Traeger Woodridge Evaluation | GearJunkie Examined

I’ve been smoking meat on a Traeger for about 8 years, and I’ve cooked some scrumptious meals. However expertise has modified vastly since I acquired my old-school pellet grill. So, I jumped on the alternative to do a Traeger Woodridge assessment. Launching in the present day, the Woodridge line packs fashionable expertise right into a pellet grill that begins at $799.

In a world of excessive inflation, the brand new Woodridge prices lower than my non-Wi-Fi Traeger Professional Sequence 34 did in 2017. However how would this new Traeger carry out? May it change my grill that’s cooked a whole bunch of unbelievable meals, from steaks to veggies to brisket? I used to be prepared to seek out out.

Briefly: The Traeger Woodridge is a prepare dinner’s pellet grill at a price worth. The Woodridge line (together with the Woodridge, Woodridge Professional, and Woodridge Elite) maintains most of the capabilities of Traeger’s premium fashions however prices $1,000 much less. It will get scorching quick, maintains regular temperatures, and presents straightforward cleansing. Wi-Fi management permits cooks to regulate lengthy smokes from wherever. And it will get scorching sufficient for sear.

Searching for one thing smaller? Try the finest transportable grills.

Traeger Woodridge Meeting

The pre-release Traeger Woodridge arrived on a pallet the day after New 12 months’s Day. As anticipated, it weighed about 200 kilos, and I needed to enlist the assistance of an workplace mate to load it into my truck. However I obtained it residence in a single piece and set to work on meeting.

For many customers, that is the place you’ll start your journey. Count on a big field, good directions, some heavy lifting, and a six-pack. I did the meeting alone, however I might extremely suggest a buddy. It’ll be quicker, extra enjoyable, and a lot simpler.

Traeger says you’ll be able to assemble the Woodridge in about 90 minutes. I contemplate myself fairly helpful, and it took me a strong 3 hours alone. It wasn’t dangerous, however be warned: There are a whole lot of screws.

Be sure you have a whole lot of house, some endurance, and time. Observe the well-written directions. I used an influence drill dialed method down on its energy to hurry the method. For those who do, be cautious to not strip the bolts. It labored for me.

Lengthy story quick, 3 hours later, the grill was prepared to fireside up for seasoning.

Traeger Woodridge Evaluation

First, here’s a little context about my grilling and smoking. I like to prepare dinner, however I’m not a chef. I prepare dinner for ardour and enjoyable, and I like making an attempt new recipes.

Traditionally, I exploit the Traeger principally for gradual cooking and smoking meat — suppose brisket, smoked salmon, and even goose pastrami. I prepare dinner a whole lot of wild recreation and infrequently braise meats like elk shanks for a lot of hours to tenderize powerful cuts.

So, the Traeger is one in every of a number of instruments in my cooking arsenal. I even have a small Inexperienced Egg komodo grill, which I normally use for warmer grilling. And this brings me to one of many first checks for the Woodridge: May it get scorching sufficient? My previous Traeger actually struggled to get above 400 levels.

I fired up the Woodridge and set the temp to 500 levels. Let’s see what this shiny new contraption may do.

Excellent news. After about 20 minutes, the Woodridge was pegged at 500 levels. That’s lots scorching sufficient to sear a steak or prepare dinner burgers shortly. And it’s vastly hotter than my previous Traeger ever reached. It’s additionally price noting that the ambient temperature was solely about 20 levels Fahrenheit after I did this check. Colour me impressed.

I dropped the temp right down to 375 for my first prepare dinner and threw on some buffalo wings, following Traeger’s recipe. No shock right here; they turned out scrumptious.

Second Prepare dinner within the Traeger Woodridge

For my second prepare dinner, I made a decision to lean into the smoke and low-slow cooking of a pot roast. And on this case, I cooked a venison spherical steak left over from the 2023 season.

Firing up the grill, I introduced it to 180 levels and obtained some smoke rolling. Right here, it could have been good to improve to the Woodridge Professional for its “tremendous smoke” mode, however I made do with the bottom mannequin at low temp to see what would occur.

About 90 minutes later, I had a pleasant deep pink smoked look on the skin of the meat. The smoker was certainly doing its job.

To finish this recipe, I pushed the temperature to 275 levels and loaded the meat right into a Dutch oven with potatoes, carrots, onions, wine, broth, and spices. I coated it, shut the lid, and went to the workplace.

From there, I may monitor the temperature whereas I took conferences for a few hours. I even pulled up my Ring digital camera a few instances to verify all the things was secure and sound in my yard whereas the grill was cooking. Know-how actually is a marvel generally.

What was the decision? Scrumptious.

Who Ought to Purchase It?

Based mostly on this early testing, I believe the Traeger Woodridge is successful. It will get hotter, quicker than my previous smoker. It appears to be a lot simpler to wash. I like the intuitive settings and talent to make use of a Wi-Fi-based app to observe my cooking from wherever.

I haven’t used it sufficient but to want to offer it a full cleansing, however I’ll replace this assessment after one other dozen or so cooks to supply the most effective info I can for these looking for grills.

I think cleansing shall be a lot improved. My previous Traeger Professional Sequence 34 had a bucket that held on the facet to gather grease. I unintentionally dumped it and its contents no fewer than 5 instances since I’ve owned it. Nasty. It additionally required me to hoover out the inner combustion space each couple of months, which was a serious ache.

I hope the Woodridge is an enchancment and suspect will probably be.

The Woodridge has one different neat functionality, which the model calls its “Pop-And-Lock,” or P.A.L., system. This lets you very simply add equipment like shelving. I added a entrance shelf with the system, and it truly is slick.

I additionally like the worth. In contrast with different fashions, the Traeger Woodridge is comparatively reasonably priced. The bottom mannequin retails for $799, and the Professional mannequin — including more room and a Tremendous Smoke mode — prices $999. The Elite mannequin comes at a extra premium worth of $1,599 however provides insulation to the physique and a 1,100W infrared facet burner.

An informed guess says the bottom Woodridge and Woodridge Professional fashions will dominate gross sales, catering to those that need premium capabilities at an inexpensive worth. It’s nonetheless early in my testing, however I already just like the Woodridge’s efficiency greater than my previous mannequin. The power to succeed in 500 levels, Wi-Fi management, and simplified cleansing are main enhancements that may make this a way more versatile and user-friendly grill.

For these on the lookout for a pellet grill able to all the things from lengthy, gradual cooks to blazing scorching sears, the Traeger Woodridge presents a compelling selection. It has a lot of the options of higher-end fashions at a worth that leaves room for groceries.