Expect extras such as folding side-serving shelves, a wide storage shelf underneath, hooks for grilling tools, and removable grease buckets. Most flat-top grills also have locking castors and powder-coating to prevent rust—these ones can be stored outside. Some flat-top grills feature folding legs for storage or portability. Two-burner grills work for most small families, while four-burner grills are better for larger families or cookouts with friends.
Despite its travel-friendly size, the Tailgater holds 12 burgers, two chickens, or three racks of ribs. While it doesn’t need as much fuel as larger grills to maintain its temperature, its 8-pound hopper will need refilling during longer smokes simply due to its smaller capacity. Ahead, learn more about what you can expect at this price point and find out which models are the best pellet grills under $500. The 440 outperformed some more expensive models in heating time, retention, and temperature recovery. The grill does have some hard-to-avoid hot spots, with the firebox adjacent to the cooking space and a heat shield that doesn’t cover the entire grill. We also noted some temperature dips during our long smoke test, about 50°F below the preset temperature.
While thick walls are desirable for some types of cookers, they are not required in pellet smokers. As a guide, a pellet grill with a 40-pound hopper will give you around 40 hours of cooking time at standard smoking temperatures. Considering some cooks take around 20 hours, an 18 pound hopper, for example, is going to be problematic. This grill offers a generous 570 square inches of cooking surface plus a removable upper warming rack.
After all, these awesome pieces of cooking equipment are a bit of an investment, and no one likes to have buyer’s remorse. You don’t want to buy one flat top grill, and then a month later wish that you had purchased a different one. Hopefully, this guide has helped you understand a little bit more about the pros and cons of cooking with a pellet grill, and helped you pick out the right model for your budget and needs. Luckily the days when you had to splash out top dollar for a new pellet grill are behind us. If you want something sub $500, then Z Grills 450B fits the bill, although you’ll give up a little size. You can barbecue, smoke, roast, grill (sort of–more on that below), and even bake or braise in a pellet grill.
If Traeger tweaked the folding legs and upgraded the controls and added WiFi to match the Pro 575 it would be almost perfect. When we first got our hands on a Z Grill, pit boss pellets they were a fairly new brand on the scene. Now they’ve been around for a while, and we’ve seen their models go through several upgrades and continue to get better.
There are plenty of long, pleasant days ahead that are ideal for dining under the stars. And with so many end-of-season discounts, Labor Day weekend is actually an excellent time of year to buy a grill. To prove it, we’ve curated some of the best Labor Day grill sales that are still live right now.
We were able to grill burgers with nice sear marks and cook chicken more slowly and evenly done throughout. Traeger’s versatile new flat-top propane grill features three burners to help create specific heat zones, with a heat range of 325 to 600 degrees to griddle, fry, steam, sauté, and more. You want to invest in a griddle for the cooking experience, which is why this is an important feature that needs to be taken into consideration. You will find that the griddles have individual burners and more or less the same cooking system.
These fluctuations gave pork shoulder a somewhat astringent taste. Our shorter smoking and grilling sessions, however, left meat with a smoky-clean flavor and nice sear. The stainless steel grill has a front push-button-ignition control panel, and a generous 784 square inches of cooking space.
The side burner is perfect for making your apps, accompaniments and sauces and the cabinet underneath is ideal for storing tools and grilling supplies. This LoCo Cookers griddle is ideal for pit boss flat top grillers who want to maximize cooking space. The three-burner grill has 550 square inches of surface area and uses Smart Temp technology to keep the grill at the desired cooking temperature.