Pit Boss 700 FB Pellet Grill and the return of the Green One!

[hikerman]

Nice looking PP Smoke!
Although I'm not going to go so far as Pappy did saying you have a cute little butt!
That's just wrong!

[smokeasaurus]

Nice looking PP Smoke!
Although I'm not going to go so far as Pappy did saying you have a cute little butt!
That's just wrong!

 

[smokeasaurus]

Well, I decided when I started the review, that it would last as long as a bag of pellets. Sorry it took me so long to wrap this up, but I work part time for a Estate Sale outfit and have been kinda busy. Got 2-3 weeks until the next sale so back to posting.

I did not do any pellet consumption testing but overall I figure the consumption on this unit is on par with similarly priced models.

Temp control: super wide temp swings. Worked with the mfg and adjusted P-settings to no avail.

Overall Quality: pretty impressive for this price point. Solid unit.

Bells and Whistles: not too many......Just set your temp and cook. No extra probes. About as plain a controller as possible. However the grill does have a pellet dump. The Flame Broiler/deflector plate is really nice and is unheard of at this price point

Do I like it?

Yes I do...in fact I like this pellet grill alot. Even with the crazy temp swings and outdated controller, everything that has come off this grill has been outstanding. I just set the temp and worry about the internal temp of the meat.

If I wanted a pellet grill to be my primary cooking tool, I would be going towards Mak,Memphis,Cookshack and Firecraft. I mostly use this grill for when Wendy and I are both working and I can have it smoking away while we are out and about.

This grill has performed admirably since assembled and I really have no complaints.  There are folk on the PitBoss Facebook page that use there grills almost every day with no problems.

At this price point with the quality you get, it is a great pellet grill to test the waters.

How long before I have to replace something? Will update the review when that happens.

Thanks for your interest and I feel I called it like I see it 

[tomcrete1]

Fantastic review, I sometimes wonder about what I could've had with what I spent on the Rec Tec Mini. I don't regret my purchase but I'm envious of yours. 

[smokeasaurus]

Fantastic review, I sometimes wonder about what I could've had with what I spent on the Rec Tec Mini. I don't regret my purchase but I'm envious of yours. 

Well, you won't find Rec Tecs clearance priced at Walmart. You got a great pit Tom 

[Hub0000]

Great review very thorough. It helped lead me to this site. Now that you've had it for little while I have a few questions if you don't mind. How has the pellet consumption been. I also read your review of the Camp Chef and in it you talked about the good smoke you got up to about 300°. How would you compare the smoke with the Pit Boss. Also,  I know the Camp Chef was a more deluxe model but how would you compare the 2 strictly on a cooking ability basis. Any other info you might think useful would also be appreciated.
My local Walmart has the basic model Camp Chef and the Pit Boss 700fb. The Pit Boss is on clearance and is about $50 cheaper than the entry model Camp Chef. I all but have my mind made up on the Pit Boss

[smokeasaurus]

Well, six months in and no problems. Pellet consumption has been a little heavy as of late. Of course the cold weather does not help. The flame broiler deflector tray is so handy.

I have high regards for Camp Chef and you will be happy with either. Pit Boss is a great way to jump into the pellet game and have money left over for pellets 

Time to go buy one my friend......and thank you for the kind words.

[Subvet]

I sure would like to see a Pit Boss in person. Our local Walmart does not sell them nor does the one 25 miles away. This part of Texas seems to be non-pellet smoker country. Today I went to Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot to see if anyone stocks pellets. Nothing.  I may just buy the unit and pellets from Amazon.

[smokeasaurus]

I sure would like to see a Pit Boss in person. Our local Walmart does not sell them nor does the one 25 miles away. This part of Texas seems to be non-pellet smoker country. Today I went to Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot to see if anyone stocks pellets. Nothing.  I may just buy the unit and pellets from Amazon.

You can order the Pit Boss from Wal-Mart and get free site to store shipping. I think Amazon has free freight. You can also order the Pit Boss comp pellets from Wal-mart and Amazon.

You can also check and see if there is a local Traeger or Green Mountain Grill dealer locally. You should be able to get pellets from them as well.............

[Subvet]

I sure would like to see a Pit Boss in person. Our local Walmart does not sell them nor does the one 25 miles away. This part of Texas seems to be non-pellet smoker country. Today I went to Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot to see if anyone stocks pellets. Nothing.  I may just buy the unit and pellets from Amazon.

You can order the Pit Boss from Wal-Mart and get free site to store shipping. I think Amazon has free freight. You can also order the Pit Boss comp pellets from Wal-mart and Amazon.

You can also check and see if there is a local Traeger or Green Mountain Grill dealer locally. You should be able to get pellets from them as well.............

Costco in San Antonio stocks the Traeger pellets but that is 130 mile roundtrip.  I've got a buddy with a pickup truck so I might need to get a full load. lol. Going to call around in San Antonio to see if anyone sells the Pit Boss as I sure would feel more confident if I could just rub one with my hands. 

I asked the people here at Lowes and Home Depot if they had any pellet grills. They had this funny look, like what is that? One of these days this part of the country will join the modern world. Walmart said they had a couple on the way but it was a brand I've never heard of. It wasn't Camp Chef. Can't recall the name right now.

[smokeasaurus]

The Pit Boss is quite well built for its price-point. Lid is heavy and mine sits perfectly with no gaps. Barrel is 16 gauge..same as Camp Chef and GMG and Traeger. Flame Broiler/deflector is solid. Easy to build. All holes are pre-threaded and everything lines up nicely. Great bang for the buck.

[Hub0000]

Well, six months in and no problems. Pellet consumption has been a little heavy as of late. Of course the cold weather does not help. The flame broiler deflector tray is so handy.

I have high regards for Camp Chef and you will be happy with either. Pit Boss is a great way to jump into the pellet game and have money left over for pellets 

Time to go buy one my friend......and thank you for the kind words.

Well I decided to follow your advice.  I picked up my PB 700 FB and a bag of PB competition blend pellets yesterday. Did my burn in and as I write this I have a pork shoulder on it for my first cook.

I'm feeling pretty confident using this for the first time after reading all the great info you and some others have posted.

[Pappymn]

Well, six months in and no problems. Pellet consumption has been a little heavy as of late. Of course the cold weather does not help. The flame broiler deflector tray is so handy.

I have high regards for Camp Chef and you will be happy with either. Pit Boss is a great way to jump into the pellet game and have money left over for pellets 

Time to go buy one my friend......and thank you for the kind words.

Well I decided to follow your advice.  I picked up my PB 700 FB and a bag of PB competition blend pellets yesterday. Did my burn in and as I write this I have a pork shoulder on it for my first cook.

I'm feeling pretty confident using this for the first time after reading all the great info you and some others have posted.

Congrats. We like pics of new toys

[smokeasaurus]

What were your impressions with this purchasing? Packaging? Fit and finish? Ease of assembly? Bang for the buck? Did The Smoke steer you wrong?

One thing, I have not foiled my deflector like I do on my Traeger. I feel the downward curve and lip for the flame broiler is cumbersome. It sure scrapes clean the next morning quie easily 

[Hub0000]

I picked up my Pit Boss Saturday night.  You cut the straps on the box and the lid pulls off.  It was packaged very well and there were no dings or scratches on it. I read the book first and assembly was very easy.  It was mostly together and all I had to do was attach the legs and a few odds and ends like the handle on the lid and the lid stop.  I did the burn test. Almost forgot about the deflector and grates.  Simple enough to install and did that after the burn test. The deflector is pretty heavy duty. Fit and finish on my Pit Boss is very good and the lid closes perfectly. This thing is built pretty sturdy.
Did the Initial burn in Sunday morning and then started my first cook. I didn't foil the deflector. I set the temp to 225 and didn't change the P setting. There were temp swings from about 220 to 250, 260 and sometimes 270 and I think I saw 290 once or twice. That was on the controller readout and the lid thermometer seemed to hang about 10° below that. I didn't have my Maverick so I couldn't check temps. On the down swing is when you would get pretty heavy smoke.
Everything was going fine and about 2 hours into the cook something happened and I'm not really sure what it was.  I came out to check things and saw the temp said 160.  When I opened the lid there was a lot of heavy dark smoke and after the lid was opened for a little bit it flamed up and all the smoke cleared. The flames were pretty high and coming around the deflector so I shut it down. After the fire went out I gave it a little time and then fired it back up and continued on with my cook without further incidence. Looking back I've been thinking maybe the fire went out and the pellets filled up and after I opened the lid they were able to ignite. Not really sure but it happened when I was away from it for about 10 minutes. Well the pork shoulder was pretty good for kind of throwing it together and my first cook using this thing.
I would say I am pretty happy with this Pit Boss 700FB pellet grill/smoker and is a lot of bang for the buck that I paid for it. I look forward to many more cooks on it,  learning some new things and fine tuning my cooking ability with it. I took the grate out of the hopper, put the screws back in the holes and set the grate on top of the screws.  Now if I need to I can just lift the grate out of the hopper and put it back when done. Got that tip from the Pit Boss FB group