The Big Green Egg 2XL vs Traeger Ironwood Grills
Grills that have a lot of space to cook on are sometimes hard to handle, bring in the Big Green Egg 2XL and Traeger Grill Ironwood and you will surely be amazed at how easy they can be.
Big Green Eggs are popularly known as the best kamado grills in the market right now.
They have the unique smoking capabilities that are also found in Kamado Joes but they exert versatility.
Traeger grills are famous for their combination of power and technology.
You can control these grills without having to stand beside the heat that they produce.
Both are amazing when it comes to cooking and can handle a variety of recipes.
Cooking in grills is really fun and having one of these grills will be much easier.
The Traeger Ironwood grill is a series of grills from Traeger that are large enough for huge backyard parties.
The Big Green Egg 2XL is the largest in their collection of grills as well.
You can enjoy having a lot of friends over for barbecues and steaks while you cook with these grills and end up with perfectly cooked and smoked results.
The thing about these grills is that they are very heavy so the first step of setting them up will be hard for a single person.
That is why you will need help from others.
If you are looking into some grills and are wanting to buy something that can ease your grilling sessions, then read on this post and see how these grills perform.
We assure you that there are a lot of advantages in each grill and we will take a look at them so you can see a better picture of what you can get with these two impressive grills.
Setting up the Grills
As we have mentioned above, you will need an extra hand in setting up these grills.
These grills weigh over a hundred pounds so taking on them alone will be next to impossible.
Starting with the Big Green Egg, you will need to set up this grill in a permanent area or somewhere you can move easily like flat surfaces with a roof.
Both of these grills are easy to move since they have wheels but make sure that you will not go through steps because the wheels would be pretty much useless.
They are made with high-quality materials so you do not have to worry about the weather, however, you can never be sure so you can set them up near a place with a roof.
The Big Green Egg 2XL is the largest, and obviously, the heaviest in the Big Green Egg series.
It weighs over 370 pounds so make sure to set it up in a place where you do not need to move it around too much.
As for the Traeger Ironwood series, you will need an outdoor spot where you get access to an electric outlet.
See, the Traeger grills need a electric connection when you plug them in.
You also need to make sure that your WiFi signal can reach the Traeger grill because it would make the technology pretty useless without it.
So either you set up the grill near your house which is a little risky, or set a router on your patio or backyard to make sure that the grill can connect to the WiFi source.
The Big Green Egg’s firebox is a solid one-piece ceramic so you will have to carry it all in one go, just seek another person for help.
The thing is, you can remove the firebox from the grill so you can carry it to the setup area. This will make the Egg a little lighter but still heavy.
Features and Design
There are not a lot of changes in the Big Green Egg 2XL compared to its predecessors aside from the size and cooking area. The Traeger Ironwood has its advantages, however.
So let us first tackle the lids of the grills. For the Big Green Egg 2XL, you will find it easy to lift despite the massive lid.
It is a big round dome with over 70 centimeters in diameter.
The patented hinge of the Green Big Egg lid helps you in opening the lid by having a spring pulling upwards to lessen the weight of the lid.
The only issue that we found here is that it only opens halfway.
Therefore, you will have some trouble managing and moving the food inside it because there are times where the lid gets in the way.
As for the Traeger Ironwood, you have the standard stainless steel lid so you will not have any trouble lifting the lid up.
One amazing advantage of the Traeger is the WiFi feature.
Traeger includes an app that you can install on your mobile phone to track and control the grill even if you are far from it.
The app not only allows you to control the temperature, but it can also program a cooking session with a specific recipe.
See, the app contains guides and recipes so, with just a click of a button, the Traeger grill can set itself up to the right temperature and timer.
It also has a pellet hopper where you feed the fuel into it and it enters the grill with an auger screw-like mechanism to keep the fire burning inside.
The Ironwood series also has the Traeger D2 Drive that controls the fan inside the grill to keep the smoke well-circulated inside the grill, therefore, infusing your food with a rich, wood-fired flavor.
It is also called SuperSmoke where the fire is perfectly blocked so the radiant heat cooks your food and the smoke gives more flavor to your food.
You can access this feature at temperatures between 165 and 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
Powering the Grills
Both of these grills can put that delicious smoky flavor in your food despite the fact that they use different fuels. They can get up to high temperatures quickly and cook food perfectly.
The Traeger Ironwood Grills use wood pellets while the Big Green Egg 2XL uses charcoal.
They are both fuel-efficient and one load of fuel will last for hours.
The Traeger Grill can reach up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and the Big Green Egg can go up to 700. Both powerful enough to cook steaks and ribs.
You can handle cooking with the Trager grill away from it. With the help of the mobile app, you can control or set the desired temperatures while sitting in your living room.
The pellet hopper of the ironwood series can handle at least 20 pounds of wood pellets.
A full load can last up to a day of grilling or smoking.
The Big Green Egg is a little hard to refuel since you will need to lift the grates up and fill the firebox with another set of charcoal.
It also has a dual-purpose vent which makes the air circulation inside great.
It also makes the grill fuel-efficient and can spend less charcoal so you do not need to often refuel.
The Traeger grill is a bit slower when preheating. With the Big Green Egg’s vent fully opened, you can reach the maximum temperature in less than 20 minutes.
Cooking in the grills
The Big Green Egg 2XL has an astounding 672 square inches of cooking space and can fit 18 steaks, 14 chickens, or 20 ribs at a time.
You can manually control the temperature of the Big Green Egg by opening or closing the vent to give more versatility for cooking.
With low temperatures, you can sear vegetables in the Big Green Egg while slow smoking a steak in the center of the grates.
The wide, single-tiered grate of the Big Green Egg is so large that you can virtually fit any cookware that you need when cooking food that needs one.
The closest Traeger Ironwood Grill that matches this large cooking space is the Traeger Ironwood 650 with 650 square inches of total cooking space.
The Traeger grill is more fun to cook with since you do not have to sit beside the piping hot grill. With the mobile app on hand, you can set the grill up and let it cook.
The Traeger grill will notify you if your food has been cooked.
You might need to check on the pellet hopper every once in a while to see if you still have enough fuel to cook.
The SuperSmoke feature of the Traeger grill is perfect for when you want to cook ribs for a long time. The smoke will get into the food for flavor while it keeps the food moist.
The Big Green Egg can cook quickly and make your food great as well. It has a wide capacity that can even fit a single pig in it for cooking.
Advantages of the Traeger Ironwood Grill
Forget-it Grill
The Traeger grill, with its WiFi feature, allows you to just get it to heat up and leave it there to cook your food.
Just turn it on and have a drink while you wait for it to notify you.
Wood-Fired Flavor
The rich wood pellets that Traeger produces are perfect for that smoky flavor in your food.
They also make wood pellets from wood with aromatic flavors so you can get more flavor in your food.
User-friendly
The interface of the mobile app and the settings in the grill itself are great easy to understand.
You can cook easily with the preset recipes and just let the grill cook it for you.
Advantages of the Big Green Egg
Authentic Flavor
The charcoal fuel of the Big Green Egg gives off that amazing flavor into your food.
The compact oval design of this grill makes the infusion of the smoke better.
Keeps the food Moist
The Big Green Egg grill has a large space with a little opening on the vent.
This allows the moisture to stay inside your steak, ribs, or chicken making them more soft and juicy.
Very Efficient
Kamado grills such as the Big Green Egg have large fuel capacities and they make good use of it by cooking your food perfectly without spending too much fuel.
The air that gets inside the Big Green Egg is just enough to circulate the smoke inside so your charcoal does not burn all the way.
Conclusion
If you really want to make an addition to your backyard grilling fun, then you might want to consider buying either the Big Green Egg 2XL or the Traeger Ironwood.
Big Green Egg grills are known and are considered as the top Kamado grill in the market right now.
The 2XL is the largest in that category so if you have a big gathering, this is perfect.
The Traeger Ironwood 650 can also handle a lot of food at the same time that can cater to a large group.
The amazing feature here is that you can spend your cooking time talking to your guests instead of staying beside the grill to wait for the food to be cooked.
The WiFi feature of Traeger grills always puts other competitors behind them since you can relax while cooking and wait for the grill to notify you if your food is cooked already.
These two grills are impressive and are a great way to impress your guests in your regular backyard grilling sessions.
Both can produce that smoky flavor in your food and you will surely impress your guests with the way that your food tastes.
