8 Best Pellet Grills (Review) in 2020

The ZPG-450A from Z Grills has a nice big pellet hopper, automatic temperature controls and is capable of kicking out an incredible 25,000 BTUs. It will grill, braise, roast, bake, smoke or sear your choice cuts with the best of them and picking one up won’t require you to spend the kid’s college fund or mortgage the house.

There’s a generous warming rack so you can keep your precious food products hot until the masses are ready to consume them. An internal fan that forces hot air from the combustion chamber into the grill where it creates convection-style circulation. A handy front shelf that we’d like to see on every grill regardless of price or fuel type. And the ability to set any temp you’d like between 180 and 475 Fahrenheit.

If you’ve got the space and you love entertaining, then you need to take a look at the all-new and improved Z Grills ZPG-7002E Wood Pellet Grill which delivers the ultimate 8 in 1 cooking versatility. There’s not a lot you can’t do with this attractive looking smoker. You can grill, sear, smoke, braise, bake, roast, barbecue and even char-grill. You’re sure to be the envy of the neighborhood with this easy to use, auto-start grill on your deck. 

It’s literally packed with features to make life easier including an automatic pellet feeder as well as an upgraded digital control board. There’s a generous grilling area and warming rack alongside a large capacity 20-pound pellet hopper. It features hot rod technology to auto-ignite those hardwood pellets as well as an induction fan which can be used to stoke the fire to achieve faster results. Even if you are a novice to the world of grilling, you’ll soon get the hang of this machine and by serving up succulent seared and tender cuts of meat for family and friends. It’s fully electronic featuring auto-start ignition, digital auto temperature control as well as an easy to view LED temperature display. There’s no babysitting needed when you’re cooking with this Z Grill. It’s also easy to clean up afterward, fitted with a waste oil collector for convenient and clean disposal. Moving your cart around to a prime location is also easier than ever before thanks to the addition of locking castor wheels. Constructed from premium stainless steel to be corrosion resistant and featuring a stylish, sleek and polished finish that looks incredibly professional, this is one pellet grill you will be proud to own and use. Our guide to the best charcoal grills features more top options like this, so take a moment to check them out.

If you want to get into a Traeger pellet grill at a lower price, the Renegade Pro line is an excellent place to start. While the Renegade Pro does not have WiFi connectivity, it’s a lower-priced entry to Traeger’s well-known build quality.

The TFB38TOD Renegade Pro Pellet Grill and Smoker thrives on low-and-slow cooking. But with a high temperature of about 425 degrees, it won’t give as good a sear as others on this list. With a smaller 380 square inch cooking capacity, this grill is a good size for couples or smaller families that don’t want a large grill but still enjoy the low-and-slow cooking capabilities found in pellet grills.

Camp Chef grills are some of the best built on the market. And you are going to pay for that build quality. The only question is, “Is it worth it?” In our opinion, if you can afford the financial stretch then the SmokePro LUX from Camp Chef is very much worth it. It’s a versatile, dependable pellet grill that will be a fixture at your holiday get-togethers for years to come and it does a routinely excellent job turning your meat and produce into first-class culinary offerings.

The combined cooking/warming surface area is an impressive 875 sq inches. The grill has the capability to monitor heat, both in the grill itself and in your various meats, by way of a stainless steel meat thermometer. You’re also able to regulate the amount of smoke so you get as little or as much of that delicious smokey flavor as you want. In general, temperatures are more accurate than with most other pellet grills with few temperature swings, regardless of the weather or how much food you add or remove.

A relative newcomer to pellet grills, the culinary juggernaut Cuisinart is nonetheless a manufacturing whiz. And with their expertise, they created a great value with its CPG-6000 Deluxe Wood Pellet grill. This grill is the perfect size for the casual griller and who wants to try their hand at a variety of cooking, from all-day slow cooks like briskets to fast cooks like burgers. It’s all possible due to the Deluxe Wood Pellet Grill’s decent temperature range from 180 to 450 degrees. Like many pellet grills, it tops out a bit cool for searing steaks and loses temperature when opened, but will undoubtedly get the job done. It excels at long, slow cooks and will run for up to 15 hours on a single hopper of pellets.

Customers love its large cooking capacity, spacious storage cabinets, and built-in water tray. For those looking for an excellent smoker and grill at a very reasonable price, the Cuisinart CPG-6000 Delux Wood Pellet Grill is a top choice.

If you’re looking for a grill that gets good and hot for searing steaks while still offering low-and-slow smoking capabilities, the Pit Boss 700FB should be high on your list. This grill has a maximum temp of about 500 degrees, which is higher than many pellet grills. It also has a unique flame broiler feature, allowing direct heat for searing burgers and steaks. This ability is a rarity in the pellet grill market, which tends to opt for indirect heating.

Customers love that this grill holds its temperature well and gets hot enough for a good sear on a steak or burger. And many tout its high quality at a price well below the competition.

Traeger is the original maker of pellet grills and, the Pro Series is the best-selling line of pellet grills in the world. The Pro Series 575 stands apart from the crowd with WiFIRE technology. This convenient feature allows monitoring and adjusting the grill anytime, anywhere through the Traeger app. The Pro Series 575 also comes with Traegers new D2 drivetrain, which heats faster and gives more consistent results than previous models.

While the 575 offers a smaller cooking surface than other models on this list (575 square inches), it gives backyard chefs tons of control through the WiFi connection. You can even grill through Alexa! So for those who want their smoker with a side of technology, Traeger offers a clear choice.

We bring this list of best pellet grills to a close with a true high-end unit called the Z Grills ZPG-700D. This is a deluxe backyard accessory in every sense of the word and could easily serve as the main cooking utensil in a backyard kitchen. With the 700D you get up to 25,000 BTUs of steady, wood-derived heat for baking, roasting, braising, smoking, grilling, searing and barbequing with more than 500 sq inches on the main grill and nearly 200 more on the warming rack.

What really sets the 700D apart from other grills though is the generous storage area under the grill. This makes your entire grilling life easier by allowing you to store utensils, sauces, pellets, oven mitts or anything else you’re going to need and have it right at hand at all times. You’ll pay a bit more for this unit but the storage along makes it worth the stretch.