The internet is full of people providing subjective opinions on products and services; here I opt for a more scientific approach. To try and determine the best pellet grill/smoker under $1,000 currently on the market I took five models and objectively scored them through seven categories based purely on their specifications/features. Below you can review the results. Enjoy! š
Results
- Recteq Deck Boss 590: 29 Points
- Pit Boss Pro Series 1600: 27 Points
- Camp Chef Woodwind 24: 25 Points
- Weber Searwood 600: 22 Points
- Traeger Pro Series 780: 18 Points
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Analysis Introduction
I used the custom search filters on our database to narrow down the results to show any pellet grill or smoker currently on the market with a typical price point of more than $800, but less than $1,000.
The database produced 34 results. Of those results I selected five models, focusing on models from the main leading brands that most consumers will be considering at this price point.
The five models from left to right are the Traeger Pro 780, the Pit Boss Pro Series 1600, the Weber Searwood 600, the Recteq Deck Boss 590, and the Camp Chef Woodwind 24.
I then compared them through seven categories:
- Total Cooking Area
- Main Grate Size
- Temperature Range
- Controller Technology
- Hopper Size
- Construction
- Miscellaneous
Each pellet grill/smoker was given a score in each category, with a maximum of five points up for grabs. With a draw, a model could share the same points as another pellet grill/smoker.
At the end, the points from each category were added up to give each pellet grill/smoker a final points score and to be able to rank them in order.
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Total Cooking Area
The first category we compared these five pellet grills on was their total cooking area. Therefore, how much cooking space is provided over all their racks.
1: Pit Boss Pro Series 1600: 1,598 SQ.IN
The Pit Boss was the easy winner in this category, with by far the largest cooking area, helped by the fact that of the five pellet grills/smokers, its the only model with an additional third rack.
2. Camp Chef Woodwind 24: 811 SQ.IN
Second place in this category went to the Camp Chef. However, its total cooking area is quite a bit smaller than that of the Pit Boss, with nearly half as much space.
3. Traeger Pro Series 780: 780 SQ.IN
In the middle of the pack we find the Traeger, with a total cooking area not that far behind that of the Camp Chef. It also features two cooking surfaces, with a smaller upper rack.
4. Weber Searwood 600: 658 SQ.IN
Next up came the Weber, with a total cooking area more than 100 square inches smaller than that of the Traeger, and obviously significantly smaller than the Pit Boss at the top spot.
5. Recteq Deck Boss 590: 590 SQ.IN
As the Recteq came out with the highest points total at the end, it may surprise you to find it at the bottom when it comes to the total cooking area. However, its important to note the Recteq only has a single cooking surface.
Total Cooking Area Points
With the results above, I gave out the following points allocation. The Pit Boss more than deserved its five points for this category, followed by the Camp Chef getting four points, with three points for the Traeger, two points for the Weber, and a single point for the Recteq.
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Main Grate Size
If you spend most of your time grilling and searing your foods, then the size of the main grate is probably more important to you because that cooking surface will get to higher temperatures.
1: Pit Boss Pro Series 1600: 711 SQ.IN
It shouldn’t be too surprising that the Pit Boss also turned out on top in this category, its physical size is much larger than the other pellet grills. However, its win in this category is not as dramatic.
2. Recteq Deck Boss 590: 590 SQ.IN
While the Recteq may have come last on total cooking area, as its cooking area is just from the main grate, it means it actually significantly jumps up the ranking in this category to second.
3. Traeger Pro 780: 511 SQ.IN
As with the previous category, the Traeger Pro 780 comes out in the middle of the pack with the size of the size of it’s main cooking grate.
4. Camp Chef Woodwind 24: 429 SQ.IN
While the Camp Chef ranked highly on its overall cooking area, when it comes to the size of its main grate, it drops several places in the rankings. The reason being its upper rack is nearly half of its cooking area.
5. Weber Searwood 600: 420 SQ.IN
The Weber is physically the smallest pellet grill in this comparison, therefore its not surprising that it comes out at the bottom of the rankings with regards to main grate size.
Main Grate Size Points
The points allocation for the size of their main grates was as follows. The Pit Boss Pro Series 1600 got the maximum five points, with the Recteq Deck Boss 590 picking up four points, three points for the Traeger Pro 780, two points for the Camp Chef Woodwind 24, and finally one point for the Weber.
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Temperature Range
When it comes to smoking food the lower temperature setting is worth noting, as at lower temperatures with a less efficient pellet fire, you get more smoke production. However, when it comes to grilling and searing you’ll obviously want to pay attention to the higher temperature setting.
1. Recteq Deck Boss 590: 180 to 700 Degrees
The Recteq deserves the win in this category as it offers the highest temperature setting by far at 700 degrees. Notably, its able to achieve those high temperatures without direct-flame access.
2. Weber Searwood 600: 180 to 600 Degrees
The Weber has the same lower temperature settings as the Recteq. However, it’s maximum temperature setting is lower at 600 degrees, hence why its get’s second place in this category.
Camp Chef Woodwind 24: 160 to 500 Degrees + Direct Flame
The Camp Chef comes third in this category because it offers the lowest temperature setting of the five pellet grills, in terms of its maximum temperature setting its lower down at 500 degrees.
Now, the Camp Chef is able to offer higher temperatures at the center of its grate when a lever is opened to let flames from the pellet burn pot reach the grates.
4. Pit Boss Pro Series 1600: 180 to 500 Degrees + Direct Flame
The reason the Pit Boss drops below the Camp Chef in this category is that while they both have the same 500-degree maximum temperature setting and direct flame access, its lower temperature setting is not as low as that of the Camp Chef.
Like the Camp Chef, the Pit Boss does offer a flame broiler in the center of the grate for higher grilling and searing temperatures. However, this is a feature that has to be used with caution to avoid a grease fire.
5. Traeger Pro 780: 180 to 500 Degrees
The Traeger comes at the bottom of this category due to the fact its maximum temperature setting is only 500 degrees, but it also doesn’t offer direct-flame access for higher grilling temperatures.
Temperature Range Points
The points allocation for this category are as follows. Its the maximum of five points for the Recteq, with the Weber following behind with four points, three points for the Camp Chef, two points for the Pit Boss, and finally a single point for the Traeger.
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Controller Technology
With this category the points distribution is a little different and many models have the same functionality and they are all very closely matched.
For instance, each of these five pellet grills/smokers features a controller running a modern PID algorithm for precise temperature managements, and they all offer 5 degree temperature adjustment.
Furthermore, all five of these pellet grills have WiFi connectivity that can link up to their respective Apps to give additional functionality, especially useful for monitoring an overnight cook.
However, there is a notable difference between some of these pellet grills. While PID temperature control is great for precise temperature management, more accurate temperature control means less smoke.
Therefore, ideally, you also want a smoke setting that can be adjusted to sacrifice temperature accuracy when desired for increased smoke production. Three of these pellet grills have such a function, the Camp Chef Woodwind 24, the Recteq Deck Boss 590, and the Weber Searwood 600.
However, two of these pellet grills, the Traeger Pro 780 and the Pit Boss Pro Series 1600 do not feature any smoke setting adjustment.
Controller Technology Points
Therefore, with this category, we have several models that deserve the maximum five points, the Camp Chef, the Recteq, and the Weber. We’ll give the Traeger and Pit Boss the lower four points due to them lacking a smoke setting.
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Hopper Size
The weight of pellets a pellet grill can hold is not relevant when it comes to grilling. After all, you’re standing next to the grill, you can easily see if the hopper needs more pellets.
Where hopper size is more relevant is on long, unattended smoking sessions that possibly run all day or overnight. This is particularly true during cold ambient temperatures when pellet consumption is increased.
1. Pit Boss Pro Series 1600: 32 lbs
It shouldn’t be too surprising that the largest pellet grill in this comparison also comes with the largest pellet hopper.
Recteq Deck Boss 590: 30 lbs
The size of the pellet hopper on the Rectew is not far behind that of the Pit Boss.
Camp Chef Woodwind 24: 22 lbs
There is quite a notable drop down in capacity going from the Recteq to the Camp Chef.
Weber Searwood 600: 20 Lbs
The Weber drops another 2 lbs over the Camp Chef, but it can still take a full 20 lb bag of BBQ pellets, just.
Traeger Pro 780: 18 lbs
Not only does the Traeger have the smallest pellet hopper of these five pellet grills, it’s also is the only one which cannot accept a full 20 lb bag of BBQ pellets in one go.
Hopper Size Points
So the points allocation for this category are as follows. The Pit Boss Pro Series 1600 comes out on top with five points, followed by the Recteq with four points. Three points go to the Camp Chef, two points go to the Weber, and finally, just a single point for the Traeger.
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Construction
The materials used to construct a pellet grill/smoker do vary, as do their construction techniques. For instance, the first thing to point out is none of these pellet grills/smokers feature full-twin wall insulated construction.
1. Recteq Deck Boss 590: Stainless Steel
The winner in this category is the Recteq for the reason being it features a full stainless steel cooking chamber with stainless steel internals (racks, drip tray etc).
2. Camp Chef Woodwind 24: Stainless Steel
This latest version of the Camp Chef Woodwind 24 has been updated with a stainless steel cooking chamber. However, its cooking racks are not stainless steel, hence its lower ranking.
3. Weber Searwood 600: Aluminum Cooking Chamber
The Weber does not feature stainless steel fabrication. However it’s lid is enamel coated and does feature some twin-wall construction. It’s most notable feature though is it’s cast aluminum cooking chamber, which will help the Weber hold onto heat.
4. Traeger Pro 780: Painted Carbon Steel
The Traeger does not have any notable materials/construction techniques, its simply the pretty standard painted carbon steel construction found on most budget pellet grills/smokers.
5. Pit Boss Pro Series 1600: Painted Carbon Steel
The Pit Boss, like the Traeger, does not have notable features as part of its construction. Therefore, the Traeger and the Pit Boss are equally matched and they will share the same points.
Construction Points
For this category, the Recteq comes out on top with a maximum of five points, followed by the Camp Chef with four points. Next up is the Weber with three points and the Traeger and Pit Boss both get two points as their construction materials are the same.
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Miscellaneous
The first thing to note with this category is that none of these five pellet grills/smokers are manufactured in the US. Weber used to ‘US assemble’ their previous generation SmokeFire pellet grills, but I checked with Weber, but with their Searwood models, that’s not the case.
But what about pricing? Sure, each of these pellet grills is under $1,000 but are their typical price points identical? Nope, there are some differences.
Obviously, prices can change, sales come along etc. However, as someone who monitors the prices of these pellet grills/smokers frequently, I can tell you these are their typical price points, and notably, the Recteq and the Weber are priced $100 less than the others.
Miscellaneous Points
As the Recteq and the Weber have a typically lower price point than the other models, they deserve the five points. Therefore, the Traeger, the Pit Boss and the Camp Chef each get four points each.
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Final Points & Rankings
So now we come down to it, the final scores will not be a surprise as I’ve already provided the results at the top of the article, but I’ll quickly discuss how we ended up with the following:
- Recteq Deck Boss 590: 29 Points
- Pit Boss Pro Series 1600: 27 Points
- Camp Chef Woodwind 24: 25 Points
- Weber Searwood 600: 22 Points
- Traeger Pro Series 780: 18 Points
The Recteq got off to a rocky start, starting at the bottom of the pack with a total cooking area but rebounding with the size of its main grate. It won on temperature range, did well with controller technology and hopper size, and notably, it also won the construction category.
The Pit Boss picked up lots of points, being the largest of these pellet grills. Therefore, it got maximum points in the total cooking area and also the size of its main grate. It also has the largest pellet hopper. It dropped points in temperature range, controller technology, and construction.
The Camp Chef finished up in the middle of the pack; it offers one of the largest overall cooking areas; however, it also has one of the smallest main grates. Temperature range, it was middle of the pack. It picked up good points in controller technology and construction, but it dropped points with its hopper capacity.
The Weber is the smallest of these five pellet grills. Therefore, it struggled to pick up points with regard to the total cooking area and the size of its main grate. It scored well in temperature range and controller technology but scored poorly in hopper capacity.
The Traeger, the oldest model of the five, was middle of the pack with regards to total cooking area and main grate size. However, it scored poorly on temperature range, controller technology, hopper size, and construction.
So is the Recteq Deck Boss 590 the best pellet grill under $1,000? Well, it got the highest points total, but the best pellet grill for you will depend on your specific requirements. The point is, you can use our database to compare any pellet grills/smoker to find the best model for you. Enjoy š
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