Another member here sent me a message asking about my opinion of the PG-500. In his "Thank You" reply he called it an in-depth review. I hadn't thought of it as such but after mulling it over I thought that other members may find a nugget of gold in it. (It's probably iron pyrite.)
See
Cookshack Pellet GrillsSo here are my opinions. It's the only pellet unit I've cooked on or tasted food from.
I started grilling on an inexpensive Char-Broil gas grill in December 2010. I bought my Bradley Smoker in December 2011 and my Cookshack PG-500 in December 2012. The first two were purchased without an appreciable amount of forethought. The PG-500 was selected after reading whatever I could find on Green Mountain Grills, MAK Grills, Memphis Grills and Cookshack Grills. I initially wanted a Cookshack Fast Eddy PG-1000 but purchased the PG-500 after feeling assured that it is essentially a non-insulated and reshaped PG-1000 that's $1500 less expensive.
Marcia and I originally preferred our meat cooked over charcoal. But I persistently tried to cook on the Char-Broil gasser. I finally concluded that if I cannot see the fire and cook directly over it then I'm just cooking in an oven. All I could taste when grilling meat was the meat (that's good) and whatever I rubbed, brined or marinated with (also good). But something was missing—the fire. It seems to me that most people cooking on gas grills try to simulate cooking over a fire by also burning wood chips or pellets. My solution was to go back to charcoal while researching which wood pellet grill to buy.
I chose the Fast Eddy line primarily because I wanted what is commonly called the flame zone. I figured that I already had the Bradley smoker for smoking duty even though I (1) had to install a PID for temperature control and (2) planned to replace the 500-watt heating element with one twice as large to speed up temperature recovery after opening the door. After smoking on the PG-500 the Bradley has sat idle. I may use it for cold smoking this winter.
So...That's the history. Now what I know about the PG-500 and would I buy one again.
Would I buy one again?I don't know. I would have to conduct another long in-depth study. The playing field has changed.
- I might have bought a GMG but they were having ongoing problems with seriously uneven temperatures and warping drip pans. They may be solved now.
- Other manufacturers have developed grill/searing zones.
But...I think I would buy one again.
What do I know about the PG-500?- It's amazingly well-made. It's high-nickel stainless steel so it isn't likely to rust like the flimsy low-quality stainless steel Char-Broil uses. It's heavy—I could barely get it off of the pallet and needed help getting it up one step and over the threasholds.
- It has wheels on one leg set. Castors are available for the other two legs to make it easier to move (did I mention that it's heavy?). Don't buy the castors 'cause they make it un-level left to right by a half-inch.
- You can adjust the delivery frequency and duration of pellets to the fire. They control the temperature swings and the amount of smoke produced. The smaller the temperature swings the less smoke is produced. Most users find settings that produce the results they want for various kinds of cooks but a new user will need to climb a small learning curve.
- There aren't many dealers so potential buyers will be limited intheir ability to see or cook on one before buying.
- The beautiful stainless steel has a downside. It shows the inevitable drippings and stains. Although getting stuff clean is a process offering scant return for the required effort I do it anyway even though I have no recollection of anyone becoming ill from a pit's lack of a sterile exterior.
- The doors that open like cargo doors take a bit of getting used to. When open they seem to hold heat in better than a roll-top. They also hold smoke in so it's often hard to see into the pit.
- The flat top blocks light making it difficult, sometimes, to see inside. I found a useful auxiliary light. Some people wear a headlamp.
- I think the optional front shelf is useful.
- I still, after a year, haven't perfected grilling over the flame zone. The steaks, chops, burgers and the like are not bad, they just don't match the taste of items grilled over charcoal. Reverse searing helps. Other users say it produces "best ever" meat.
- Quite a bit of pellet ash blows around inside the pit when it's new. As the interior seasons and becomes a bit sticky/greasy the ash is captured. I've never seen it on my food but I know it was there when the pit was new. It's just not as noticeable on food surfaces. The solution is to cook some bacon (memorable flavor) and burgers right away.
- There are definite temperature variances in the four pit zones. It's done on purpose and a number of users have become adept at using them to simultaneously cook foods at different temperatures. I maintain a comprehensive zone temperature chart, based on empirical data, that I use for multiple-zone cooking.
- The flame zone has cast iron grates. They rust. I believe that the extremely hot temperature there burns the seasoning off. Many users have opted for the $60 stainless steel grates. GrillGrates must be modified (opened up for air flow). Not everyone has a rust problem.
- It doesn't have any remote, WiFi, Bluetooth or graphing capabilities but I think some of that is in development. We get hints from Fast Eddy Maurin. I might like it.
- The warming drawer is useful.
- The flat top will be about the same temperature as the interior. That means it shouldn't be used as storage for something you don't want to warm. However, it's also handy for keeping things warm.
- I don't read about any pit failures or any other complaints like I did when I was studying other pits.
- I loved the pellet hopper emptying door until (1) I quit switching pellet flavors so often and (2) I bought a Home Depot Buckethead vacuum that snaps onto their orange buckets. Now I just store the pellets in the bucket they are vacuumed into.
