Treager’s latest pellet grill features improved hood (yay) and a touchscreen (nay) • TechCrunch

Photo credit: Matt Burns

Traeger’s latest pellet smoker brings welcome innovation at a new price point. The company has just unveiled its latest Ironwood design, which features a handful of features that were introduced in the pricier Timberline line a few months ago. As a long-time Traeger smoker owner, I am pleased with these updates as they make using the grill more organized and cleaner.

I’ve been using the $1,999 Ironwood XL grill since last week. So far I’ve cooked a large batch of competition chicken thighs, a few whole chickens, and a tray of Brussels sprouts. I expect to publish a full review on the smoker in the coming weeks; I have a few things to cook first. So far the smoker makes a good impression, although I have some reservations about the build quality.

The big innovation concerns the fat separator. It’s so much easier with the new Ironwood and Timberline grills. On previous Traeger models (and almost all competing products), the drips flow down a large metal pan into a narrow channel that leads to a bucket. This channel is often the problem and requires constant attention and frequent cleaning. Well, the entire underside of the smoker is the duct. All drops fall onto a spilled piece of metal leading to a large bucket in the center of the smoker. Traeger introduced this redesign to their high-end redesigned Trimberline models a few months ago, and I love it.

This construction offers a significant advantage. All food bits and drips end up in the same place, resulting in a cleaner burn. And then, when the smoker has cooled, the owner can shove the remaining scrum into the bucket without removing any part of the grill. It is so easy. I hate cleaning my other Traeger grills. The new design changes the game.

The other significant change concerns the smoker’s hood. Instead of having a door at the front of the hood, the entire hood folds back. As a result, the hood is one piece except for a tiny hole for thermometer wires. The advantage is that without a door, much less air escapes. The downside is that when you open the hood the internal temperature drops very quickly – in the cold Michigan winter I lost 100 degrees internal temperature in two minutes and it took me about 25 minutes to recover.

Overall, the redesigned smoker is impressive, but I have concerns about the durability of the LCD control screen and temperature dial. The control knob is crucial to the operation of the grill and is made out of cheap plastic. The gears in the knob are made of even worse plastic. I’m afraid it will weather badly and degrade quickly when exposed to the elements. That key touchpoint feels cheesy, and the rest of the grill feels rock solid. The touchscreen works poorly in extreme weather. My Ironwood XL review was covered in ice this morning thanks to an overnight ice storm, so I tried out the touchscreen after quickly brushing it free of the snow and ice. It did not work. The touchscreen had to be completely free of ice before it responded precisely to touches. Does it work in the rain? I’m not sure, and that’s a big concern for me. Who runs a smoker in the rain and snow, you ask? Me; I do.

I have to live with the smoker to give definitive impressions. So look for a review in the coming weeks. But ever since my first cooks, I’ve been impressed with the evolution of Traeger design. Key areas have been updated to fix core flaws and that’s a good start.