Traeger gave yard pit masters one thing extra reasonably priced final 12 months with the Woodridge, however now the corporate is again with an much more budget-friendly choice. With the Westwood series, the corporate affords very fundamental pellet grill performance with a simplified controller and a no-frills design. You’ll nonetheless get Wi-Fi connectivity that works with the corporate’s app, and the Westwood grills are suitable with Traeger’s rail-based equipment. As you may count on on the $700 and $800 costs, there are a selection of caveats in comparison with the corporate’s more expensive options.
The brand new Westwood grills have an much more streamlined controller than the Woodridge fashions. A button-based interface replaces the knob, with buttons for rising and reducing temperatures, each wired and wi-fi meals probes, Wi-Fi and ignition. The side-mounted hopper has an 18-pound pellet capability and there are cabinets on the left aspect and beneath the cooking chamber. Inside, a two-tier setup affords both 653 or 823 sq. inches of cooking house, relying on which Westwood mannequin you go for.
The Westwood stays a set-it-and-forget-it system. The Wi-Fi connectivity lets you preserve tabs on cooking periods from anyplace with the Traeger app. You are able to do all the things from low-and-slow smoking to roasting and grilling with the 180-450 levels Fahrenheit temperature vary. There’s additionally a entrance rail for the corporate’s Pop and Lock equipment, which embody a folding entrance shelf.
The Westwood grills have a simplified design with two-tier grates inside (Traeger)
In fact, with the lower cost comes numerous sacrifices. There’s no point out of Tremendous Smoke or Hold Heat modes that Traeger affords on a few of its dearer grills. The Westwood solely helps one wired meals probe, so that you’ll need to plan accordingly there. When you’re keen to spend an additional $80, these new grills do join with Traeger’s wireless meat probe, so that you no less than have an choice for extra meals monitoring. Lastly, there’s no point out of a pellet sensor contained in the hopper, which is a helpful element for retaining monitor of your gas provide.
Whereas Traeger has constantly centered on midrange and premium pellet grills lately, the Westwood and Westwood XL at the moment are the corporate’s most reasonably priced choices. These new grills will substitute the favored Professional collection in Traeger’s lineup. What’s extra, new reasonably priced choices come at time when the corporate faces financial troubles and is at present within the midst of an ongoing restructuring.
The Westwood and Westwood XL at the moment are accessible from grill retailers together with Ace {Hardware}.
