Smokers / Grills

Pellet grills are probably the easiest to use of anything you can buy. Traeger is the default. There are more expensive versions (Yoder, Rec Tec) and less expensive (Green Mountain Grills). They're all pretty similar. Mostly the difference is how much steel was used to build them and how many electronic doodads are built into them. Personally I'd recommend less built in doodads and if you need doodads, buy a thermometer with wifi and all that shit so when the doodads quit working you don't have to buy a whole new grill.

If you want to sear your steaks at 700 degrees then a pellet grill isn't going to do that, but they will grill your food reasonably well. I have a weber gas grill that I use for grilling but I had it before I bought the Yoder so I don't know if I would have bothered with it if I bought the pellet grill first.

I have a Yoder YS640 and I love it. The thing is built like a tank and works every time, but there are considerably cheaper options that are equally effective. I did back my pickup into it once and it suffered zero damage though, which may not have been the case if it was a Traeger.

I still have fond memories of my weber smokey joe in my apartment in California that didn't allow charcoal grills. I was on the second floor so no one could see it even though the smell is pretty unmistakable and I was making perfectly seared tri tips and shit on the balcony with my little $30 grill. When it comes to bang for your buck there's no competition for a weber kettle. That thing is 25+ years old now and still looks brand new although I never use it anymore.