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[LowSlowJoe]

I don't know too much about Joe...   Maybe his original idea was a fluke, maybe he was a genius and still is.

 
  Main thing wrong with the low end pellet grills today is that the controllers are darn near the same controller that was on the Traegers like 15 or 10 years ago.   I'd be willing to bet you could make a much much better controller for like $20, one with WiFi even...    Yet, so many grills are still being made today with that old style controller.   

  Also... why don't more grills come with better direct searing?

    Yeah, Pit Boss does have some direct searing already... so well, they've at least gone down that road.   But... well, I wish I was a genius and knew how to make a absolutely wonderful pellet grill at an affordable price.  But I'm not , and I don't know how, or maybe I would. 

   The pellet grill market is saturated.  Someone needs to stand out from the crowd.  Camp Chef is sort of doing it in their own way, by adding a gas burner for searing.  Well, I just don't buy into that particular marketing gimmick, I have no desire to keep buying propane, so for me this isn't the answer.

   Fast Eddy's Patent is one solution... but he's got the patent, so unless you want to pay him to license it, it's only used by Cookshack ( and Englander ).     Patents are great...  as is the PG500 and other grills that use Fast Eddy's idea...   But, I tell you what, I look forward to the day when Fast Eddy's patent runs out.  I'd love to see who can take that idea to the next level...

   Anyway, I wish Joe Traeger and the folks at Dansons much luck... I would LOVE to see them do something innovative and affordable.     I don't know if they will, but I do think there's at least a chance they could.

[sleebus.jones]

Yet, so many grills are still being made today with that old style controller.

Old style as L/M/H or old style as in non-PID?

After my recent experience with the PG1000 this weekend (which has a LHT/HHT controller) I'm not sure that PID controllers are all that fantastic.  First problem is that PID tuning is not easy, there are all sorts of books written on the subject and it's apparent that the manufacturers don't really understand it all that well.  My GMGs are reasonably decent, but they tend to trend upwards over time when the weather is warm, and no amount of tweaking the "climate" settings seems to fix that.

On the other hand, the LHT/HHT settings on the PG1000 will give you a constant swing, but is pretty easily tuned.  Mine was running ±7°, which is pretty impressive.  I've never seen the GMG hold that close before, AND it didn't try to creep up over time.  Granted this is a single long cook, but I'm reasonably sure it'll work well at other temps too.

[okie smokie]

I'm just a dumb engineer but I suspect that he sold his business for a large profit and is capitalizing on his name recognition for even more gain. 

Not sure but I think he sold Traeger company a long time ago. Maybe just wants to get back into the bus.   

[silverbullet]

Louisiana/Danson's have really done an great job in introducing the Pit Boss line up & marketing them, & a fine job in getting a the Louisiana lineup more publicity as well. In reading the article I don't know what Joe can bring to the table here. Yes he is the founder of this industry. Yet until recently, his pits have remained the same while others passed them by. Even the new timberlines are overpriced for a mediocre pit.

Plus Louisiana has done well enough on their own, They don't need need to hang on to anyone's shirttails.

[okie smokie]

Louisiana/Danson's have really done an great job in introducing the Pit Boss line up & marketing them, & a fine job in getting a the Louisiana lineup more publicity as well. In reading the article I don't know what Joe can bring to the table here. Yes he is the founder of this industry. Yet until recently, his pits have remained the same while others passed them by. Even the new timberlines are overpriced for a mediocre pit.

Plus Louisiana has done well enough on their own, They don't need need to hang on to anyone's shirttails.

After looking over the LG 700 and 900, I am convinced that they are very well constructed, with heavier gauge metal and better bracing than many in their price range.  Not sure how their functional design compares to their peers.  Also, I note that they have not incorporated the ceramic starters-at least in 2017 designs.  Keep an eye out for them at Costco, where they are at least $300 cheaper than at other vendors.  This is not an ad. 

[LowSlowJoe]

Yet, so many grills are still being made today with that old style controller.

Old style as L/M/H or old style as in non-PID?

After my recent experience with the PG1000 this weekend (which has a LHT/HHT controller) I'm not sure that PID controllers are all that fantastic.  First problem is that PID tuning is not easy, there are all sorts of books written on the subject and it's apparent that the manufacturers don't really understand it all that well.  My GMGs are reasonably decent, but they tend to trend upwards over time when the weather is warm, and no amount of tweaking the "climate" settings seems to fix that.

On the other hand, the LHT/HHT settings on the PG1000 will give you a constant swing, but is pretty easily tuned.  Mine was running ±7°, which is pretty impressive.  I've never seen the GMG hold that close before, AND it didn't try to creep up over time.  Granted this is a single long cook, but I'm reasonably sure it'll work well at other temps too.

    yeah,   the controller on the Fast Edddy PG grills is a prime example of a very basic controller , that actually works amazingly well.    Near as I know, there are no patents on the controller, virtually anyone could replicate the basic idea.  If someone put a little thought into a better interface, it could be made more user friendly ( it's a pain in the butt to have to push two buttons down and  hold them for long time to get it to go into  the user adjustable part ).    But that controller, could be VERY easy to make better... add a bit of WiFi, a little App, you could do it all on your phone. 

   I have no love of PID controllers.   I think a PID could be made to work very well, but I'm certainly not one of those who think that PID is the be all , end all of pellet grill controll. 

  Either way, there's a lot of ways that minor little changes could be made to pellet grills to make them better then the ones that have the old P-setting style controllers.