Traeger Grills TFB38TCA Renegade Elite Wood Pellet Grill

I have been using this for about 6 months now and I absolutely love it. It cooks everything evenly and adds the subtle flavors of the hardwood smoke, which can be increased by using the actual smoke function. Here are my only words of caution to potential buyers. 1) If you prefer grilling with a lot of direct heat/fire to get food that is flame-kissed and has some char to it, you may not like grilling with the Traeger. It has a heat shield that does not allow the flames to get anywhere near the food, allowing for a more even cooking. This results in some of the most perfectly cooked, tender and juicy meats I have ever grilled. However, it will NOT have the dark color/char you may be accustomed to using a traditional grill. (Char is supposed to be carcinogenic so it may be best to consider moving away from this anyway) 2) This grill does not function very well out of the box in cold months. The metal is thin and the door does that hold a seal very well. You either have to set the temperature to higher than is required to keep it firing, or you will have to purchase an insulating sleeve from Treager designed specifically for grilling during cold months.

The manufacture of this smoker is heavy duty coated steel.....and made to last. You can feel the difference in thickness of materials and workmanship. Assembly was not difficult for me and went together relatively quickly. Followed the startup instructions and everything worked after assembly. The grill is very easy to clean even after accumulating grease, rub and sauce; not sure if there is a special coating applied to help in brushing it clean. This unit comes with a detachable shelf that locates on the front of the smoker; if there was one improvement i would suggest that this be hinged to drop out of the way when not in use as opposed to having to physically removal and relocate when the smoker cover is applied. Spend the resources on the hinge and not the small basket and grill accessory hooks. Very pleased with how it smokes and makes good food.

Box came in on Friday, assembly took about an hour but could of went way faster if I had help. Just an FYI, the box it came in is huge and weighs about 100 lbs. I ordered the signature blend of pellets from Traeger and followed the initial firing instructions.It came with a recipe book which is full of a lot of good information, take what you like from it but I decided to lower the heat recommendations to low or smoke.I decided to smoke a 3 lbs filet mignon roast and 2-1/2 lbs of wild caught sockeye salmon.I highly recommend a temperature probe.The meat and fish came out much better than expected, the filet mignon was smoked to 137F and the salmon was smoke to 140F. The filet was so juicy and tender that you could easily pull it apart with a fork and the salmon had the perfect smoked taste and was cooked to perfection.I’m now interested in smoking different kinds of meat. I love this thing to pieces.

Beautiful grill arrives well packed in a study box. Highly recommend this grill plus purchasing an external dual probe thermometer system for $50 on eBay to keep from having to open the lid and save over 100 degrees of heat. Just check the temperature and add pellets as needed. Didn't even need to open the grill door until the bird finished cooking, and then set the temperature controller to 'smoke' for one hour for extra flavor. SETUP: Added washers on both sides of all four legs where the bolts go through the grill body to connect legs for extra good fit & stability and to prevent bending the metal when tightening the bolts. Needed to clean out some of the holes with a drill before putting bolts in to anchor legs. Recommend covering drip tray with aluminum foil as described in instruction manual to ease cleanup. Wish the manual had easier to read numbers for parts on all diagrams, need to add itemized parts list and label the bags of parts, but two people can put the grill together easily with the small modifications on securing the straight legs (which are better than the sawhorse model). This grill has over 10 pounds more metal in it than the new version, another good reason to get this one.

Can't believe I waited so long. Have had propane grills for 30 years. Have used my propane grill once since buying Traeger a year ago. Everything I cook on it is awesome! Steaks, burgers, ribs, chicken. Even Thanksgiving turkey! Got a brisket smoking right now.Have used a variety of pellets, different flavors and different brands. All seem to do pretty much the same job. Sometimes it has trouble getting to the really high heat. Not sure if that is the pellet quality or an issue elsewhere. Only an issue for when I tried to make pizza. Setting goes up to 450, but getting it over 400 and keeping it there is a trick. Does a fabulous job at 300-350 and as a smoker.A Remote Thermometer is a must have! Stick the probe in and carry the transmitter with you. Let's you know when the meat is at the perfect temp. No need to keep checking the grill.

This is a great grill/smoker. But coming from Amazon, not sure if it is actually new and possibly had been returned to them. The tape securing the box didn't look like it was from the factory and there was a dent and scratch on the side. Very disappointing since it was so expensive.

Love this grill/smoker. Seals tight and holds heat well. Cookbook is a plus. I would recommend this to others. Very well built. My teenager uses it all the time as well he likes how easy it is.

I was so excited to get this grill for the weekend. It was easy to assemble and get going. It has a great place for me to keep my bbq tools and a front rack to set stuff down so I am able to easily put things on and off the grill. We made steak and lobster tails and they could not have turned out better and it came with a cookbook to know exactly how to do it!