Traeger BBQ075 Consumer Review

by Ivan Bracic
(Lake Forest, IL)

Wellllll..... I am not that all impressed.
Sadly, the grill is not meeting my expectations...not acceptable for the $900 price-tag.

I love the concept, yet found that upon unpacking, the spot weld on one of the two hinges of the pellet hopper, had popped off. That means that the welder was unable o secure a proper bond. One phone call, and a replacement arrived very quickly. This design needs attention. A heavier gauge of metal with screws and lock-nuts would eliminate this problem.

Next, the grill cover will not remain open. The side arm that limits travel is too short. The only remedy would be to place the grill on a 10-20* sloping surface...away from you so it would remain open. There is no adjustment available for this faulty design. This is totally unacceptable.

Then there is the ingenious auger design. While I feel it works well, mine is clicking loudly and sounds like something from a Maxwell Smart episode...it's getting ready to...BLOW!
Tolerances are too sloppy and the length of the auger shaft is allowing it to bend and thus the fault. Again, they want to send me parts to replace it and are truly trying to make me a happy customer.

Now, for the cooking:
If they would market the product as a SMOKER, it would be a great one. Yet, the company representative who was at a promo event at my local COSTCO, assured me that the unit works equally well as a grill.

Not so! I grill Buffalo, Ahi Tuna, lean pork and occasionally a clucker. For chicken, I could see this being a wonderful grill. Lovely smokey flavour and no flare ups due to fat striking the flame source which is underneath the sloping drip pan. Yet for the other meats and fish, the unit fails to allow a searing effect. This is due to the flame arrest insert and the distance from the grill surface to the heat source. After 45 minutes of grilling the asparagus, onions and peppers, only a slight colour difference was noted. None of the searing scorching heat that I had hoped for.

I always want to support buying items produced in the USA, yet i am one who must have top notch quality when spending this amount of $. Regretfully, I will return my Traeger BBQ075 to Costco for a full refund. If the unit is redesigned, I will definitely try them again.

The customer service people at Traeger are great. It's simply not properly designed as an all purpose grill/smoker. The pellets are wonderful and impart a very natural kerosene/propane free flavour.

Ivan B. Lake Forest, IL