I am the proud owner of a new Memphis Elite. It was quite unexpected...
I finally decided to give pellet cooking a try, and I read/researched/youtubed many many models. I decided to stay away from both the low end and the high end of the market and settled on my price point based on some features that were important to me.
1. Size. I don't always do large cooks, but when I do, I know I'd regret getting too small of a cooker.
2. Direct flame searing / cooking. This feature was important to me.
3. Durability, reliability, reputation.
4. Price.
My favorite direct flame setup was Memphis with their Direct Flame Flavorizer Insert. The design seemed elegant and simple, with a groovy "genie" tool that makes the whole setup process a breeze. But alas, the Memphis was WAY out of my budget. So I moved on.
My next fave was the Yoder YS640 with their two-piece diffuser and Grill Grates setup. Not as elegant as the Memphis, but still a good option. I was a little nervous about Yoder's reputation for high pellet consumption, but that was not a deal-breaker for me. This was my number one choice so far. $1500 for the grill, another $400 or $500 for the accessories I wanted. That was at the top of my price range.
I strongly considered Mak and Rec Tec (Rec Tec being my fall-back budget "friendly" option), but I kept coming back to the Yoder.
So this afternoon the wife and I stopped by the local Yoder dealer to have a good look at it, and to close the deal. Right next to the Yoder was a Memphis Elite, a $5000 grill. The salesperson saw me eyeing it and said do you like the Memphis? I said yeah, but that's way out of my budget. She said it was actually a return, that the guy bought it, used it once and returned it. The owner came out and said $2800 takes it out the door. Some quick math, I was about to drop $2K on the Yoder, and the Memphis came loaded, no accessories necessary.
We walked out without buying anything. I drove around, came home, talked to a couple of Memphis owners, and...
I just couldn't pass it up!
