The most common question that comes into the mind is which of the grills are best for your special type of meat and give your outdoor cooking wings to fly better. The main difference between a Traeger Grill and a Big Green Egg grill is the Fuel, Weight, and Technology. Traeger grill uses wood pellets and Green Egg uses lump charcoal. Traeger has even less weight than that of Green Egg. It is actually a hard nut to crack to choose better among Traeger vs Green egg
In this article, we will specify the key facts about both of the superior brands. Therefore, you could understand these grilling companies.
We will also conclude the best one for you through expert experience. You can still choose it on your own by the comparison, Traeger vs green egg.
Table of Contents
Before heading towards any of the comparisons in these two grilling companies, you must know about the companies and their grills.
✓Wood pellets add smoky flavor to the food.
✓You can set the temperature and forget it.
✓It’s cost effective.
✓The food is cooked faster with pellets.
✓Cooks food evenly.
✓You can choose the wood flavors as you want.
✗In wet weather the wood pellets deteriorate
✗The pellet grills are electric and need power everywhere.
✗Pellets are not available from everywhere.
Trager came into existence by Joe Traeger who wrestled to introduce an innovative idea of grilling. Traeger is a wood pellet grill company. At one point it was the only company that manufactured pellet grills for a long period of time. After 2006, the competition increased and now there are numerous pellet grill brands who offer amazing pellet grills.
You can also check the best pellet smoker to gather a better grilling experience.
Traeger grills are categorized in four series. These series have their own potential to attract the customers and enhance the wood pellet grilling experience of them. You can purchase any of these grills just by going through the specific features because all of these pellet grills have highly advanced features.
The most popular Traeger grill series:
Traeger pro grill series(575 & 780) : This is the basic series of grills that have all in one features. These models have advanced digital control, solid construction, WIFI technology and a lot other features. Our article on Traeger Pro 34 review provide great value to the users.
Traeger Ironwood series(650 & 885) : This series of Traeger has impressed people very well though it’s sizes. There are some physical changes in the ironwood series. The advances features include are attached meat probe, automate pellet monitoring, WIFI control and double side insulation
Traeger Timberline Series (850 & 1300) : Timberline series of Traeger is the same as ironwood. It has additional solid 3 tiers of stainless steel grates. These grills are easy to maintain and provide a lot of space to cook the biggest feasts.
Traeger portable series : These Traeger grills are for camping and tailgating. This series of Traeger is also known as “Tailgate pellet grill”. Two of the best portable grill comparison includes Traeger scout vs ranger that are within an affordable budget.
All of the Traeger grills work the same and have the greatest results. The most preferred are Traeger pro series 575 and Traeger pro series 34. These both Traeger pellet grills are highly demanded by the public and sell the most. The pro 575 has a WIFi controller with Alexa. You can control it through the phone or by your voice. The Pro 34 has digital control system with highly efficient features.
The Traeger pellet grills use wood pellets. Wood pellets are compressed products of sawdust or related industrial waste. They are small cylinder shaped 10-12 mm long pieces.
Traeger makes highly efficient pellet grills, which are popular among people.
Traeger has its own pellet series which contains all of the amazing flavors. Its premium pellets are made up of 100% hardwood. Buying a wood pellet from the same company you bought the grill, is a perfect match. Following are some of the best wood pellets from Traeger.
✓Charcoal strong flavor in food.
✓Gives off extreme juicy meat.
✓Efficient fuel consumption by the grill
✗It takes effort to light the charcoals.
✗Can be costly
It is a kamado style charcoal egg like grill brand. Ed Fisher founded the big green egg which uses the natural charcoal lump and gives off the splendid flavor in food. It’s grills are ceramic egg shaped which retains the heat and provides an extra delicious taste. The big green egg grills are a combination of new generation grills and ancient style clay ovens.
Big green eggs have focused mainly on the construction of the egg. The high tech ceramic insulated material used in green eggs takes it to another level. You can surely trust the big green egg in durability.
The big green egg comes up in seven sizes. From mini egg to the 2XL.
You can choose any of the sizes you want. All of these eggs have almost the same features but different sizes according to people’s needs. You can cook for two people or roast a whole chicken in it.
As the sizes are upgraded the prices rise as well. The most popular green egg is the largest one which is 2XL. It has the largest cooking area along with the best cooking features.
Lump charcoal is used in big green eggs. Lump charcoals are the pieces of wood that are burned in the absence of oxygen and presence of 86% of carbon. It gives off the extra natural taste that people swear on the lovely cooking experience with it.
Lump charcoal makes it easy to control the grilling temperature on green eggs through adjusting the air vents.
If you are planning to buy the big green egg then you must know the best lump charcoals to cook with. The top best Big green egg lump charcoal are:
BBQ masters will always know the value of pellets and natural lump charcoals because these two give off the supreme taste. Both pellet and kamado-style grills offer this natural flavor that's why Traeger and green egg companies are highly demanded.
Both of these grill companies, Trager and green egg have notable names in the grilling market.
Choosing one of these two amazing grills for your outdoor kitchen is like between a rock and a hard place.
It’s acceptable that both of these grilling companies are highly compatible and work greatly in their own way. The real question that arises here is not basically about Trager and green egg. It’s all about pellet grills vs kamado grills.
The Traeger provides the pellet grills in which you could use wood pellets for best smoky flavors. Green egg is an egg shaped ceramic cooking oven that uses charcoal lumps for ignition.
When comparing Traeger vs big egg, you should majorly know what type of grills these two cooker companies offer to their customers
Both pellets and lump charcoals are made up of natural hardwood like oak, maple or hickory etc. There are still differences in using the wood pellets and lump charcoals.
The fruit woods are dominating in the smoking world. Wood pellets have a smoky flavor that gives the food a smoky finishing touch. You can grab the desired flavor and cook your meat with that.
Lump charcoals are slightly strong in providing smoky flavor. They will give a perfect crunchy texture to your meat. Lump charcoal is a bit more expensive than wood pellets.
Before heading towards the result of choosing the one winner among Traeger vs big egg. Let’s talk a little about the major difference between these grills.
The two main prominent differences in these two grilling companies are:
Quantitative measure:
| Big Green Egg | Traeger | |
| Cooking Area | 507-4185 cm² | 176-1343 cm² |
| Weight | 17-170 kgs | 20-102 kgs |
| Shape | Oval Egg | Cylindrical |
| Max Temperature | 480-570°F | 450-500°F |
The most important key features to compare among green egg vs Traeger are mentioned below. Why are Traeger Grills so Expensive is due to the quality they are providing.
The most important key factor to give highly cooked meat is the perfect temperature. If your grill has precise temperature control then you are near to a pro grill master. A high temperature range that a grill provides is the best.
Traeger provides high temperature grilling. You can set it and forget it, once the temperature is adjusted. These grills can reach up to 500°F. The Traeger pellet grills have automatic temperature control.
The green egg can regulate the temperature from 480-570°F. The highly insulated ceramic construction helps retain heat inside the egg. Even the egg traps the heat inside and cooks the food evenly at temperatures below the freezing in the outer environment. In a Big green egg, you have to adjust the vents manually to control the temperature.
Traeger has the most efficient and automatic temperature control system.
Winner: Traeger
Firstly, let us clear this that both of these grills are expensive. None is cheap to be compared with each other. Yes, you can compare in a manner that Traeger provides more cooking space in the same price than green egg. Trager is at least 50% less expensive. As fuel is used, pellets are way less expensive than lump charcoals.
The charcoal lumps can equalize the cost effectiveness in a manner that the egg is a completely closed container. The air remains inside the egg and keeps it hot for long. The charcoal will burn for a long period of time. So less charcoal will be used in the egg.
Overall, the Traeger pellet grills would be cheaper than green eggs by providing a high cooking space.
Winner: Traeger.
The Traeger grills are much bulkier and bigger than the green egg grills. It is easier to store the green egg grill at a secure place than Traeger one.
Both of these grills come in various models and sizes. So you can choose the right one for yourself that suits you. Big Green eggs are normal in size.
Winner: Big green egg
With both of these grills you can bake, smoke, try BBQ, cook directly and indirectly. The green egg is more versatile than Traeger in temperature control and design but still both of these have amazing features
Winner: Both
Traeger grills have dripping trays in which the grease is built up. So these trays can be removed easily and cleaned within quick time.
In green eggs you have to clean out the ashes every time you use the grill. For cleaning you have to wait for the ashes to be cooled down completely. It takes a bit of effort to clean the egg.
Winner: Traeger.
The most important thing that matters for people before buying a grill is it’s long lasting nature. None buys a grill that will expire after a few months of use. Warranty of a grill is its guarantee of staying under control for time being.
In this case Traeger grills have a warranty of about 3 years and Green egg is way less than that. It offers a one year or a bit more warranty that's it.
Winner: Traeger.
Now you know about charcoal lumps, let's skim through how to use lump charcoal. To ignite the big green egg then use lumps of charcoal as the starter. You can bake, grill, smoke, cook directly or indirectly on the egg.
We started by marinating the rib pork for a few hours in the fridge. After that, preheat the mini big green egg for about 15 minutes.
It is recommended to use the convEGGtor for even air flow while cooking on a green egg. We followed the instruction and set the starting grill temperature at 180 degrees.
We adjusted the temperature up to 250 degrees by barely opening the daisy wheel on the top and vents of about 5mm open. Don’t take the temperature to 300 and burn the ribs at the first hour.
Flipped the rib after low and slow cooking after one hour. Then we cooked the ribs for 3-4 hours at the same temperature until the internal temperature reached 165 degrees.
Temperature probe was used to check the internal temperature.
Pro tip:
You can get the wood smoky flavor like Traeger by putting the hand full of wood chips before getting the ribs on the grill and adding some more after the first hour. This will turn the ribs into smoky flavor just like Traeger provides.
Traeger grills cook in every manner. You will get all-in-one flavor in Traeger. Traeger pellet grills allow you to grill, smoke, bake, roast, braise, and BBQ the meat with the purest wood pellets.
A Traeger pellet grill has a hopper for pellets. We added apple flavor pellets into the hopper. The pellet passes through the auger to the firepot where it flames up. Once they fire up, they start giving off the best flavorful taste.
We turned on the super smoke through WiFI and preheated the grill at 225 degrees for 15 minutes. After 3 hours of cooking when the internal temperature reached 160 degrees, we covered the ribs with aluminum foil coated with honey and butter.
Then we cooked the pork ribs for 1.5 hours further at 250 degrees. Checking the internal temperature when it reached 204 degrees, we unwrapped the rib and grilled it for further 15 minutes.
Served it after 10 minutes of cooking. It actually came out juicy!
The most beneficial point about Traeger pellet grills is to Just set it and forget it!
You can add the hardwood pellets at one time and after that the auger will feed the pellets itself.
Pro tip:
You can spray the apple juice on the pork ribs constantly after every half hour for juicy and tender results and keep the bone side down
As you know we have tested both of the grills. As Traeger pellet grills have their own Wood and Smokey flavor with highly efficient features. Big Green egg is not less than Traeger. It's egg shape and charcoal flavor makes it stand out of the league.
Here are the pros and cons to summarize the better and worst things in both of these leading grill brands.
✓Temperature is controlled digitally
✓It has a large cooking area.
✓Automatic process of grilling.
✓Cooks the food quickly.
✓Effortless ignition system.
✓Can control and monitor the grill setting via mobile phone.
✓No ash cleaning after every use.
✓Can choose the flavor of pellets according to need.
✗Heavy unit
✗Can’t run without electric power.
✗Excessive pellets are required for whole day cooking.
✓The ceramic construction is solid and holds heat well
✓It’s designed small and compact
✓It retains heat properly.
✓It can be used anywhere
✓It doesn’t require electricity.
✓Heat is distributed evenly
✗The egg can be heavy to move.
✗Must check constantly to prevent burning the food.
✗Lump charcoal is more expensive than hardwood pellets.
Is Traeger better than Big Green Egg?
Big Green Egg is an American company that manufactures outdoor cookers. Traeger is a North American company that manufactures outdoor cookers. Both Traeger and Big Green Egg have a reputation for being good, high-quality cookers. But Traeger has a slight edge when it comes to price. Traeger’s best-selling grill is the Smokepro, which retails for about $1,400. Comparatively, Big Green Egg’s best- selling grill, the “L” series, retails for about $1,900.
What grill is better than the green egg?
If you want to try something new then check out the Green Mountain Grill. It has the same ceramic cooking plate as the Green Egg, but newer models can do a whole chicken, whereas the Green Egg cannot. In fact, the Green Mountain Grill cooks a lot more items than the Green Egg.
Are Traeger grills worth it?
If you are a fanatic about grilling, you can’t go wrong with Traeger grills. The Traeger grills use a special grill system for cooking in a smoke-free manner. Traeger grills are easy to use and provide great Smokey flavor for your food. In addition to these, Traeger grills are also quite easy to clean. Traeger grills also come with a solid one-year warranty that covers almost all the components in Traeger grill. Traeger pellet grills are great for both commercial and home use. In Traeger pellet grill review, you will find that like other grills, it does not cost much to run Traeger grills.
What grill is better than a Traeger?
A Weber Grill. Weber has been in business for over 100 years. Their grills are durable, fairly priced and easy to use. Most of them are portable, but fairly heavy. These grills are designed for people who like to spend more time outdoors.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow to accept one of these grills superior over another. Both of these are the leading brands in the Barbeque market. It’s hard to select one in Traeger vs green egg
Traeger grill is selected as the top for best price and size. The size of Traeger grills are amazing. You can cook anything you want on these grills. The temperature control is automated. You can find the digital grilling system in Traeger.
When it comes to tradition and advanced cooking then a big green egg is one step ahead in the game. Green egg has used the ancient kamado style cooking system that has attracted many of the consumers.
Still we will conclude that Traeger is the better option for you to buy but Big green egg can give you hours of low and slow smoky flavor as well.
Go ahead and buy the right one for you!
