Best Smoker Under $700? Suggestions please

[Daba's BBQ]

My brother-in-law is looking to buy another (pellet) smoker. He already owns a Traeger, as do I.

Now he wants a different brand. His budget is around $700. Any suggestions?

 

[JPSBBQ]

Well, this is not what you wanted to hear but if 700 is the budget, I’d forgo a pellet cooker and get a 22” WSM. They are well under 700 and are world class smokers. A 700 pellet cooker is gonna be just that. They are all pretty much the same at that point IMO. Any would be fine I suppose, but if you want great BBQ I’d look another direction personally. Happy hunting. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of options from the panel.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

Thank God this ain't for me. I own a Traeger Pro Series 34.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Thank God this ain't for me. I own a Traeger Pro Series 34.

Not sure those are available any longer. the smaller pro 575 are 800+tax.

 

[CMTiger]

I love my 575. Buddy of mine bought a Pit Boss from Wal Mart and it was like $500. He’s enjoying the heck out of it, but it’s bare bones. No wifi or anything if he wants that

 

[Retinla53]

My brother-in-law is looking to buy another (pellet) smoker. He already owns a Traeger, as do I.

Now he wants a different brand. His budget is around $700. Any suggestions?

I’ve had some issues on long 8-10 hr smokes with my Traeger on 2 occasions. I’ve cleaned and vacuumed every time I use it. So a dirty pit is not my issue. Ash smothered my flame out and it kept pumping the pellets out. What a cluster. A buddy of mine has has a Pit Boss and uses it 5 days a week with no issues. A lot of suggestions from this site recommend different type pellets they don’t sell around my hometown. Traeger pellet grill using Traeger pellets. You’d figure it would work good. Notta. To your bro in law go with the Pit Boss

 

[JPSBBQ]

I’ve had some issues on long 8-10 hr smokes with my Traeger on 2 occasions. I’ve cleaned and vacuumed every time I use it. So a dirty pit is not my issue. Ash smothered my flame out and it kept pumping the pellets out. What a cluster. A buddy of mine has has a Pit Boss and uses it 5 days a week with no issues. A lot of suggestions from this site recommend different type pellets they don’t sell around my hometown. Traeger pellet grill using Traeger pellets. You’d figure it would work good. Notta. To your bro in law go with the Pit Boss

I suspect it’s your pellet storage or something at play. The Traeger pellet cookers are extremely reliable. Not sure what a Traeger 740 is either? Pit boss is far more prone to issues. Obviously, there are exceptions in either direction. Not many choices for a Traeger under 700. All of them that I’m aware of are portable in nature.

 

[Shedd]

I’ve had some issues on long 8-10 hr smokes with my Traeger on 2 occasions. I’ve cleaned and vacuumed every time I use it. So a dirty pit is not my issue. Ash smothered my flame out and it kept pumping the pellets out. What a cluster. A buddy of mine has has a Pit Boss and uses it 5 days a week with no issues. A lot of suggestions from this site recommend different type pellets they don’t sell around my hometown. Traeger pellet grill using Traeger pellets. You’d figure it would work good. Notta. To your bro in law go with the Pit Boss

I highly doubt it’s got anything to do with the type of pellets. My 780 works great with any kind. I’m new to pellet grills but from being on here and the information I’ve read, Traeger definitely has a lot of issues and seems to be getting worse. Mine was gifted to me so I’m using it until it quits. But my next one won’t be a Traeger if I pay for it, hopefully my 780 continues to not let me down for a while. I clean it after every use doesn’t matter if it’s a 2 hour cook or 16. It sits outside under a roof with partially open sides and a blowing rain can make contact with it sometimes. I keep pellets in the hopper all the time and I keep it unplugged until I use it. I’m not advertising other brands on here but a few great grills can be found when compared to the price of the Timberlines.

One suggestion, have you tried blowing out the auger chute to make sure nothing is sticking inside it. Periodically I’ll let my 780 run out of pellets when hopper is low. I use my air compressor and blow it out.

 

[Retinla53]

I highly doubt it’s got anything to do with the type of pellets. My 780 works great with any kind. I’m new to pellet grills but from being on here and the information I’ve read, Traeger definitely has a lot of issues and seems to be getting worse. Mine was gifted to me so I’m using it until it quits. But my next one won’t be a Traeger if I pay for it, hopefully my 780 continues to not let me down for a while. I clean it after every use doesn’t matter if it’s a 2 hour cook or 16. It sits outside under a roof with partially open sides and a blowing rain can make contact with it sometimes. I keep pellets in the hopper all the time and I keep it unplugged until I use it. I’m not advertising other brands on here but a few great grills can be found when compared to the price of the Timberlines.

One suggestion, have you tried blowing out the auger chute to make sure nothing is sticking inside it. Periodically I’ll let my 780 run out of pellets when hopper is low. I use my air compressor and blow it out.

 

[Retinla53]

I’ve blown out the auger and vacuum every use. I’m not giving up on my Traeger yet. My brother is coming in town soon and we can use the you know what out of it. I sifted and stored my pellets in 5 gallon buckets. The last cook came off without a hitch. 8 hr smoke. I’ve dreamed about a Traeger for the last several years and I’m not giving up on her now. Thanks for your reply appreciate you.

 

[O C]

My brother-in-law is looking to buy another (pellet) smoker. He already owns a Traeger, as do I.

Now he wants a different brand. His budget is around $700. Any suggestions?

Considering the same price point for a new pellet grill myself. Looking at the zgrill 11002B, $699 from Sams Club, free shipping if you are a plus memeber. Double walled, wifi, includes the cover. Seems to be well liked. Although I think I'd actually prefer the smaller version, 7052B. But its more expensive (not available at sams).

 

[Smokin In Bama]

I was looking at Recteq before I pulled the trigger on my Traeger.