Who writes the guidesMeet our editors
Three of us write and edit everything on Pellet Grills Compared, and most of the job is reading: the exact listing, the spec sheet, the manual, the warranty terms and a lot of owner reviews. We line grills up side by side, split the main grate from the total racks and rework the rankings when a price or a model changes. Each guide names who wrote it and who edited it.
Senior editor
Beth is the senior editor of Pellet Grills Compared. She decides which grills make the rankings and which ones go back for another look. She reads the manual before the marketing copy and the two-star reviews before the five-star ones, because auger jams, temperature swings and rusted fire pots show up there long before they show up in a product photo.
- Choosing a first pellet grill
- Pellet vs. gas: what each one is for
- Vertical smokers vs. barrel grills
- Owner reviews: auger jams, flameouts, rust
- Keeping the rankings current
Size & handling writer
Ramon writes our guides on size and handling: how much grate a grill really has, what a hopper's pound figure does and doesn't tell you, and whether a portable grill is portable or just has wheels. He's the one who adds up the racks a listing counts as cooking area, then asks which of them would actually hold a brisket.
- Primary grate vs. total cooking area
- Hopper size and pellet storage
- Portable grills: weight, legs, trunk space
- Reading square inches and pounds
- Footprint and lid clearance on a patio
Controls & warranty editor
Gwen covers the parts of a pellet grill that the photos skip: the controller, the probes, the app, the warranty and the grease tray. She reads the warranty small print and the parts lists for the exact model number, and she has very little patience for a cover or a probe sold as fitting a grill it was never listed for.
- WiFi and app control
- Temperature controllers and meat probes
- Warranty terms and their exclusions
- Cleaning, grease and ash
- Accessories that fit the exact model