Big Green Egg or Traeger

For all of my adult life I have been grilling on a gas grill. I think it is time to branch out. I had one neighbor that had a BGE and in the year he lived here he only fired it up twice but I remember that wonderful aroma. The butcher at the Market says the Traeger is the easy way to go. I’m kind of leaning toward the BGE because of its versatility. Now that we don’t have to rush around to 3 different fields on the weekends, we can focus on some real bbqing. Any advice for a newbie?
 
BGE = Labor of Love...gotta but the time in.

Traeger = set and forget. Gives you time to focus on seasoning and flavor.

My advice, depending on your level of experience. Traeger is for the Beginner.
 
For all of my adult life I have been grilling on a gas grill. I think it is time to branch out. I had one neighbor that had a BGE and in the year he lived here he only fired it up twice but I remember that wonderful aroma. The butcher at the Market says the Traeger is the easy way to go. I’m kind of leaning toward the BGE because of its versatility. Now that we don’t have to rush around to 3 different fields on the weekends, we can focus on some real bbqing. Any advice for a newbie?

i have a gas grill at present (upgraded to a Napoleon gas grill LP so I can use natural gas instead of propane) with both a sear burner and rotisserie, but grew up in a charcoal grill household.

If you switch from gas to charcoal you’ll have to learn to BBQ all over again. If you add a smoker box to a gas grill (for pellets or chips) or go with a gas smoker/grill like a Traeger that’ll be the easiest transition.
 
Pellets are Easy Bake Ovens. But with mechanical and electrical parts, you are at their mercy.
A kamado will provide better smoke and once you have experience, you can dial in the temps and walk-away. I would pick a Kamado Joe over BGE because of warranty and accessories. Home Depot has a classic KJ on sale for $649 right now. Attached are some of the cooks from my kamado.

I also built an Ugly Drum Smoker. If you don't want to build your one, an Oklahoma Joe Bronco, Pit Boss Cooker, or Barrel House Cooker is about the same.Collage Kamado.jpg
 
Oh boy, that looks terrific @Soccer1Bball5. Since I grew up tuning cars with carbs I am intrigued about the venting process on the BGE/KJ. I know they involve a learning process but I assume they are so well insulated that our winters won’t have much of an effect on the process. So much great info and more research on my part! Thanks for the pics!
 
I have a 34” Traeger and have been very pleased.

For me, the value of not having to constantly tend to the meat during a 16-20 hour smoke is worth it.

Having said that, I really would like to get an offset smoker at some point when I have time for the “labor of love.”

something to look at: as many of you are in SoCal, I would look for a liquidator in your area. We have “Bulldog Liquidators” around us and they have a steady stream of Traeger and Oklahoma Joes at half MSRP.
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If you plan to grill (not smoke) for a large party I'd stay away from a pellet grill. I've just found them a pain due to having a single, small fire box that you can actually use to put flame on the food. It works, but it's not fun at all to have to move stuff around to cook and then to stay hot while you use that small flame area to grill the other food.

If you're just cooking for a single family then it's fine most of the time. And for smoking, it's pretty good and really easy. It makes those long smokes brainless if you have the meat and grill thermometers setup correctly.

If you feel like spending quite a bit of money there's also combo fuel grills such as the American Muscle Grill (for the price of a used car) and the Kalamazoo (for the price of a new car). I've used a friends AMG using both charcoal/wood and also straight gas. It's kinda the best of both worlds. It's not a great smoker however. But for grilling, it's hard to beat the ease of gas (both grilling with gas and for lighting the charcoal quickly) along with the taste of the charcoal.
 
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