Traeger Grills

It’s the weekend, the sun’s shining, and you’re entertaining the family. At some point, food will be necessary, and there’s really only one option: barbeque. If you want to spend more time with your guests, there’s no need to pop inside to check if the oven’s up to temperature, whether the meat’s cooked, whether there marinade needs a little more flavour; you can do all of that whilst your guests sit beside you, deliberating the results of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Back in the Brookside Blog’s infancy, we examined charcoal and gas BBQs, debating the pros and cons of each, but there’s another contender we didn’t consider back then, and that’s the wood-pellet grill. 

If you’re talking pellet grills, you’re talking Traeger Pellet Grills – others pellet grills are available but none in the same league – and we’ve stocked them here at Brookside for well over 2 years now. But they’re so much more than BBQs; they’re an outdoor cooking experience, a lifestyle that centres on making al fresco cooking and dining an event to be shared. The company’s vision is as innovative as its products, with an unwavering commitment to progress and quality that has seen this relatively new company lead the way in wood-fired cooking; there’s a focus on selling the experience rather than aesthetics of the product, and trust us, once you’ve gone Traeger, you’ll never go back.

Joe Traeger, from Mt Angel, Oregon, was a BBQ devotee, irritated by the inconsistency of barbequing, the under or over-cooked food that seemed to have no pattern or solution, and sought to eradicate the problem. When a friend shared a bucket of wood pellets with him, the idea for his revolutionary grill started to form. In 1985, the Original Wood-Fired Grill was created, delivering a consistency that transformed the cooking process; a year later, the grill was patented, and since then, the system has been honed to provide the customer-focussed ease of today’s grills. 

After twenty years or freedom, however, the patent expired, and the competition – with twenty years to hone their own products – took hold, improving on Traeger’s designs, affecting the business severely. Whilst Traeger may have made its own improvements since those days, the next seven years were a period of turmoil for the company, and it was sold several times until 2014, when it was bought by Trilantic Capital Partners, a group of investors that included  Jeremy Andrus; that was the turning point for Traeger. Having learned many lessons when working with Skullcandy, Andrus was intrigued by Traeger and how he could help the company grow as he felt it should. There was no doubt the brand was unique, but what Andrus found particularly unusual was the dedication of Traeger owners; there was a community of die-hard fans, many with the company from the start, never deviating, and that became the basis for marketing the products: the barbequing experience, bringing people together with food, creating bonds that only the sharing of food can, and that has remained with the company ever since.

Traeger Pellet Grills already differ from most other BBQs and grills, and whilst the appearance prevents them from getting lost in the array of products on the market, aesthetics are not the primary aim of the company. Search for Traeger, and along with the various grills, you’ll find a range of accessories that includes rubs and sauces; search their website, and there are the same grills, Traeger-specific recipes – Texas-style brisket gets 4.8/5, as does salt-crusted baked potatoes – and the ‘Traegerhood’, a community built around enthusiasts that includes restaurants serving Traeger-cooked dishes, a YouTube channel offering different recipes each week, socials, including Instagram with 1.2m followers, and an array of award-winning chefs and pitmasters, endorsing the Traeger way; if your passion for the brand extends further, you can treat yourself to some Traeger clothing.

After seven years of selling the grilling dream, the company went public on the New York stock exchange, and today, its net worth is $190million; the Traeger experience is clearly working!

At Brookside, we’ve held Traeger demonstration days, and we’ll no doubt hold more in the future because these grills really are as good as they assert; we’ve tested them and found nothing else that comes close, even without the communal experience; throw in a few friends and family, and we’re certain you too will never look back.

We currently stock the Pro 780, the Pro 575 and the Pro 22, plus a myriad of accessories: bucket liners, folding shelves, grill covers, pellets, pellet containers, rib racks, rubs and sauces, and we absolutely love these grills!

If you’re an alfresco dining fan, you’d be hard pushed to find a better way than the Traeger way. Consistent results negate the fear of over or under-cooking food, and you’ll be able to do much more than just grill; Traeger grills allow you to also bake, barbecue, braise, roast and smoke, and the dedication of the company to the brand provides a culture of support for as long as you have Traeger. But there’s more… Cooking with wood may be an ancient practice – one that Traeger embraces fully – but it could not contrast more with their  with their ethos! Purchase one of their products, and you can download an app that allows you – amongst other things – to start your cooking, adjust temperatures and store recipes; it’ll send you alerts too, so you’re not chained to the grill for the duration of your event – nothing ancient about that!

With such passion for creating the best cooking experience possible, Traeger seem to have outdoor cooking well and truly covered; it’s clear they care for their audience and want them to be happy long after they’ve made their purchase. So, if you want to wow your guests with an event like no other, there’s really only one way to go…