Ranger Portable Wood Pellet Grill & Smoker, Cast Iron Griddle

I've had this for a month now, and have cooked burgers, dogs, steaks and chicken breasts. I have also done two long smokes using the temperature probe, a corned beef brisket and a pork shoulder. The convenience of this unit is excellent, and the flavor is unsurpassed! I'm using Bear Mountain hickory pellets, which add a great smoked flavor. I chose Bear Mountain because I wanted 100% hardwood without added flavors. For burgers and dogs, this unit wins over my natural gas grill for convenience and flavor. It's more forgiving, as well. It's not going to char anything if you forget it for a few minutes. For chicken breast, the Ranger does fine, but it can't produce the hard sear of a natural gas grill which can attain much higher temperatures. This wasn't an issue for me with steak, but was for chicken. I tried searing on the gas grill and finishing on the Ranger, which worked well but was less convenient. Other minor downsides: It's extremely heavy. It's OK for transferring to a vehicle, but you're not going to be carrying it a long distance. You don't get to play with fire as much as with conventional grills. My fire lust is satiated by my pizza oven, though. Finally, I did not have the electronics problem that several other reviews mention, but I did notice that it takes an extremely short press to move from function to function. If there is even a tiny delay between press and release the display will not change to the next function. This was frustrating until I figured it out, because it seemed like it was working inconsistently. Overall the Ranger is a great performer. It's complex technology crammed into a small space and subjected to extreme temperatures, but performs flawlessly and seems engineered to last. I will be testing it thoroughly!

Works as expected. Nice that it came with the griddle too. Now, instead of a grill and a griddle, we just carry the one unit. This saves space and weight. Love cooking with the wood pellets!!!

Great portable pellet grill. One upgrade I'd highly suggest is to get the Top grating for support frame from Grillroast. I'm surprised Traeger doesn't already make this. It essentially doubles your cooking space by adding an elevated rack to go over the main grill. Otherwise the cooking area isn't that big. Good for 2 or 3 people I think, depending on what you're cooking. Other than that, it's great for camping or brining it to a friend's place that doest have a grill. Good smokey flavor and easy to set up. Another tip is to wait a bit before you add the meat after to start it up so the temp normalizes. The temp can fluxuate depending on ambient temperature.

I work in utility construction and use this almost every work day. It fits well in the bed of my truck without taking the entire thing. It has traveled hundreds of miles with me and not had any issues. I pair it with a solar generator and it works fantastic. I get a decent smoke flavor for a pellet grill, maybe even better than my full size traeger. It's so easy to use and the all in one unit is so handy. I do not abuse the grill but it seems to be durable since it has had no issues riding in the bed of my truck and I would recommend this unit for anyone who wants to use it the way I do. I even amuse it in the evenings after work at the hotel rather than going to restraunts! The two draw backs i find is the temperature variations and lack of wire fire technologies. The temp tends to run 10-15 degrees higher or lower than the set temp and a Bluetooth or wifi temp meter/probe would be a fantastic addition.

We are 6 weeks into use... Ok, simple word description... amazing! The only complaint is the cheap, falling off rubber feet covers... seriously could have done better. We travel 10 months a year in an rv. We have tried several camp chefs and the grill that came with rv. We are done shopping. So far, we have cooked steaks, roasts, meatloaf, pancakes, chicken, full breakfast( eggs, toast, bacon), poppers, several dump cakes, canned biscuits, grilled veggies, grilled potatoes and sausage, baked potatoes, quesdillas, burritos, NACHOS, some of these several times. The results have been shocking. When smoking (just meaning low temp) totally perfect. Every bit as good as my huge smoker at home. When grilling on higher temps, 325 to 450, minimal smoke, no smoke flavor on food, perfectly even surface temps. It is a bit heavy, remove griddle, prob 45lbs. Fits perfectly in our rv slideout. The case for this seems to be out of stock. The case for my Camp Chef Oven fits nicely. The day cover works well once set up. The additionsl metal drain tray cover is just foil, way over priced, just use foil. The griddle is cast iron, wonderful quality. So, to say we are pleased is an understatement. If smoking, pellet use is about 1lb per hour. When using more like an oven, fraction of that. We have used everyday for nearly 6 weeks, some days more than once, used about 45lbs of pellets. Just use Traeger pellets, burn evenly and completely. We are looking at the bigger model for home. A serious 5 star review! Here is your first recipe... RIBEYES (at least 1") Meat tenderizer for several hours, room temp., dry meat (blot) well prior to placingon grill Set grill 200-225 Cook until internal temp between 117&120 (produce medium rare) Remove and let rest for at least 30 minutes. Set grill to high, 450 degrees... Cook on grates about 2 minutes per side... There just aren't words..... This is sincerely a great product. I paid full price on Amazon, no connection with Traeger!

I got this for my brother and the first time firing up it tasted just like the high-end large versions. Great value for what you get. Super simple setup. I just had to screw in the lift handle and base supports and it was ready to smoke. Has the digital keypad but not the Wi-fire connection, which was fine cause we don’t really use it on our other Traegers anyway. Could get a Bluetooth thermometer if you want to track digitally, but keep that in mind with what you’re budgeting.

Bought for my motorhome, but may have to keep at the house now. Perfect for around 4 people, maybe 6. First cook. 5 lb rib roast. 2 hrs @ 250. 2nd. 1 1/2 thick NY steak. 1 hr @ 225. Remove and crank the heat to 450 (10 ish min). Sear for @ 5-7 min. 3rd. Pair of pork tenderloins. Heat to 375 and cooked for 30 min (start to finish, 45 min). Rave reviews from wife and family. Great recipes with cook times on Traeger web site. Customer LIVE person phone support is phenomenal and open until 10pm mountain. My meat probe would not work on the controller. First call, they said probe was bad and sent me a new on, arriving in 4 business days. Following the instructions in manual, it still would not register temperature. 2nd call. The rep told me the manual is wrong on how to access the meat temp. Manual says “press center button”. You actually do a quick double tap on the button for meat temp and a quick single tap for the timer. Both of these worked. He told me he has put in a request for an update to the manual. I may now be ordering a second for the motorhome to replace the gas grill, charcoal grill, LPG tanks and hoses and bag of charcoal. Cooks both slow and can make a fast meal. Have not tried the included cast iron griddle yet.

I really love this grill. I used to have a full size Traeger, and I found that even with the cover, it was hard to keep it dry enough to not run into issues. And since I don't have space in my garage for a larger one, I set my sights on the portable Ranger. It has not disappointed me, and I've lost about 10 pounds in the month since I got it. i love using it so much, that I regularly grill chicken, shrimp, elk, bison, etc. No more frozen pizzas and sandwiches for dinner. It is pretty heavy, but I don't mind carrying it in and out of the garage. I run an extension cord out into my driveway, which also has convenient doors right from the kitchen, so it works well. It's the perfect grill for any situation where you're going to be out and about. Camping, tailgating...as long as you have the right power source setup, this thing will get the job done. I find that it's extremely simple to use this grill. You could not engineer a more simple electronic grilling device. It is easy to clean, the pellets burn at a reasonably slow rate, and the flavors are just epic. I highly recommend pairing this grill with the traeger brand seasonings. I love them. I also recommend the drip pan liners, as they are a lot easier to clean up than aluminum foil, which tends to burn at high temperatures in this grill. I haven't had any issues whatsoever, and I find keeping it stored in the garage, and carrying outside when needed is a really convenient arrangement for me. I would not recommend keeping it inside your house, unless you want the house to smell like barbecue all the time. Just remember to let the grill to go through its cool down cycle before powering down, and always give yourself plenty of time to let the grill cool off before you pick it up and carry it.