Traegar Grills

Until Traeger users respond, best option is to use the search feature which has 3 pages of useful info and comparisons. My boss has a Traeger and loves it. My neighbor had one and sold it to buy a Rec Tec. IMO, it's a matter of personal choice based on your preferred cooking style. I'm old school with actual pecan, apple, or mesquite wood.

I’ve got a few friends and family members with them. They are nice in that you can set the temp and don’t need to tend to them. I find them lacking in flavor compared to charcoal but have more than a gas grill. Pretty much in between.

I went with a Masterbuilt gravity series and have loved it so far. Think of a pellet grill but using charcoal instead. It also gets a lot hotter than the pellet grills (700+ vs 400).

With both pellet grills and the gravity series, maintenance is key. You can get flare ups pretty easy if you don’t clean the gravity series and I’ve seen the traegers clog up in the auger quite a few times. I haven’t seen a whole lot of quality control issues with traegers though.

Get a recteq

I have a Traeger Junior (tailgator) that I bought in 2013, a GMG Daniel Boone bought in 2015 and a Smokin Brothers Premier Plus 36 I bought a few weeks ago. I like all three of them being they are different sizes. I may sell the GMG and keep the Traeger just in case with the new SB PP36. They all have their pluses and minuses. I checked into RecTec, but I wanted something I could put a rotisserie in like I did with the GMG.

I have had the Silverton for the last year and it has been alright. I do recommend Traeger as they are the bar for pellet grills. My specific traeger has a hard time getting past the stall on meats. I am not sure why but I had a brisket stall for 12 hours at 145 and not get a degree hotter in that time. Mine goes to 500 but I have caught it on fire a few times I guess due to the lack of cleaning the grease off. I think I am going to switch to a wood/coal smoker soon. Mine does not produce as much smoke as I would like. I also added a smoke daddy which is a tool you can add to any grill to get more smoke. Overall, I really like my traeger but it being a pellet grill lacks exactly what I want/need not it being a traeger. I have also noticed my traeger hold temps closer to the set temps versus competition. Mine usually is only 5 degrees off when it is off...

After getting it, my entire family asks me to cook everything on it. It will indeed improve the taste of your meats.

not a fan unless you're just using it for smoking. Takes awhile to heat to desired temp, must clean periodically, etc... Stick w/ a weber if you're just grilling in general.