Not a Weber Pellet Grill but looking for advice


 
J

John A. Winston

TVWBB Member
OK, looking for advice. Watching QVC and they have this model Traeger Ridgeland 572 sq. in Wood Fired Grill & Smoker on sale for $549 with free shipping. Includes cover and a couple bags of pellets. Long time Weber guy but looking to stay in the $500-$600 range to get started in the pellet world. Anyone have experience with this model? Thanks guys.
 
I would check this out. Small but well built:
www.rectecgrills.com

RT-340 Wood Pellet Grill

THIS AIN’T NO GAME. The RT-340 is durable, portable, and ready to go! This grill is perfect for small families or the single griller. At 340 square inches, there simply isn’t more bang for your buck anywhere at any price. By focusing on flavor, convenience, and versatility, the RT-340 makes all...
www.rectecgrills.com www.rectecgrills.com

A lot of people here are also saying good things about Camp Chef. You should search in this thread and see what Rich and Dave have to say.
 
John:
I went with a CampChef based upon features. Rich Dahl has a similar grill and has used his more. I like the customer support I've received from CampChef. Rich got a good package off of Amazon while I hit a good sale at Target. Both of us continue to use our Weber grills for grilling and use the pellet grills for smoking. I'm sure Rich can answer more questions.
 
Thanks for the advice, I will always have my Weber Performer, WSM and gasser but my wife has gotten tired of hearing me talk about pellet grills and said go ahead and get one. Still deciding but appreciate all the feedback.
 
John my daughter has a Traeger and it's worked perfectly for about 7 or 8 years. I have a Camp Chef PG24MZG which is a 24" and sold exclusively through Amazon it has the slid and sear feature and I did one steak using that feature and it worked really well. But I didn't buy it for that I have an NG E320 a Genesis 2000 and a performer to do my grilling.
I wanted basic features don't need or want Wi-Fi hell I don't even own a smart phone. I use one of my Mavericks to monitor the cook.
Customer service is excellent and prompt.
I've used it quite a bit and been very happy with it's performance, I've fed it a lot of different brands of pellets and it eats anything you feed it. It's easy to clean also.
For a lower priced unit it has all the features I was looking for, like a front flip up shelf, a site glass on the side hopper so you don't have to open the lid to check the pellets so you can use the pellet box as shelf and a pellet box dump chute to empty the pellet box to change pellets.
If your interested go to the Camp Chef web site and in the search field put in the model # PG24MZG it's the only you can find it.
Negatives: It has stationary front legs and the sucker weighs a ton, hard to move, not an issue if you are just going to park it. But the nice lady in customer service told me they had as an option of front legs with casters, so I got those problem solved.
Hope that helps.
Here's a link to Amazon for the grill.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07R62LF7N/tvwb-20
 
I just picked up a Camp Chef 24 ZG model from Dick's Sporting Goods. I had been looking for some time for one and almost pulled the trigger on the Pro Series 34 Traeger, but didn't want to spend that much or need one that size. I wanted something I could move around easily and could still fit brisket, pork butts and a few racks of ribs with no issues.

The model I have is the one with the slide and grill and a hybrid in between the DLX and SG. Used it to make pizza last night and plan on smoking a pork butt tomorrow while I work from home. I wouldn't be able to do that with my offset, which will still get used since I enjoy watching smoke and fire while I drink beer. Dick's had it on sale for $449 and I had a 10% off so it was a pretty good deal. Set a temp probe at grate level and it was within 5-10 degrees of the temp the smoker was showing. I'm hoping to be able to use this thing as much as possible. Only thing I'll be adding is the front folding shelf, but for that price point is came with a lot of options the other smokers in the range or higher don't come with.

Best of luck.
 
Andrew-Drewski said:
I just picked up a Camp Chef 24 ZG model from Dick's Sporting Goods. I had been looking for some time for one and almost pulled the trigger on the Pro Series 34 Traeger, but didn't want to spend that much or need one that size. I wanted something I could move around easily and could still fit brisket, pork butts and a few racks of ribs with no issues.

The model I have is the one with the slide and grill and a hybrid in between the DLX and SG. Used it to make pizza last night and plan on smoking a pork butt tomorrow while I work from home. I wouldn't be able to do that with my offset, which will still get used since I enjoy watching smoke and fire while I drink beer. Dick's had it on sale for $449 and I had a 10% off so it was a pretty good deal. Set a temp probe at grate level and it was within 5-10 degrees of the temp the smoker was showing. I'm hoping to be able to use this thing as much as possible. Only thing I'll be adding is the front folding shelf, but for that price point is came with a lot of options the other smokers in the range or higher don't come with.

Best of luck.
Click to expand...
Thanks
 
Sorry Chris, I didn't mean to point folks toward the Camp Chef, but for the price point it is a good deal.
Tuesday is my 72 birthday, I never thought I would live this long. To celebrate we are going to do some ribs on the Performer with the first time with pink butcher paper. As soon as I find out how to wrap it.
Stay safe!
 
Rich:
Happy Birthday early! Remember when it was common that all of us would all be dead before age 30 except for those among us "that only the good die young"? Things certainly evolved. We survived the mid life crisis, oil embargoes with gas rationing, duck & cover, and the nicks and dings of everyday life. Hope you see many more birthdays! I'll be watching to see how the butcher paper project comes out.....
 
Andrew-Drewski said:
I just picked up a Camp Chef 24 ZG model from Dick's Sporting Goods. I had been looking for some time for one and almost pulled the trigger on the Pro Series 34 Traeger, but didn't want to spend that much or need one that size. I wanted something I could move around easily and could still fit brisket, pork butts and a few racks of ribs with no issues.

The model I have is the one with the slide and grill and a hybrid in between the DLX and SG. Used it to make pizza last night and plan on smoking a pork butt tomorrow while I work from home. I wouldn't be able to do that with my offset, which will still get used since I enjoy watching smoke and fire while I drink beer. Dick's had it on sale for $449 and I had a 10% off so it was a pretty good deal. Set a temp probe at grate level and it was within 5-10 degrees of the temp the smoker was showing. I'm hoping to be able to use this thing as much as possible. Only thing I'll be adding is the front folding shelf, but for that price point is came with a lot of options the other smokers in the range or higher don't come with.

Best of luck.
Click to expand...
I have the Camp Chef DLX. It is an excellent cooker. The price on that Dicks zg is great and if the specs are right on CC website it has more cooking space and the slide and grill feature which may interest you. Those are both upgrades over my DLX.
 
Happy Birthday RIch!! I hope I’m still smoking meat, barbecuing and enjoying life at 72. Your blessed with a woman who shares your passions.
You know I love that pink paper! GOOD LUCK!
 
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