Hopefully we can help someone with their purchasing decision of a new pit..I'll start:
 
 -Cost..cheaper pits can ending up costing more.
 -Dealer. Help and warranty.
 -Replacement parts. Cost and availability.
 -Finish. Paint. Powder coat Porcelain.Stainless..Consider rusting.
 -Material(s). Mild steel. Stainless steel..            "             "
 -Looks. Does it appeal?
 -Maintenance, repair and servicing. How easy is it to get at and maintain things?
 -Have design/quality problems been resolved by the manufacturer?
 -Features. Wi fi. Direct flame cooking. Accessories such as external shelving and internal racks.
 -The manufacturer. Being able to get questions answered and suggestions from the manufacturer and not being brushed off is paramount..Parts, as most dealers carry the minimum.

 There is more..Feel free to add.

I would put the manufacturer support at the top of my list.  If they do not have quick responsiveness, I would write them off the list.

A charcoal grill really has no parts that can fail without someone seeing your grill has been falling apart well in advance.  A gas grill is pretty similar in that the burners may go, but you can tell that pretty far in advance.  Either of those, you can usually feel close to 100% confident that you are going to turn it on and it will run and get the meal cooked (unless you are out of charcoal or propane but I see that as your own fault not the equipment ).  It is much different when you have people coming over to impress with your great BBQ skills, and your controller quits or the auger is jammed or something mechanical or electrical goes wrong with your grill.  Having someone to call and get a quick fix is important at that moment in time.

A forum like this is a great place to get insight on issues other people already have had.  If 10 people on here have had the same problem regardless of how well the manufacturer did in resolving it, I would be concerned about buying that piece of equipment.

A pellet grill has become like a car.  When you turn it on, you expect it to run flawlessly.  Unless of course, you have made some sort of mistake like I have on several occasions.

Drop feed - no auger fires.
Pellet clean out.

Yoder.  Done.

I would add:

- Type of controller.  PID or timing based, ability to adjust firmware settings, number of probes controller handles
- Hopper capacity
- Mobility:  wheels, casters, fixed legs, and/or portable

^^^ This.

Nobody pays attention to where it's made?

Not if it works like it is supposed to

 Call me old school. I prefer a made in USA over The C. HINA company and similar. And that is a Canadian speaking.

After watching the US political system the last two years, I think I may be founding a new party -- the Pellet Party.  My slogan:  "A pellet pit in every yard, bbq'ed beef ribs on every table"  I may just win.

Call me old school. I prefer a made in USA over The C. HINA company and similar. And that is a Canadian speaking.

What about the Canadian made Louisiana CS Series? I was going to buy one then I found out they are no longer importing them to the U.S.

Drop feed - no auger fires.
Pellet clean out.

Didn't someone report an auger fire in a PG500 recently?  Fire got up into the drop chute or something like that.

Who makes a pellet smoker with drop feed (no auger) and is there any benefit to drop feed?

A few that have what you call drop feed, but all (except maybe gravity feed) I believe use auger...

After watching the US political system the last two years, I think I may be founding a new party -- the Pellet Party.  My slogan:  "A pellet pit in every yard, bbq'ed beef ribs on every table"  I may just win.

Not to turn this - or anything, ever - into a political discussion, but if you ran I would vote for you as long as you were not a politician.
At this point I believe that any non politician is preferable to any politician.

The old site (PH) had a wonderful questionnaire on determining the pellet unit that best fits people's needs.  A person could copy, answer the questions and re-post it.  Experienced pellet unit users could then offer good suggestions for the model that might best fit the questioner's requirements.

Does anyone have a copy of that questionnaire?  If so, please PM it to me.  (Asking for a friend.    )

Got in!  I sent it to you.

« Last Edit: January 31, 2014, 08:53:40 AM by The Beast »

As many of you have noticed, there are a lot of posts that get created that say, in essence, “What pit should I buy?”  Obviously most people who ask this are looking for educated input to either confirm their choice or get another opinion.  These kinds of questions are difficult to answer without knowing something about the intended usage, experience, etc.  I am going to attempt to pull together suggestions for a “small” questionnaire that we can make a “sticky” so that if someone wants to ask the golden question, there is a better chance of giving a golden answer.

Please add to the list of questions that should be added to the sticky.  I will keep updating the list for a bit:


Have you ever eaten any meats/other foods cooked on a pellet pit?  Do you like the amount of "smoke" flavor you got from it

What is your preferred upper cost limit?

What is the absolute upper cost limit?

Are you looking for the ability to direct grill, or just low and slow?

What region of the country are you in (helps determine the weather you might cook in)?  Do you need an insulated pit?

How many people will you normally cook for?

What is the largest number of people you would need to cook for?

Do you need to be able to move the pit once you have it (take to comps, etc.)?

What features do you need in a controller?  Meat Probes? Remote Control?

From any previous research (Have you read any of the performance evaluations on this site?), what manufacturer/pit is possibly fitting the bill?

Do you have another grill that you will be keeping?

If you have had a pit before, what was it and what did you like/dislike?

Does the size of the hopper matter?

Do you care about stainless steel?

Do you want to buy from a dealer or direct from manufacturer?

Have you been able to physically see any of the pits you are considering?

How important is it to you for it to be made in U.S.A?