Z Grills Vs Traeger

Pellet grills are perhaps the most versatile grills to have ever been invented. There are a lot of brands that produce pellet grills but not as prominent as the Z Grills and the Traeger Grills.

They are perfect for most recipes and the fuel that they use gives additional flavor to the food that you cook in them. These two brands are popular because of their power and many features.

While most companies settle for two or three functions, the Traeger and Z Grills go for more than five. So in one appliance, you get to cook in at least 5 ways with baking, grilling, and smoking included.

Grills are beneficial in so many ways. They help a lot in cooking recipes that cannot be done on the stove or in the oven plus they give the authentic taste to food that is cooked with wood.

Grills have been developed nowadays and it is only right that they are going advanced. They can now keep up with modern times and we have all the comforts needed when cooking.

However, this does not mean that the grills have less authenticity. In fact, they keep a lot of the old features in, and then the manufacturers just add advanced features to make them more functional.

So in this post, we have selected two of the best pellet grills in the market and we will compare it for you. That way, you will have a better idea of how they work.

Since you have a lot of options to choose from, you might get confused about which one to pick. So we have narrowed it down to these two and we will be discussing their similarities and differences.

 

First, a little bit of background.

 

Traeger Grills

Traeger grills are believed to be the pioneers of the modern pellet grills. The company started in the 1980s and has now established a name in the industry with great products.

The design and patent of the Traeger Grills are made like a traditional barrel offset smoker but instead of an offset box on the side, they replaced it with a more advanced pellet hopper.

Cooking with wood pellets at that time was still new to the masses. However, Traeger did not stop there as they made new and innovative designs along with technology to improve their grills.

From the rotating auger mechanism to the remote-controlled grill, Traeger has certainly outdone themselves. Today, we see more and more brands pattern their grills from the Traeger.

The market that Traeger targeted was for people who had busy schedules. They sold their grills by presenting an easier way to handle a grill without having to stand right beside it.

To this day, they still have the leading patents for innovative grills but they do have to face harder competition. Their patent has expired but they still continue to produce high-quality grills.

 

Z Grills

Z Grills are a new and fresher addition to the grill market. They started just recently in 2017 and their grills are probably the most well-received brands in a span of fewer than two years.

Now, the company went on to be successful in just a few years because of their target market. They went on to produce grills that innovate proven technology at a cheaper price.

Z Grills is a company that was dubbed as one of the fastest-growing companies in the world. They were not good at the beginning since they were still on the early steps of production.

The grills were not relatively cheap or at least it was not the price that customers expected from a company that claimed that they would be producing grills at a cheaper price.

However, within a year or two, Z Grills has certainly improved and they are now beside Traeger on top of the list for the most reliable and most trusted brands of grills on the market.

So what are the features that made these two famous?

 

Construction

Grills are expected to be durable since they always go under intense heat and exposure to elements. That is why it is best to build them with the highest quality materials that there are.

Traeger and Z Grills are both made with the best materials that they could find. Their grills are protected by stainless steel to prevent rust and corrosion from both the moisture and heat.

They both made sure that all the parts of their grills are durable and will withstand any exposure from all the outdoor elements. The grates of their grills are also made with stainless steel to withstand heat.

There are better grates from other brands that produce cast-iron grates but stainless steel also does very well under immense heat and temperature fluctuations.

Aside from the durability, the brands also considered the ease of cleaning. So stainless steel is the perfect material for preventing grease and food residues from sticking on them.

Some companies even go for a better option by coating the grates with porcelain to make it smoother and therefore easier to clean. This is nice but again, the stainless steel construction will do.

It is probably the reason why most of the pellet grills are so expensive. Companies make time for designing their grills and making sure that they use the best materials, and Z Grills and Traeger are no exception.

 

Temperature Control

This is probably the most important feature in a grill. You need a consistent temperature and a precise reading on it so you know when and how your food will cook.

That is why the materials used in building these grills are important. Some materials are better in retaining heat and distributing it around the grill compared to others.

 

Z Grills

Again, the Z Grills are made out of high-quality stainless steel which is a great heat conductor. It also prevents rust from forming so the interior stays smooth for the heat to travel easily.

The grills from Z Grills are great in evenly heating the chamber. It is also accurate so when you set the grills to the desired temperature, you get the exact temperature or it is off by only 5 degrees max.

The accuracy of the grill when it comes to setting up the temperature is especially important when you are smoking meat. You need to keep the temperature steady for the food to cook properly.

As for precision, the Z Grills can be heated up or cooled down by 25 degrees increment. This is pretty accurate and precise but there is nothing too amazing about it since it is the standard.

 

Traeger Grills

Since they are constructed with the same materials as the Z Grills, the Traeger Grills also do a great job of retaining and distributing the heat inside the chamber when cooking.

The part where the Traeger Grills are better is the double-layered stainless steel that they put when building the grills. This gives the grill almost perfect insulation to keep the heat inside.

Traeger Grills are also more precise than Z Grills. The grills from Traeger have a 15 degrees increment which is far better than the Z Grills.

While that does not seem too impressive, the improvement of temperature precision by 10 degrees is a huge improvement that also gives the grills more versatility.

 

Note on Temperature Control

When you want to control these grills, you can go for the digital option. The control panels of these grills are both found on the side attached to their pellet hoppers.

There isn’t much to compare the control panel since both the Traeger Grills and the Z Grills made their control panels in a straightforward way for ease of control.

Some models from both brands also have wireless control panels. You can use your smartphone to control the Traeger while a wireless remote is featured in the Z Grills.

 

Cooking Area

Now, while accurately controlling the temperature is good, the size of the grill is also to be considered. The best way to determine the grill with the best capacity is still dependent on the user’s choice.

In fact, when you are trying to find the best grill for you, one of the first things that you should look for is the grill that has the right size for your patio or backyard and the guests that you always have.

The Z Grills have a wide variety of grills when it comes to the surface for cooking. The company has a standard range from 450 square inches up to 1000 square inches.

So if you want to buy a grill that can cook a lot of food at the same time, you can get the largest model from Z Grills. The 1000 square inches of cooking space will be enough for parties.

As for the Traeger Grills, you have the option of grills that have 575 square inches of cooking space up to models that have 780 square inches. 

Traeger also has tiny grills that you can use when having dinner with just a small group of people. While these are the standards, Traeger also produced the new XL Pro.

The small sizes can go from 300 square inches of the cooking surface to about 380 square inches. These are great grills for when you just want a simple dinner with your family.

The Traeger XL Pro has a cooking surface area of 836 square inches. So if you are loyal to Traeger and you want something bigger than their standard grills, then this one is perfect.

 

Power

The power of the grills is not measured only on how high their temperatures can get but also about how low the temperature can go combined with the control and precision of the grills.

Both the Traeger Grills and the Z Grills can go as low as 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Just enough for slow and low cooking temperatures that are used for smoking brisket and other cuts of meat.

The Z Grills are better when it comes to how high their temperatures can go. The Traeger Grills can go for 400 degrees Fahrenheit while the Z Grills go for a higher 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

While some people might think that there is not much difference, the extra 50 degrees Fahrenheit from Z Grills gives a lot of difference when it comes to searing and baking.

The higher temperature range of the Z Grills gives it more versatility. It can go from smoking in low temperatures, to high heat when you want to sear a steak and bake pizzas in it.

 

Pellet Hopper Capacity and Efficiency

When it comes to pellets, you are going to need something that will help you conserve the fuel that you have. The pellet hoppers of these grills do that for you to make it easier.

The Z Grills have a larger capacity when it comes to their standard grills. The largest pellet hopper from Z Grills can hold up to 20 pounds of pellets at full capacity.

As for the Traeger Grills, the standard grills have the largest pellet hopper that can hold up to 18 pounds. The Traeger XL Pro has a very massive hopper that can hold over 40 pounds of pellets.

Both of these grills are also highly efficient. A single pound of pellets can last up to an hour when you smoke meat or 30 minutes when you use higher temperatures for searing.

 

Conclusion

The Traeger Grills and the Z Grills are two of the most amazing grills on the market right now. We are sure that there are still a lot of features that we have missed but these are the important ones.

As you can see, you get the highest-quality materials on each model that each brand produces. The life of their grills can last for generations so you can pass them down to your kids.

They are extremely powerful and versatile. When you have either Traeger or Z Grills, you can be sure that all of the recipes that you need to be cooked can be done in these grills.

They conserve fuel by both having the auger mechanism which is responsible for controlling the number of pellets that the grill needs in order to reach a certain temperature.

You also have innovative features in both grills that allow you to control the temperature and their timers even when you are from afar.

These are some of the many reasons why the Traeger and the Z Grills are on top of the list for the best grills. So what are you waiting for? Grab one now and start your grilling sessions!

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