6 Best Pellet Grills (Review) in 2020

It was Joe Traeger who actually invented the first pellet grill in 1985 so you can be reasonably sure the company he founded knows a thing or two about how to make a quality grill. These days the company that bears his name produces a full range of pellet grills with the TFB42LZBC (say that three times fast) being an ideal mid-sized unit. The 42 (as we’re going to call it to save time) features electronic auto-start so you don’t have to bother sticking your hand inside with a match. It’s also fully capable of handling just about any type of cooking including grilling, searing, baking, braising, roasting and your standard open-top barbequing.

The 42 offers easy dial control that enables you to keep the temperature within a 20-degree range so you can maintain proper control over the cook. Your choice cuts of meat will emerge tender and juicy instead of tough and dry like they often do off of the charcoal grill. There’s an internal fan that delivers the heat to the grill in an even, effective manner. And when the top is closed you not only have a one of the best pellet smokers but a great convection-type oven, just like in the kitchen.

This is a stylish looking pellet grill as we’ve come to expect from Cuisinart and is super versatile with multiple cooking functions including grilling, smoking, roasting, braising, barbecuing and even baking. There’s little you can’t do on this 450 square inch cooking surface. With a generously sized hopper too as well as automatic temperature controls, you can enjoy delicious results whether you are cooking at home or away. The thoughtfully designed smoker features a unique portable design featuring all-terrain wheels and a stable handle so that you can maneuver into position. Other handy features include a grease bucket holder so that grease can be captured in a cup rather than accumulating at the bottom of the grill, saving on messy clean up afterward.

Despite its relatively compact footprint, it does have a two-tiered cooking great which makes room for more food and a convenient folding shelf that serves as additional storage for condiments, spices and other barbecue essentials. You’ll also appreciate just how easy it is to use the Cuisine Wood Pellet Grill which is thermostatically controlled just like your regular kitchen oven. This ensures that food is cooked thoroughly and evenly and eliminates the guesswork of working out the right temperature and time to keep your meat on the grill. It really is superb when it comes to slow-roasting succulent joints of meats and with a wide choice of hardwood pellets, you can create a wonderful smoky flavor by mixing your favorite pellets together. For delicious smoked food all the family will love, this is an excellent choice.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you don’t want to drop serious money on the Camp Chef SmokePro LUX but you still want the Camp Chef quality, consider their Woodwind Classic 24 Pellet Grill. While it doesn’t have quite the cooking area of the SmokePro or the ability to regulate smoke release it does an outstanding job maintaining whatever temperature you choose between 160 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

The hopper on the Woodwind Classic holds up to 22 pounds of wood pellets, which is enough to keep you going all day, literally. At the end of the day, you won’t have to devote hours to clean up because it also boasts the company’s patented Ash Cleanout system. The Woodwind also does a great job handling the drippings. It deposits them into a nifty little aluminum bucket and you have the choice of using them as a base for mouth-watering gravy or to just discard them. Swapping out pellets is also fast and easy.

This Davy Crockett Smoker Grill combo is hybrid outdoor cooking at its best. It’s light enough for anyone to set up, light and compact enough to be your tailgate cooker has plenty of interior capacity to keep the big crowds happy and offers WiFi control that allows the busy cook to multitask. The DCPG features Sense-Mate thermal sensing that provides real-time monitoring of the internal temperature so you can maintain precise control and produce the kind of dishes you could previously only make indoors.

The DCPG runs on either 12V or standard 120AC house current so you can just as easily hook it up on the deck as you can in the stadium parking lot or state park using the car or a portable 12 volt generator. This pellet grill also boasts foldable legs that make is a breeze to fold the unit down and fit it in the trunk of the car of the back of the SUV. And the best part about taking this grill on the road with you is that you don’t have to transport a propane tank too. Just a bag of wood pellets.