BBQ Buyer's Guide to Portable Tailgater Pellet Grills

Want to grill on the go? Check out these portable pellet grills! Learn about pellet smoker features, see graphs comparing stats, and find out my opinion of which ones are the best.
Chapter Times
00:00 Opening
00:28 What’s Not Included
01:23 Pitboss
06:43 Green Mountain Grills
12:34 Camp Chef
17:09 Traeger
20:42 Grilla Grills
25:47 Recteq
27:22 Price
27:50 Hopper Size
28:29 Inches2 Main Rack
29:18 $/in2 Main Rack
29:53 Inches2 All
30:22 $/in2 All
30:50 Temperature Range
31:54 Weight
32:49 My Thoughts
38:47 Outro
Pellet Grills in this episode:
Pit Boss 340 Sq in Portable Tailgate, Camp Pellet Grill
Green Mountain Grill DC Davy Crockett Portable Pellet Grill
Pit Boss 260PSP2 Competition Series "Pit Stop" Portable Pellet Grill
Green Mountain Trek Wi-Fi Controlled Portable Wood Pellet Tailgating Grill
Camp Chef Pursuit Portable Pellet Grill PPG20
Traeger Tailgater 20 Pellet Grill - Black
Chimp Portable Wood Pellet Grill
The Road Warrior 340P

[@freqnlodown]

I have a RecTec RT300 and the igniter rod just went out. I've upgraded the controller, upgraded the firepot and igniter rod over the years as newer tech has became available. Rec Tec provided those upgrades to the oldest model grill which is amazing to me. Usually they just want you to buy a new grill to get the newer features. I just ordered the Road Warrior model. This is the best grill out of all of them, in my opinion. They're built better and they perform during extreme weather variations. My next door neighbor has GMG and last time it hit 18 degrees, he struggled to get consistent temps out of it. I was able to hit 500 with no issue. It's lasted for 8 years old with no metal burn-through like I've seen the cheaper ones do. You get what you pay for.

[@brianwelch8043]

I have the Camp Chef Persuit; had it for about 5-6 years. Complaints: 1) Legs are my biggest issue; it's a bear to extend and retract. 2) Parts warping or breaking. The drip pan warped so that it's not doing its job anymore. The latches have come loose and aren't useful and the buttons to extend/retract legs broke off. 3) the smoker doesn't keep constant heat; note, I do have 1st gen. I can't just leave meat on there and go to sleep for the night. I won't own another Camp Chef Smoker, but love everything else about Camp Chef. I just bought the Recteq and narrowed it down between that and the Chimp. I like the easy extend/retract legs, and that does become important when you're constantly taking down and putting up. I also heard that the Chimp has QC issues with the control panel. My buddy has the Full Size recteq and its a tank. I heard this little guy is also built to last, but we'll see. 700 Degree temp is very important to me when searing steaks, so I'm glad to see the comments say that it does get that hot.

[@skyhighbowtie]

One of the best review videos I’ve ever watched. Thanks for the hard work brother🤙

[@superdragon1123]

This is truly top-tier content.

[@Lilieac_]

Facts, keep it goin dragons

[@jandjolsen2146]

i own the recteq and can confirm it hits 700+ degrees

[@Ben-gb9dv]

I just bought the 340, arrives on Thursday. I can't wait! My first smoker.

[@jonogle9001]

Damn this is a great video man. You deserve more views for sure. Thumbs up

[@gregnewlin1074]

I have a Recteq RT1070 and it goes above and beyond 700°

[@Mmafanufc12]

You are my favorite TH-camr. Great work!

[@SmokeMasterD]

Thanks man

[@kerryhawk8075]

What are the dimensions when legs are folded up? And what are the dimensions of the main grill grate?

[@jampskan5690]

I wish GMG would combine the trek and Davey Crocket. As in, hey, do you wanna buy these folding handle style legs, these pretty stainless steel legs, or both?

[@Trumpetmaster77]

recteq baby!

[@philliperickson5731]

I've been camping (RV) with the Chimp for 2 years now and the legs on the chimp are WORST. It is so hard to extend them, to collapse, everything. I am looking at buying the ReqTeq just because of those legs.

[@SmokeMasterD]

Wow, thanks for sharing.

[@Bigclay77]

Do it if haven’t done it already I used a chimp with my camper for little over a year and I hates the legs then if got a recteq this year and it’s been a thousand times better. I miss the WiFi controls but I’m MUCH happier with the recteq.

[@sideyardbarbecue3214]

I’ve owned the chimp and traeger. I don’t have either anymore ( I liked the chimp) but just thinking about those collapsible legs on the traeger is making me grind my teeth. Grill was fine, folding legs very bad. I just sold both since I don’t have a camper anymore and wanted something bigger for home use.

[@SmokeMasterD]

Thanks for your feedback 🙂

[@therealiniles]

I have a Traeger Ironwood at home and just ordered the recteq 340p for camping/parties and secondary use. Been going down a rabbit hole of reviews and comparisons. Boiled down to chimp vs road warrior for me. Saw a few posts/videos complaining about quality control with grilla recently, and the nail in the coffin for me was a video on TH-cam where a brand newish chimp was tripping a gfci outlet- customer service followed up with “did it get wet?”. 💀
If I remember I’ll come back and leave my thoughts on the recteq after it comes in and gets a few cooks on it.

[@SmokeMasterD]

Awesome. Thanks