So who’s got a BGE and Traegar?

Greeno55 · April 2018

I have a limited opportunity to get a Traegar at a substantial discount but am torn. I currently own a Large and MiniMax so I have the portability issue covered. For those of you who own both, what do you see as the big advantage?

Skiddymarker · April 2018

@Canugghead has both......

northGAcock · April 2018

I don't have a Traegar, but i did somehow get stuck on their Infomercial over the weekend. Nothing against them, but they it did go on a mite.

DoubleEgger · April 2018

If the discount is substantial enough that you could sell it slightly used and not lose money, then it’s a no brainer.

lousubcap · April 2018

Paging @pgprescott as he is in the business. Also give the search function here a look as there have been a few recent threads about pellet cookers. FWIW-

blasting · April 2018

Frequently a thread like this pops up, and I read through them. I always hope someone will give a good reason for me to purchase a new toy.

Unfortunately, the typical conclusion is the pellet poopers don't do any better than an egg at replicating the smoke profile of a stick burner. While they are set and forget, so is an egg with controller.

All the best if you pull the trigger. What benifit are you anticipating?

SoCal_Griller · April 2018

My brother in law has a Traegar his first smoker ever. Turns out some good Brisket. I do like the "Smoke" setting, basically a hot smoke generator @ 180. After an hour or two of that he then cranks it up to 250 for the duration. I'm happy with the egg and combined with the SMOBOT I get the set and forget of the Traegar. There is something about those pellets, I prefer lump.

HoustonEgger · April 2018

I don't have a traeger but I do have a Pitts & Spitts pellet smoker and one benefit that I enjoy is that it will turn itself to warming mode once your meat reaches your desired temperature. So if you set your meat to 195 and your pit to 225, the pit will temper down to 180 to hold your meat warm once it reaches that 195 target temp. Not sure if the Smobot does that or not.

On the down side, they are a bit more finicky in maintenance - if you aren't going to use them within 48-72 hours, you need to remove all of the pellets (if you live in a humid area) or risk getting a jam in the auger.

YukonRon · April 2018

It seems around here, some of the owners have had problems with the pellet dispenser from time to time, typically involving high humidity exposure, along with infrequent use.

I have helped some friends repair the feeder box on more than one occasion, and to be fair, those I had worked on were stamped out in Asia and sent back here to be sold. Quality on those models were suspect, to say the least.

I believe there are several of those out there still, but they have since changed the manufacturing of these items, back to the USA, or so I have been told.

I would certainly be sure to check the manufacturer's origin.

I had a Traeger in my garage, for a couple of months until my previous, next door neighbor sold it, after his wife bought an XL BGE, like mine. They have since moved, and I tried to buy his XL, to save him the trouble of having to move it, and he laughed at me.

They were not that hard to work on, no worse than a band issue, but very aggravating while wanting to cook and always having to work on the thing for a couple hours prior to getting it rolling.

Good luck with your purchase. They seem to be like everything else in the BBQ world, likely they have some advantages and some disadvantages, but like most eggers, you will find a way to make anything work for your cooking needs

Bill_Swerski · April 2018

I have both a large BGE and a Traeger (Pro 22). I also have a Lynx Pro gas grill with infrared burners. I use all three about equally. the egghead cult on this forum would never tell you to buy anything aside from an egg (because it is the best all-rounder that exists), but that's not to say that it's better than everything. here are the reasons to buy a Traeger to complement (not replace) the egg:

- much greater convenience. anybody who has used one knows how much easier it is. you pour in some fresh pellets and set the dial, and it's producing good, usable smoke within 5 minutes. key is that the pellets have to be fresh - you can't leave them in the hopper for weeks and let them absorb humidity as the weather changes. They're made of compressed sawdust, and if the humidity in the pellets isn't right, they won't burn right. so just keep your bag indoors and empty the hopper between uses if more than a few days (easy to do with the trap door in back).
- much cleaner setup (I know DigiQ's can maintain temps on an egg, but then you've got wires all over the place and setup is a little annoying).
- over 10 wood flavors of pellets from Traeger alone
- Traegergrills.com has a huge recipe database (5,000+ recipes and growing) that is incredibly easy to use
- size/shape of it is more conducive for ribs and other long meats (I did a suckling pig last year that would have had to be balled up to fit in my egg - was incredible btw).
- very easy to use. my wife would never touch the egg, but she uses the Traeger all the time
- can smoke at a lower temp (160-180 in smoke setting), which allows you to make incredible beef jerky.

honestly, it's a great complement. I always tell people that if I could only have one grill, it would be an egg. if two, it would be a gasser (for easy and hot searing) and a Traeger for smoking. fortunately, I have all 3.

Canugghead · April 2018

BGE used to be the be all and end all for me, not any more, I know it's blasphemy in this forum. Got myself a Pro 34 last year, been using it more than my BGE. Lots of good opinions/advice above already, if you search my recent discussions/comments you'll see my Traeger cooks. Don't get me wrong, still love my BGE ... with BGE, Traeger, Anova and a WFO (pending parts replacement) I'm spoiled

p.s. one known shortcoming of Traeger is you can't do high heat sear/grill, but you already have two eggs.

I'll also PM you.

cookingdude555 · April 2018

I have a green mountain grill, similar to a traeger. I like the grill, it cooks some really good food. Needs a little more smoke via a smoke tube, and it cooks faster than my eggs when I smoke meat. To be honest though, I think the WSM is better than the pellet grill and the eggs at smoking. The big draw on the pellet grill is set it and forget it, and it does well at that.

Killit_and_Grillit · April 2018

I brought up a similar discussion a few months ago. (And got blasted by the zealots as well)

I finally got put on hold with the project because I live in the south and don’t have a place to store indoors.

As soon as I get a covered area I will get one. It’s an outside smoke oven with tons of surface space. That can’t be a bad addition to a couple of Eggs.

distanceman · April 2018

I only have an XL and SMOBOT but considered a Pellet at one point. I think @Bill_Swerski nailed it for pros to a pellet.

I ultimately went with a SMOBOT for "set it and forget it"...I figured it cost me an extra 1-hr on start up and wires hanging everywhere vs Trager.

To me, it works very well. But, if money and patio/garage space isn't an issue, I'd say go for it. Kinda like the reason I just bought a new 9mm when I have 2x .45s. Different tools for different purposes.

littlerascal56 · April 2018

Owned 3 Treager grills, and a Yoder 640. The Yoder blows those Treagers away. I got tired of the pellet cookers (high maintenance) breaking down during a critical cook, and pellet's taking on moisture.

Everything I cook (outdoors) goes on the XL or Blackstone. I'm spoiled and will never go back to pellets.

Greeno55 · April 2018

Thanks for all your input. Based on everything, and other things I have read, I think I’m going to hold off and wait until I have a nice covered bbq area to avoid some of the issues with elements. One thing I love about the Egg is it keeps on chugging effortlessly through some harsh Canadian weather. I think I’ll own one eventually, but in due time. A buddy is taking advantage of the deal so I’ll let him work out all the kinks.

SmokingPiney · April 2018

This is why I bought a gravity feed smoker. The Egg is a very versatile and great cooker, but not really a great smoker. My Assassin gravity feed delivers the smoker goods. I looked at pellet smokers before I bought the Assassin and just didn't want to deal with all of the moving parts and possible failure points.

Gravity never fails.......no offense to the stick burners here.

Vonbergmann · April 2018

I have a BGE, a Lang Stickburner and a Traeger (and several others). I have no experience with other brands of pellet cookers. My problem with the Traeger is threefold:

1) It may be set it and forget it, but the end result is just average BBQ, IMO. Without too much further effort, the BGE really does a superior job as a cooker on almost anything.

2) Cleaning out the firepot on the Traeger is at least as much effort as cleaning an egg. In fact, it kind of a pain to get all the dust out of it. A vacuum is almost required to really do the job.

3) A pellet grill has a LOT of moving parts, and those parts are going to break at some point. My auger got jammed recently, and it was a few hours and $35 for the part. Not a lot in the scheme of things, nut it was a very small, cheaply made part. So it is not hassle free. An egg has a hinge, a daisy wheel and a draft door, and none require electricity.

I am not getting rid of it, but it has been relegated to my weekend home. It is in So Cal backing up to a national forest, and I am not going to be the guy that starts a wildfire from his BBQ. And I am certainly not going to use an electric grill, heaven forbid.

On the other hand, I am not going to discourage anyone from getting another way to cook!

blasting · April 2018

Vonbergmann said:

I have a BGE, a Lang Stickburner and a Traeger (and several others). I have no experience with other brands of pellet cookers. My problem with the Traeger is threefold:

1) It may be set it and forget it, but the end result is just average BBQ, IMO. Without too much further effort, the BGE really does a superior job as a cooker on almost anything.

2) Cleaning out the firepot on the Traeger is at least as much effort as cleaning an egg. In fact, it kind of a pain to get all the dust out of it. A vacuum is almost required to really do the job.

3) A pellet grill has a LOT of moving parts, and those parts are going to break at some point. My auger got jammed recently, and it was a few hours and $35 for the part. Not a lot in the scheme of things, nut it was a very small, cheaply made part. So it is not hassle free. An egg has a hinge, a daisy wheel and a draft door, and none require electricity.

I am not getting rid of it, but it has been relegated to my weekend home. It is in So Cal backing up to a national forest, and I am not going to be the guy that starts a wildfire from his BBQ. And I am certainly not going to use an electric grill, heaven forbid.

On the other hand, I am not going to discourage anyone from getting another way to cook!

Strong first post - and not the first time I've heard most of it. Welcome.

dshaffes · April 2018

I own a medium BGE and a Traeger Pro 22. I love to use both of them!

billyray · April 2018

I have a BGE large and small, Traeger, Weber 6 burner summit, PBC, Masterbuilt smoker and a Chef Cooks flat top/BBQ. Use them all for what they do best. My wife thinks I have a problem :-)

lousubcap · April 2018

@Vonbergmann - as mentioned above-welcome aboard and enjoy the journey. You obviously have considerable Q run-time. Appreciate your willingness to offer your insights right out of the gate.

Focker · April 2018

SmokingPiney said:

This is why I bought a gravity feed smoker. The Egg is a very versatile and great cooker, but not really a great smoker. My Assassin gravity feed delivers the smoker goods. I looked at pellet smokers before I bought the Assassin and just didn't want to deal with all of the moving parts and possible failure points.

Gravity never fails.......no offense to the stick burners here.

Got to use a gravity feed for the first time recently. I like how the smoke rises through the fire. Almost like a Karubecue....almost.

Always thought reverse flow was king. I quickly learned, it isn't.

bweekes · April 2018

billyray said:

I have a BGE large and small, Traeger, Weber 6 burner summit, PBC, Masterbuilt smoker and a Chef Cooks flat top/BBQ. Use them all for what they do best. My wife thinks I have a problem :-)

@billyray what would you say your traeger does best? i hear chicken a lot, but what's your thinking?

billyray · April 2018

bweekes said:

billyray said:

I have a BGE large and small, Traeger, Weber 6 burner summit, PBC, Masterbuilt smoker and a Chef Cooks flat top/BBQ. Use them all for what they do best. My wife thinks I have a problem :-)

@billyray what would you say your traeger does best? i hear chicken a lot, but what's your thinking?

I like anything I want to do @ 225-250. Tri-tip is good, but I have to sear it on the gasser with grill grates. Also do my pastrami on it.

So who’s got a BGE and Traegar?

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