I made it to Grilla yesterday and was really glad to have Trooper there as a grill consultant.

When we got there, they were shooting a cooking demo on how to grill a pork loin. The good news was we were able to sample sizable portions when it was done. The pork loin and their sauces were both great.

As it turns out I ended up getting the Chimp with wifi and the front shelf for $550. There were a few factors that went into the decision.

There was only about a $65 difference between the controllers. The front shelf at $85 was more than the wifi.

When I told my wife I was leaning toward the non wifi unit, she said it would be dumb for me not to get the upgrade (I love my wife and the way she thinks)!

The sales person said there were upgrades in the wifi controller that were unrelated to the wifi that made it worth it. Apparently there is a better shutdown for high temps and it is supposed to maintain heat for up to five minutes if you lift the lid.

Probably the biggest factor was that the non-wifi model must have sold, it was not available.

They have a great show room and the staff was very knowledgeable. I was talking with one guy for quite a while. I thought he was a salesman, but come to find out he was an engineer. This is the third time I have been there and each time it hasn't mattered what a person's job title was, they will take the time to stop and talk with you.

All in all it was a good day!

Results of the pork loin cooking demo.
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Trooper judging the cooking demo!
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Showroom
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The original Grilla and the Kong
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The Chimp. I really like the way the legs fold up to make it portable.
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Congratulations!  I hope you enjoy your new toy.

Congratulations  I know you will enjoy and don't forget to show us your first cook.

I do not have wifi however  have been using the remote for my 2 Star for a lot of years.  It is connected by Bluetooth and definitely meets my needs.  I realize it does not have the range of wifi however as I do not leave my house when BBQing or grilling it  it is all I need.

That is great that you got what your wife suggested. I would have made the same choice if both would have been there, the front shelf would have won me over, and only 65 more to get an little more advanced (possibly) controller.

Can't wait to see your thoughts and cooks on it.

I would have gone with the one with the front shelf no matter if it had wifi or not.  You don't have to use the wifi and it is nice to have, but you'll use the front shelf every cook 

Congrats!!!

Hard to ignore those two decision making factors - The wife, and the non-wifi was sold.   

As it turns out I ended up getting the Chimp with wifi and the front shelf for $550.

Good for you!  I'm confident that it'll bring you years of happy cooking.

I use WIFI but not on my grill control.  I use a Fireboard temperature monitor to do just about everything I need.  I use one of their environmental probes to detect flame out and the others for the food.   

As it turns out, I tested positive for Covid over Thanksgiving. So that means a couple of weeks in quarantine. The only real symptoms I've had were a mild cough and I have been very tired. No fever and no loss of taste (however my son and daughter will probably tell you I never had much in the way of good taste). I really didn't care much one way or the other about what I ate, so it took a while to get around to breaking in the Chimp.

I ended up pulling a chuck roast that was at the bottom of the freezer and went with Pepper Stout Beef. This has turned into a favorite recipe. https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=308.0

It was quite cold out the night I cooked it, around 20* and snowing. The grill seemed to hold its temp OK. The controller has two options, a PID and a PRO. The PRO maintains an average temp rather than a constant one. The idea is it will generate more smoke by letting the temp dip rather than holding it constant. I used the PID setting because that was the default. Looking forward to doing some comparisons to see if there is a noticeable difference in smokiness.

The chuck roast cooked up really nice. I was amazed at how few pellets were used compared the other pellet grills I have used. The only strange thing I noticed was that during the cook, the fan was intermittent rather than staying on constantly. The thing sounded like it was huffing and puffing up hill! The temp was fine and it kept on cooking, even as I was checking my plug connections. I called the home office and they said that was normal, even on the PID setting. I have not hooked up the wifi yet, made one feeble attempt. Will try again when I have a little more patience!!

So far so good. I will put it through the big test in a couple of weeks!

Pepper Stout Beef

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My Memphis Elite does the same fan huffing and puffing. Hope you feel better soon!

Looking for a quick recovery for you

Mmmmmm.  Pepper Stout Beef.  It's about time to do it again.  (Bentley, have you tried this?)

I'm hoping that you're back in the saddle soon.

The beef does look good, and no I have never tried that recipe.