Big Green Egg versus Traeger Grill

Photo Egg

YukonRon said:

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.

Humid weather causes the pellets to swell and more prone to jam if you leave the pellets in the hopper or don't store them in a air tight container.

4TheGrillOfIt

dstearn said:

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. 

I think the real reason these guys are using pellet grills in their videos is because so many home cooks are using them now, which helps them get more views and likes.  People who purchase pellet grills are probably more inclined to look for how-to videos.  Many of these guys have deals with the manufacturers.   

Btw, I’m not passing judgement on pellet grills or the guys in the videos.  More power to them.  I say you do you.  

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. 

I have wanted to try out a good pellet smoker for several years. My biggest issues dropping the cash is living in a humid salty environment. The thinner stamped material used on most of these would rust away in a year.
Looked into the Weber Smokefire when it first came out. Loved the specs but to many complaints to risk the money. Jumped on Craigslist last night and found 1 that I figured to be a scam or at best a first gen because of the low price. I got lucky. New in the box and appears to be 2nd gen newer upgraded model. I will know for sure tomorrow. Had to take it out of the box and load it piece by piece into my Subaru Outback where it’s now hiding from my better half. I folded up the outer box and kept it along with packing slip still taped to box. From web search it looks to be the newer sku# on box and packing slip. Appreciate your encouraging words about the grill. It pushed me to look again.

DavidCrumpton

YukonRon said:

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.

Humidity made the pellets swell I bet.

GregW

From reading reviews and actual pellet grill owners' comments, every brand/model of pellet grills has a different smoke profile. The actual smoke profile is heavily dependent on the cooking temperature. I have a fairly large pellet smoker. It produces the best smoke at 190° F. I typically smoke butts at 190°F for 8 Hours and then increase the temp to 250°F for the remainder of the cook.
The butts have a really good smoke flavor without being over smoked and never have a bitter smoke taste.

Pellet grills and smokers like any other type require time to learn how to use them in order to achieve the results you are looking for. I can safely say the majority of people using the pellet grills will be satisfied with the flavor, once they learn the way they like to run the grill. 

Traeger was the first manufacture of pellet grills from what I've read. They were really well built in the early years. I believe the company changed ownership sometime in the past and the grill production was moved to China. The quality really suffered. I think they are still currently made in China, however, the reports I'm seeing now say the quality has been greatly improved.

I don't think there is a direct comparison between the Egg and the Traeger. I recommend having both.

 

4TheGrillOfIt

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. 

I have wanted to try out a good pellet smoker for several years. My biggest issues dropping the cash is living in a humid salty environment. The thinner stamped material used on most of these would rust away in a year.
Looked into the Weber Smokefire when it first came out. Loved the specs but to many complaints to risk the money. Jumped on Craigslist last night and found 1 that I figured to be a scam or at best a first gen because of the low price. I got lucky. New in the box and appears to be 2nd gen newer upgraded model. I will know for sure tomorrow. Had to take it out of the box and load it piece by piece into my Subaru Outback where it’s now hiding from my better half. I folded up the outer box and kept it along with packing slip still taped to box. From web search it looks to be the newer sku# on box and packing slip. Appreciate your encouraging words about the grill. It pushed me to look again.

I have never been disappointed with a Weber product.  If I were inclined to get a pellet smoker that would be the one.  I hope you post your experiences.

Bar

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. 

I have wanted to try out a good pellet smoker for several years. My biggest issues dropping the cash is living in a humid salty environment. The thinner stamped material used on most of these would rust away in a year.
Looked into the Weber Smokefire when it first came out. Loved the specs but to many complaints to risk the money. Jumped on Craigslist last night and found 1 that I figured to be a scam or at best a first gen because of the low price. I got lucky. New in the box and appears to be 2nd gen newer upgraded model. I will know for sure tomorrow. Had to take it out of the box and load it piece by piece into my Subaru Outback where it’s now hiding from my better half. I folded up the outer box and kept it along with packing slip still taped to box. From web search it looks to be the newer sku# on box and packing slip. Appreciate your encouraging words about the grill. It pushed me to look again.

Photo Egg

Bar 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. 

I have wanted to try out a good pellet smoker for several years. My biggest issues dropping the cash is living in a humid salty environment. The thinner stamped material used on most of these would rust away in a year.
Looked into the Weber Smokefire when it first came out. Loved the specs but to many complaints to risk the money. Jumped on Craigslist last night and found 1 that I figured to be a scam or at best a first gen because of the low price. I got lucky. New in the box and appears to be 2nd gen newer upgraded model. I will know for sure tomorrow. Had to take it out of the box and load it piece by piece into my Subaru Outback where it’s now hiding from my better half. I folded up the outer box and kept it along with packing slip still taped to box. From web search it looks to be the newer sku# on box and packing slip. Appreciate your encouraging words about the grill. It pushed me to look again.

More like…”Why do you need 20 smokers!”…

HeavyG

Photo Egg said:

Bar 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. 

I have wanted to try out a good pellet smoker for several years. My biggest issues dropping the cash is living in a humid salty environment. The thinner stamped material used on most of these would rust away in a year.
Looked into the Weber Smokefire when it first came out. Loved the specs but to many complaints to risk the money. Jumped on Craigslist last night and found 1 that I figured to be a scam or at best a first gen because of the low price. I got lucky. New in the box and appears to be 2nd gen newer upgraded model. I will know for sure tomorrow. Had to take it out of the box and load it piece by piece into my Subaru Outback where it’s now hiding from my better half. I folded up the outer box and kept it along with packing slip still taped to box. From web search it looks to be the newer sku# on box and packing slip. Appreciate your encouraging words about the grill. It pushed me to look again.

More like…”Why do you need 20 smokers!”…

Some people collect coins, some collect stamps, some collect ...

Gulfcoastguy

HeavyG said:

Photo Egg said:

Bar 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. 

I have wanted to try out a good pellet smoker for several years. My biggest issues dropping the cash is living in a humid salty environment. The thinner stamped material used on most of these would rust away in a year.
Looked into the Weber Smokefire when it first came out. Loved the specs but to many complaints to risk the money. Jumped on Craigslist last night and found 1 that I figured to be a scam or at best a first gen because of the low price. I got lucky. New in the box and appears to be 2nd gen newer upgraded model. I will know for sure tomorrow. Had to take it out of the box and load it piece by piece into my Subaru Outback where it’s now hiding from my better half. I folded up the outer box and kept it along with packing slip still taped to box. From web search it looks to be the newer sku# on box and packing slip. Appreciate your encouraging words about the grill. It pushed me to look again.

More like…”Why do you need 20 smokers!”…

Some people collect coins, some collect stamps, some collect ...

Collect exwives.

caliking

@Photo Egg sounds oddly similar to a guy bringing a commercial meat slicer home...

caliking

Great score, BTW. You're still king of sniffing out a good deal. 

Photo Egg

caliking said:

@Photo Egg sounds oddly similar to a guy bringing a commercial meat slicer home...

“Your” slicer was easier to hide.lol

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. 

I have wanted to try out a good pellet smoker for several years. My biggest issues dropping the cash is living in a humid salty environment. The thinner stamped material used on most of these would rust away in a year.
Looked into the Weber Smokefire when it first came out. Loved the specs but to many complaints to risk the money. Jumped on Craigslist last night and found 1 that I figured to be a scam or at best a first gen because of the low price. I got lucky. New in the box and appears to be 2nd gen newer upgraded model. I will know for sure tomorrow. Had to take it out of the box and load it piece by piece into my Subaru Outback where it’s now hiding from my better half. I folded up the outer box and kept it along with packing slip still taped to box. From web search it looks to be the newer sku# on box and packing slip. Appreciate your encouraging words about the grill. It pushed me to look again.

Glad I could help, and nice score!  Weber is so good that even if its a gen 1, you call them and they will send all the parts to make it a gen 2.  I waited until I could purchase a factory 2nd gen, but the reality is that they probably just took a gen 1, opened the box and swapped the parts to make it a gen 2.  I have a few friends with these grills, and they are big fans as well.

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. 

I have wanted to try out a good pellet smoker for several years. My biggest issues dropping the cash is living in a humid salty environment. The thinner stamped material used on most of these would rust away in a year.
Looked into the Weber Smokefire when it first came out. Loved the specs but to many complaints to risk the money. Jumped on Craigslist last night and found 1 that I figured to be a scam or at best a first gen because of the low price. I got lucky. New in the box and appears to be 2nd gen newer upgraded model. I will know for sure tomorrow. Had to take it out of the box and load it piece by piece into my Subaru Outback where it’s now hiding from my better half. I folded up the outer box and kept it along with packing slip still taped to box. From web search it looks to be the newer sku# on box and packing slip. Appreciate your encouraging words about the grill. It pushed me to look again.

Glad I could help, and nice score!  Weber is so good that even if its a gen 1, you call them and they will send all the parts to make it a gen 2.  I waited until I could purchase a factory 2nd gen, but the reality is that they probably just took a gen 1, opened the box and swapped the parts to make it a gen 2.  I have a few friends with these grills, and they are big fans as well.

Got it put together today. Did a test fire to burn off the factory oils, test stability and software updates. All went perfect. Definitely a Gen 2 that left Weber only a few weeks ago. Also much larger than I thought it would be. How many pounds of pellets do you burn through in a 3-4 hour cook at 275-300 compared to 12-14 hour low and slow?
Bought a bag of B&B Championship blend, 40# for $15, on advice from a member at VWB site. Have no comparison but will cook a few things tomorrow with it.
Thanks again!

TEXASBGE2018

The biggest thing that bugs me about pellet grills is they require an outlet. I don't like the idea that if my power goes out I can't cook food on it. With the winterpocolypse we had back in February I liked knowing that had I lost power for any extended period of time I could have cooked everything I needed to on my Eggs without concern. It also annoys me that because they require zero skill to use, every manbun wearing, latte drinking millennial idiot thinks they are Aaron Franklin or Ronnie Scott now.

WeberWho

TEXASBGE2018 said:

The biggest thing that bugs me about pellet grills is they require an outlet. I don't like the idea that if my power goes out I can't cook food on it. With the winterpocolypse we had back in February I liked knowing that had I lost power for any extended period of time I could have cooked everything I needed to on my Eggs without concern. It also annoys me that because they require zero skill to use, every manbun wearing, latte drinking millennial idiot thinks they are Aaron Franklin or Ronnie Scott now.

Let's not get too carried away. You can still get a little redneck with them. Example below:



I'm running it off a car battery, I don't drink coffee, genetics won't let me grow a man bun, and I guess I'm "technically" a millennial. Far, far, from Aaron Franklin. 

So a guy who wears vans, miss matched socks, brown jean sorts, punk shirt, and black thick glasses are the type that run offset pits?   

Photo Egg

TEXASBGE2018 said:

The biggest thing that bugs me about pellet grills is they require an outlet. I don't like the idea that if my power goes out I can't cook food on it. With the winterpocolypse we had back in February I liked knowing that had I lost power for any extended period of time I could have cooked everything I needed to on my Eggs without concern. It also annoys me that because they require zero skill to use, every manbun wearing, latte drinking millennial idiot thinks they are Aaron Franklin or Ronnie Scott now.

Besides needing a plug for electrical, the pellet grill has moving parts and several things that can fail and stop it from working. The electrical control box unit, temp probe, fan, auger can jam, auger motor and glow plug to name a few. Also has constant fan noise. Sound levels different on each model.

The zero skill comment is similar to the way Traditional BBQ, Offset Smoker users, talk about Ceramic Grills. Most people are not looking to learn a trade skill. They just want good food on the table.
There is an active member on the VWB site in his 80s. He said adding a pellet grill has allowed him to continue enjoying cooking and smoking and hopes for many more years of doing it.
I do love the diversity of the people on this forum. So many types of cookers are talked about and used. Always something new to learn.

DavidCrumpton

I’m glad the make all kinds of grills and smokers. 

It’s neat looking at the neighbors selection. One is a die hard Weber Kettle guy, two others are offset smoker guys, and me an egghead. Each swears by their cooker. But I judge them by how they light it. I disagree with anyone using lighter fluid. Once that smell is in my nose all the food tastes like it. 

danhoo

I catch anti pellet snobbery sometimes when I mention my PB, but I only care about the food. I've had really good ribs a friend cooked in their electric oven. If it tastes great I try to observe something I can apply to my cooks. 

My main complaint of my PB is that the fan is loud. Not sure if all are as loud but if it were a lot quieter that would be an improvement. 

lousubcap

@danhoo - consider me unelightened as when I first read PB I immediately thought of the Pit Barrel Cooker (which I own) then the fan noise was definitely a curve.  ???

Bar

Pit Boss pellet cooker

Canugghead

lousubcap said:

@danhoo - consider me unelightened as when I first read PB I immediately thought of the Pit Barrel Cooker (which I own) then the fan noise was definitely a curve.  ???

If PB is pit barrel cooker, what is PBC? you know I'm messing with you 

Bar

Here is my take on this.
Some times the BBQ you cook is better than the BBQ you don’t cook.
Let me explain what I mean buy this.
The older I get the lazier I get.  I have a Klose offset smoker that use to be my only smoker.  Getting it out, cleaned up/fired up, and then babysitting sticks for the cook used to be fun.  I now prefer convenience.  I got to where I used the Klose less and less (around four times a year). Enter my purchase of the Big Green Egg.  I cook on this baby every week, I love it.  Will I win Memphis in May………no, but I enjoy the short prep time and the set it and forget it (basically) aspect of it.  I am cooking and enjoying WAY more BBQ than with the offset.  If a pellet cooker gets people cooking more often I think that is a good thing.

Canugghead

^^^ @Bar spot on, I used to thumb my nose at gasser and pellet pooper, now my XL and Large are used infrequently.

Photo Egg

So far so good. Pretty even heat, nicely rendered the skin fat and holds a bunch of food. So easy to raise and lower temps as needed.

Bar

Oh man…………..I don’t need another smoker.  😕

lousubcap

@Bar - Always remember, "life is not based on need alone!"  

Bar

mEGG_My_Day

I hate to be an enabler around here - but $200 off on the weber currently 

https://www.weber.com/US/en/grills/wood-pellet-grills/smokefire/?utm_source=paid_search&utm_term=%2Bweber%20%2Bpellet%20%2Bgrills&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Google-Search-SmokeFire-BRAND-Weber-BMM&utm_id=go_cmp-9331547705_adg-95187468475_ad-523923218054_kwd-871713139350_dev-m_ext-_sig-EAIaIQobChMIhrWjmvSi8gIVpSs4Ch3Cxw0eEAAYASAAEgLJnPD_BwE&utm_adgroup=SmokeFire-Sales-CPA-Search-Wood%20Grill-WDPL-BMM&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhrWjmvSi8gIVpSs4Ch3Cxw0eEAAYASAAEgLJnPD_BwE

Edit - dang that is a long URL!!