Need a new grill

drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
My current grill is about 16 yrs old and no longer working. It is a pretty standard propane grill. I'm not much of a cook. I don't use my current grill very often, but I do like to use it occasionally. I need to buy a new grill. My wife has been talking about these wood pellet grills. Anyone want to throw out the pros and cons to a wood pellet grill vs propane grill or give me some grill buying advice? Thanks.


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I love my Kamado Joe (Green egg equal) but they are pricy if you don't use it much. I always had a Webber grill also that I used a lot, both are Charcoal not gas, I've found charcoal can heat up about just as fast as gas just a little more clean up. No experience with Pellet grills.

I remember this thread had some good info.
nc4x4.com

Best smoker?

I really enjoy smoking meat. I have been using the $40 upright smoker from Walmart for a few year. It’s time to upgrade and I’m looking for advice. I mostly smoke pork loins and whole chickens, but that’s cause I can really only get about 3-3.5 hours without adding charcoal and I have lots of...
nc4x4.com nc4x4.com
 
I like my traeger for low and slow stuff especially if throw something on overnight like a pork shoulder. But it seems to burn a lot of pellets above 275 or so. 90% of the time I use my weber kettle or Akorn during the week.

Check out the design of a Holland/Wilmington Grill if you want to stick to propane. You can sometimes find them for a good price on marketplace.
 
I really like my traeger, I have the 34 Pro. We cook all sorts of stuff on it.

But I also have a weber, and the ease of propane (NG) and quickness to heat up, I wouldn't really want the pellet as the only grill I have.
 
I suggest this one

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I love my Pit Boss. It's the Wally World version, Austin XL. 1000 sq-in of cooking surface, 31lb hopper for $499. I used to suck at grilling, I could burn water. Now I grill like a pro. I use it for everything. I have smoked ribs, briskets, butts, turkey's, chickens, etc. Grill steaks, chops, etc. all the time.

I would absolutely buy another one. I'm actually thinking of getting a small one for the motorhome.
 
I'm on my 5th grill and 3rd Weber propane, and still have all 3 Webers in operation.

I found an old gas grill in the woods behind the house I rented in college. Shelled it out, added a MASSIVE piece of countertop around it (I worked for a cabinet company at the time), and probably made 1000+ burgers on that sucker in 3-4 years. I loved charcoal because of the smell and taste. Then the wife's dad wanted a new grill, so I inherited his old Weber. A few years later, he wanted a smaller one, so I inherited his second Weber, and gave the first one to my parents. That was 15+ years ago. It has had 1 set of grates, and my parents still use it on a weekly basis, even though it is 20+ years old. When we built our new house, I wanted a larger grill, so I sent weber #2 to my parents place in the mountains, and it cooked me some great burgers this past weekend. It is 15+ years old, but still looks like new when you knock the pollen off of it. Living outside, uncovered. As a replacement, I bought a used Weber Platinum on craigslist, and it has been great. All that to say, you get what you pay for with a Weber. (or you get what your father in law paid for? :laughing:) Somewhere along the line, I got a cheap stainless propane 4 burner grill that a friend was giving away, like a Char Broil or something. Didn't cook as evenly, and didn't hold heat as well. Got the job done, but I gave it to someone else because it was too finicky and didn't cook as well.

Nothing to add on the wood pellet side, but after cooking on charcoal so much in college, it was weird going to a propane grill, because the meat tasted so "clean". I imagine pellets are a nice balance between the lack of flavor from propane, and the sometimes overwhelming charcoal flavor.

For me, the biggest thing is time. I can be cooking on my propane grill in 3-4 minutes. I don't smoke stuff or cook things for hours, so if I'm doing burgers/steak/chicken, its usually a 10-20 minute process, and I don't have to spend any time or thought prepping things. Keep a 2 tank rotation and it's always ready to rock.
 
83oldyoda4x4 said:
I like my traeger for low and slow stuff especially if throw something on overnight like a pork shoulder. But it seems to burn a lot of pellets above 275 or so. 90% of the time I use my weber kettle or Akorn during the week.

Check out the design of a Holland/Wilmington Grill if you want to stick to propane. You can sometimes find them for a good price on marketplace.
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The Trager type wood pellet grills seem good for low and slow. But for a steak, I’m not sure it’s the best option. And I don’t like that you need electricity to power the feed auger, etc.

Hard to beat an old school Weber grill for charcoal but the new egg style ones are nice and provide a little more things you can do with them.

For propane, the Holland or Wilmington is good. I prefer the Wilmington because everything is stainless steel where the Holland has aluminum.
 
I have multiple grills and I am building a grill house this summer. My Weber kettle is 20 plus years old and it works great. I did upgrade the cooking grate to a cast iron one which really holds the heat and helps sear.

The Traeger was a store demo and it is awesome for a long slow smoke or cooking breakfast on the griddle accessory. There are a lot of other pellet grills out there if you dont want to pay the Traeger tax , but stick to the traeger pellets as they dont clump up like the cheaper ones do.

I also have an Akorn metal egg , it is very versatile and can cook just about anything. I have smoked boston butts on it , made a decent pizza and seared steaks a plenty. Simple , easy and inexpensive . Get a Weber charcoal chimney for this or the kettle mentioned above. You can have your charcoal ready in 10-15 minutes with one crumpled up piece of newspaper.

The latest addition to the hill is a Weber SE 315. It is heavily built and even has stainless steel grates. I am not a gas grill person , but my wife wanted to bring one home from the store and I have been very impressed with it. As previously mentioned it is the quickest grill to cook on .

If you decide on a Traeger or Weber shoot me the model number you want and I can send you the NC4x4 price. I dont currently stock any eggs as we are out of room until the next expansion.
 
rockcity said:
The Trager type wood pellet grills seem good for low and slow. But for a steak, I’m not sure it’s the best option. And I don’t like that you need electricity to power the feed auger, etc.

Hard to beat an old school Weber grill for charcoal but the new egg style ones are nice and provide a little more things you can do with them.

For propane, the Holland or Wilmington is good. I prefer the Wilmington because everything is stainless steel where the Holland has aluminum.
Click to expand...

We did some steaks recently on the traeger that came out some of the best I have ever done. Did them at 500* on it though. Some people like to reverse sear on it as well.

But you have to be careful about pellets and them getting humid etc. I can leave my grill outside all the time, but I keep the traeger in a closet.
sammi_davis said:
I have multiple grills and I am building a grill house this summer. My Weber kettle is 20 plus years old and it works great. I did upgrade the cooking grate to a cast iron one which really holds the heat and helps sear.

The Traeger was a store demo and it is awesome for a long slow smoke or cooking breakfast on the griddle accessory. There are a lot of other pellet grills out there if you dont want to pay the Traeger tax , but stick to the traeger pellets as they dont clump up like the cheaper ones do.

I also have an Akorn metal egg , it is very versatile and can cook just about anything. I have smoked boston butts on it , made a decent pizza and seared steaks a plenty. Simple , easy and inexpensive . Get a Weber charcoal chimney for this or the kettle mentioned above. You can have your charcoal ready in 10-15 minutes with one crumpled up piece of newspaper.

The latest addition to the hill is a Weber SE 315. It is heavily built and even has stainless steel grates. I am not a gas grill person , but my wife wanted to bring one home from the store and I have been very impressed with it. As previously mentioned it is the quickest grill to cook on .

If you decide on a Traeger or Weber shoot me the model number you want and I can send you the NC4x4 price. I dont currently stock any eggs as we are out of room until the next expansion.
Click to expand...

I have been having really good luck with the lumber jack competition blend pellets.
 
DSM Turbos said:
I really like my traeger, I have the 34 Pro. We cook all sorts of stuff on it.

But I also have a weber, and the ease of propane (NG) and quickness to heat up, I wouldn't really want the pellet as the only grill I have.
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This. I have the Traeger Ironwood 885 model and its awesome. Very versatile - you can do damn near anything on it - smoke, bake, grill, etc. I also have a charcoal grill, a propane grill and a mac daddy gravity fed charcoal smoker. For ease and speed, the propane wins every time. Well, almost every time. I just read the post further down from @dgoodwin10 about griddles. I have a 22" Blackstone and I really like it. It heats up fast and cooks fast as well.
 
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What do you typically cook on the grill?

I have a Traegar, BGE and a Blackstone griddle (the griddle replaced my propane 3 burner grill). I've only used the BGE for pizza so far, so I can't speak to that much. I have an older Traegar and use it mostly for smoking, but I think that a griddle is a better replacement for a gas grill than a Traegar simply for its versatility. I've done burgers, breakfast, hibachi, quesadillas, hot dogs and a handful of other things with great results. Seriously if you like breakfast food, a griddle is an absolute game changer. I actually enjoy cooking on it.
 
orange150 said:
If you do propane I'm always a big supporter of Wilmington Grills. They're indestructible and have enough stuff that they can be swiss army knife esque.
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dgoodwin10 said:
, but I think that a griddle is a better replacement for a gas grill than a Traegar simply for its versatility. I've done burgers, breakfast, hibachi, quesadillas, hot dogs and a handful of other things with great results. Seriously if you like breakfast food, a griddle is an absolute game changer. I actually enjoy cooking on it.
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Full Griddle Kit – Wilmington Grill

www.wilmingtongrill.com www.wilmingtongrill.com

Just sayin'
 
I've been wanting to get a master built gravity charcoal grill. It's the convenience of a pellet grill but you use charcoal in the hopper. But right now I use a small charcoal grill that I bought from a guy who builds them over in Bear Creek. It was only $150 and it's built way heavier than what you will buy at a store.
 
Danger_Ranger said:
I've been wanting to get a master built gravity charcoal grill. It's the convenience of a pellet grill but you use charcoal in the hopper. But right now I use a small charcoal grill that I bought from a guy who builds them over in Bear Creek. It was only $150 and it's built way heavier than what you will buy at a store.
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We sell these as well . They are built like a tank , but awful to assemble .
 
I myself am trying to decide between a Davey Crocket or a PitBoss. I have a blackstone (my off brand gas grill has been broke for awhile), and I can do almost anything on it. Just cant achieve the same with it when it comes to some "grilled" specialties
 
dgoodwin10 said:
What do you typically cook on the grill?

I have a Traegar, BGE and a Blackstone griddle (the griddle replaced my propane 3 burner grill). I've only used the BGE for pizza so far, so I can't speak to that much. I have an older Traegar and use it mostly for smoking, but I think that a griddle is a better replacement for a gas grill than a Traegar simply for its versatility. I've done burgers, breakfast, hibachi, quesadillas, hot dogs and a handful of other things with great results. Seriously if you like breakfast food, a griddle is an absolute game changer. I actually enjoy cooking on it.
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I typically cook steak, chicken, burgers and hot dogs. I'm not much of a cook, but damn you guys are making me feel like a slacker! I feel like I need to learn.
 
drkelly said:
I typically cook steak, chicken, burgers and hot dogs. I'm not much of a cook, but damn you guys are making me feel like a slacker! I feel like I need to learn.
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I used to cook out of necessity because a fat kids gotta eat, but I actually enjoy cooking on the griddle. Theres a lot of stuff on Youtube and facespace.
 
Junkyard Dog said:
I'll throw a vote in for wilmington, I have two, one stays on the porch and a travler model for when I work out of town.
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I love my Wilmington as well. I got the Master so it had a huge grill area, then ordered a half griddle for it and leave it on all the time. Works just like a black stone if I want and if I want to add some smoke, it gets hot enough to smoke some wood chips and add that flavor while grilling or using the griddle.

I’ve done pizza, quesadillas, pancakes, or anything else you can think of on the griddle. Works pretty well.
 
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