Are you looking for the best pellet grills under $300?
Under $300 is the cheapest category of pellet grills that you are going to find everywhere. My hope then is that you are reading this because you want to buy a grill but want to spend as little money as possible. This is the sole objective today’s piece.
To be frank however, choosing one of these grills means that there will be aspects that you will simply not get. The cooking surface is generally small for instance. If these factors are more pertinent thus, I would highly encourage you to instead check out my article on grills under $600.
There is no doubt nonetheless, that you can still get a pellet grill that accomplishes much of what you want to do with the price range that we are setting out to cover and for this, I will be able to highlight the strengths of each grill as I go about combing through them.
Moreover, these machines have strengths in some cases that even trump the most expensive grills on the market e.g. on the portability side.
Alright folks, it is time to dive in.
Best Pellet Grills Under $300 (9 Contenders)
Pit Boss Lexington Pellet Smoker Grill
With a cooking area of 540 sq in, the Pit Boss Lexington easily stands out on this list of nine as one of the grills that bears some of the most outstanding features for its price. In fact, one way to look at it is that it is a smaller version of the Pit Boss Pro Series 1100. Let us then take a closer look at this grill.
- Build up. The grill is has a heavy-duty construction thereby making it durable. The steel body also means that it is not prone to rusting which is key if you are going to be using it outdoors.
This Pit Boss is also double-walled thereby enabling it to retain heat when the grilling starts.
- Temperature. Controlling heat on this grill allows you the option of setting the cooking program and letting the grill do the rest but you can also do it manually if at all you have a thing for monitoring every bit of your meat preparation. In both cases, the present temperatures will always display on an LCD screen. The grill can cook up to temperatures as high as 500° F.
This set up helps with mixing the smoke flavours. Moreover, the surface area of this hopper is quite big in comparison to most other grills in this price range.
- Portable. The grill is not that big so it won’t take up much space in case you were worried about where to place it.
The long lasting aspect of the Lexington will be enhanced even further if at all you take care to clean it regularly.
This means that you will need to keep the heating on for a few more minutes after your meat is ready. After this, you can pass a grill brush over the racks to remove any food particles that might have remained.
Pit Boss 71700FB
There you have it folks, our second slot is occupied by yet another Pit Boss. We could not see how to escape this grill not least because of its ability to multi-task. Buying it means that you have gotten yourself a machine that performs eight different functions including; char-grilling, roasting, baking, searing, and braising. We however did not like this Pit Boss’ searing as much.
Here are more things that you want to consider before buying the Pit Boss 71700FB.
- Digital temperature control. This basically means that you can set up the levels of heat at which you want the meat to cook and go do something else. The Pit Boss is especially good in this regard when it comes to slow cooking.
The temperature range allowed is between 180° F and 500° F.
- Cooking area. This grill has quite a large surface area i.e. 700 sq in. Additionally, it has an upper rack that is adjustable as well as removable depending on what the user feels like. The grids are made of cast iron and coated in porcelain thus good at ensuring heat retention as well as balanced cooking. They are equally durable too.
- Pellets. The hopper has a door so you do not have to struggle removing the remnants after cooking or even real pellets say if you want to switch flavours. Thankfully, Pit Boss will also not insist that you use their pellets so you can fully utilize this attribute. Otherwise, some companies will count your warranty as void the moment you opt for pellets made by a competitor.
Talking of warranties, this pellet grill comes with one that goes for at least five years there telling you how much they trust the product.
We do not like the fact that this grill can at times fluctuate in temperature settings especially when cooking at high degrees.
Country Smokers Traveler
Not many people will have heard about this grill as the company itself is new on the market. Like its name suggests though, the grill is pretty small probably to maximize portability if one is moving from one place to another.
Its size is in the range of the Pit Boss Austin XL or the Asmoke AS300. Here are some reasons for you to pick this grill.
- Build up. A lot of innovating went in this one to ensure that the user gets value for their money even when it is a small grill. It allows for both direct and indirect grilling the difference being that it has a sliding cover which can be left intact or removed depending on what it is that one wishes to do with their food.
But it is more than that, this grill has features that other grills can only envy for now. Its pellet reservoir locks for example, meaning that you do not have to transport the pellets and grill separately when on the move fearing that the pellets will be spilt over the place.
The grill is also made from still and therefore durable. Moreover, some of the Country Smokers inadequate features can be compensated by separately buying extra parts (and these can easily be found) e.g. a cover.
- Smoking and temperature. The grills’ smoking will work perfectly fine even at low temperatures. We were also impressed to learn that this grill can go to as high as 450° F.
The Country Smoker still needs to improve on some things though one of which is the cooking area. For now, it only provides 256 sq in. this means that it can only cook two burgers at a time.
Also, you will need a standby power source if you intend to move out with this grill out in the wild.
Z Grills Cruiser 200A
Z Grills is known for mostly the big pellet grills but the Cruiser 200A is an example of how the company has been trying to diversify of recent and boy, they nailed it.
Moreover, this grills benefits from the general experience of the company from these ventures thereby coming off as potent in itself. You do not have to take my word for it though, so let us look at the hard facts.
- Temperature. Like other Z Grills, trust this grill to give you the very best when it comes to heating. The range can go up to as high as 450° F. As for the fluctuations, they are minimal. They will usually be around 10° F less or more from what is displayed. This remains true even over a course of hours of slow cooking.
Perhaps the only downside here is that the grill does not come with a temperature probe. If you can lay your hands on one from another Z Grills though, it will work just fine.
- Durable. This Z Grills is made from thick still and therefore long lasting. It could afford to triple over and still come out without being harmed. That said, it has a three years warranty should anything go wrong.
- Easy to move. This pellet grill has handles to help with movements from time to time.
I do not like the fact that this grill only allows a cooking area of 202 sq in. This is such a limitation on the number of people for whom it can cook food at once.
As for power, the grill only supports 110v a figure that makes it a must to figure out an alternative way of finding a power source if at all you are looking to go away from home.
Even Embers SMK8082AS
Coming with a chimney, two wheels to push around should you wish, and a hopper among other things, the Embers SMK8082AS is another grill that could not miss this list.
Embers is also not known widely as a brand yet it will give you a run for your money should you be willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Still asking why? Here are the reasons.
- Temperature and smoking. Both of these features are readily adjustable on the grill. Smoke is categorized from P0-P4 i.e. lowest to highest. That enough options for you to choose from depending on your taste.
As for the temperatures, the range is even more diverse. Slow cooking goes from anywhere between 180° F and 300° F. High cooking is between 325° F and 565° F there by making it the grill that allows for the highest cooking on this list.
You can always use a meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature. Embers provides standard estimates in its manual that you might always want to keep in mind. Pork and seafood are both capped at 145° F for example.
- Warranty. This pellet grill has a warranty of up to one year.
- Warnings. We also like the fact that this grill has several warnings/notifications which make the grilling experience both smooth and safe. The grill will notify you for instance when plugged in a socket but the control knob is not yet turned on.
Relatedly, unique figures will display on the screen once the grill has reached the possible maximum cooking temperature.
Like most grills, you have to pay attention to Ember’s disclaimers when it comes to who benefits from their warranty and who does not.
That way you can handle the grill in a way assured to gain you repair in case something happens along the way.
Asmoke AS350
Weighing roughly 49Ibs, the AS350 is just a little heavier that Z Grills 200A. This feature allows it a degree of portability that is significantly competitive on a list of small grills.
Many people are also not likely to have heard about this pellet grill before. If you already know the AS300 though, then you can understand this as its upgrade.
Let us see what Asmoke’s new kid on the block has to offer then.
- Grilling. The AS350 has both attributes of direct and indirect grilling so it is up to you the user. The former attribute is made possible by a deflector plate. Mark you, these plates are only compatible with this particular grill for the nine reviewed today.
Things could not be better with the porcelain coated grill grate. This nature allows it to keep heat hence guaranteeing consistence.
- Temperature controller. This feature allows a user to set a temperature at which they want to grill, wait for the grill to get to that point ant then place the meat in before moving on to something else. Moreover, this grill allows such a broad range of temperature from which to cook i.e. 180° F to 500° F.
- Smoking. The upper rack of the grill is removable. Couple this with the rather deep lid and you will be sure to flavour up considerable sizes of whatever it is that you have chosen to work on without having to worry at all.
Moreover, the AS350 has a special removable ash pan which helps with removing the ash even in the middle of cooking. This keeps ash from reaching the food.
- The grill also has a three year warranty that has an option of being extended to five years!
The only issue that we found with the AS350 is that it has a small cooking area i.e. 256 sq in.
KingChii Pro 02
This has literally been priced at $500 at one point so you know you are buying a product worth your money if at you are going to buy it under $300. First and foremost, this grill is special because if the many tasks that it is cut to accomplish. These include char-grilling, searing, baking, and roasting.
Its build is beautiful too. The hopper can carry up to eleven pounds of pellets at once thereby allowing for long stretches of uninterrupted cooking.
As for its legs, on top of the fact that they have wheels for pushing around in cases of short distances, they can be folded if one decides that they are carrying the grill afar.
Pit Boss PP150PPG
With a cooking area of 256 sq in, this grill is certainly pretty small a factor that you cannot avoid if you are going to be using it. There is another way of looking at things though which is portability.
If you are going to take this view then you will quickly realize that the PP150PPG has additional features such as its handles and the lid that locks.
Mark you, this grill can grill, sear, and smoke too. The temperature range that it allows is between 180° F and 450° F.
Hello. Dr Portable Pellet
Hello. Dr is a special potable grill easy to fold and carry with its handle to a camp. It also comes with a water proof bag to aid you in case the weather acts in unexpected ways as well as a tool kit to help with anything that breaks down, needs tightening etc.
The grill has a temperature range of 180° F to 500° F and it has an LCD screen to keep you posted with the displays of the temperature. Internal meat temperature is catered for by the meat probe.
The Hello. Dr comes with a three year warranty.
I do not like the fact that its cooking space is 256 sq in though.