issues with individual models, and some of their models may be ones to steer clear of.  Same with PitBoss, and Rectec. Nothing is perfect or foolproof.

sumoconnell

I’ve been curious about this one - use lump instead of pellets. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Masterbuilt-Gravity-Series-1050-Digital-Charcoal-Grill-Plus-Smoker-in-Black-MB20041220/312771714

xfire_ATX

sumoconnell said:

I’ve been curious about this one - use lump instead of pellets. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Masterbuilt-Gravity-Series-1050-Digital-Charcoal-Grill-Plus-Smoker-in-Black-MB20041220/312771714

MY BIL bought that, havent seen it in use but apparently hes pretty happy wiht it.

caliking

Re: flavor wrt pellet smokers, most of the pellets are made of whatever hardwood, then flavored with mesquite/hickory/apple, etc. 

pellets actually made 100% from apple/hickory/mesquite, etc. are not as easy to come by, and are significantly more expensive than what most people use to cook with. So, most folks are probably not cooking with great pellets. 

alaskanassasin

nolaegghead said:

I’m saying charcoal burns clean relative to pellets. 

WeberWho

TEXASBGE2018 said:

Well one you have to plug in like a vacuum cleaner and the other is a real grill. That's about all I can contribute.

Are you a betting type of guy? 



I'm just messing with you....

WeberWho

I don't see myself owning a pellet grill but I'm not going to knock anyone who owns them. I have buddies who could only cook mac & cheese and frozen pizzas before their pellet grills. Now I receive text messages from these knuckle heads of ribs, turkeys, brisket, etc off their pellet grills. It's cool to see them get into it.

cookingdude555

I love my Weber smokefire pellet grill. It has absolutely exceeded my expectations. I had a green mountain grill pellet cooker, and it didn’t impress me much. The Weber launch was bumpy, but they ironed out the issues and the cooker is incredible. I do a lot of high heat cooking on it since it can get really really hot. So hot, it’s uncomfortable standing in front of it to flip the protein. 

Photo Egg

cookingdude555 said:

I love my Weber smokefire pellet grill. It has absolutely exceeded my expectations. I had a green mountain grill pellet cooker, and it didn’t impress me much. The Weber launch was bumpy, but they ironed out the issues and the cooker is incredible. I do a lot of high heat cooking on it since it can get really really hot. So hot, it’s uncomfortable standing in front of it to flip the protein. 

Like what you are saying. I followed Smokefire when it first came out and remember people complaining about some issues. What did they change to make it better?

cookingdude555

Photo Egg said:

cookingdude555 said:

I love my Weber smokefire pellet grill. It has absolutely exceeded my expectations. I had a green mountain grill pellet cooker, and it didn’t impress me much. The Weber launch was bumpy, but they ironed out the issues and the cooker is incredible. I do a lot of high heat cooking on it since it can get really really hot. So hot, it’s uncomfortable standing in front of it to flip the protein. 

Like what you are saying. I followed Smokefire when it first came out and remember people complaining about some issues. What did they change to make it better?

They figured out some issues with the auger, software, and the angle of the pellet chute.  I have actually moved the smokefire into pole position on the patio.  Its my go to for weeknight cooks, I use it like a gas grill actually.  Take the cover off, plug it it, hit go, and I am grilling from 350-600 in 10ish minutes.  Charcoal is still where I go when I have more time.  I did buy some charcoal pellets that I want to try out.  They are just crushed and pressed lump into tiny pellet size.

Photo Egg

cookingdude555 said:

Photo Egg said:

cookingdude555 said:

I love my Weber smokefire pellet grill. It has absolutely exceeded my expectations. I had a green mountain grill pellet cooker, and it didn’t impress me much. The Weber launch was bumpy, but they ironed out the issues and the cooker is incredible. I do a lot of high heat cooking on it since it can get really really hot. So hot, it’s uncomfortable standing in front of it to flip the protein. 

Like what you are saying. I followed Smokefire when it first came out and remember people complaining about some issues. What did they change to make it better?

They figured out some issues with the auger, software, and the angle of the pellet chute.  I have actually moved the smokefire into pole position on the patio.  Its my go to for weeknight cooks, I use it like a gas grill actually.  Take the cover off, plug it it, hit go, and I am grilling from 350-600 in 10ish minutes.  Charcoal is still where I go when I have more time.  I did buy some charcoal pellets that I want to try out.  They are just crushed and pressed lump into tiny pellet size.

Thank you very much.

alaskanassasin

cookingdude555 said:

Photo Egg said:

cookingdude555 said:

I love my Weber smokefire pellet grill. It has absolutely exceeded my expectations. I had a green mountain grill pellet cooker, and it didn’t impress me much. The Weber launch was bumpy, but they ironed out the issues and the cooker is incredible. I do a lot of high heat cooking on it since it can get really really hot. So hot, it’s uncomfortable standing in front of it to flip the protein. 

Like what you are saying. I followed Smokefire when it first came out and remember people complaining about some issues. What did they change to make it better?

They figured out some issues with the auger, software, and the angle of the pellet chute.  I have actually moved the smokefire into pole position on the patio.  Its my go to for weeknight cooks, I use it like a gas grill actually.  Take the cover off, plug it it, hit go, and I am grilling from 350-600 in 10ish minutes.  Charcoal is still where I go when I have more time.  I did buy some charcoal pellets that I want to try out.  They are just crushed and pressed lump into tiny pellet size.

 Cool, I did not know they made those, but it only makes sense.

Tspud1

nolaegghead said:

alaskanassasin said:

one big difference is that you can cook with charcoal only one the bge, with the traeger you always have a smoke flavor 

I dunno about that.  One of the biggest pellet smoker complaints is about the lack of smoke flavor.  I think you have to add a foil pack of wood chips to the pellet smoker just like you need to add smoke wood to the lump.

That said, I'm sure there are enough differences in pellet smokers where some don't burn the pellets as hot and you get some smoke flavor.

I agrre, my RecTeq pellet smoker doesnt have near the flavor of my egg

YukonRon

A former neighbor of mine, had a pellet grill, and for whatever reason, the pellet feeder would jam up in the humid weather. (Maybe the type of pellets he used?) That thing spent more time in the garage than on his patio.

His wife surprised him with a BGE. He liked the Traeger, but he really enjoys his BGE, due to its ability to deliver tasty food, without having to disassemble and repair. 

I just told him, “wait until your base cracks.”

There may indeed be a few plus and minus lists with both, but I just rather have BGE type cooker, and deal with the ceramic issues.

Money_Hillbilly

Comparing a green egg to a Traeger is like comparing an oven to a microwave.  They both do the same thing with somewhat different outcomes.  I have considerable experience with both.  We all know the pluses and minuses with the egg so I will offer a few comments on the Traeger.  The Traeger is a tool for folks that want outdoor cooking reduced to simple.  It accomplishes that with a well designed phone app and easy temp control.  The finished product looks great and comes out juicy but without smoke flavor.  We have cooked biscuits in one and you can’t tell the difference from ones cooked inside in the oven.  There are lots of folks that don’t like smoke so it suits them perfectly.  This is easy to explain since the moisture content of pellets is under 12%.  At low moisture levels it is impossible to impart smoke flavor.  After months of experimentation with different wood moisture profiles in my KBQ I am now very sensitive to smoking wood moisture levels.  Hope this helps.

dstearn

Matt Pittman (Meat Church) uses a Traeger Timberline on his YT channel and seems to get great results. The basic pro model does not have the Super Smoke feature but the Ironwood and Timberline models do. So perhaps it depends on which model you are using. The Ironwood and Timberline can get up to 500 degrees so you can sear especially if you use Grill Grates.
Malcom Reed from How to BBQ Right uses a Yoder on occasion and also achieves good results.
So I think it depends on which manufacturer and model you choose.

For me I only had space for one smoker and I wanted the sear a steak so the XL was a logical choice for me.

My Step Son just got a Traeger and I steered him into getting the Ironwood instead of the Pro. He is obsessed with it and now thinks that he is the greatest Pit Master in the world.