So, as I posted in another thread, I recently bought a PG1000.  It's a used one I found on CL for half price, and it's basically new.  I started off with a Davy Crockett, got a Jim Bowie (another CL find) and have been *mostly* happy with them, but as we all do...always looking for the Next Best Thing.  I originally wanted a PG500, but that deal never came together.  Saw a PG1000 on CL but moved too slow and it was sold when I called.  Not so with this case!  Had to make a 8 hr round trip to get it from Dallas, but based on initial impressions, worth every minute of the drive.

Here's what I like about their design compared to the GMG layout (and others like them):

• Indirect is truly indirect.  Nothing burns over there.
• Upper racks are nice to have for stuff that cooks at different speed.
• The Chargriller section is AWESOME and is IMHO what every pellet grill is missing.  Smoke/cook your food at your preferred temps, then sear/crisp everything up at the end.  Painless and perfect.
• The insulation on the PG1000 is definitely effective.  Even with the comparatively large size to my little Davy Crockett, the pellet burn is comparable, and the DC has always been a pellet mizer.
• LHt/HHt is where it's at.  PID controllers sound great, but I don't think the manufacturers have the Process Control background to program them correctly.  My GMGs sometimes just drift up and up and up in temp and there seems to be no way to bring it under control.  With the PG1000, HHt is a quick and easy adjustment that you can use to bring it easily under control.  I had no problem adjusting to run at 180° with very little temperature swing.
• The warming/cold smoking drawer is more useful than you think.  Stuff like chicken thighs/breasts never cook at the same rate and it's easy to pull them off and hold them down there.  Cold smoking is going to be easy with temps of 85° that should be able to be achieved without the use of ice.
• Ash cleanup is also easy.  A flat piece of aluminum foil in there makes it even easier.  I don't wrap it around the corners because the tolerance of the drawer is pretty tight.
• I foiled the drip pan, but probably won't in the future.  There's no heat under it to burn stuff on, so it's just a matter of wiping it down every so often.

Places to improve:

• No WiFi, but it's not a dealbreaker.  I use my fireboard, which is WiFi and allows me to have several sensors.
• Not sure if this really needs improvement, but the temperature sensor is halfway up the back wall.  This leads to temps at the grate in the indirect section being about 20°+ or so lower than indicated.  You're going to want an ambient temp sensor if you want to really know what your cook temps are at the grate in all the different zones, but you knew that, right?   
• No thermocouple ports.  The lid is heavy and has a bit of a lip on it, so it's a bit hard on the cables.  I may end up drilling a hole under the right shelf...but I do not look forward to drilling 304 SS at all!
• Getting to LHt/HHt is a bit of a pain, but not impossible.  Would be nice to just be able to adjust these directly, but that is probably not done so as to provide a cleaner user interface for the average user.  I am obviously not the average user!
• A switch for Chargriller mode.  Cookshack's chargrillers have a L/M/H setting.  Would be nice to have something duplicated on the PG1000/500.  You can sorta do this by knowing where the HHt changes and picking those temps (L = 305°, M = 405°, H = 505°) and just leaving the lid open.  Did that last night with some chicken thighs and it worked great.

The PG500/1000 are killer units. I don't know many people who don't like them. My first pellet unit was a PG500 I found on eBay. My only issue with them are the size. But I think for 90+ percent of the people the size is AOK.

Any chance of getting a pic of the warming drawer with the drawer pulled open?  I am curious to see how big that drawer is.

I like the look of this unit and would probably buy it over the other Cookshack unit if I would ever get one.  And the only reason I would buy one would probably be for the charbroiler portion of the unit.

Any chance of getting a pic of the warming drawer with the drawer pulled open?  I am curious to see how big that drawer is.

I like the look of this unit and would probably buy it over the other Cookshack unit if I would ever get one.  And the only reason I would buy one would probably be for the charbroiler portion of the unit.

Sure.  I'll get measurements too, just not sure if I can get those today.  The PG500 and PG1000 are the same size units, they both have a charbroiler.  The PG1000 is insulated and has more horizontal workspace.  Before, I didn't think the insulation was a big deal, but after using it and seeing how little pellets it uses, it really does make a difference.  Deciding if it's worth $1,100 is the problem!!

No hurry.  Its not like I'm going out and buying one with 5 other grills on my patio right now.

I would not buy the 500 because I don't like the look of it.  I think the 1000 is much better looking piece of equipment and has some usable shelf space on the exterior.

I would consider buying one if I was somehow able to get $1000 for my Traeger XL.

I was never drawn to the look of the 1000, but I like the 500, I think due to the way the doors were set up!

+1 on the use of Fireboard Thermometer unit on the PG's units (mine is PG500).  Graphing feature makes leveling out HHT/LHT to your taste painless.  Being able to monitor from several devices (PC/Phone) at the same time is handy.  Their magnetic cover works nicely on the PG500 so expect it would on the PG1000 as well.

Congrats on your PG1000 .. You will love it. 

Their magnetic cover works nicely on the PG500 so expect it would on the PG1000 as well.

Congrats on your PG1000 .. You will love it.

The PG1000 is made with 201 stainless and therefore magnets will not stick to it.    I learned this the hard way, ordered a magnetic shop light that someone who has a PG500 recommended only to find out that it wouldn’t work on the PG1000.   

Their magnetic cover works nicely on the PG500 so expect it would on the PG1000 as well.

Congrats on your PG1000 .. You will love it.

The PG1000 is made with 201 stainless and therefore magnets will not stick to it.    I learned this the hard way, ordered a magnetic shop light that someone who has a PG500 recommended only to find out that it wouldn’t work on the PG1000.   

Thanks for the correction.. good to know!

Any chance of getting a pic of the warming drawer with the drawer pulled open?  I am curious to see how big that drawer is.

I like the look of this unit and would probably buy it over the other Cookshack unit if I would ever get one.  And the only reason I would buy one would probably be for the charbroiler portion of the unit.

Dimensions are 13W x 4H x 19L.  It easily fits a full-size restaurant cookie sheet.  I've used it more that I would have thought, but it sure is nice when you have various stuff cooking of different sizes and it's all cooking at different rates.

thanks.

looks like it could hold a brisket or 4-6 racks of ribs

I would think a brisket would fit with no problem.  I'd say 6 racks would fit as well. 

One of the first cooks I did on the PG1000 was a couple of ribeyes.  I set it to 600° and let 'er rip...to some unfortunately overdone steaks.  I didn't kill 'em, but they were more medium well than medium rare.  So, I ended up looking around for some hints from Fast Eddie on youtube, and found that he's cooking steaks at 400° with HHt of 100.  With the current settings, I get HHt of 100 when I'm at 405° so I went for that.  He says he sticks to 400° because otherwise it cooks too fast...I believe him!

Steak was a sirloin, probably right at 1" thick or slightly less.  Cooked 3 mins first side, 2:30 second side at it was temping out at 125°, so I pulled it.  That's about my normal speed for cooking on a charcoal grill, so I'm happy with the cooking pace.  Oh, and sear marks?  Yea, we got 'em.



Every time I throw something on this grill, I just get more impressed.

I made the same mistake when I first got mine and was learning it’s capabilities.    I was used to my previous grills where I had to wring every last BTU out of it to put a nice sear on a steak, just wasn’t prepared for the amount of heat these things can generate.    Like you said HHT of 100 is about as high as I ever set it now except for pizzas.

Simply a grilling Dream unit!