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[Scoop559]

I have not been happy with my Memphis Pro ITC3. I purchased it new in late December of 2021 and it has been a disappointment.

The new "Intelliburn" is very efficient and cuts down on pellet use. That's great, but it also cuts down on smoke. That's not great. I live in central California and in the hot summer months it'll blip along at 225 degrees and produce little smoke, which means less flavor for low-and-slow cooks.

The direct flame is nice, but I don't really enjoy having to move the grates mid-cook to set this up.

The technology has been glitchy. Temperatures on the touchscreen will mysteriously revert back to a previous setting with no warning. Temperature probes are all over the map in their readings. The WiFi is solid but it only provides "monitoring." There's no remote control due to a lawsuit between GMG and Traeger that somehow involves Memphis. I am not an attorney but I think they're afraid of their own shadow.

The igniter has been replaced. It died during a long smoke and mysteriously shut down the unit. Maybe it uses the igniter mid-cook to smolder pellets? I don't know, but I had to put the pork butt in an oven to finish. If the igniter is non-op it throws an error and bricks the entire unit.

The handle fell off the front hood about six months ago. Memphis sent me a new hood. But how does this happen to something that's supposed to be of such high quality?

I'm thinking it's time for me to move on. The new PG1000i intrigues me. I like that there are multiple cook zones and that the char broiler does not require a grate swap. The design also makes it less likely that a grease fire will happen in the indirect zone. And apparently this new unit has WiFi and accommodates a temp probe.

Has anyone had experience with both Memphis and Cookshack cookers? Am I crazy? Is there something else out there that I should consider?

[Canadian John]

  I have nothing but good things to say about my 6 year old Memphis Pro (pre wi-fi). It's simple & it works well, super easy to maintain, like nothing else.

  Unfortunately design changes, offshore manufacturing & poorer service as well as what appears to me as lack of company interest along with premium pricing has changed my view of the once

 mighty Memphis.

 The USA manufactured models are keepers in my book.

A word on igniters. My Pro has an indicator light to show when the igniter circuit is activated/on.  What I noticed is the igniter will energize if the temperature drops: seconds @ high temperatures,

 almost instant upwards of 400º,  to perhaps a minute or 2 @ very low temperature.. I mentioned this to Memphis @ the time & was told to ignore it.

 I don't feel comfortable with this auto re-ignite feature as the igniter pays the price wear wise. The intent is good & could keep things going in the event of a disturbed pellet delivery problem.

 What I do depending on the pit temperature & how long it will be open, is to lower the set temperature to 180º(minimum). This keeps the igniter off unless left open for several minutes.

 I am on muy original igniter.

 I believe the newer wi-fi controllers don't have an igniter on indicator. I could be wrong. I am sure they have an auto reignite feature that by me, will shorten igniter life if the pit is opened as

 above.   

[Scoop559]

Mine does not have anything that indicates when the igniter is on. I mistakenly thought that the igniter only served to get the fire going and then was out of the picture for the rest of the cook. When my igniter needed to be replaced they confirmed what you said ... it's turned on from time to time in the even there's a possibility that the fire has gone out. I had no idea!

Re: Memphis, I wonder what's going on with this company. It seems like it's lost a lot of its mojo. I notice they've introduced a grill to replace the Beale Street; don't know much about it -- but it seems to use the old wifi controller.