BIL Wants to Buy a Pellet Smoker – Suggestions?

[glitchy]

You couldn’t pay me to own a Pit Boss pellet grill. The lowest price possible isn’t everything when it comes to a grill. Imagine if Walmart is willing to clearance it out for $200-300 every single fall how much it cost them to begin with? Do you see ANY other brand ever sell this cheap? To me that means how cheaply is it made? How many corners did they cut compared to others? Personally, I’ve seen numerous broken Pit Boss floor models. Broken lid hinges, legs, etc. What other grill do these parts break on? My brother bought a Pit Boss (without asking me anything about pellet grills first despite knowing I’d had a few) and I tried hard to help him get it to run well after he bought it. Even after buying a $200 aftermarket controller he couldn’t get it to run steady temps and stay under 250°. He finally trashed it and bought a Camp Chef out of sheer frustration.

I do think from things Ive seen, Pit Boss is trying very hard to improve their products. Maybe what’s out there now is 10 times better than two years ago even, but it takes longer than that to change my mind when you served crap for years. If you Google Pit Boss, you’ll find more complaints than any other pellet grill. Especially about flameouts.

 

[Robert]

You couldn’t pay me to own a Pit Boss pellet grill. The lowest price possible isn’t everything when it comes to a grill. Imagine if Walmart is willing to clearance it out for $200-300 every single fall how much it cost them to begin with? Do you see ANY other brand ever sell this cheap? To me that means how cheaply is it made? How many corners did they cut compared to others? Personally, I’ve seen numerous broken Pit Boss floor models. Broken lid hinges, legs, etc. What other grill do these parts break on? My brother bought a Pit Boss (without asking me anything about pellet grills first despite knowing I’d had a few) and I tried hard to help him get it to run well after he bought it. Even after buying a $200 aftermarket controller he couldn’t get it to run steady temps and stay under 250°. He finally trashed it and bought a Camp Chef out of sheer frustration.

I do think from things Ive seen, Pit Boss is trying very hard to improve their products. Maybe what’s out there now is 10 times better than two years ago even, but it takes longer than that to change my mind when you served crap for years. If you Google Pit Boss, you’ll find more complaints than any other pellet grill. Especially about flameouts.

Just one man's opinion, but I believe the Pit Boss, like many other items in the retail world, are meant to be produced as cheaply as possible and that enables them to be entry level products for most consumers.



Having been down the pellet road twice before, I have no recommendation for a pellet cooker. I get the want and/or need for a set it and forget it type cooker. But given the many potential problems and in my opinion the lack of smoke flavor, the combination of the two just doesn't work for me. Give me a WSM or UDS for a comparable price price point. Add a temp controller and you will get a better flavored product in the end with just a little bit more effort.



Thanks,


Robert

 

[16Adams]

Brickseek Walmart Mansfield TX shows $100 PB Austin XL.

 

[TravelingJ]

You couldn’t pay me to own a Pit Boss pellet grill. The lowest price possible isn’t everything when it comes to a grill. Imagine if Walmart is willing to clearance it out for $200-300 every single fall how much it cost them to begin with? Do you see ANY other brand ever sell this cheap? To me that means how cheaply is it made? How many corners did they cut compared to others? Personally, I’ve seen numerous broken Pit Boss floor models. Broken lid hinges, legs, etc. What other grill do these parts break on? My brother bought a Pit Boss (without asking me anything about pellet grills first despite knowing I’d had a few) and I tried hard to help him get it to run well after he bought it. Even after buying a $200 aftermarket controller he couldn’t get it to run steady temps and stay under 250°. He finally trashed it and bought a Camp Chef out of sheer frustration.

I do think from things Ive seen, Pit Boss is trying very hard to improve their products. Maybe what’s out there now is 10 times better than two years ago even, but it takes longer than that to change my mind when you served crap for years. If you Google Pit Boss, you’ll find more complaints than any other pellet grill. Especially about flameouts.

It's all perspective and priorities. My MAK has far greater temp swings than my PitBoss ever did. My home oven is worse than both. My inlaws have a pitboss, and I think everything tastes dirty when they use it-but I presume he doesn't clean it very often, and I know he just leaves it on smoke setting foreeeeeever (which will ruin stuffed mushrooms, in my recent experience..)

 

[glitchy]

It's all perspective and priorities. My MAK has far greater temp swings than my PitBoss ever did. My home oven is worse than both. My inlaws have a pitboss, and I think everything tastes dirty when they use it-but I presume he doesn't clean it very often, and I know he just leaves it on smoke setting foreeeeeever (which will ruin stuffed mushrooms, in my recent experience..)

I wasn’t proclaiming anything about MAK or inferring it would be the choice for a $600 budget. I love mine, but have been satisfied with several other pellet grills along the way until I decided what I wanted for a keeper. I just feel like a lot of other options are better than Pit Boss in the sub $1000 range until they’ve really shown for a while their pellet products have improved. I’d even take a Z grill first. One of the best I had along the way was a cheaper Camp Chef SmokePro I picked up knowing I’d only have it 6-9 months waiting for the SmokeFire. A friend has it now and likes it too.

For your MAK are you on the latest firmware? Mine overshoots a bit at start up, but then settles in and then usually never runs more than +/- 15 after that. If you’re on the latest firmware, you should discuss with Dennis and see if he can help.

As far as your in-laws, I’ve only had dirty tasting food from one pellet grill and it had an airflow issue. I wonder if you’re eating a ton of ash if it tastes dirty. Either from never cleaning it out or poor airflow or both. My problem grill would turn a cheese pizza grey in the short time it took to cook it. I don’t think I ever ate a full meal cooked from it. A few bites from the first cook before getting grossed out. After that I wasted a lot of pellets and cheap frozen cheese pizzas trying to figure out the issue, back and forth with the manufacturer for close to a year, trying different parts, pellets, adjustments etc. I’d kinda like to have it back now to try to figure out the issue for the challenge. Back then it was only my second pellet grill (I needed more space than a Traeger Junior) and had a lot less free time with active youngsters in everything and would have 1 or 2 Saturday afternoons a month with enough time to change a part and test a couple hours. You might see if you can help the in-laws clean out the Pit Boss and convince them to raise the exhaust cap about as high as you can (if it has one) and see if it’s better. You could also try some CookinPellets as they don’t use bark and burn the cleanest of all I’ve tried.

 

[smoke ninja]

You couldn’t pay me to own a Pit Boss pellet grill. The lowest price possible isn’t everything when it comes to a grill. Imagine if Walmart is willing to clearance it out for $200-300 every single fall how much it cost them to begin with? Do you see ANY other brand ever sell this cheap? To me that means how cheaply is it made? How many corners did they cut compared to others? Personally, I’ve seen numerous broken Pit Boss floor models. Broken lid hinges, legs, etc. What other grill do these parts break on? My brother bought a Pit Boss (without asking me anything about pellet grills first despite knowing I’d had a few) and I tried hard to help him get it to run well after he bought it. Even after buying a $200 aftermarket controller he couldn’t get it to run steady temps and stay under 250°. He finally trashed it and bought a Camp Chef out of sheer frustration.

I do think from things Ive seen, Pit Boss is trying very hard to improve their products. Maybe what’s out there now is 10 times better than two years ago even, but it takes longer than that to change my mind when you served crap for years. If you Google Pit Boss, you’ll find more complaints than any other pellet grill. Especially about flameouts.

One thing about big box stores is floor space is at a premium. With new cookers coming out it is worth clearing them out even for a loss. They want to turn over slow moving inventory for something better.

I own a pit boss classic (700) and it gets the job done for what it is. Only problem I had was a bad ignitor after almost 4 years which was covered under warranty and handled promptly.

The newer ones are only getting better and I see no better way to get into to market at an entry level price. Still they are not the best. $600 as a budget puts you in a tweener zone. You really need to spend more to get something worth buying. But at the prices posted by these guys the value is there. I paid $200 for mine. Sears a steak decent enough and I prefer to use it on my turkeys.

While I wouldn't recommend a pit boss to an avid bbq'er it's a capable entry level cooker for someone who uses it once or twice a month during the bbq season and has unmatched value in the field.

 

[Mike Twangzer]

Moose .... What's the verdict ???

 

[Moose]

Moose .... What's the verdict ???

Just gathering feedback and poring through replies to assemble some kind of strategy/options for my BIL at this point.

 

[Moose]

UPDATE:

After going through the pros and cons of pellet cookers with my BIL, esp in regards to the much lighter smoke flavor they impart, I've convinced him to look at charcoal smokers. 18 inch WSM or Oklahoma Joe Bronco are the final contenders, with a purchase of one of them coming soon, with the OKJ currently in the lead.

 

[pjtexas1]

I'm really glad to hear you talked yourself...I mean BIL... out of buying that pellet cooker.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[smoke ninja]

UPDATE:

After going through the pros and cons of pellet cookers with my BIL, esp in regards to the much lighter smoke flavor they impart, I've convinced him to look at charcoal smokers. 18 inch WSM or Oklahoma Joe Bronco are the final contenders, with a purchase of one of them coming soon, with the OKJ currently in the lead.

good. I blame getting a pellet cooker for damn near killing my drive to cook outdoors.

picked one up cheap to use when. I was recovering from surgery and it worked for that purpose, kept me cooking but then that's all I used unless I was fixing brisket or butts. nearly ruined me. I pulled myself back from the depths this summer but it was a close call. they are really too convenient on shorter cooks. the thing is I found for long cooks my drum (or any vertical like that) is easier to run and I can spend less time fiddling. I never completely trusted a pellet grill on a long cook

 

[16Adams]

good. I blame getting a pellet cooker for damn near killing my drive to cook outdoors.

picked one up cheap to use when. I was recovering from surgery and it worked for that purpose, kept me cooking but then that's all I used unless I was fixing brisket or butts. nearly ruined me. I pulled myself back from the depths this summer but it was a close call. they are really too convenient on shorter cooks. the thing is I found for long cooks my drum (or any vertical like that) is easier to run and I can spend less time fiddling. I never completely trusted a pellet grill on a long cook

Well said

 

[LYU370]

I disagree, I have more confidence in my FEC100 holding temp than my Big Joe. Although I have no complaints with either. Lately been using the KJ more often, but only because my hot rod burnt out on the FEC.

 

[LYU370]

I'm really glad to hear you talked yourself...I mean BIL... out of buying that pellet cooker.

ound: :laugh:

 

[Fooball]

good. I blame getting a pellet cooker for damn near killing my drive to cook outdoors.
nearly ruined me. I pulled myself back from the depths this summer but it was a close call.

:laugh: ... My experiment lasted one day then back to the store it went.

 

[Moose]

I'm really glad to hear you talked yourself...I mean BIL... out of buying that pellet cooker.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

I was completely impartial, objective, and without any bias throughout the process. :mrgreen:

But seriously, he would not have been happy with the mild smoke flavor of a $500 pellet cooker, and he learned they are not just plug and play units and require regular care and upkeep, not unlike a charcoal smoker. In the end, I think he's going with something that will give him flavor that he will be quite satisfied with.

 

[Rebel78]

UPDATE:

After going through the pros and cons of pellet cookers with my BIL, esp in regards to the much lighter smoke flavor they impart, I've convinced him to look at charcoal smokers. 18 inch WSM or Oklahoma Joe Bronco are the final contenders, with a purchase of one of them coming soon, with the OKJ currently in the lead.

I went through the same dilemma, except I already had a WSM 18 that I have a hard time getting time to use. I ended up with a Char Griller 980, absolutely love it, I'd really look at it and the Mastebuilt gravity fed smokers, best of both.