Traeger’s latest wood-pellet grills are smoky, smart, and spacious

If you’re a fan of grilling, smoking, or barbecuing your food — either out in the backyard or while you’re lazing on the couch watching a game — Traeger has a new product that should pique your interest. The Salt Lake City-based manufacturer of pellet grills , which recently introduced smart home technology to its products, is launching not just one, but three, new models of its wood-fired grills.

Founder Joe Traeger developed the Traeger wood-pellet grill in 1985 and patented it in 1986. These unique devices use natural hardwood pellets as an alternative fuel source to charcoal or gas to infuse food with a smoky flavor.

Traeger’s newest line of pellet grills represent an evolution of the concept, thanks to the addition of the company’s proprietary control system called WiFire. It enables cooks to remotely monitor and change the temperature of the grill, track the temperature of the food being cooked, and cycle through hundreds of recipes, all via Traeger’s smartphone app.

The new models also include Traeger’s new D2 Direct Drive technology, which jump-starts the cooking process by delivering more power to the grill. This not only creates ultrafast startups but also helps the grill get hotter faster, enabling home chefs to cook more complicated dishes that require more heat. The result is a smart grill that delivers more precise cooking temperatures, which leads to more consistent results. Now let’s take a look at these new grills.

The Pro Series

The Pro Series is based on Traeger’s best-selling grill. There are two models available, the Pro 575 and Pro 780, which sport 575 and 780 square inches of grilling space, respectively. Each model includes an 18-pound-capacity hopper, meat probe, and extra grill rack. Traeger’s new Pro D2 controller allows users to set a temperature range between 165- and 450-degrees Fahrenheit in 5-degree increments.

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Ironwood

This is a new addition to the Traeger family of grills, and the two models, the Ironwood 650 and Ironwood 885, feature 650 and 885 square inches of grilling space, respectively. Sporting a pill-shaped barrel design, the grills range in temperature from 165- to 500-degrees F. For true aficionados of smoked-infused food, there’s a Super Smoke Mode.

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Timberline

The new Timberline models, based on one of Traeger’s most popular grill types, also comes in two models, the Timberline 850 and 1300, which sport a corresponding amount of grill space, respectively. Traeger has incorporated a bunch of features from the original model — including the DownDraft Exhaust, TRU Convection Systems, WiFire remote control, Super Smoke mode, and unique pill-shaped barrel design — into the new grills.

The new Timberline grills also feature a meat probe with a built-in storage compartment, a magnetic bamboo cutting board, a concealed grease pan, three tiers of stainless steel grates, and a keep warm mode. These grills have a temperature range of 165- to 500-degrees F.

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There’s no word on prices yet for these grills, which Traeger has been teasing with the marketing hook “The Original Reinvented.” The Ironwood grills are a new design, but models in the Pro Series currently range in price from $800 to $1,000, while the gigantic Timberline grills range from $1,700 to $2,000. If you head over to www.traegergrills.com, you can check out the new models, and maybe even score yourself a promotional deal.