Looking for mouth-watering, juicy, wood-smoked flavor?
You’ve come to the right place.
In this Traeger grill review, we’ll be looking at everything you need to know about the Bronson 20 portable wood pellet grill.
(Although this will touch on the other Traeger pellet grills as well – so even if you’re looking at a different grill, keep reading!)
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Disclaimer: We received a free Traeger pellet grill in exchange for writing an honest, unbiased review.
How Does A Wood Pellet Grill Work?
Traeger wood pellet grills work by igniting wood pellets (or “wood chips”) using a hot rod, followed by an induction fan stoking the fire and pushing the hot air around the inside of the grill.
To ensure even heating and no wasted pellets, an augur slowly pulls the wood pellets from the hopper.
What’s so great about pellet grills is that you can set the exact temperature you need with the digital control unit!
This all probably sounds complicated – so here’s a visual:
Source: Traegers Website
Pretty cool, right? You can grill, BBQ, or even slow cook on this thing.
If you think it sounds cool, wait till you taste the food.
What’s The Difference Between A Regular Gas BBQ Grill And Pellet Grills?
Gas, electric, and propane BBQ grills are great – but they have their issues.
The main differences between pellet grills and other grills is:
- Pellet grills have more even heating.
- Pellet grills are easier to use (just set the temperature and let it run).
- Pellet cookers taste better (in our opinion). They have that wood-smoked flavor, which also makes it easier to retain the juices in food.
- Gas grills are typically cheaper.
- Gas grills can reach higher cooking temperatures (500-700 degrees as opposed to 450 degrees on wood pellet grills)
For a better understanding of the differences, check out this article by FireCraft.
Now, onto the Traeger grill review!
Bronson 20 Traeger Grill Review
We’ll be judging this bbq grill based on 7 criteria:
- Flavor
- Ease of use
- Packaging
- Durability
- Price
- Cooking Space
- Portability
Let’s dive in!
Flavor – 5/5
The food on this grill is amazing. I honestly can’t describe it well enough.
Compared to a regular gas BBQ grill, wood pellet grills have a smoky, woody flavor. It’s far better than anything I’ve ever tasted on a grill before.
From smoked salmon to a rack of ribs or the classing hamburger and hot dog, everything tastes better on this grill. I’ve yet to find a food that doesn’t taste good on it. It even makes cooking steaks super easy!
Traeger also gave us some of their signature rubs, which were fantastic.
We particularly liked their citrus and black pepper Chicken Rub.
Ease of Use – 5/5
One of the great things about wood pellet grills (especially Traeger’s) is that they’re SUPER easy to use.
It’s literally as easy as plugging it in, putting in the wood pellets, turning on the power button, setting the dial to smoke until the fire lights, then setting turning the temperature control to the temp you want and waiting 10 minutes for it to pre-heat.
Once it’s heated, you just throw your food in and set a time on your phone. It’s literally that easy! Unlike gas or electric grills, you don’t have to keep checking on the food to make sure it doesn’t burn or catch fire.
At most, you have to double check that you have enough traeger pellets or flip your food half-way through cooking. I have ran out of pellets mid-cooking before, and that can be really annoying. Lesson learned!
It’s also super easy to clean. Traeger gave us some of these grease tray liners that can simply be thrown away after a few cooking sessions.
And with their all-natural grill cleaning solution (pictured on left, which is basically just water, tree sap, and garlic) you can fight tough grime stuck on the grill grate surface.
Related Reading: Best Camping Tables to Pair With Your Grill
Packaging – 4/5
I have to admit, the grill came extremely well-packaged. So much so that it was a pain in the butt to get everything out of the boxes!
(Unfortunately, I was too excited to start grilling and totally forgot to take pictures before I unwrapped everything.)
Overall, the grill came to us 100% fine – no scratches or broken parts.
Durability – 4.5/5
We’ve only had the grill about a month now, so it’s hard to say how durable it really is. However, it seems like it’s holding up well so far, and the other reviews on Amazon have mostly said it holds well over time.
Like anything else, if you take care of it, it should last a very long time. We also have a Traeger grill cover, so that will help!
Price – 4/5
Traeger’s grills aren’t the cheapest grills in the market – not by far. But they aren’t unreasonable, either.
The Bronson 20 is currently retailing around $499 and most of Traeger’s grills are in the $500 to $1,300 range (mainly for their pro series pellet grills).
Compared to other wood pellet grills – like the Z Grill or Green Mountain grills – they’re all around the same price. But Traeger (in my opinion) looks better, has some better features, and seems to be the highest quality.
Cooking Space – 4/5
The Bronson 20 is probably the smallest of Traeger’s grills. But even still, there’s room enough for up to 12 burgers! Plenty for a small gathering, and you can always cook two batches.
If you compare this to traditional portable gas grills, it’s actually a great size. Before this, we used a handful of different small portable grills, and they could barely fit enough food for two people.
Portability – 3.5/5
Because of it’s fairly large cooking space, the Bronson 20 isn’t as portable as I’d like it to be.
Sure, the legs can fold in – but if you’re traveling in an RV, unless you have a fifth wheel with a truck, a huge rig with lots of space, or a cargo tray, you’re going to have a hard time finding space for this thing.
It’s also a bit heavier than I’d like. Of course, with that weight comes added durability and less chance of knocking the grill over, so I can’t complain too much!
Overall, it’s perfect for tailgating or throwing in the back of your truck to go camping with.
Overall – 4/5
Overall, we LOVE this grill! I just wish it was a big lighter and a bit easier to find space for in the RV.
The important thing is that the food is super easy to cook and tastes SO good. It really is some of the best tasting grill food I’ve ever had in my life!
Ready to get one for yourself?Click here to check out all of Traeger’s grills,wood chips, and accessories on Amazon!
But enough of our Traeger grill review. I’m passing it to you – did you buy a Traeger grill? What did you think of it? Are you considering the pro series?
Let us know in the comments below!