Traeger Trailhead vs Traeger Ranger Review

[@makanakaahanui7830]

Got the trailhead last November from a pop up traeger stand at Costco. My first smoker ever and I’ve had a ton of fun with it and it’s got me getting a bigger one.

[@ShoppingWithDave]

Glad to hear that you are loving it! What is your favorite thing to smoke?

[@djrelic247]

I like my traeger ranger. yeah I bought the carrying case for it, and grill cover separately. I don't have lot of room on the deck connected to our kitchen. so size is great for me. I put it away every winter and pull it out in the spring. The grill cover is great cause it just goes over and has little protective pocket for the cord. I leave it out in the elements but covered. Never been an issue with it so far in the past 3 years. I dont use the griddle insert though, or bring up temp when I need to sear. I usually just bring food inside to sear, or continue heating (wrapped stuff). Ive made ton of ribs on them (found a vertical rib rack that fits perfectly for three racks), steaks, chicken thighs, and just did a whole chicken yesterday that turned about pretty great. It is kinda heavy with some pellets to be just moving around where ever you want all the time. I might check out trailhead though. I use a portable ANKER power station to power my ranger now and I can maybe like 6hr cooks and the thing doesnt dip under 80%

[@ShoppingWithDave]

I would love to find the rib rack you are using. Grill on!

[@LrgPicture]

I don’t want to be mean about your video and realize I could just scroll past. BUT…. I was already to listen to these 3 problematic differences between the 2 grills. I didn’t see any. 1. The cord on the trailhead (TH) is long enough to connect it to the inverter attached to your car battery. So it’s fine… that’s not an issue. Plus a lot of SUVs and trucks these days have an outlet so there’s that. 2. The hopper being 4lbs lighter is a plus not a minus. It’s a travel grill. A grill specifically designed for traveling and grilling on the go. Who wants to lug around a heavy (ier) grill for the sake of using more pellets without refilling? How long does it take to just add more pellets? The longer you cook you’re going to have to do that anyway, right? 3. Warmer… smh boy boy boy… in a nut shell with the plus or minus factor for temp having a higher temp than a lower temp for warming makes more sense. But honestly it’s not that big of a deal. How long are you warming things anyway. I appreciate you making the video but the gripes just seem a bit petty. It’s a travel grill… made to travel and cook for camping or backyard fun. Hence the travel back (pack) it comes with. 🤨

[@ShoppingWithDave]

The lower warming temp actually gets used a LOT. It is a great way to START a cook to add an extra layer of smoke for an hour or two. The fact that Traeger intentionally made this feature worse on the Trailhead is what is so disappointing.

[@LrgPicture]

@@ShoppingWithDave yeah… sure thing bud

[@fjb960]

​@@LrgPicture low temp is a huge bonus, and the weight difference between the 4 pound and 8 pound capacity is only a few ounces, not four pounds.

[@Cheesin31]

Trailhead looks better for camping or places you don’t want more bulky items to lug around.

[@AquaTech225]

About the inverter. It’s cheaper to throw in an inverter than a solar generator power supply. Otherwise the price would easily be doubled.

[@ShoppingWithDave]

True, but I would much rather have the useful griddle that comes with the Ranger than an inverter that I will never use.

[@edgardocruz2975]

@@ShoppingWithDave Very true!

[@RMora-pk7vm]

I just bought the trailhead, but it’ll having a hard time learning how it works. 🤣🤣 I just need to play with you, I followed the instructions to smoke for 30 mins, and after I made chicken but it wasted all the pellets and it went even cooking for more than 3 hours. What did I do wrong?

[@dstu322]

I picked my trailblazer up for $370 on a promotion. Of course, I'll probably use my savings to buy the griddle 😔

[@ShoppingWithDave]

I hope you love the grill! It can turn out some great bbq :)

[@dstu322]

@CostcoDave I'm loving the grill, I've made some awesome ribs! I'm making pulled pork right now.

[@prim0192]

Traeger Ranger vs z grills 200A

[@ShoppingWithDave]

I had the Z Grills 200A for a while. I loved that it had handles so it was easy to carry. It made great barbecue and was a great unit up until the auger broke. For the price I think the Z Grills is worth it...I went with the Trailhead just out of curiosity.

[@harrywhite9012]

This is a comically terrible review. Every issue listed could be fixed if you weren’t lazy and broke😂

[@ShoppingWithDave]

God bless your little heart!

[@matejovich]

How would u fix the keep warm setting?

[@LrgPicture]

Keep warm at 200 is fine… it’s not that big of a deal. It’s funny because people complained on the ranger about the keep warm function being too low @ 150 smh… silly discrepancy… 200 is fine

[@SuziPoozi]

@@ShoppingWithDave 🤣