We have 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.  The following is a “small” questionnaire that a person can cut and paste and post in a thread in this section if they want to receive some feedback from other members:


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, 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

 And:

 How easy is it to maintain? There are several aspects to this.

 Service life. How long do you expect the pit to last?

 Replacement parts. Are they readily available?

 Seeing  pits in action and discussing matters with the owner can help.

 Don't rush into a pit on a whim. Take time to ponder.

 Pricing can be less before new models come out or at the end of the  season.

A few other things to ponder. Although Kristin list is about perfect 999 score

If you have a charcoal grill. It will sear/ cook steaks etc probably better then any pellet grill.

There are grills built with a lot of parts that will fit the original Traeger design style. This can be important sometimes

A example is the Rec Tec firepot with the ceramic ignition fits in any Traeger design firepot and is a great improvement..

I agree with Canadian John try and see some in use.

Hopper capacity is important 20 pounds is great . More capacity is nice but I would not make it a reason to pick one grill over another.

Figure what size pit you need and then buy the next larger size.

I would look how long the manufacturer has been in business. Good pits have come and gone like Firecraft.

When you have your short list , ask some of the owners on this site their likes and dislikes.

And read some of the exhaustive threads on this forum in the pellet grill section where experienced users have already listed pros and cons of particular units

I have to disagree with this statement.  10 years ago maybe...there were 2-3...but now, almost ever line has the ability.  And I have to believe the pellet unit is faster?  How long does it take for charcoal to get to a searing condition? And which is cleaner and more convenient on user?

If you have a charcoal grill. It will sear/ cook steaks etc probably better then any pellet grill.

John, with respect, sir, I would exclude a couple of your suggested questions.  Kristin's questionnaire is intended to elicit the prospective buyers' answers to questions that affect their choices.  Prospective buyers probably won't know anything about ease of maintenance (we could ask them if they can disassemble and repair something of similar complexity, whatever that might be) and it's unlikely that they'll know about replacement parts availability.

 And:

 How easy is it to maintain? There are several aspects to this.

 Service life. How long do you expect the pit to last?

 Replacement parts. Are they readily available?

 Seeing  pits in action and discussing matters with the owner can help.

 Don't rush into a pit on a whim. Take time to ponder.

 Pricing can be less before new models come out or at the end of the  season.