r/PitBossGrills

I have a PitBoss Sportsman pellet grill and it used to work awesome. However as of late, it barely smokes at all, even when heating up. It heats and cooks fine and feeds the pellets as it should, just no smoke even after hitting the "prime" button. Any ideas?

I picked up a Blackstone 36 inch griddle spontaneously last night at Costco. It came with a hinged hood, front shelf, and soft cover for $430. I’ve been doing research today on the grill accessories I need and a recipe for my first time cooking on it, but I stumbled onto an ad offering 25% off any Pit Boss for first responders. I was looking at their 4-burner Deluxe model, which would be about the same price after the discount. I have a very minor aesthetic preference for the Pit Boss, but I was curious if anyone had a recommendation on which brand to go with. As far as I can tell, the only significant difference I see is that the Pit Boss grease trap is on the front while Blackstone is on the back, and that the Blackstone came with a front shelf. Just want to make sure I’m getting the best option before I open up the box. I don’t have any experience cooking whatsoever, so this will be a learning experience for me.

Is the George Foreman grill for about five years but switching over to a pellet any advice for me? I plan on leaving the door open when I cook so the smoke doesn’t get in

I purchased a standard sized pit boss (I believe 850 but maybe 720) from Lowe’s in 2015 and it has been an absolute work horse. No WiFi or extra features. Minimal maintenance besides cleaning it every few uses.

I had great success with it and over the years many friends purchased pit boss grills based on my experience, but many of them had issues or poor results with newer models.

I get the impression that they’re “not made the way they used to be” and I’m nervous to buy another pit boss if they’ve declined in quality. I’d like to show some loyalty and stick with pit boss and purchase a similar style grill (not vertical) because I enjoy the versatility this provides and don’t have a gas or charcoal grill. This will be paired with my blackstone for my outdoor setup.

My questions are:

Are the Lowe’s DX models (850/1150) considered to be well made?

Does the cooking area correlate to the smoke flavor? For instance do the smaller grills provide more smoke flavor due to the fact that the smoke fills a smaller area? I’d like to go up in size but can stay smaller if I’ll get better cooks out of it.

Are there any specific models/features I should avoid or specifically look for?

Does anyone recommend a different brand for reliability/quality? I’d like to stay under $800 but will go up to $1k if needed.

Thank you!

I have had a Pitboss 600 pro series for the last 5 years and it has been great to me. I am looking to upgrade to a bigger size and would like to think about Bluetooth/wifi if it’s actually useful.

What smokers do you guys recommend? I’ve heard about Z Grills, but little afraid to go away from the Pitboss brand.