BBQ pit - Gas / Charcoal, I'm in the market, let's see what you have

Worth every dime

 

I have a PK360. Have bought a couple of the original grills for gifts. Judged a steak cook off in Arkansas and most of the teams have these grills. They are cast aluminum and hold the heat very well. Virtually indestructible, it is heavy, but very doable to throw in the back of truck for camping/tailgating. $799, but exceptional quality. Everyone that sees it in action wants one. I would have bought a egg, but I move often so it needs to be portable.

 

Weber Genesis, 4 burner. Works for grilling up to around 10 people. Had ours for 2 years now and looks like new when I clean it. Prefer propane just due to time constraints of feeding hungry boys before they get hangry and I lose my shit when they turn into hangry ass'

 

That looks tight, best of both worlds.

 

It took me about 3 years to decide. My buddies have Yoder, Trager and Loisianna (something). I finally decided on Pit Boss.
The reviews were more consistent with the Pit Boss and Lowes had a really sweet deal right before Fathers Day. My wife and boys got it for me.

 

@ARamirez73 yes sir I do and we sell thru those at a steady pace

The side box for the smoker part you normally have to order separate.

Have not heard any complaints about them

 

I was in this same spot awhile back and I went with the green mountain grill Jim Bowie wifi model.i connect my grill to the app and my phone and I can control it from anywhere my phone gets service. 650 inches of cook space and does everything I need.have my old propane for fast cooks but now i have grillgrates on my pellet grill i sear on it as well and bonus it goes in 5 degree increments instead of 50 like others.

 

It’s so hard these days because we want the ease of the gas but the flavor of the wood or smoke. Having the natural gas I will never have to worry about running out or buying wood/pellets. I was thinking last night maybe I’ll buy a gas grill and build a fire pit and get a grate to go over that to cook on when I want

 

Keep us updated on what you decide

 

Can you grill on these type of smokers. Pit boss and trager or is it all your waiting hours to eat?

 

I was even looking at these...

 

Yes on my pit boss you can , it has a metal plate that slides for grilling.

 

Grill, smoke, sear and bake. My buddy gave me a chipotle brownie recipe I will be trying soon.

 

Those look pretty great, but one of their sales guys pissed me off one day a few years ago. I can’t buy one now, just out of spite.

 

Better go back and get it! That’s a good deal!

 

Those are okay because you have both options available. However, if one side gets past it's usable life (gas burners burn through, ash pan rust out etc.) then you sit with only half of a usable grill.
And since it is split, each side might be too small by itself when you have friends over. For everyday family grilling it will be big enough.

 

I have just added this Z-grill pellet smoker to my collection.( I have 7 or 8 different grills) and I really like it for it's versatility. It is a 8-in-1; smoking, grilling, searing, baking etc.
It is less expensive than a Traeger, but get better reviews.

 

Im kinda in the same boat as you are. Little bit different situation though. I currently have this 3 burner Weber. It is an amazing grill. I had some generic brand that finally rusted through and replaced it with this. I had a nice guy at HD point out some things that I wasn't aware of previously about grills. So i spent more then i wanted when I bought this one. I was debating on getting the bigger Weber but decided not to since I was already spending more then I wanted to.



This pic is at work. Turns out that they replaced the grill there with an identical Weber to mine. Mine is on the right.

I am currently looking at smokers/grill to replace it with. I started with the Jim Bowie Prime(wifi) from GMG like mentioned above. They are currently out of stock and not expected for another couple months at my local BBQ store. So I checked out a Yoders while there. Those things are built like tanks! They do have a much higher price tag though and I am trying to decide if that is an actual option for me. I should go look at the Pit Boss from Lowes but there isn't one super close to me so I haven't looked at them yet. I looked at a Traeger Pro something another at HD this morning. That thing wasn't even anywhere close to the same build quality or material as the others. Now before all the Traeger fans get booty hurt I have a friend that has one and he has made some tasty food with it. I just wouldn't consider it after seeing the others.

After all this I think the plan is sell my Weber to help with the cost of the new grill. So far its between the GMG and the Yoders for me. Good luck with your search though.

 

I have this grill. Initially bought without the smoker. Added it later. Been great so far with gas and charcoal.

 

How much is that one Adam? I finally broke down and bought a Weber three years ago, and it’s rusting up just like the cheaper ones did. A door broke off the other night.

 

Here in Odessa I saw it at Home Depot for $400+

 

That thing burn wood pellets?

Never seen one of them in action
Sounds like u love it

 

Yes sir, wood pellets. I do so far.

 

I have 3 a $800 dollar charbroil pro that never gets used anymore since I purchased the old classic weber charcoal only.......also for fathers day purchased 18.5 inch smokey mountain smoker and absolutely love it.......I would never buy a propane one again .....i also have a two burner stove with a PLANCHA.......I used that more than the expensive as propane that I have.....but my standard weber was about 115 bucks gets used and abused

 

I

I abuse my $115 door charcoal Weber also, before I got the Pit boss it was the only thing I used. It’s hard to be that little grill.

 

Will, even though this is a truck site and have not posted in a while but on here every day, this thread hits home to me.

I am a foodie to say the least and love cooking on the weekends for the family and for meal prep during the week.

In the past 10 years I have owned 20+ grills, smokers, etc.....

I started off with a Kenmore propane smoker, master built electric smoker, Bradley electric smoker, offset stick smoker, charcoal/gas combo, etc....

Aramirez, I actually had the gas/charcoal char griller purchased 2 years ago. It was cheap in my opinion. Only lasted 2 years before it was rusted out and got hauled off to the dump a couple months ago. Buddy bought the same grill at the same time with me and his is in the dump also.

I had a $200 char broil and it lasted 3 years and I dumped it 2 months ago also.

I hate to say it, but you really pay for what you get most of the time. I recently bought a Weber Genesis EP410 and it is about $900. It is a huge difference and hands down the best gas grille I have ever owned. Quality is top notch, but it cooks so even with no hot spots. The $200 grills you are lucky to get 2 years out of. However, Weber makes some nice $500 grills at Lowe's/Home Depot and they are good units also. In laws have one for 5 years now and as good as new.

For charcoal, I have the 22" Weber. It is great and versatile cooker also. Hard to beat it in the charcoal world. I also have a large Big Green Egg. I prefer the Weber for ease of use and simplicity, but the Big Green Egg gets really hot and I cook some breakfast pizza on the weekends on it. It will hold its temperature for hours also so it is good for smoking and slow roasting. $1k plus though.....

Now we get to pellet grills.....

These are the fad and can be quite expensive. The $400 to $600 ones can be hit or miss. Pit Boss seems to be the best in this range. They are thinner and lighter so in cold temps they can struggle. They also do not get super hot so grilling can be challenging some times....

The next step up you spend $800 to $1000. Some of the will be RecTec, Traeger, Green Mountain, Camp Chef. These are pretty good units and usually add features like WiFi, little heavier and better customer support. I have owned Camp Chef, Traeger, and RecTec.

In these ranges, I would put Camp Chef in the lead due to the versatile cooking attachments they have. RecTec is next, Traeger third. Traeger is fine here and there, but temps were not as consistent and more all over the place compared to Camp Chef and RecTec. My Traeger really was not a good grilled at all to be honest.

Not for everybody, but I bought a Yoder YS640 on comp cart 2 weeks ago. It is by far the best cooking machine and on a whole other level compared to any of the other 3 pellet grills I have owned. Holds heat unbelievably and have no clue what magic wand it has, but the food is so tender and juicy and I can not explain it. It does not give a really strong wood smoke though. It is a more mellow and fresh taste. It gets hot!!! It can hit every bit of 600 degrees and with the grilling grates it will absolutely nuke the outside of a piece of meat in a few seconds!!! It is awesome and my family loves it. I actually grilled/smoked a pork tenderloin tonight and it was stupid amazing. However, the all in price tag of $2500+ is not for every one.

Not sure what your budget is, but these are the 2 options I would go with if I were you.

1. Pellet grill since it can do everything in the $800 range

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Camp-Ch...ss-Steel-with-BBQ-Sear-Box-PG24WWSS/303877646

2. Charcoal and gas grill as separate purchases:

$165 Weber 22" Premium
https://www.weber.com/US/en/grills/charcoal-grills/14402001.html?cgid=9#start=1

$449 Weber Spirit II E310
https://www.weber.com/US/en/grills/gas-grills/spirit-ii-series/45010001.html?cgid=22956#start=1

 

ARamirez, do you have a set budget? What is the ceiling for cost?

 

I have the rec-tec 340 and it's been absolutely amazing! Actually got 3 of my friends to buy one as well. Sorry to say, way better than traeger, heavier built, minimal smoke loss, holds temps.

 

Just made brisket on my yoder ys640 today. It’s parked next to my Weber summit. Wish mine had the competition base. I prefer gas for steaks and hamburgers. I don’t care enough to do put a lot of effort into them and they turn out amazing on the Weber.