Pellet Fan
Pit Talk -- Comments and Questions Regarding These Pellet Pits => Dansons/Country Smokers...Louisana Grills...Pit Boss => Topic started by: lerbi on March 04, 2018, 11:07:13 AM
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At my local Costco, they have a Louisiana Grill LG800 for $699.99. I saw on several other retail sites that the LG800 is normally sold for $1099 (I saw no one offering any discount from that price). Costco is known for its attractive pricing, but a discount of 36% from MSRP is a lot. In today's retail world, it seems that brand names don't matter as much as they used to to the manufacturers since they seemingly will create slightly different versions of just about anything so that the big box stores can offer it exclusively. It's that "slight difference" that concerns me.
I looked at the one at Costco very carefully and compared it to the specs of the LG800 offered at, for example,XXX(Admin--no dealer names please). They appeared to be the same. I called Louisiana Grills and flat out asked them what the difference was and was told that there was no difference. They said Costco could sell them at that price because they bought so many and could get a good price from Louisiana.
Does anyone have any experience with the Costco version? Does anyone have an opinion to offer about buying the Costco LG800. I know the price is good, and it's about where I want to be price wise, but I value quality more than just price alone. What say you?
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I can’t help you much... but if you really want to give it a whirl, with Costco’s return policy, you ain’t got nothing to lose :)
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Ditto. Go for it. Its def the exact same grill. ANd you will get any CS from LG and if need be a return.
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I saw this today at Costco. The hopper seems really small. Is it big enough for overnight cooks?
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I saw this today at Costco. The hopper seems really small. Is it big enough for overnight cooks?
The hopper is small. Its a 12 lb hopper to be exact. While most of the hoppers on the LG line are 14 lb & Louisiana makes a hopper extension for those models. They do not make a extension for the 800 Elite. I came across a fellow on a pellet FB page that is a dealer & also has a fab shop who claimed to have a couple made up for the 800. Talked to him last Friday on the phone. He is suppose to be shipping me one.
The 800 is a really nice, attractive model. With a price like that I don't expect them to be on the sales floor for long.
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A neighbor of mine picked up the LG700 at our local Costco for $499 (I think that is what he told me).
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I saw this today at Costco. The hopper seems really small. Is it big enough for overnight cooks?
My Costco also has the 800 with the small hopper. It is well built with double wall lid etc, but I think it was not bright of them to make the hopper only 12 lb. Most folks are not gonna want to have to reload in the middle of a long cook. Besides, it would have been no big deal to make it bigger. They don't even have an extension hopper for this model. Otherwise it looks like a winner for the price. ??? ::) I wonder what their response would be for this criticism?
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I received my Hopper extension for the LG800 Elite. A dealer in South Dakota also has a fab shop & makes them. Not going to be afraid to cook overnight in the cold Wisconsin winter nights anymore! Nor will I be afraid of pellets getting wet. I will post pictures tomorrow!
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I received my Hopper extension for the LG800 Elite. A dealer in South Dakota also has a fab shop & makes them. Not going to be afraid to cook overnight in the cold Wisconsin winter nights anymore! Nor will I be afraid of pellets getting wet. I will post pictures tomorrow!
Good to hear your problem solved. I saw the unit at my Costco this past weekend, and wrote the rep for this company and asked why the hopper was so small with no available extension. He replied today and said he did not know why they decided to do this, and he apologized to me for it. I'll bet they have had a pot full of such complaints. How much does your dealer charge for the extension? I was otherwise very impressed by the quality of this pit. At $695 it is $300 or so cheaper than the advertised company price. The lid is insulated, (double layered), and it has all the bells and whistles. Congratulations on your buy and let us know how you like it.
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I had a lot of stuff going on today. It was late before I got to open up the box It fits nice! Okie check your PM's
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I stopped at Costco tonight to grab a Prime brisket and saw this. It doesn’t look like a bad grill, but boy is that hopper tiny.
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I stopped at Costco tonight to grab a Prime brisket and saw this. It doesn’t look like a bad grill, but boy is that hopper tiny.
See above
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I stopped at Costco tonight to grab a Prime brisket and saw this. It doesn’t look like a bad grill, but boy is that hopper tiny.
See above
My comment was meant to be more of a "Yeah, I agree type with the others that the hopper is small". Sorry if it created any confusion.
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I'm surprised that the other pellet grill they were selling last year hasn't made it back into Costco... ( the other I think was called the Champion ) That grill seemed to get a lot of enthusiasm from people , and as near as I can tell, you can't buy one anymore. It seems somewhat odd to me that Dansons had some factory in China tool up to make that grill, and then they only make like one production run of it. Doesn't seem like it would make that much business sense. But then, I have no idea really... these are just my random thoughts on the last 'new' grill that showed up at Costco.
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Many companies will make a one-off model for Costco/Sam’s Club. Typically it’s a large one-time order for a nice influx of cash. If the product sells well, Costco/Sam’s Club will buy it again the following year.
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Just got mine from Costco together last night, any particular areas to install alum foil or an idea for a disposable drip pan?
I go to the Dollar Tree & get disposable pans. Make sure their no taller than 2 inches!
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Doe anyone know if the drip pan assembly is SS? :help:
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Doe anyone know if the drip pan assembly is SS? :help:
I'm 90% sure it isn't.....
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I got mine a few weeks ago, with the weather, rain and new patio build I have yet to actually cook on it. My store had six on a Sunday morning, convinced the wife that afternoon, picked up the last boxed on that same Sunday evening.
Anyone have to the contact information for the dealer who fabs the hopper extension???
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I'm surprised that the other pellet grill they were selling last year hasn't made it back into Costco... ( the other I think was called the Champion ) /quote]
The Champion is back at St. Louis MO Costco's for #799, A lot of features but the hopper looked small, for the size of the unit. I will try to get specs this week.
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I'm surprised that the other pellet grill they were selling last year hasn't made it back into Costco... ( the other I think was called the Champion ) /quote]
The Champion is back at St. Louis MO Costco's for #799, A lot of features but the hopper looked small, for the size of the unit. I will try to get specs this week.
My Costco has both the elite 800 ($699) and the Champion with the cold smoker. (only $799). Best deals IMO. Both very well built.
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Anyone have to the contact information for the dealer who fabs the hopper extension???
I was wondering the same. My local Costco has dropped the price on these to 499 and I am seriously considering buying but the one things holding me back is that hopper size.
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Yep it did...You could have sent him a PM with all the info and no rules would have been broken and everyone would be happy!
I put the info on here but it got removed. Google Louisiana Hopper Extension made in Aberdeen South Dakota.
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Anyone have to the contact information for the dealer who fabs the hopper extension?
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I have the information, PM me.
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Anyone have to the contact information for the dealer who fabs the hopper extension?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have the information, PM me.
I used a snap shot when you initially posted, and PM’d the other person who inquired. I’m still waiting for mine as it was a smaller custom size. I’ll post pics once I get it.
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Picked mine up for $499 today at Costco. Would of had the display for $400...but it wouldn’t fit in the Jeep!!
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Picked mine up for $499 today at Costco. Would of had the display for $400...but it wouldn’t fit in the Jeep!!
Nice! They are still $799 here, and the champion is $999...
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Hi Everyone,
Back to the forum again after a long hiatus... not from smoking though. I'm posting my first post here after coming back because I jumped on the $499 LG800E at Costco. When it first arrived at our local store it was $699, but when they dropped it to $499 I decided to give it a try.
This is with intentions of retiring my 2008 Traeger Lil Tex. Don't get me wrong this has been a very reliable unit for me. That said, since I also have had an FEC100 since mid 2009, its main use since then has been as a grill rather than a smoker. In that role, it functions, but cooking a steak or burgers simply takes longer than I often care to wait. It seems to top out around 320 when it has not been cleaned recently, and a bit hotter for a short while when just cleaned... or if you let it sit for 45min to an hour it will get up to 400+, but I rarely cared to wait that long.
Enter the LG800. Turn it on and the controller reads 375 by default. It will reach that temp, and begin to overshoot within 10 minutes at current OH outdoor temps. And it is crazy hot over the open flame area at that temp. Doesn't seem to have any difficulty with a quick cook of burgers. It does look like at the current controller settings it is not capable of a 180 temp as it wants to hover around 200 or so when set to 180. Likewise it overshoots the high temp and takes a while to settle back down to the set temp... but in practice I'm finding I rarely care because I'm already cooking by that point, and 375 vs 400 is mostly a don't care when I'm grilling. I may check into the various threads around the net about reprogramming to gain more accurate temps, but I think this unit is a keeper, especially for the intended use as mainly a grill.
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Hi Everyone,
Back to the forum again after a long hiatus... not from smoking though. I'm posting my first post here after coming back because I jumped on the $499 LG800E at Costco. When it first arrived at our local store it was $699, but when they dropped it to $499 I decided to give it a try.
This is with intentions of retiring my 2008 Traeger Lil Tex. Don't get me wrong this has been a very reliable unit for me. That said, since I also have had an FEC100 since mid 2009, its main use since then has been as a grill rather than a smoker. In that role, it functions, but cooking a steak or burgers simply takes longer than I often care to wait. It seems to top out around 320 when it has not been cleaned recently, and a bit hotter for a short while when just cleaned... or if you let it sit for 45min to an hour it will get up to 400+, but I rarely cared to wait that long.
Enter the LG800. Turn it on and the controller reads 375 by default. It will reach that temp, and begin to overshoot within 10 minutes at current OH outdoor temps. And it is crazy hot over the open flame area at that temp. Doesn't seem to have any difficulty with a quick cook of burgers. It does look like at the current controller settings it is not capable of a 180 temp as it wants to hover around 200 or so when set to 180. Likewise it overshoots the high temp and takes a while to settle back down to the set temp... but in practice I'm finding I rarely care because I'm already cooking by that point, and 375 vs 400 is mostly a don't care when I'm grilling. I may check into the various threads around the net about reprogramming to gain more accurate temps, but I think this unit is a keeper, especially for the intended use as mainly a grill.
My Blaz'n GS has a similar control and I was able to reset the temps to very accurate levels. Not sure that yours uses the same procedure but you should be able to find out from Danson Customer Service. My resulting set temps are within just a few plus or minus degrees of actual. Worth doing on any new grill with PID control.
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Hi Everyone,
Back to the forum again after a long hiatus... not from smoking though. I'm posting my first post here after coming back because I jumped on the $499 LG800E at Costco. When it first arrived at our local store it was $699, but when they dropped it to $499 I decided to give it a try.
This is with intentions of retiring my 2008 Traeger Lil Tex. Don't get me wrong this has been a very reliable unit for me. That said, since I also have had an FEC100 since mid 2009, its main use since then has been as a grill rather than a smoker. In that role, it functions, but cooking a steak or burgers simply takes longer than I often care to wait. It seems to top out around 320 when it has not been cleaned recently, and a bit hotter for a short while when just cleaned... or if you let it sit for 45min to an hour it will get up to 400+, but I rarely cared to wait that long.
Enter the LG800. Turn it on and the controller reads 375 by default. It will reach that temp, and begin to overshoot within 10 minutes at current OH outdoor temps. And it is crazy hot over the open flame area at that temp. Doesn't seem to have any difficulty with a quick cook of burgers. It does look like at the current controller settings it is not capable of a 180 temp as it wants to hover around 200 or so when set to 180. Likewise it overshoots the high temp and takes a while to settle back down to the set temp... but in practice I'm finding I rarely care because I'm already cooking by that point, and 375 vs 400 is mostly a don't care when I'm grilling. I may check into the various threads around the net about reprogramming to gain more accurate temps, but I think this unit is a keeper, especially for the intended use as mainly a grill.
Welcome aboard! I have LG800E If your looking to re program your controller the folks @ Louisiana are very good folks to work with.
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I called LG customer support. Within 5 minutes of placing the call I had already received via email the programming instructions as well as two separate programs... one they call a summer program and one a winter program. So you can't beat that for a response. He suspects, but I have not yet verified, that because of when I got mine it has the winter program preloaded, which was created to help maintain the ability to reach high temps in cold weather... but causes overshoots with higher ambient temps like we've seen recently in OH. When I get some time I'll see what was loaded from the factory and compare to the two programs which were sent.
The thing I asked for, but did not receive, was a key to the settings... ie what does each setting do, and the bounds within which each setting can change. He says this has not been released. Anyone have this by chance?
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I called LG customer support. Within 5 minutes of placing the call I had already received via email the programming instructions as well as two separate programs... one they call a summer program and one a winter program. So you can't beat that for a response. He suspects, but I have not yet verified, that because of when I got mine it has the winter program preloaded, which was created to help maintain the ability to reach high temps in cold weather... but causes overshoots with higher ambient temps like we've seen recently in OH. When I get some time I'll see what was loaded from the factory and compare to the two programs which were sent.
The thing I asked for, but did not receive, was a key to the settings... ie what does each setting do, and the bounds within which each setting can change. He says this has not been released. Anyone have this by chance?
Interesting...so how do you “load†the program in? Via a USB or.......?
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You enter some key presses to put the controller in programming mode, then cycle through the settings changing the ones they tell you to change.
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As a thread revivalist, I too have an LG800E. Picked it up in June from Costco, and have been very happy learning to use it. So far, I've smoked stuffed veggies, pizzas, steaks, chicken, burgers, and other goodies. It has been reliable and consistent. I have noticed others had a custom extension hopper fab'd up, and I am looking to do the same. I pm'd silverbullet for the contact info. If you've had the hopper made by the same shop, how has it held up for you? Thanks!
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So far the hopper has held up well...I pm,d you the details of the shop. I did a brisket a few weeks ago and filled the entire hopper up, and had some left over. I did take out the safety grate as it was a pain to clean up the unused pellets.
It also fits quite well with the factory hopper and the lid from the factory sits snug along the side.
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As a thread revivalist, I too have an LG800E. Picked it up in June from Costco, and have been very happy learning to use it. So far, I've smoked stuffed veggies, pizzas, steaks, chicken, burgers, and other goodies. It has been reliable and consistent. I have noticed others had a custom extension hopper fab'd up, and I am looking to do the same. I pm'd silverbullet for the contact info. If you've had the hopper made by the same shop, how has it held up for you? Thanks!
PM'ed ya the info!
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Thank you!
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I emailed LG about the size of the hopper on the LG800E and they sent me a link to a page on their site to order a 20# extension for $49. I am new to the forum and I believe I am not allowed to post links. Let me know if you'd like the link and I will PM it to you.