Traeger Grills TFB38TOD Renegade Pro Pellet Grill Review
Traeger is one of the original names in wood pellet grills. What started out as an innovative way to make the most out of excess hardwood shavings turned into a revolution in outdoor cooking. In the years since their inception Traeger has made it a point to offer wood pellet grills of every size and to meet just about any imaginable need.
The Traeger Grills TFB38TOD Renegade Pro wood pellet grill was designed to be versatile. This is thanks in part to a highly accurate digital control center that Traeger calls the Digital Pro Controller. It uses information from temperature probes to alter the rate that wood pellets are delivered from the hopper to the firepot via a high torque auger. This means that the Digital Pro Controller can hold the temperature in the primary cooking chamber within 15 degrees of where you set it.
The Traeger Grills Renegade Pro is a great fit for people with a small deck or patio who still want to enjoy the smoky taste offered by a high-quality wood pellet grill. To that point the exterior dimensions measure in at 27 x 39 x 50-inches.
Though you shouldn’t let the compact design lure you into thinking that the Traeger Grills Renegade Pro is small. In fact, the primary grill grate measures in at an impressive 380 square inches, which is the same amount of space you get from a classic 22-inch charcoal kettle grill! It also means you can cook for a family of four or five at a time with a little bit of room to spare.
The wood pellet hopper can hold up to 18-pounds of pellets at a time. Any left over wood pellets should then be removed at the end of each smoking session to keep them from reacting with humidity, which could cause them to break down. This is very easy thanks to the built-in pellet cleanout system.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
The Traeger Grills Renegade Pro has all the hallmarks of Traeger’s heavy-duty build quality. This includes thick gauge steel, a heat resistant durable powder coat layer as well as a sawhorse chassis, a side lift bar, all-terrain wheels and even an electronic auto-start ignition system. The 380-square inch grill grates are even protected by a durable coating of nonstick porcelain.
Assembly does take a little bit longer with any wood pellet grill, as there are some moving parts, and some engineering features that need to be installed right the first time. The Traeger Grills Renegade Pro also weighs more than 100-pounds. So, it’s a good idea to recruit a buddy to help you put it together with the promise of a smoky meat reward at the end. With another pair of capable hands, you should be able to fully assemble the Traeger Grills Renegade Pro in an hour and a half to two hours.
Grilling Performance
Wood pellet grills like the Traeger Grills Renegade Pro use an indirect heating method to smoke and grill the meat. This makes it a great option for preparing nearly competition level barbecue. Just don’t start thinking that the Traeger Grills Renegade Pro is a one-trick pony that can only smoke meat.
You can dial the heat up to 450 to 500-degrees Fahrenheit for doing things like baking and even braising. This grill even makes a great fresh dough pizza.
One minor trade off to all this versatility is that the Traeger Grills Renegade Pro doesn’t have exactly the same fire kissed effect that you get from the kind of direct heat produced by a traditional gas or charcoal grill. While you maybe won’t get exactly the same sear on a steak, you can still mark steaks and chops, while cooking them through with pleasant smoky flavor.
Grilling Areas
The Traeger Grills Renegade Pro has a primary grill grate that’s protected by a layer of nonstick, black porcelain. It measures in at a tidy 380 square inches, which is what you get with a traditional 22-inch kettle grill.
Though the dimensions of the primary grill grates invite you to make ribs and two butterfly cut chickens, which is something that you can necessarily do on a round kettle grill grate.
Special Features
The Digital Pro Controller with it’s Advanced Grilling Logic does a great job of controlling the feed rate of the hopper for superior temperature control.
The pellet clean out system lets you purge excess wood pellets after every grilling session.
The large, all-terrain wheels and the way the frame of the Traeger Grills Renegade Pro was designed with a sawhorse chassis make this 100+ pound wood pellet grill surprisingly easy to move around a deck.
Ease to Clean
The Traeger Grills Renegade Pro is rather easy to clean. The nonstick layer of porcelain helps food release easily, which makes for less scraping when you’re done grilling.
Any drippings that enter the system are captured and deposited in a grease cup, that needs to be poured out.
The pellet cleanout feature on the 18-pound capacity hopper lets you quickly purge excess wood pellet without risk of them breaking down into wood fiber before your next grilling session.
Warranty
The Traeger Grills Renegade Pro is backed by a 3-year warranty, which is right on par with what the competitor wood pellet grills offer.
Conclusion
The Traeger Grills Renegade Pro is a well-built wood pellet grill with all the basic features you want to see a full return on your investment. It also has a few bells and whistles to make it easy to use and clean. It’s a great fit for a deck or patio where space is at a premium, yet it still offers the same 380-square inches of grill grate space that you find in popular 22-inch diameter kettle grills.
Just try to recruit someone to help you put this 100+ pound wood pellet grill together, and take the time to read through the owner’s manual for the initial startup information.
