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OT: Sorry if already discussed, but anyone have any experience with Oklahoma Joe deluxe pellet grills?

No, but I have a Pit Boss and like it a lot. I think in today's market, pellet grills are a lot like TV's. They are all made in a handful of factories in China. Traeger used to be made in America, but my understanding is they off-shored their manufacturing several years back - which is why their higher price is now really for name alone and not higher quality. My thought is find one that is the best price for the size you select, as long as it's sturdy, you like the look, and it has the displays/readouts you like. I'd also get one that has one or two temperature probes built in (cause I was always misplacing my old hand held one, kind of like all my tools). I wouldn't get too caught up in the label some factory in China slapped on it. Caveat - I am no expert, but I did do a fair amount of reading on it before buying.
 
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OK Joes has a lot of complaints about its auger malfunctioning. Since it is mechanical, I'd look for one with good customer service and warranty. No Traeger though. Overpriced junk. Green Mountain is a good grill according to a couple of friends that like and use theirs a lot. But the legs are kind of stupid IMO.
 
Wouldn’t say Traeger is junk. Their service was great when the prong for the temp probe broke off in the jack. They just sent me a completely new computer for it. And best part is, it was the newer version. My previous one only had 1 temp probe. This one had 2.


I kinda want to get 2 new ones. One of the WiFi ones, and a camping one.
 
I've had my pit boss for 6 or 7 years and still works great. I know technology is a lot better on them now. I would get one with a ash dump out if I could now.
 
I've got the Cabela's brand pellet grill and it works great.

IMPORTANT: If you own a pellet grill, you absolutely must own a set of grill grates to go in them! The biggest complaint about pellet grills is that they don't get hot enough to get a good sear, but if you add grill grates that changes completely. I can set my grill to 400 and those grill grates will read 600 when I shoot them with my infrared thermometer.
 
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Rec tec and never look back. You get the owners’ personal cell phone numbers with your purchase in case their normal customer service isn’t cutting it (haven’t had a problem that required either). The grill is awesome. Never had a problem with it. Built like a tank.
 
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can't help much but I'm sure someone that frequents the board will claim to have taken multiple graduate level courses in combustible energy utilization, coal burning thermoregulatory principles and principles of thermal energy interfaces with bovine flesh. ... not to mention having multiple acquaintances with contacts with the CEOs of Weber, Traeger and Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce
 
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OK Joes has a lot of complaints about its auger malfunctioning. Since it is mechanical, I'd look for one with good customer service and warranty. No Traeger though. Overpriced junk. Green Mountain is a good grill according to a couple of friends that like and use theirs a lot. But the legs are kind of stupid IMO.
I have had great luck with my Green Mountain. Use it a lot, keeps it's temperature well.
 
I've got the Cabela's brand pellet grill and it works great.

IMPORTANT: If you own a pellet grill, you absolutely must own a set of grill grates to go in them! The biggest complaint about pellet grills is that they don't get hot enough to get a good sear, but if you add grill grates that changes completely. I can set my grill to 400 and those grill grates will read 600 when I shoot them with my infrared thermometer.
I have 1 grill grate for mine, need to get a 2nd
 
I've got the Cabela's brand pellet grill and it works great.

IMPORTANT: If you own a pellet grill, you absolutely must own a set of grill grates to go in them! The biggest complaint about pellet grills is that they don't get hot enough to get a good sear, but if you add grill grates that changes completely. I can set my grill to 400 and those grill grates will read 600 when I shoot them with my infrared thermometer.
The grill grates are a must have for any grill!
 
I had it down to an OK Joe and a PitBoss. Seemed the OK Joe's had a ton of negative reviews on their own website which swayed me away even though there are probably hundreds of people happy with them, it seemed like those with negative reviews had customer service problems so I ended up going with a Pit Boss Lexington. It is one of their smaller models to just try them out. I have really ended up liking it and it has more than enough size for my family of 4. I have done 4 racks of baby backs at the same time. I can fit 2 beer can chickens, a decent sized brisket, 2 pork butts, you get the idea. I like that it has the ability to open the bottom up to get a good sear directly on the fire then I can slide it back closed and finish with convection, I think some of the OK Joe's can do this too. The one thing I dont really like about the PitBoss I have is that I have to take the grates and broiler plates out to clean out the ashes as where some other grills, like the OK Joe's I looked at have the ash trays that just slide out. So that's one negative about the pit boss. Another cool think about the pit boss is they are pretty easy to upgrade as far as the electronics, So you can buy the non wifi/bluetooth model's then add it after the fact.
 
Thanks for the input. The ok Joe has ash dump as well as grease buckets. It also has a seat center that is supposed to get up to 600+ degrees and you can also take the sear section out and drop in attachment if you want to do breakfast or pizza. Has me intrigued
 
Thanks for the input. The ok Joe has ash dump as well as grease buckets. It also has a seat center that is supposed to get up to 600+ degrees and you can also take the sear section out and drop in attachment if you want to do breakfast or pizza. Has me intrigued
My grill has a sliding sear section in the middle as well, but I'm telling you, if you plan to use the pellet grill to do any sort of 'grilling' then I cannot stress the importance of getting a set of grill grates enough.
 
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can't help much but I'm sure someone that frequents the board has likely taken multiple graduate level courses in combustible energy utilization, coal burning thermoregulatory principles and principles of thermal energy interfaces with bovine flesh. ... not to mention having multiple acquaintances with contacts with the CEOs of Weber, Traeger and Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce
This deserves more likes.
 
No, but I have a Pit Boss and like it a lot. I think in today's market, pellet grills are a lot like TV's. They are all made in a handful of factories in China. Traeger used to be made in America, but my understanding is they off-shored their manufacturing several years back - which is why their higher price is now really for name alone and not higher quality. My thought is find one that is the best price for the size you select, as long as it's sturdy, you like the look, and it has the displays/readouts you like. I'd also get one that has one or two temperature probes built in (cause I was always misplacing my old hand held one, kind of like all my tools). I wouldn't get too caught up in the label some factory in China slapped on it. Caveat - I am no expert, but I did do a fair amount of reading on it before buying.
Yoder smokers are pricey, but I hear quality is worth. American made. Buy american please
 
Have you ever seen a Yoder smoker up close? They are built just down the road from me and ran into a guy at a graduation party that has one, Holy Cow are they big and solid. You don't just lift the lid without assist.

I looked at OK Joe's both the pellet and the round charcoal. Some of the comments scared me off and I went with the Pit Boss as well and it does everything I want done. I admit I don't just grill that much on it, but I smoke on it a lot and it does it all for me.
 
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