In an earlier post, I included the Traeger Camp Grill in a list of what to pack when headed out. I received an inquiry about it and thought it might be a good product to add to the Product Reviews page.
Product: Traeger Portable Tabletop Grill (TPG+Grill) http://www.traegergrills.com/s...es/ptg/TFT17LLA.html
I have used this grill exclusively since I bought my first Traeger at Costco last spring. This is a Pellet Grill that will do everything asked of it. I loved my full size so much, I goggled Traeger Camp Grill and found this one that I now use for my camping. In a rating standard of 1 to 10, I rate this an easy 10. It is self lighting as well as self feeding and self cleaning, providing the convenience of LP but the flavor of charcoal.
It works by filling a hopper with the wood pellets of your choice (hickory, mesquite,cherry etc,) set the temp you want to cook at and let it do its' work. (it does require a 110 outlet to run an auger and fan) It uses an auger to move enough of the pellets and fan to keep coals hot and maintain the heat you set it to. You can smoke at 200, bake at 350 or grill at 425. It it very good at maintaining the heat as long as you don't keep "checking it." If you're smoking, you might need to push the pellets down the hopper once or twice as it drops from the center and sometimes the pellets don't drop as they should. A full hopper provides 4 to 8 hrs cooking time depending on the temp your are maintaining. I have baked bread and pizza, smoked brisket, grilled perfect steaks, baked potatoes and corn, toasted buns.... just about anything you can do in your oven or stove top, you can cook on this grill. Fanning the coals makes it a convection oven so it keeps an even temp.... no hot-spots.) When you are finished cooking, you turn it to a shut-down mode and it will burn pellets that have already been fed to the burner to a temp that completely eliminates the ash. The only cleaning is wiping down the grill itself and tossing the aluminium foil used to cover the catch tray.
You can use the TPG to cook for up to 4 people. If you have a larger need, check out the rest of their grill sizes at: http://www.traegergrills.com/shop/grills or watch for it at Costco. This is the season it would start showing up if they carry it this year. Last Spring I bought the Tailgater Grill.
The only thing I have ever come up with that is a little bit of an inconvenience is that the pellets have a tendency to stick to the edges of the hopper on long smoking times. It can smoke for up to 8 hrs without intervention as long as they feed okay.
