This is my review of the
Blaz’n Grill Works Grid Iron. I bought my Grid Iron in September 2013. At that time Blaz’n Grill Works was offering 3 models:
The Grand Slam: The Grand Slam is 24" x 19.5" for a total of 468 square inches.
Top cooking shelf is 19.5" x 10" for a total of 195 square inches.
Total cooking surface is 663 square inches.
The total weight is 174 lb.
MSRP: $1099.00 + shipping
The Grid Iron: The Grid Iron is 36" x 19.5" for a total of 702 square inches.
Top cooking shelf is 31" x 10" for a total of 310 square inches.
Total cooking surface is 1012 square inches.
The total weight is 224 lb.
MSRP: $1299.00 + shipping
The Tailgater: No information as I believe this one is no longer available. At least it is not showing on their web site.
Blaz’n Grill Works now offers the
Pro Series which is the Grand Slam and the Grid Iron equipped with a new digital “Memphis Style” controller. I believe this is the same controller that is on the Memphis, Rec Tec and Louisiana pellet grills.
The original grills come standard with the Ortech controller. I purchased the upgraded controller once it became available. Currently you can order both of the grills with the new controller. I don’t know the pricing on these upgraded grills.
They also will custom paint the lid and the hopper lid for an additional cost.
All models have double walls in the front, rear and side panels. They offer an optional insulated bolt-in lid panel. The pellet auger is different than most as it is round cut, made from a round rod, to eliminate jerking on the motor. They also come with an “optional” cover. I say optional but it was one of the 3 choices for free accessories when I bought mine. They also offered a sear kit and the insulated lid panel. I opted for the cover.
The lower body on the grill is made of 16 gauge steel. The lid is 12 gauge and the deflector is 10 gauge.
Here is how my Grid Iron was delivered. For information from the manufacturer’s location of
Beatrice, Nebraska to my house in Hinesville, Georgia shipping was only $85.00 and this included lift gate
service.The only installation required was to put the legs and the lower shelf on the body.
Here is after putting it to together. It has 4 locking caster wheels. Fast forward 3 months and this is how it is looking after a multitude of cooks. The new controller! It is set at a low of 160 and a high of 600. I can only take mine to 450 as I
did not opt to replace the auger to reach the higher temps as I have my charcoal grill for searing.Manufacturer information in the hopper lid.30 pound hopper capacity and notice the lips around the hopper. The lid fits down over the lips and
helps keep any moisture out of the pellets. As you can tell by some of the pictures I rarely use the
cover anymore and it rains a lot here in Georgia.View from the right side with the drip bucket and the pullout burn pot. The pull out burn pot.The 10 gauge deflector shield. I left it up for photo purposes only. 409 stainless steel drip plate.Removable 3 piece 409 stainless roller grates. The standard half shelf.Controller probe placement.Standard collapsible front stainless steel work shelf.Thin blue smoke on warm up. Loaded this morning with some “party wings” for my wife’s work tomorrow and some pig candy for
the son and his wife. My overall rating on this pellet grill is excellent. This is an American made pellet grill manufactured in Beatrice, Nebraska. I don’t notice the temp swings like I do in the smaller Traeger junior. If you notice in the 3rd picture there are a bunch of foil wrapped bricks. I used these when I had the Ortech controller to help stabilize the temp swings, which weren’t much only around 10 to 15 degrees. Once I put the new controller on and ran some temp tests with the bricks in and the bricks out I found that the controller keeps the temps within +/- 5 degrees. This was without the bricks in so I removed them. I have found the only hot spots are around the front edge of the cooker. I did add a high heat oven gasket around the lid edges of the cooker. When I was contemplating purchasing a large pellet grill I narrowed the field down to 3. The Yoder YS640, the Rec Tec and the Grid Iron. I have never cooked on a Yoder and I understand it is an excellent cooker. I did have the chance to cook on the Rec Tec at The Gathering and it also is an excellent model. I decided between the 3 of them that I would go with the basically unknown Blaz’n Grill Works. I guess I have always been a “sucker” for the underdog or unknown and that is my nature. I also liked the look of the Grid Iron and the fact that it came standard with a second shelf (even though only a half shelf) and the front shelf. I have no regrets at all about this purchase. The only things I would change on this is I wish it came with a full upper shelf and I would have like to have seen the controller probe mounted either a little lower or towards the back of body. I would also like the exit for the smokestack lowered more towards the grate level. I think this would help draw the smoke more evenly across the grates. I haven't used the full 1012 square inch capacity yet, but it will definitely be filled on my next request to do pork butts for my friends, co-workers and family. I have seen one loaded with 9 pork butts so that is definitely a lot of pulled pork.
If you are interested in the Grid Iron or the Grand Slam the person to contact is Tim Mickey at 855-634-9233 or
tmickey@blazngrillworks.com . He is really great to deal with and maybe tee can contact him about becoming a sponsor on our forum.
Any questions you have I will be more than willing to answer or if I don't know, will try to find the answer.