Traeger or Green Egg

WLYHNTR · Jun 4, 2016

Been debating this for awhile and still unsure on which to get, what's everyones thoughts on these?

Petras · Jun 4, 2016

Traeger.. the end

tman · Jun 4, 2016

If you go with a traeger type grill look at some different brands . Imo there are better quality ones with better option than traeger for the same price.

Mwsfarm · Jun 5, 2016

The egg or kamado style is more for the BBQ purist. Have had a kamado for 2 years, and love it. I can do a 12 hour cook at 205 degrees with charcoal in below zero temps because of their thick (think insulated) shell. With a kamado you also have the ability for extremely high temps. I can get over 700 degrees, which will cook the best pizza you've ever had, or the best reverse sear steak you've ever had. It's a steep learning curve at times, but is a heck of alot of fun too.

Pellet grills are simple, like a crockpot that adds smoke. Kamado or egg is very challenging, the hardest part is learning how to maintain and get the correct temp. Both produce food that tastes good, with a good operator. It can be a struggle to maintain temperature on a cold day with wind with a pellet grill. There are very good kamado grills other than a big green egg too, for a lot less money.

That being said, I am now shopping for a pellet grill, going to go with a Rec tec or a yoder. Traeger is crap now, sold out to China, cheapest components of almost all pellet grills now. Green Mountain and Louisiana grills are much better than a traeger. With a pellet grill, you just set the temp and go watch tv. Sometimes that's ok too. Read some reviews at amazingribs. lots of good info there.
Good luck!

Kurtr · Jun 5, 2016

Green egg way more versatile

Lapper · Jun 5, 2016

I too am in the market for a new grill and am leaning toward an egg style. Cost of entry is the only thing slowing me down.

Odin · Jun 5, 2016

Weber Kettle and the slow N sear.

raider · Jun 5, 2016

i have a traeger and like it alot... easy and great taste no matter what you throw at it... use it year round with the blanket on...

would love to have an egg too, but with the ease of the traeger, i'm afraid the egg would get dusty at my place...

fwiw, if you want to save a buck, i hear the cabelas pellet grills are really good...

Mwsfarm · Jun 5, 2016

I bought a char griller Akorn, thinking I'd try a cheap egg before dropping big bucks on a ceramic kamado, turns out the Akorn works great! It will do everything a buddies $3000 big green egg will do. You don't need a BGE

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https://www.chargriller.com/kamado-grills

CJR · Jun 5, 2016

BGE all the way. Love mine. Nothing beats searing a steak at 800 plus degrees. I used to do all my smoking in a Bradley smoker, but prefer the BGE for flavor. Downside is the price...accessories are pricey but should last forever.

Feildhunter701 · Jun 6, 2016

Weber gas and a electric smoker.

huntinforfish · Jun 6, 2016

I have a Rec Tec mini and love it. I wish I would have gone with the larger one right away though. The larger Rec Tec has a searing station built in for grilling also. Either way you go, you will be happy.

k9guy82 · Jun 6, 2016

I have a traditional offset smoker...works great! However I think ill be switching to the egg. Trying to smoke something in the colder months has proven to be quite a task.

SerchforPerch · Jun 6, 2016

Ive cooked a fair amount of meat on a traeger and never had a bad experience and fabulous BBQ!!

Anyone have experience with the Rec Tec's yet, Ive never heard of them until today and curious to hear more as Im in the market for another pellet cooker.. Right now Im really interested in the Yoder 640 and GreenMountain grill - any advice on either brand??

luvcatchingbass · Jun 6, 2016

I've never seen the char-griller Akron before but am starting to like the looks of it. might have to consider trying one and for the price difference of a BGE it should be worth it.

fullrut · Jun 6, 2016

Traeger here. The price was right at the time. Know a few guys who bought the Green Mtns. They like them. I may add one to my collection.

ItemB · Jun 6, 2016

SerchforPerch said:
Ive cooked a fair amount of meat on a traeger and never had a bad experience and fabulous BBQ!!

Anyone have experience with the Rec Tec's yet, Ive never heard of them until today and curious to hear more as Im in the market for another pellet cooker.. Right now Im really interested in the Yoder 640 and GreenMountain grill - any advice on either brand??

No first hand experience with a yoder or rec tec but I believe MossyMO has a yoder and from what I have read they are the real deal when it comes to pellet grills. Haven't seen or used a rec tec but they get good reviews online. I have used a green mountain a fair amount and I think for the money they are one of the better pellet grills better than a traeger in the same price range.
Also the cabelas pellet grill which is the same as the camp chef pellet grill is a decent grill for the money and you can get them on a decent sale at times.

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Pellet grills are just so easy to use and you get great smoked flavored food. Set you temp, make sure your filled with pellets and you good to go. Getting a good sear on a steak or burger can be a bit of a challenge but even with the sear you can still grill a darn good steak. Haven't had no issues yet but pellet grills are electronically controlled so I am sure down the road there will be issues with the controller. And there is moving parts for the auger and fan to feed and keep the pellets going, so there is some maintenance and potential to have parts fail. Where with a green egg(I would go with primo if I got a ceramic type cooker) there is no moving parts that could fail light your fire make food.

Whisky · Jun 6, 2016

Pellet vs Kamado cookers ??

I have, use and love both. Have a L BGE and a Yoder ys640 with comp cart. Have had the BGE for 3-4 years and the Yoder for about 5 months. The MAIN reason I bought the Yoder was capacity. The L BGE is just too small a lot of time. The second primary reason was the quick and easy start up. I can be smoking on the Yoder in 10-15 minutes. The BGE takes about an hour to get going. Gotta clean the ash. Stock the lump. Light. Get it up to temp. Wait for it to stabilize, and burn clean. Sometimes its nice to just hit the on switch... They are both set it and forget it. Once you get the Egg where it needs to be it takes care of itself for the most part.

Food - I was disappointed with some of the food off the Yoder as compared to the Egg at first. I knew there was less smoke with pellet grills in general, and the Yoder was supposed to be one of the better ones for producing more smoke, but on pork ribs and butts it tasted like they were cooked in an oven. Beef and chicken was ok. Definitely not the smoke flavor like the Egg. There are a couple solutions and they have been working ok.

I am concerned how the Yoder will be in Winter. To me it seems to burn through pellets pretty fast now so it'll be much worse come cooler temps. This January I smoked ribs no prob in negative temps on the Egg.

Both are a bitch to haul anywhere. I hauled my Egg once, never again. With the Yoder comp cart I can wheel it on a utility trailer and haul it that way if need be.

The Yoder felt like cheating at first (it is) but the convenience is nice sometimes. And on the slower days I can cook on the Egg. I still grill a lot on the BGE but since the Yoder is still fairly new most smoking has been done on that since I'm trying to dial it in...Glad I got both. Couldnt pick just one.....Although a bigger Egg would be tempting

Radar13 · Jun 6, 2016

We have the BGE, my only regret is we got the large instead of the XL. Like mentioned before I could use more room
I also have the CyberQ witch is Digital temp control, Set the temp and it stays there and is WyFy so I can check meat temps and change temps from my Iphone

Ericb · Jun 6, 2016

I bought the Kamado style at sams club a few years ago. I love it. Much much cheaper than a BGE with the same results. Have no issue cooking during the winter the only challange is turning it so the wind isnt fanning the fire constatly.

Traeger or Green Egg

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