Yoder Smokers Community Forum

So ...
I'm debating on which Pellet smoker to get... Yes some of this Q is which Yoder and also... if I should even get a Yoder.

Wife was about to get a Traeger for me but she wasn't sure if I wanted a smoker... Anyways we have been looking on and off for the past few months but we saw one at the fair this week and I just don't like the idea of China built .. especially when I can get a USA built option. That and it just didn't look really all that sturdy - robust with its spindly legs

What and or how do you pick a size? I see lots of photos of people smoking 6 butts, 4 racks of ribs ETC... I think I would be lucky to be smoking 1 or 2. I dont want to get crazy big wasting .. time money pellets ETC.

So I would like opinions on what you guys feel are great things the Yoder has in general and over the competition.
I don't need this to be a bashing war just facts and good info.

As far as size goes, only you know what is best for you. However, cookers are kind of like TV's, nobody ever regretted getting the bigger one.

Most people get the YS640 for a number of reasons. I chose it because of the extra space you get, plus the Variable Displacement Damper, you get a lot for only $200 more. Pellet consumption and the way the two pits work overall are very similar between the YS480 and YS640. So I figured when I was making the investment, what's $200 for something that will be around for many, many years. Plus, I do not like to run my oven in my home during hot summer days and make my A/C work harder and drive my bill up, so we do all of the baking outside where it doesn't matter if you heat it up. There are so many uses for a Yoder pellet cooker besides a pork butt or two, or a couple of racks of ribs. You can do so much, the extra space is nice to have. Another thing, most people probably get there cameras out for the big cooks, and don't bother with pictures when they are cooking a rack of ribs or a few burgers, chops, steaks or chicken pieces for a Wednesday night dinner. I'd have to buy a massive external drive if I took a picture of every single one of my cooks.

As far as some other brands, I've used some other brands, but not all of them. But out of what I have used, there is no comparison IMO. The build quality, the smoke flavor, the texture of the meat, Yoder wins those hands down. And then, in the unlikely event of a problem, Yoder will be there to help better than anyone else out there. Your buying a great cooker, and peace of mind with a Yoder. And you are buying a quality, made in the American Heartland product that is handmade, not just another piece of stamped steel off of the assembly line overseas. Because of this, if there is a small change or addition you want to make, that can be done at the factory for you.

Plus, this has never been my motive, but you will be buying the envy of your neighbors, friends and family as well.

Good luck with your decision. Let us know if you have any other questions and we would be happy to help answer them for you.

One of my close friends and neighbors has an original, USA made, Traeger Texas and I still use it from time to time for overflow cooking capacity, as I do a lot of large volume cooks. The original US made Traegers were powder coated (at least the one we use) and the metal was significantly higher gauge than the current Chinese-made models, which are very similar IMO to the Green Mountain grills. I can, and still do, cook very decent fare on the Traeger, but the additional $$ spent on the Yoder YS640 was a no-brainer for me and I have been thoroughly impressed and happy with the purchase every time I have used it over the past 2 years.

I realize these are big ticket items and not easy to decide when you can't do a test drive on each one before buying. One way to objectify the decision a bit is to figure out what you're actually buying. A metal box or tube on wheels with a pellet hopper, auger, electronics & temp control, chimney/exhaust, support/chassis/wheels, shelves, potential accessories, but also critically, after-sale support. Ideally, you want your investment/purchase to last and work for a long time in the future and you want the company you purchase from to stand behind you. I may have missed a few details in terms of what you're actually buying above, but when you start to compare grill quality and quality of output, product for product, I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that the Yoder's build quality isn't definitively near, or at, the top of the pack. The heavier gauge of the metal used is important not only for durability and wear, but also for temperature stability and pellet consumption on longer cooks. The Yoder is a tank...the Traeger and GMG are not. I have seen, very recently, a number of supposedly new GMG grills at a local dealer that were left outside for a while that are already rusting before they're even sold. And, there's no possible way I could put a Cambro container with 40 lbs of chicken wings on the shelf safely on either of them. They were built to be low cost with some bells and whistles--but not to last for a lifetime. Honestly, after cooking well over 1,000 lbs of meat on the Yoder (and comparing the output side by side w/ the Traeger, Big Green Egg, La Caja China, or UDS's, all of which I also own, and poorly managed stick burners owned by some good friends), the Yoder puts out the most consistently evenly smoked product of all of them, IMHO. My wife agrees. She doesn't love overly smoky tasting BBQ or meat and she consistently loves everything that comes off my YS640. Critically for me, as the owner/operator, when I have an issue, I want the company that made it to be there for me. I think you can see here on this forum, but let me be first to say too, that Yoder has been outstanding in supporting my purchase, and by reading through some of the threads on this forum, you'll see that there's a constant strive to continue to improve the performance of each model, even after it has been in service for several years. From personal experience, you can't rely on that from some of the competitors...

So, there's no subjectively "right" answer or decision. Objectively, it comes down to overall quality vs. price, and like always (at least usually), you get what you pay for. Doesn't mean the cheaper option is a bad one or that you're making a "bad" choice, it's just a different choice with different consequences. There's a learning curve to every grill/smoker you buy and the Yoders are no different, but nor are the Traeger, GMG, MAK or others...You'll likely figure out how to make the best food you can make on any grill/smoker you buy, and honestly, you'll likely be pleased with it for so long as your grill lasts. So, choose the biggest and highest quality one your budget allows. While you don't do large cooks on it now, trust me, in time, you most likely will!

P.s. I am not a paid spokesmodel for Yoder, just a really happy owner!

Very well put TennesseeJed

TennesseeJed wrote:One of my close friends and neighbors has an original, USA made, Traeger Texas and I still use it from time to time for overflow cooking capacity, as I do a lot of large volume cooks. The original US made Traegers were powder coated (at least the one we use) and the metal was significantly higher gauge than the current Chinese-made models, which are very similar IMO to the Green Mountain grills. I can, and still do, cook very decent fare on the Traeger, but the additional $$ spent on the Yoder YS640 was a no-brainer for me and I have been thoroughly impressed and happy with the purchase every time I have used it over the past 2 years.

I realize these are big ticket items and not easy to decide when you can't do a test drive on each one before buying. One way to objectify the decision a bit is to figure out what you're actually buying. A metal box or tube on wheels with a pellet hopper, auger, electronics & temp control, chimney/exhaust, support/chassis/wheels, shelves, potential accessories, but also critically, after-sale support. Ideally, you want your investment/purchase to last and work for a long time in the future and you want the company you purchase from to stand behind you. I may have missed a few details in terms of what you're actually buying above, but when you start to compare grill quality and quality of output, product for product, I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that the Yoder's build quality isn't definitively near, or at, the top of the pack. The heavier gauge of the metal used is important not only for durability and wear, but also for temperature stability and pellet consumption on longer cooks. The Yoder is a tank...the Traeger and GMG are not. I have seen, very recently, a number of supposedly new GMG grills at a local dealer that were left outside for a while that are already rusting before they're even sold. And, there's no possible way I could put a Cambro container with 40 lbs of chicken wings on the shelf safely on either of them. They were built to be low cost with some bells and whistles--but not to last for a lifetime. Honestly, after cooking well over 1,000 lbs of meat on the Yoder (and comparing the output side by side w/ the Traeger, Big Green Egg, La Caja China, or UDS's, all of which I also own, and poorly managed stick burners owned by some good friends), the Yoder puts out the most consistently evenly smoked product of all of them, IMHO. My wife agrees. She doesn't love overly smoky tasting BBQ or meat and she consistently loves everything that comes off my YS640. Critically for me, as the owner/operator, when I have an issue, I want the company that made it to be there for me. I think you can see here on this forum, but let me be first to say too, that Yoder has been outstanding in supporting my purchase, and by reading through some of the threads on this forum, you'll see that there's a constant strive to continue to improve the performance of each model, even after it has been in service for several years. From personal experience, you can't rely on that from some of the competitors...

So, there's no subjectively "right" answer or decision. Objectively, it comes down to overall quality vs. price, and like always (at least usually), you get what you pay for. Doesn't mean the cheaper option is a bad one or that you're making a "bad" choice, it's just a different choice with different consequences. There's a learning curve to every grill/smoker you buy and the Yoders are no different, but nor are the Traeger, GMG, MAK or others...You'll likely figure out how to make the best food you can make on any grill/smoker you buy, and honestly, you'll likely be pleased with it for so long as your grill lasts. So, choose the biggest and highest quality one your budget allows. While you don't do large cooks on it now, trust me, in time, you most likely will! ;)

P.s. I am not a paid spokesmodel for Yoder, just a really happy owner!

what he said!!!
my (30+ years) experience with smoker/cookers is
its quite nice having the extra room to work with on small cooks,,,
and much nicer not always crowding stuff on larger cooks...

The above posts pretty much cover what most of us think. I will only add that Traeger is an entry level pit that will work very well for small families. The build quality is nowhere near the Yoders and the old adage that you get what you pay for sums up the difference between the two.

Like most I deliberated long and hard before pulling the trigger on the ys640 w/competition cart. We all have to stop and think what we use the pit for and how large we want to go vs the price and what else is available. I think I can speak for most when saying...I only wished I would have pulled the trigger sooner. I have had more compliments and satisfaction in the first 2 months of owning my Yoder than the whole two years that I owned the Traeger.

Tennessee Jed pretty much stated it as good as it can be!

Friend bought a Traeger shortly after I got my Yoder, and he admits that he wishes he would have put out the extra money to get the quality of the Yoder. He thought I was crazy to put out that kind of money on something I hadn't seen in person or touched. Which truthfully, I even questioned that myself, until I received it and have been smoking/cooking on it. NO REGRETS other than not having a bigger one to keep up with the request from friends wanting me to smoke/cook something for them.

As previously stated, there is a learning curve with any kind of grill you get, but, he admits he isn't getting the CONSISTENCY or QUALITY cooks that I'm able to get. This past weekend I did a packer brisket that took just shy of 20 hours to do, during that time I left for over 3 hours to do some coaching... The friend owning the Traeger said "There is no way I would have left mine for over 20 minutes! You do have a set it and forget it"...

T2DaBone wrote: The friend owning the Traeger said "There is no way I would have left mine for over 20 minutes!

In fairness to the older Traeger Texas I've used, this was not the case. We definitely could set it and forget it, but it's a very different unit now and I have no experience w/ the newer ones. There was a serious limitation on the old ones though of only giving 3 temp set points, so there wasn't what I would consider to be useful variable temp control. Not sure how the newer units run but having fully variable temp control from 150F to >500F is a game changer.

640 is also great for grilling too ,We do a lot of smoking and grilling and all on the 640. Very happy with it !!!!

Also can't add much to what's already been said. I went with the 'mid size' 640 also because I figure there's going to be those 4 to 5 cooks a year in which family and friends will be coming over and the extra cook space is going to essential.

For a short period of time, years ago, I was AZ state sales manager for Traeger. I still have my 8 year old Model 125 big boy that I paid $2K for. It's sitting on my patio with a dead auger motor. I just got tired of fixing it. I had to replace the hot rod (igniter) at least 5 times. And it always failed on startup, when I had a bunch of food ready to go. I finally bought a second replacement, so I wasn't down for a week or more, waiting for the yet-again-covered-under-warranty replacement to arrive. I still have one spare. But I had a dead auger motor. What to do?

I bought a YS640 with all the extras, including (belatedly) the thermal cover (a necessity up here in Flagstaff, as I found out), all for a little less than I paid for that Traeger in 2006.

Performance is incomparable. I had to add 6 GrillGrates to the Traeger just to get it to perform properly. The GrillGrates moderated the left-to-right temperature delta from 50°-60°F to 10°-20°F. They also raised the effective temp when grilling steaks about 40°-50°F, so I could actually get a sear. Also, the digital controller on the Traeger is a POS. The only thing digital about it is the LED display of the internal, feedback temp. If you've ever had to change an igniter rod on a Traeger, you've also probably had to replace the fuse on the controller board. You know the one I'm talking about, the one that was high tech to Fred Flintstone.

The YS640 is the centerpiece of my covered patio. It's needs determined it's location. Everything else was located after. The dead Traeger is sitting out uncovered. Heck with it.