Pellet grills


 
"It will be interesting to see if Weber's pellets are good enough to command the relatively high price they seem to be planning on. If not, they may become scarce like the very fine but too expensive Weber charcoal briquettes."

I have done a few cooks with Weber briquettes and I like them just fine. But I like them just fine at the blowout price by I got them for. If I paid about $1 a pound for them I wouldn't like them as much as I like all the other comparable options available, often at one third the cost. And I'm pretty sure there is nothing in the manufacturing process of Weber briquettes that should raise the price more than double what comparative briquettes cost.

The fact that it says Weber on the bag just doesn't mean that much to me in the end.

With that analogy I'll say that I've considered getting a smoker for a long time. Weber isn't playing in the entry smoker market at $1,000. They better be damn good if they want to get in the game at the price point they set for their product. You can buy something comparable for much less (granted built cheaply and won't hold up) , or you can spend a little more and get a truly high-end smoker.

The fact that it has a Weber logo on the smoker will not mean that much in the end if they have not truly set themselves apart somehow at the price point they're playing in.

My ¢2.
 
Rich Dahl said:
I think the sales of pellet grills are going to really accelerate this spring. All our grocery stores now have pellets for sale. The section were they had all the big Weber gasser at HD is now looking like pellet grill row. Just a few Tragers in there now, but room for a lot more.
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Well along the lines of pellet availability a few weeks ago I was in Apex which is just outside Raleigh for an engagement party. My brother in law was doing briskets on a WSM out of charcoal so his wife was going to Costco the day before the party I said I would go along as they usually carry the Kingsford Professional for $20 bucks for 2 bags which is a good price. They had a few Traegers on the floor with piles of pellets beside them. I asked one of the people where was the charcoal, he said they don't carry it for the winter but it would be back in the spring which to be honest it never crossed my mind that they would not have it in stock had to go to Walmart.

No question the pellet grills in my mind are increasing in popularity.
 
I look at the amount of smoking I anticipate that I will be doing and the cost involved to do that. If Weber truly has built the Cadillac of pellet grills and I was going to be doing a lot of smoking I would have gone with the Weber. But for what I smoke the Camp Chef will work just fine. Maybe two briskets a year four or five times doing bacon a few pork butts and a few PSBs.

As I said before the set and forget is going to allow me to do some of this in the winter. Which will give Barb and myself some good smoked chow fresh instead of leftovers from the summer.

By selling some of the fleet we have now I will pay for the Camp Chef and have zero net cost for the pellet grill. Couldn't pull that off buying the Weber.

The quality of the construction is good on the Camp Chef but probably not up to what Weber has done. Rust and corrosion shouldn't be a problem in our dry climate.

Plus at our age I'm not looking for a twenty year life from the grill.
 
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Jason in CA said:
"It will be interesting to see if Weber's pellets are good enough to command the relatively high price they seem to be planning on. If not, they may become scarce like the very fine but too expensive Weber charcoal briquettes."

I have done a few cooks with Weber briquettes and I like them just fine. But I like them just fine at the blowout price by I got them for. If I paid about $1 a pound for them I wouldn't like them as much as I like all the other comparable options available, often at one third the cost. And I'm pretty sure there is nothing in the manufacturing process of Weber briquettes that should raise the price more than double what comparative briquettes cost.

The fact that it says Weber on the bag just doesn't mean that much to me in the end.

With that analogy I'll say that I've considered getting a smoker for a long time. Weber isn't playing in the entry smoker market at $1,000. They better be damn good if they want to get in the game at the price point they set for their product. You can buy something comparable for much less (granted built cheaply and won't hold up) , or you can spend a little more and get a truly high-end smoker.

The fact that it has a Weber logo on the smoker will not mean that much in the end if they have not truly set themselves apart somehow at the price point they're playing in.

My ¢2.
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I feel that Weber has set themselves apart with several significant engineering advancements and an overall - though not entirely - solid build. Of course, we need more real-time use to be sure.

I think their pricing is in line with the Traeger Ironwood which seemed to be their benchmark, while the features are closer to the much more expensive Traeger Timberline. The SmokeFire is also competitive with Rec Tec which I think would probably have been another target in Weber's aim.
 
I believe the Weber is very competitively priced for it's feature set like some have already mentioned. Similarly to their gas and charcoal offerings, there are a lot of those to be had cheaper than a Weber. A lot of those cheaper options work just fine, but in the end Weber is usually better built, better designed and better supported than most main stream competitors. Do we have any reason to believe that the SmokeFire will not be the same?

Pellet grills aren't a new fad, it's very entertaining to watch the reactions here. They've been a significant factor for the past 10 years and have been available all over the place with a pretty significant retail presence. Many of you are just looking closer now. Sure the segment is still growing rapidly, but I would guess the curve is actually sloping less steeply now than it was 5 years ago.
 
That's an interesting observation Shane. The first time other than Costco with the roving Traeger show there have been zero retailers selling pellet grills here that I'm aware of until last year. That includes Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, True Value. Every time I go into those stores I always go and scope out the grills.
I'm familiar with Traeger as my daughter has owned one for years.
 
Around here, Traeger, GMG, and Camp Chef pellet grills have been at Scheels, Sportsman's Warehouse, Bass Pro, and fleet stores for several years. Ace and Home Depot maybe only a couple years, but I feel like the latter have also doubled or tripled their outdoor cooking options the past 2-3 years as well.

Maybe they were more popular here and it’s spreading now?
 
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Yeah, my first exposure to pellet grills came about 10 years ago with the Traegers some of the pro competitors were using in a BBQ festival I participated in (in the "back yard" amateur division). At that time, they seemed very exotic, and I don't remember ever seeing one at any store. Maybe 3 or 4 years ago I started seeing some pellet grills at places like Ace. But it has only been in the last year or so that the tidal wave of pellet grills and models have become obvious. Even Walmart is in the act now. So, while I agree they have been around for quite some time, the revolution really seems to be more recent. Maybe because Traeger lost some patent protection, I don't know, but now everybody is offering them. Weber was kind of late to the game, but at least at looks like it is a bit of a game changer!
 
Well hang on to your pellets guys and gals as Barb works at Safeway. For those of you who don't know Safeway it's a large chain of grocery stores, Albertsons is also part of them.
Barb told me that they have about 10 pellet grills made by Z grills lined up along a wall for sale for $399. Plus Cook's pellets in four flavors.
Don't know anything about Z grills but they say it has a three year warranty.
And here we go!
 
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Well Barb checked with her boss and they don't allow pictures inside the store, so I won't take any. If she didn't work there I would just do it. It appears the grills they have are listed for $599 on Z grills web site (look for the one with the brown door cabinets) and her boss said that the memorial day sale will have a coupon for $100 off making it $299 … half off. I may pick one up and donate it to the Stepping Stones charity which has a Christmas luncheon and auction in December. They provide shelter for abused women and their children and Barb is a volunteer and helps get the auction and luncheon going.
I wish I had the energy that my wonderful wife has.
 
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That is a great spirit of generosity, Rich!

You know, I have thought about the issue of taking pictures in a store, but with everyone having one on their phone I think they know it is just pretty much wide open for customers. Not so for employees, however.
 
They have them at my Safeway, I’ll take pics next time I go. I was definitely surprised to see them.
 
Bruno said:
They have them at my Safeway, I’ll take pics next time I go. I was definitely surprised to see them.
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That would be great, I can't take the chance now because where the grills are is right up front by the cash registers, that's where Barbs boss hangs out and he knows who I am.
 
I think the Z grill has been around for about 2 years now. If I’m not mistaken it is or was one of those consumer direct type operations similar to RTIC coolers. Kind of surprised to hear Safeway has them in the store that’s interesting. I seem to recall that you got a big price break for buying 2 at a time.

I know one guy who has one and he raves about it. But in the end I see no difference between it the lower end traeger and any of the other sub $600 grills.
 
Thanks for sharing that Bob, I found it interesting that they may have built Traeger's grills. The ones at Safeway are the cabinet version with the four casters, they look to be very well built and if the sale Barbs manager told her about comes true for Memorial day $299 would be a screaming deal.
 
Interesting. Contract manufacturers have to be careful to not use patented or trade secret technologies for anybody other than the tech owner. Considering Traeger pretty much created the pellet grill market, I'd expect at least some of the mechanisms to be covered by patent (even if they may eventually be invalidated.) Unfortunately, anything that's manufactured in Asia is almost certainly lost. Nobody who wants to keep control of their technology dares to send it to Asia for manufacturing.

There is a thoroughly astonishing amount of food manufacturing technology that is covered by trade secret, not patent, just due to longevity. As long as the trade secret owner makes a reasonable attempt to keep the technology protected, it holds up well in court.
 
This guy says they did make grills for Traeger and others, and a screen shot.
https://www.bbqdryrubs.com/z-grills-pellet-grills-smokers/


Z-Grill-Background.jpg
 
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