Traeger 075

[DLR]

Anyone have one and what is your opinions pros or cons.

[RemoGaggi]

That's a broad question. Are you buying used or new? What meats do you mostly cook?

I have an old Traeger 070 and a 3-year old Junior and I love both. I also have a UDS. a mini wsm, and an Akorn. The 075 is a big unit and will cook great food. Don't ask it to grill steaks or burgers - doesn't get hot enough for searing, but it will do great as a smoker and make great chicken.

If you're comparing the Traeger to other brands, you will have lots of different opinions regarding build quality. A lot of pellet folks will look down on Traeger and say they are entry level pellet grills. With that said, I believe that with all the variables involved with cooking a piece of meat, you will be hard-pressed to find a significant difference in the end product whether you use a Traeger, Green Mountain, Yoder, MAK or Memphis. The latter (Mak & Memphis) costing in the thousands of dollars.

Additionally, Traeger has been around a long, long time. The other manufacturers, not so long. This is important when you need a replacement part, and with a pellet grill, you WILL need to replace some parts down the road. Whatever pellet grill you have, you just hope the company will still be in business or have parts available.

As far as customer service, I have had first hand experience with their service department and they are absolutely fantastic. If you have a warranty claim, they will send you the replacement part without hesitation.

With all the equipment I have, I consider my Traegers to be my favorite "go to" units, with my mini-wsm a close second.

Let me know if you have more questions!

[NorthernMN]

I also cant comment on the 075 but I have a 070 lil tex.

If you are looking for a cost effective way to get into smoking with little work having to be done your on the right path. If you have been smoking for some time and plan to continue smoking for many years I would recommend you look else where. Traeger was the one that started it but they have not kept up with new designs and features that other brands have. The quality is not as good as other brands but in all fairness you will pay for this so its a toss up.

If I were to look for a new pellet grill I would be looking at a Yoder because of the build quality and the options for temp control with the damper and direct grilling ability.

Do you have an outlet to get pellets at for a reasonable price or a place to store them by buying in bulk? I do not so they can get expensive.

[RemoGaggi]

Yes, great point about the availability of pellets in your area.

[ajstrider]

I ventured into the pellet world a while back. I have owned two Traeger 075s and a Yoder YS640. If you are set on a pellet grill, I highly recommend the 075. A lot of people talk down on them when compared to other more heavily constructed ones. But the end product is the same, and the Traeger is built well, just not a tank. Replacement parts are extremely common and easily replaced on the Traeger while some other brands use propriatery parts that are not easily found or replaced. It does have moving parts and they will go bad over time. The 075 has lots of cooking space available. There are also plenty of modifications that can be done to it with info available on the internet.

[DLR]

Thanks for the feedback. I actually did get the 075, I have a WSM and a Char-griller already but here's the weird thing, this was my wife's choice, she said it looked like a grill that she would use, she doesn't like the starting a fire or the tending part so for her the digital control and indirect heat thing was a big hit. I know she can bake and all that on either of the other 2 units I have but the Traeger will be on the back porch and not out in the garage which is another thing she likes. I've been looking at pellet availability and have found a couple of places here that sell pellets and Costco where we bought the Traeger is suppose to start carrying them as well. The price wasn't bad less than $800.00 Even the wife said that she at first thought the medium sized one was the one she initially thought of getting but the price and size difference to go a little bigger was worth it in her opinion

[Arlin_MacRae]

There are several discussions here about the 75 already, so if you try a search you'll get even more info.

That being said, I've owned a Texan for a couple of years now and it's been a real workhorse. I got the add-on rack for it and you can put a LOT of food in the thing with one of those in there.

I 'grew up' as a stick burner and the biggest thing the Traeger gives me is time to do other stuff - if I'm so inclined. However, it takes some of the 'love' out of BBQing, IMO, when you don't need to (get to) babysit the firebox. :biggrin1:

One more trade-off is a decrease in smoke flavor from the Traeger. I started stick-burning again a few months ago and there's a marked difference in the amount of smoke you can get between the two types of pits. Some have enhanced their smokeability by using tubes that allow additional pellets to smolder during the cook.

Arlin

[Wrench_H]

I have two of them and really like them. I've read that there are better pellet smokers out there, and I'm sure that is true, but I've never had any real issues with mine. As Arlin says, you will get more smoke from a real fire, but you do get some smoke flavor from the pellets. My wife has never started a grill in her life, but does use the Traeger from time to time. I think you will enjoy having it, but will still use your other weapons from time to time as well.

[RemoGaggi]

DLR, congrats on your purchase. The costcos around here only have pellets when the traeger road show in in town. Otherwise, they don't normally stock pellets. I've got other sources locally where I can get pellets $10-15 a bag. Hopefully with some research, you can find some local sources for pellets. Also, remember to vacuum out the firepot before each cook and to add a small handful of fresh pellets before starting a new cook. Good luck.