I haven't always been like this. Completely crazy over a grill I mean. For years and years I was a die hard Weber fan, and you know what? I still am. They make a terrific product. Weber grills are darn near bulletproof, work consistently, easy to repair or maintain, and have never given me a problem I couldn't handle. I swore by them, and to this day have one waiting faithfully for me to take the cover back off of it.
But right now, I'm still over the moon in love with my Traeger. It has been 3 years that I have had this grill, and I now feel like my opinion is well founded on the subject. Had some good and rough situations with it, and I'm going to share them with you.
Traeger Models
The Traeger sells 3 different models. They are the Pro Series, Ironwood Series, and Timberline Series. I have the Pro Series 34 Generation 1. I liked this one at the time because of its large capacity (8 chickens, 7 rib racks, or 40 burgers). Hey we have 3 teenage boys in this house, and we all like to eat. It also has a hopper capacity of 18 lbs and a max temp of 450 degrees. It comes with a digital pro Controller that has Advanced Grilling Logic, meaning it maintains a +/- 15 degree F temp control. The different models offer different features such as Super-Smoke, Wi-Fire control, and more. I won't go too much into things I don't have, but you can read about the different models at Traeger Online.
Flavor
What can you really expect me to say about this? The flavor is amazing. I mean seriously, who doesn't love the smell of bacon over a campfire? I love that I can change the pellet type super easily as well. The Traeger warranty requires that you burn only Trager pellets for repairs to be covered. I'm out of warranty but haven't tried others yet. [UPDATE - I am now out of warranty, and have tried a number of alternative pellets. So far I have found some really good ones from a wide variety of places, including a private line from my local pellet store. I have not had any burning or residue issues with these other brands, and will likely continue to use them as well as the Traeger brand in years to come). The selection of Maple, Hickory, Cherry, Mequite, Apple, Pecan, Alder, Walnut and their blends keep me well satisfied. I have done everything from brisket to ribs, seafood to turkeys, pancakes, bacon, eggs, anything that I feel like carrying out there. And I can tell you that every time we have guests for dinner, a good portion of my evening afterward is spent talking about the Traeger and how badly my guests now want one. That right there is testimonial enough for most people. Traeger also has a great resource of recipes, grill master articles, how-to's and guides to make even tricky things seem pretty easy. Oh, and my jerky and snack sticks are highly prized these days. The process now warrants its own day where I sit with a beer on the patio while the meat slowly smokes into tasty little strips of paradise. If I ever think of a job involving food, making jerky may be in the running for a successful venture.
Mechanics
The Traeger is a sophisticated piece of grilling equipment, and yet fairly simple in it's overall design. To me, that is a win. Overly complicated items tend to break more often or require more maintenance, and I don't have the time or mind set for that. I want it to work when I want it to work. Here is how the system works. You pour the pellets into a hopper that is on the side of the grilling chamber. An auger feeds the pellets down a pipeline to a small "fire-pit" located in the center of the grill, that has an electric "hot-stick" there to ignite the pellets. Over the fire pit is a baffle, then another heat diffuser over that, and then the grates. Simple, right?
I did have a mechanical failure once so far. The fan that pushes the air through the fire pot failed. Sadly, it was on the day before Thanksgiving, when I had planned to smoke 2 turkeys for our entire family that was coming over. I called support and they did a great job walking me through the problem. There was no way to get the part sent to me overnight arriving on Thanksgiving. They apologized profusely, sent the part, asked that I call them when it arrived to make sure there were no further troubles. However, I was able to find a part in a store nearby and managed to go get it, and installed it in less than 10 minutes. Maybe less than 5 minutes. There were 4 screws holding the unit in place and a wire harness, super easy to repair. The factory part arrived on Friday, and Traeger actually called me to make sure I got it and if I needed help. I informed that I was all set, that Thanksgiving was a success, and I have a spare fan in case this one goes someday. In short, the mechanics are sound, customer service was great, and I have no complaints still.
Maintenance
The maintenance is fairly simple on this. Once or twice a year I take the grates, diffuser and baffles out. I have a small old shop vac that I use to clear out any ash or debris from the bottom. Sometimes I just take a small fireplace shovel and scoop it out. The large drip tray I wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil (as an alternative, Traeger does sell liners but they are often out of them). It keeps things cleaner and makes maintenance go a lot more smoothly. That's it, that is the entire maintenance routine. Obviously I will wipe it down on the outside and scour the grates occasionally, but that is all there is too it. The only other tip I would offer is to buy the little foil liners for the drip bucket. Oh, and put a grill mat or small outdoor rug underneath that bucket. I have had it get caught on the cover and spill some grease. It isn't a treat for me to explain why the patio bricks now look the way they do in that small spot. Speaking of covers, get one. A Traeger is a great investment for your culinary life, take care of it and it will give you years of great service.