My Husband Says Our Traeger Grill & Smoker is the BEST Ever (+ Get $100 Off Now!)
Our Traeger Grill & Smoker is easy to use & makes the most delicious foods ever.
Love to cook outdoors and curious about Traeger grills?
I love talking about one of my husband’s favorite gifts – his Traeger pellet smoker! I have actually shared about this smoker before, but since it’s grilling season, I thought I’d share again to inspire those of you who are fans of grilled and smoked food! Plus, this grill is $100 off and gets FREE shipping through June 21st!
We have been making delicious food on this high-quality grill for over 3 years now, and love it just as much! In fact, now lots of our family and friends now have their own too! My husband pulled off his first 12 hour smoked brisket recently with mouth-watering results!
Score $100 off this impressive Pellet Grill…
Traeger Pro 575 Pellet Grill
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“I love cooking with my Traeger pellet grill! IT IS AMAZING! I love that it has built-in temperature probes and a hatch to change out the wood pellets. The Traeger makes life a lot easier to get excellent, consistent results with limited effort. An added bonus is that you can grill, bake, and smoke, all with the same grill!” – My husband, Joel ❤️
We purchased a Traeger pellet smoker a few years ago, and have used it often, especially since every day is grilling season here in Arizona! 😆 Our specific Traeger Renegade Pro is no longer available, but it looks like the Traeger Pro 575 pellet smoker is the closest to what we have and LOVE. It even has a WiFi connection now to control the smoker from the Traeger app!
My parents cook meals for just two people and own the entry-level Traeger Tailgater (pictured above) and priced at $529.99. It is more compact with 300 square inches of cooking area, is portable, and does a great job too! They love being a part of the Traeger family and use it regularly!
My husband has been enjoying this fun hobby of trying every type of meat, creating seasoning blends, and essentially taking over the cooking responsibilities on the weekends. Yay for that! 🙌
The Traeger pellet grill is actually easy enough for me to use, too!
While using a propane grill doesn’t come easy to me, grilling with a Traeger is much simpler I think as it’s a set-it and forget it type of smoker. It has knobs to set it to a specific temperature much like an oven. I’m proud of myself as I prepared these awesome chicken quarters in about 2 hours… all by myself — WHOOP WHOOP 🙌
With yummy smoke-infused BBQ meals, our Traeger has taken cooking outdoors to a whole new level!
Grilling vs. Smoking
Typical propane and charcoal grills apply direct heat to the food through the heated grates to cook food faster. Smokers use burning wood and indirect heat so you cook at lower temps for a longer period of time. This infuses a mouth-watering wood-smoked taste that’s different from a gas grill.
Win-Win: The Traeger is a grill and a smoker! We often set it to a higher temp to “grill” foods – anything from smoke (180 degrees) to 450 degrees is considered grilling.
Pellet Smokers vs. Propane Smokers
Traeger is a high-quality pellet smoker and grill that cooks using small wooden pellets fed through a side hopper. Operation requires an electric outlet. Just pour in the wood pellets and set your digital temperature. Aside from checking in every 60 minutes or so to make sure all is good, it’s pretty hands-off!
We started out learning to smoke meat with an entry-level propane smoker that used wood chips to infuse wood flavor. It worked well, but it was a hassle to constantly feed in wood chips, there were flare-up temperature spikes, and it was tricky to maintain even temperatures. We once ran out of propane mid-smoke, and that was a bummer, too.
Why we love our Traeger Grill & Smoker:
- Precise temperature for even cooking (and no flare-ups). This yields higher quality, consistent results.
- Ease of use. Using a self-feeding Traegar pellet smoker is definitely the way to go, as far as setting the temp knob and letting the smoker do its thing. It’s sort of like using an oven!
- Easy to clean. To make it even easier, we buy the drip pan liners. Cleaning up the ash is easy to do using a shop vac or a handheld vacuum.
- It looks amazing! I know this may seem unimportant, but the design of the Traeger smoker is actually similar to a gas grill and not an eyesore like some smokers. 🙂
- Excellent customer service. Traeger is known for its awesome customer service, and the smoker/grill comes with a 3-year warranty.
Some of the AMAZING meals we’ve prepared using our Traeger Smoker & Grill:
- Smoked chicken wings are crazy good – so yum! Seriously, if you’re a wing fan, you’ve gotta try them!
- Smoked ribs, both beef and pork. Always a delicious choice. A mustard and spice rub is YUM.
- Smoked pork belly with honey BBQ are like tiny bites of heaven! Get the recipe from TraegerGrills.com.
- We smoked a thick t-bone steak once for dinner, and it was DELISH. (pictured above)
- Brisket takes all day to smoke, but it’s so tasty if you have the time! It’s our special occasion go-to meal.
- Desserts are also fabulous on the Traeger! We have made a cast-iron blueberry skillet dessert which tasted amazing served with vanilla ice cream.
- Traeger No-Fuss Chicken has been a family favorite! You can make two at once, and freeze the leftovers.
- We also cooked our Thanksgiving Turkey on the Traeger one year! Wow, it was super tasty, and I enjoyed having additional space in the oven for side dishes!
Traeger cooking & support tips:
- TraegerGrills.com has a huge selection of delicious recipes on their site, and we usually search there first for inspiration.
- Check out the FREE Traeger App! It is so helpful with lots of recipes and videos with clear directions. Most newer Traeger models are WiFi-enabled, which allows you to monitor and adjust your grill anytime and anywhere from the Traeger app on your smartphone.
- There’s also a large Traeger Grill Owners Facebook group page with an incredibly inspiring community of folks sharing recipes and helpful advice.
Traeger grill accessories worth considering:
- Exterior front folding shelf to extend your work area. It’s a handy spot to rest your plate and tools (we use ours a lot).
- Interior extra grill rack to maximize space. This lets you cook more food with an additional surface area.
- Full-length grill cover to protect your smoker.
- Bucket liners and drip tray liners for easy cleanup.
- We sometimes use this digital instant-read thermometer; however, our Traeger also has two temperature probes that allow you to connect meat to the grill to read from the grill’s control panel.
Where’s the best place to buy a Traeger?
- Home Depot and Ace Hardware have a great selection and it’s fun to go in-store to browse the different models.
- You can purchase one through Traeger.com, which also has lots of recipe inspiration.
- Amazon.com has a large online selection of Traeger grills to choose from.
- Costco also carries Traeger grills and sometimes they have in-store events and specials.
Oh, I love having a Traeger grill so much! It’s been a great purchase.
Here are some delicious smoked ribs we actually just smoked over the weekend. My husband tried the method of basting them in brown sugar and butter, which of course made them all caramelized and insanely yummy!
We are self-declared weekend foodies and enjoy being at home and in our backyard, so this is a perfect hobby for us!
It’s worth noting that this is not a sponsored post, just a favorite grill I am sharing as a helpful product review!
Check out these hot deals on Traeger Smokers & Grills:
Share in the comments if you love your Traeger, too!
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My husband’s all-time favorite gift from me is his Traeger grill. A few years ago when gold prices were high I gathered my unwanted jewelry and a signet ring my husband had found in a parking lot and sold them to a gold dealer. I made a little over $1,000 and enough to buy his grill. They’re not cheap but should last a lifetime. I LOVE it when he cooks! And, he enjoys showing off! We’re going to smoke a pork butt soon and have out-of-town relatives over to enjoy.
Wow- that is a special gift! I agree it’s a neat hobby. That sounds awesome, and we look forward to entertaining with ours too! <3 Thanks for sharing Pam!
What an absolutely wonderful person you are. That story just melted my heart. The goofy grin on ur hubbys face every stinkin time he uses it must make you sooo happy. Thank you for honestly making my day with such a sweet story. Not sure why it pulled my heart like it did but…💙
Aw. You’re so sweet to say so. Thanks!
My husband would like a new smoker—and I am considering getting him one for fathers day. But wow, this is definitely out of my price range.
Hi Julie my parents have the entry level unit that’s about have the cost and love theirs, so it’s a range. There are also other brands of pellet smokers you could research, and check Costco too.
I just purchased a Pit Boss smoker from Lowes for approximately $380…I am grateful for my co-workers advice on different brands but this will be my hubby’s father’s day gift. Good luck on your search
Check target stores towards end of summer. They used to mark the ones they have left down, but I’m not 100% sure if they still have any in store.
So can the grill/smoker model run off of either propane or pellets?
No this uses pellets and you plug it into to power. No propane.
We bought ours from Costco a few years ago, we absolutely love it! It may have been $1,000 but it’s been so worth it!
That’s great to hear Laura!
My husband got a Pit Boss pellet smoker which is much less and loves it.
Thanks for sharing Alicia!
We also have a pit boss and we’re able to get the pro series, xl model for less than the price of a small Treager. We love our smoker
We also have the pit boss. I love it! I love the sear on it! Favorite grill by far
My husband got a treager a few years ago and at first I wasn’t too on board just because they aren’t cheap but now will say I love when he smokes meat. He absolutely loves it and the food tastes absolutely amazing. We love getting the cowboy pizza from Papa Murphy’s in my opinion pizza on the treager is the best it has the best crust, we will put a pork butt in overnight and it’s ready in the morning for pulled pork sandwiches. Also I should add that food is just cooked from the heat of the smoke and contained no oils making food that much healthier. We also smoke chicken breasts and put them on our salads, money well spent!
YUM!! I keep seeing people post on the Traeger fb group about smoking the P/M pizza! so smart, and we want to try! 🙂 Thanks for sharing Denise!
We found it impossible to mess anything up on the traeger! So much so that my mom & I got sick of my dad saying he didn’t feel like doing the grilling/smoking & decided no reason we can’t do it. So easy to use & everything tastes amazing.
I absolutely love my traeger. My husband bought me one for my birthday last year. We got a good deal on it. Just a heads up, if you buy it from Home Depot, watch the price for the next 30 days (I believe it is 30, might be more). We bought it on sale, but then they had another sale and the price went down $160. Went in with my receipt and they refunded the money. Home Depot is awesome about this. They have refunded us on the traeger, fridge and washer with their price guarantee. I am probably smoking something every week now.
Wow such great advice Rebecca! Thanks!
We got a Trager a few years ago. We started using it 4-5 times a week and love it! Our Trager started having issues and we actually replaced it with Camp Chef. We love the lumberjack pellets. We cook pizzas, Tri tip, bacon, shrimp, veggies, turkeys, steak, chicken and more! We love it!!!!!
That’s so great! Thanks for sharing!
Should have definitely contacted traeger about any issue you had! Probably still could if u still have it…
This is so funny. I made that post 2 years ago. Then you commented a year later. Here it is another year later and we are back to a traeger! My friend got a job there and got us a sweet deal on one. We love it!
I’m sure the Tragers are great– but so too are the Pit Boss grills. We bought ours at Lowes (or maybe it was Walmart) for a *fraction* of the name-brand’s price. It’s so easy to use, I do a good bit of grilling myself these days!
Perfect! Thanks for sharing Abby!
We have a Pit Boss too and absolutely love ours!
We have one. It’s a great investment and everything turns out tasting perfect every time!
That’s awesome Renee! I agree!
Make sure you keep them locked up or locked down when you’re done. We had ours stolen. Don’t think they’re safe just because they’re in your fenced back yard or you live in a great neighborhood.
Oh my! That’s a great point, and I’m so sorry that happened to yours!
Ugh! Sorry to hear that, some people suck! We have a security camera directly on ours. That would take some work to steal, they’re so heavy!
Oh my god are they heavy! I got 1 on clearance at target when i didn’t even have a way to get it home (i took an uber to get there.) I just about died trying to get that thing outside & then back in to customer service to ask them to hold it til i could get my bf to pick it up. SOOOO HEAVY, it was the bottom of the line Traeger, no bells & whistles. My dad got 1 years ago & we fell in love with it. My mom & I ended up taking over it cuz it was so easy to use…I’m not sure it’s possible to mess up the meat on a Traeger…every meal was exceptional!
I worry about that and we have a fenced backyard and live in a decent suburban neighborhood. My husband says ohhh it’ll be ok. But here I am thinking otherwise? Lol 🤷🏻♀️
For us, the customer service experience has been awful. Rude and unhelpful on multiple occasions to the point that I feel the need to point it out. 😕
Oh no so sorry to hear that you’ve had the opposite experience!
We have had great experiences with customer service. We had some issues with the temperature regulator and they had us do a few quick tests and then sent us all of the parts we needed for free!
These are expensive but worth every penny. We will never look back.
These do last a long time. I was at a thrift/scratch and dent store about 5 years ago and actually ran across one of these. The large model. $300 and all it had was a small dent on the smoke pipe end. Absolutely no effect on its operation. This thing is used year young. In the winter I just put it in the garage and open the doors. It holds heat very well and it has gotten used more than out grill in the past five years…which was my previous favorite father day present. All in all this is a great , low maintenance smoker. Set it and forget it. LOVE IT.
Yes! We love our Traegers! All we ever cook on! We have the Timberline1300 for the house and the smaller Tailgater for camping.
That’s so cool! What a fun idea for camping.
For those who are looking for your last pellet grill, I suggest you look at REC TEC Grills – yes, they are expensive but their warranty and customer service is unbelievable – you always get a live person who answers the phone (during working hours and they are so responsive)! They ship free to your home – the food that you can turn out on them is amazing – you’ll never regret it! I’m a huge fan.
My husband has had a ‘Lil Tex Elite Traeger for going on 7 years now and has loved every minute of it. He’s been researching how to update our controller and fell in love with the Rec Tec Grills. He’s researched the heck out of smokers for the last year and belongs to several FB groups. For Father’s Day this year and his 40th Birthday, I just bought him the RecTec 700 that he really wants. He doesn’t know about it yet, but he will be beyond thrilled. He has a collection of grills and he loves each and every one of them. His meat smoking hobby is costly, but he works hard and deserves to have some fun and make us delicious meals.
He told me a story of a lady whose husband died and she didn’t know how to use his RecTec. The owner flew her out for one of their grilling academies, taught her how to use it and now she is a pro. It’s customer service like that which makes me know that paying the price these things cost is well worth every penny!
Wow that’s a neat story! Thanks Jeanette! I agree this is a fun hobby we enjoy 😉 thanks for sharing today!
Jeanette their customer service is unbelievable. We are part of a few Rec Teq groups and literally their customer service is top notch! I recently saw in FB groups that a guy’s Rec Teq flipped over from a tornado and the CS reached out to him to get him set back up with his grill. Isn’t that amazing?!
We live 10 minutes from their headquarters and Rec Teq gives back so much to the local community here. Amazing company.
We LOVE LOVE our Rec Tec Grill!! My husband tried to get me to talk him out of buying it but it’s so pretty and I love cooking with him.
We love our Rec Teq Grill! We have several of their grills and the customer service is amazing!
We got one at Costco. Ours was $600. There are two models. One is $600 and one is $1000. Our $600 grills, smokes, has the hopper and has been amazing. Might be worth going in with a friend who has a membership if considering. Obviously you have to buy the wood pellets. We stick up on the blend at Costco when it’s in. If you smoke ‘quick’ stuff (chicken, fish, burgers etc) it doesn’t use many pellets. If you make a longer butt roast or something it’ll take quite a bit of pellets.
Great Melissa- Thanks for sharing that helpful Costco info!
i turned down one of these – we have a weber grill that we all love- my friend got on a list from traegers to be a tester of their product in our area – she had a grill to give me but i just could not let go of my weber – glad to see everyone is enjoying it –
After having multiple Aldi propane grills (every 3 years), we were ready to get a Weber. We were done with disposable grills. We bought a Traeger at Costco 2 1/2 years ago and we’ll never go back. We’ve found a place that carries Traegar pellets year around so any dry day above 60 is a possible smoke or grill day. I often will cook 2 different things so we can eat later in the week. I have also heard good things about Pit Boss, but they weren’t marketed or readily available in our market 2 years ago. Now, you can readily find pellet grills everywhere.
That’s a great tip about cooking multiple items to get the most out of those pellets 👍 Thanks Jen!
We love ours! Especially my husband. His specialties are smoked ribs, chicken and brisket. We had the smaller one and after we moved back south from Alaska, we decided we needed a bigger one. It is a beast! Wifi is an extra perk. He likes being able to monitor his food on his phone. Great investment when you take care of it!
Just an FYI for y’all….there is a Michigan made grill called Grilla Grills that is exactly like this grill and CHEAPER! Right now I believe it is $649. We bought one for my father in law and we LOVE it! It is built with high quality parts just like this one. It’s worth checking into if you are in the market for purchasing one of these grills! Happy shopping!
Yes dont even bother getting 1 without a cover for it! That’s a must have!
My husband bought himself a deluxe Traeger. He is loving it. He continues to buy accessories for it, using his Google pay card, so I can’t see how much money he is investing into meat! Fine with me because I’m constantly on Amazon! The other night I baked chicken because, honestly, a person can only eat so much food with mesquite/smoke flavor! But it is nice having him be responsible and enjoying making meals.
Ha I agree! Thanks for sharing 👍
Traeger does “shows’ at Costco. We talked to the rep about a month ago and was going to “throw in” a bunch of stuff with it if we purchased. We did not just due to the price. Eventually we will get one. I know they are back this week at my Costco – Also in AZ Lina D. Costco deal was way better than the online prices.
Nice! That’s a great tip!
If you are considering a pellet grill, take a look at Rectec out of Augusta Ga. when you mention Rectec to the guys doing the Costco shows they shut down and don’t even try to sell you on a traeger after that
Does anyone have any reviews on “the green egg” we are in the market for another grill and my husband has had his eye on an egg.
Trust me Rectec is the way to go over traeger and green egg, the egg takes so long to cool down.
Big Green Egg and Traeger/Rec Tec are two different types of girlls. One is a pellet grill and one is charcoal. I have both traeger and BGE and use each depending on what I want to cook. I see a lot of comments about this product is superior to that product etc. for a casual cooker get what is in your budget. Make sure you get a cover and the grills must be cleaned out. I clean mine after every use. One of the biggest issues people have with the pellet grills is they are using wet pellets or ash build up. I prefer Lumberjack pellets.
Agreed on the Lumberjack pellets. We have tried 6 or 6 flavors and have loved them all. We even smoked our turkey this Thanksgiving using their Rosemary & Thyme blend. We have the Pit Boss and hubby has been really happy. He’s even expanded into smoking cheeses. Yum!!
Sorry, should have said 6 or 7 flavors of the Lumberjack pellets. 🙂
Rectec is a better grill, if you’re looking for a pellet grill that’s the way to go
My son won one and we have used it once in over a year. LOL I seriously forgot about it. I have to use it this summer.
Oh my gosh yes get smokin! 👏
Wow, I’m jealous!
I got my husband a pit boss in May for our anniversary/early Father’s Day. He is in love and has cooked more dinners in one month than he has in our 14 years together!
That’s awesome! I love that 🥰👏
We just got a Pit Boss because it’s basically the same thing but a little cheaper. But I DO NOT RECOMMEND buying from the big box stores!
Support local and buy from one of your local appliance dealers!
We are looking for the tiny grill for the house but also for our future camping trailer. We thought we will buy Traeger but then I read it takes a long time to grill anything and it is more baked than grilled. I am not sure if that’s true but now we are looking at the propane Weber grills. (we do not like traditional hot smoking, I rather smoke meat under 212 degrees so cold smoking).
Hubby is getting a smoker for father day as well. But after a lot of internet searching and reviews I went with a Green Mountain grill. Couldn’t justify the price of the Traeger .
We got ours on clearance at Home Depot a few months ago. for $400. This time of year Costco sells the Traeger pellets ($20 for 33lb or so). DEAL! Walmart pellets work great too and are a better value too.
Great deal! Oh we will have to check those out also 🤗
I started to look at sourcing of grills with the increase of problems emanating from China. I was surprised to see Traeger is made in China. I try not to get to hung up on that, but COVID was determined to be released by the Chinese as a weaponized virus from their Level 4 lab by a number of intelligence Agencies around the world. I can not in good conscience support a duplicitous regime, so I am looking for grills not built in China.
Politics aside, here is a list I found: https://www.thebbqdepot.com/blog/which-grills-are-made-in-the-usa/. Don’t buy Weber – only their most expensive Summit models are US made in spite of their very misleading website…and they don’t stand behind their products anyway. I’m in a warranty battle with them right now for a 3 year old grill that is already rusting out. Weber’s sterling reputation is dated and had I known that dealing with them would be such a hassle, I would not have ponied up the money for such an expensive grill.
Are the Trager grills at Home Depot a different quality than the web site ?
I believe the same. 👍I know the one at Costco is made just for That store.
My husband and I just purchased a SMOKEFIRE grill which is Weber’s pellet grill. We love it. My husband has always done charcoal but this is so nice and simple.
Oh neat! Thanks for sharing!
We just got one and yes they are worth the cost!
We have a Pit Boss and a Traeger- like the pit boss better and it’s cheaper!
Thanks for your reccomendation!
With every penny! Smoke an Apple Pie … you’re welcome.
Oh that sounds yummy!
We bought both of our Traeger’s from QVC they came with pellets, a cover, and cutting board.
Oh cool! Thanks for letting us know!
We were fortunate enough to use points earned at work to get a Traeger! The absolute best thing we have ever gotten!! My husband loves it! I just bought a boston butt to try on it tonight.
Wow that sounds amazing! Glad you live your Traeger too!
Yes! We love our Traeger! We’re new to it this year and so far we’ve done pork shoulder, steaks and ribs *baby back and St. Louis. We LOVE the Apple and Pecan mix pellets.
Awesome! Thanks for your thoughts on this Diana!
My son had the green egg and switched to this one. They lived in Boise and left to move and build a beautiful home in Mesa. He left the green egg there and bought this one. All your food looks amazing
Oh thanks so much and congrats on your son’s move!
Hubby bought one without talking to me (technically for use at work events). I wasn’t thrilled because I would have probably gone with a less expensive Pit Boss but I also was too upset. We use it all the time. I love throwing the quarter sheet pans with veggies on it. Best brussel sprouts.
Yes the veggies are awesome 🙌 Glad it worked out!
This sounds wonderful. Does it work without the app? My phone has to many apps on it and it won’t let me add anymore apps. I will have to look into this for my brother. He wants to learn how to grill more than hot dogs and hamburgers.
Correct – it will work without an app too. Awesome thanks Chrissy!
My husband did A LOT of research before buying his smoker. We ended up with a Masterbuilt. It’s electronic like a traeger, but uses charcoal and wood instead of pellets. We bought the smallest one and it was $500, in stock at Home Depot. It’s been very nice for the price point. Someday we’ll upgrade to the RecTeq!
Nice! Thanks for sharing Jessica!
RecTeq is 100% better.
I ended up getting the Traeger as a Christmas gift for my Hubby and it hasn’t disappointed. We have cooked Steak, Chicken and Brisket on it which all have turned out fantastic. Lucky for me Costco was having an in-store event when I had gone to get it for him. The salesperson let me in on a little secret about the store model, that those are brand new and built for the event (it’s sold for a discount). I went with the higher up model as I got the store model discount. Plus at pickup (have to get at the end of event), he gave me more pellets for it too.
Thanks for sharing! Glad you were able to score a deal!
Love the it! Worth every penny!
I love my Yoder grill – lookup YS640 – warranty is 10 years, that Traeger will be in the recycle bin in 5 years tops
It’s $399at cost
Thanks for sharing! Sorry for any confusion. Did you see it for that price at Costco in store? I don’t find that when searching online. Darn!