Green Mountain Grills vs Traeger Pellet Grills – Head to head
Green Mountain Grills and Traeger are the two names that are most well-known in the most recent trend in grilling. Traeger is the pioneer of this new type of grilling and Green Mountain Grills has made its way into the mainstream market lately.
As the niche becomes more popular with so many newcomers to the market, you might ask yourself if it’s necessary to spend a few hundred dollars extra for a quality product?
The answer is a resounding “yes!”
Green Mountain Grills has made the most advancements in the past two years since the introduction of this cool, smoke-free way of grilling, which uses wood pellets as fuel. Traeger is still somewhere behind in the terms of features.
Today, we have listed the major differences between these two brands and which one should you choose in case you are in the market for a pellet grill.
Green Mountain Grills
The GMG Davy Crockett Pellet Smoker is a highly popular model from Green Mountain Grills. The grill produces a fine quality of meat, which we believe justifies the extra spend.
Brand History
- Traeger
- the creators of the pellet grill
Traeger is a relatively new entry in the pellet grill market. The company started in the year 1996 and has become a major player in the market.
Today Traeger has over 170 employees in different locations and is headquartered in Utah.
The company's three most popular models include the:
- Traeger Lil Tex Elite Pellet Grill,
- Traeger Texas Elite, and
Traeger Pro Series.
For a detailed view of the products Traeger offers, we would suggest going to the brand’s website and checking out their product catalog.
- Green Mountain Grills
- a trusted pellet grill manufacturer
Green Mountain Grills takes pride in the company's smart design and modern technology to craft and manufacture high-end grills. The company started in the year 2004 and is today one of the highly respected brands in the outdoor cooking industry. Green Mountain Grills incorporates a state of the art design and manufacturing plant.
Green Mountain Grills is committed to producing compact, easy to use, wood pellet grills. They have a wide variety of products to choose from.
The most popular models offered by GMG include the Davy Crockett Pellet Grill, the Daniel Boone Pellet Grill, Master-Touch series, and the top-selling Davy Crockett smoker grill.
Overview of Green Mountain Grills
Vs. Traeger Grills
Here are the main facts about Green Mountain Grills Davy Crockett Pellet Grill VS Traeger Grills.
Green Mountain Grills:
Larger Pellet Hopper, which means less frequent refills.
Weber style Flavorizer Bar for great smoke flavor.
Proportional thermostat control.
With Flavorizer bars it is easy to add various woodchips to control the smoke flavor.
The Green Mountain Grill Pellet smokers are the perfect choice for the following larger cuts of meat:
Beef, Seafood, and Poultry
Traeger Grills:
Despite the smaller size Traeger Pellet grills can also be used to cook large meals.
Easy to use LED display and Bluetooth.
Three step temperature controls.
Built-in meat probe that displays on the LED digital screen.
It’s a good idea to pre-heat your grill when using these.
These pellets get very, very hot, so the surface temp is fine at the end of your cook. But anything you use directly against the grill surface or drip pan will get very hot.
Unlike Green Mountain Grills grills, which include an integral drip pan, Traeger Grills come with a removable drip pan that holds extra pellets beyond the 30 that stay in the pellet hopper.
Overview of Traeger
Traeger makes the best pellet and smoker grills in my view. I have owned 2 generations of their grills and never had an issue. I have cooked everything from fish and steaks to pizzas and pizza rolls.
The Traeger website has a very user-friendly interface if you are interested in researching this brand. You can easily find the grills, accessories, and reviews that you are looking for.
Traeger Models
The Traeger Lil Texas is one of Traeger’s smallest models and has folding legs for easy storage and is very lightweight at 32 pounds.
The wheels are sturdy on this model and make it effortless to roll it into your backyard. The smoking rack on this grill is removable for quick cleaning.
This grill is compact but holds 20 burgers, 19 hotdogs, and 4 chickens. You can fit a decent amount of meat on this grill. The surface of the grill is 350 square inches and comes with side table for food prep. When you buy this grill, you also get a free recipe book and a free carry bag to store your grill in.
The Lil Texas cooks on 250 degrees so you don’t have to worry about flare ups due to some of the cheaper grills on the market. This grill has a 1-year limited warranty and 90-day money back guarantee.
Top Green Mountain Grill Models
Depending on the model, Green Mountain Grills can roast and grill meat to perfection. Their Pit Boss’s digital models run on high-performance computers that monitor and regulate air temperature, pressure, and other key features to maintain consistent cooking temperature.
They come in sizes ranging from medium to big and can be easily transported and stored when not in use. Their ceramic charcoal grills are a new (and very exciting) development.
The Green Mountain digital charcoal grill has a new technology that allows you to set the temperature you want and tell the grill to keep it there even if that temperature is reached during or after hours of cooking.
The woodchip loader holds wood chunks and feeds it to the fire for added flavor. With the right wood chip loader, your Green Mountain grill can cook low and slow or hot and fast.
If you don’t have a lot of money, you might go for the Summit. This model operates on just about any heat source: gas, charcoal, or propane. If you’re just learning how to smoke meat, this is a great model for you to start with. It’s not too complex and has sufficient space for family and friends.
Davy Crockett WiFi Pellet Grill
Pros and Cons
Feature: Davy Crockett WiFi Pellet Grill
If you are an avid BBQ fan and you’re looking for a grill that really combines leading technology and practicality, then the Davy Crockett WiFi pellet grill could be the right choice for you.
This grill has a lot to offer, and not just in terms of an innovative cooking system. With WiFi connectivity off the shelf and available app on your phone, you can truly become the king or queen of the BBQ.
You can create a digital profile, which basically means that as soon as you arrive at your destination, whether you are at the cottage or just visiting your parents, you can start using the grill and monitor your results without leaving your chair.
You can also send your results and other information to your social network. There are other functions that will improve your experience, such as the smart temperature controller which ensures that the temperature inside the smoker pellet grill is stable so that you can get the best possible cooking results.
The other great feature is the dual-pane window that not only allows you to monitor your cooking progress, but you can also see inside and know what’s going on in there so that you will always know what’s happening with your food no matter what you are doing.
Daniel Boone
The Traeger brand has been known for years for being a premium brand. The cookers are designed after actual Kansas natives like the Traeger Texas Pro and Pit Boss.
Their pellet smokers are some of the best heavy-duty grills on the market built from quality materials for high-end performance and delicious cooking results.
Traeger’s Hollow Smoke technology is designed to swivel and move the smoke around the grill to adjust depending on how much heat is needed at a time.
The smokers also have built-in meat probes for safety and convenience at their best.
Traegers come with different temperature control packages for your convenience and you can also upgrade to pellet tube smoker for smoking your next award-winning brisket.
On the other hand, Green Mountain has taken their popular models and tweaked them to give you an even more user-friendly experience. This is where the Green Mountain snags some points. They made some nice improvements to their models.
But the fact remains that the Green Mountain smokers (including the Davy Crocket, which is the top pick) are not for novice chefs.
When you have a grill that’s as easy to install, clean and set the temp, you will cook like a professional.
Jim Bowie
(Traeger Brand Ambassador)
Jim, born in Colorado, is the brand ambassador for Traeger. Most importantly, he enjoys grilling, smoking, and chilling with his family and friends.
What do you love most about owning a Traeger Pellet Grill?
I love everything about using a Traeger Pellet Grill. The thought process when designing the Pellet Grill and the time put into working on the system is what makes Traeger a great grill.
I also love the fact that we are the only grill you use pellets with and don’t have to use propane or natural gas. The only negative is that it’s not a “use at a moment’s notice grill” that you can light in 10 minutes and grill on. It will take about an hour to heat up and another hour to get the grill ready.
Have you had any significant “a-ha” moments since being involved with Traeger?
How difficult it was to keep the grill from blowing up during the initial testing. And also the fact that it took 10 years to get to this point and during that time, at times we thought we were going to go bankrupt because our focus was entirely on the grill.
Top Traeger Grills
There are many different models of Traeger Pellet grills, all of which are designed for one thing: to help you cook the tastiest and freshest food possible.
Pellet grills are the perfect choice for outdoor cooking because they can be equipped with a stainless steel smoker box. It’s an important part of the grilling process as it circulates smoke over the cooking surface to infuse the meat with flavor.
Nowadays, Traeger pellet grills come in many different shapes and sizes. Variables such as electricity power, shape, cooking area, and even color can vary from model to model (have a look at some of the more popular models). The main benefit of using a pellet smoker is that you don’t have to do much (if anything) with regards to direct grilling.
As far as Traeger grills reviews go, people love this brand for a number of reasons. Some folks find the set up easy and quick, thanks to the pre-waiting process. Others prefer the infinite adjustments they can make to their Traeger Pellet grill or smoker.
Some of the more popular Traeger models include the following.
Other brands to consider
Green Mountain Grills:
It is not part of the top brands in pellet grills reviewed. But still comes with some great features and is worth considering.
The Green Mountain Grills model we reviewed is one of the least expensive pellet grills.
It is relatively small in size measuring 34 x 12 x 39 in and weighs in at roughly 62 lbs.
The low price is because it uses mostly plastic parts that make up the housing of the grill. The basic design of the grill may also look rather basic with temperature gauge being the only moving part.
But it is the company behind the grill that makes me consider it again. It is one of the best, if not the best, pellet grill manufacturer.
They are continuously improving their product design and technology to further enhance their grill performance.
It’s a little bit similar like Tesla. Their electric cars look rather basic today, but that is because they are constantly evolving to achieve better performance.
I think the grill design will be improved overtime to match the performance of their standard design.
Traeger:
Traeger is the brand that leads on pellet grills reviewed, ranking number 1 on most of the metrics we have reviewed.
Their pellet grills are mostly built with heavy duty materials to withstand heavy use.
Newcomer budget brand – Z Grills
While both Green Mountain Grills and Traeger have been around the for some time, there is another grilling brand that is pellet grill is about to shake things up, especially in the budget end of the smoker food grilling machines.
As passionate BBQ chefs and avid backyard cooks and grillers, we (Dan & Melissa – Founders of Real Smoke second generation pellet grill owners and innovators) developed RealSmoke Pellet Grills because we wanted to bring the best product on the market at a reasonable price to our customers and make grilling an enjoyable experience. We are so confident in our grills that we have the best warranty in the industry and stand behind each and every grill we sell. Read about the benefits of pellet grills.
While there are more than a dozen pellet grill brands on the market today, there are only a few companies that manufacture them. Green Mountain Grills is one of the pioneering pellet grill brands in the market. They were founded in 2009 by Robert Porter, a retired Air Force Tactical Fighter pilot who was looking for a way to get back into the fray. He found the way in pellet grills.
Another mid-range option – Camp Chef
Price: $$$
High-Quality Build
Even today, I am still finding new reasons to love this grill. It’s durable, has great build quality, even cooking and plenty of options for controlling the temperature and heat. And there are some great features, such as the three thermostats.
Easy to Use
I find the controls on this grill super easy to use. From the gas and smoke control to temperature control, it’s a breeze. All you need to do is simply turn the control knob.
What I Like
Large cooking space. Get a lot of food done at once.
Accurate temperature calibration system. This is a great feature for both beginner and experienced users.
Large and sturdy cooking grates.
Browning and dripping tray.
What I Don't Like
There is a learning curve to using this smoker. It can be a little tricky to understand how it works.
The only indicator of it's heat is the temperature gauge on the lid.
Complicated for novice users. A few more simple features.
Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill Review
In the world of charcoal grilling, there is one undisputed king: Weber. It has a name that means “charcoal” in German, aptly named after founder George Stephen, an immigrant to the United States.
The Weber name is so synonymous with grilling that it carries its own “brand equity”, a concept from marketing that refers to the value gained in consumers’ perception by being associated with a product, name, or entity.
The Weber Company is a very exclusive club given that it only makes charcoal grills. Their closest competitor in terms of both popularity and quality is the Big Green Egg. Most of their grills are enormous, constructed with high-quality materials, may be overkill for one or two people, and may be too large or too small for a particular purpose.
Only the Genesis II model is in a smaller form factor.