Pit Boss Pellet Smokers Review in New Zealand

Pit Boss is fairly new to New Zealand so we wanted to give you folks a review, comparing their Navigator 850G to other pellet grills in its price range of under $1000.

If you’re unfamiliar with Pit Boss or their pellet grills, Bunnings has been bringing in a small selection of their grills into NZ.

We’ve enlisted Tom Mueller of Eat Cured Meat & Pellet Grill Smoker, a pellet grilling expert, to give you his thoughts but for the quick shooters among us here’s the short answer of how it measures up:

Pit Boss’ 850G is an entry-level pellet grill smoker which is more than adequate for someone new to pellet grill smoking. It’s comparable to the similarly-priced Z Grill 1000 series (10002B2E) which is also worth considering.

Now over to Tom.

I’ve seen my whack of pellet grill smokers, I have my own blog website dedicated to pellet grill smokers – check out my bio at the bottom of this review to check it out!

I’ve cooked on most of the brands out there, and you start to get a ‘feel’ about a grill, you know how you look at something and go, yep, that’s the business.

Having done charcoal snake methods, drum, offset and I’ve even tried indirect low and slow on a gas burner BBQ… It’s all been fun, but at the end of the day, pellet grills are true set and forget with wood fired tastiness.

Pit Boss Pellet Grills in New Zealand

With its low price point and no-frills feature-set, the Pit Boss 850G is an entry-level smoker with a decent amount of cooking space to boot. I guess that’s why Bunnings NZ has brought them in.

Pit Boss have also got into the ‘vertical’ smoker pellet market (not really a thing in NZ).

It’s interesting because Z Grills, Traeger, and Green Mountain Grills do not have any products in the vertical market anywhere in the world.

Basically, vertical smokers have the smoke vapor and heat come from below, a bit indirectly. For most people, a traditional offset pellet grill like the 850G is probably preferable for most pitmasters since they are grillers too.

The Navigator 850G is a similar weight to most pellet grills on the market, the look and feel are also similar to the status quo. For this kind of size you can expect around 60-70kg.

In my opinion, the Pit Boss Navigator 850G gets the job done, classic temperature range of 82° to 260°C (or 180°-500°F). You can do the smoking with a 20lb/10kg pellet hopper that feeds the flame.

If you’re new to this pellet grill smoking thing, you basically indirect smoke/cook everything around 95-125°C.

Searing Ability

The Pit Boss 850G Navigator has a sliding lever on the side, this opens direct heat up to the firepot, meaning you guessed it – searing direct.

It’s an OK feature, but when I do sear I like to use a heavy-gauge cast iron pan or griddle – since the heat is retained by the cast iron – you can get the same effect on any pellet smoker.

Grill grates are another product using aircraft grade anodised aluminium – but I like my dirty pan.

Any pellet grill can sear directly if you take the grease tray out. However, many brands do not promote or recommend this due to a higher chance of a grease fire, if you are not capturing the grease/run off.

This is why I just use a cast iron pan (un-holey kind), you can close the lid and still get the wood-fired flavours coming through in my experience.

(Yes – you can get cast iron pans with holes in them for chestnuts on an open fire – FYI.)

Cleaning & Maintenance

Speaking of grease fires, managing the grease and fat is always important and it’s the most challenging aspect of pellet grill smokers. Yes, the dreaded cleaning aspects, and it’s a key to how long that smoker lasts and avoiding mishaps too.

It’s because, when you smash out those BBQ baby back ribs or pork shoulder – you end up rendering the fat during your cooking and smoking.

Pit Boss’s 850G has the standard grease bucket system, so there is an angled grease tray, and this runs down into the bucket.

But as you will probably find out, grease does end up getting everywhere, tin foil lining certain aspects of the tray and around the burning pot can help, but it can be an unpleasant pain in the ass to do each cook.

Cleaning your smoker regularly is key because the last thing you want…is a grease fire!

Similar Pellet Grill Smoker Comparison

Unfortunately, well-known pellet grilling brands Green Mountain Grills and Traeger don’t have comparable grills in the sub $1000 price range (they’re $1300+). GMG doesn’t offer a cheaper no-frills grill and Traeger charges a premium for theirs.

There is only one brand I know of in NZ which has pellet grills available for under a grand – Z Grills.

Pit Boss Navigator 850g vs Z Grills 10002B2E

If you’re in New Zealand, Z Grills’ 10002B2E is $100 more to invest but comes with free shipping and free grill cover from Pellet Hub. If you’re unfamiliar with them, Z Grills actually used to manufacture Traeger.

At the end of day, you want a smoker that performs and does what it’s told (how rare is that). Simple, straightforward, easy to use, easy to clean, and a good deal – especially if this is your 1st pellet grill.

In a direct comparison, the Z Grill 10002B2E (1000 Series) is easier to clean, has more cooking area with 3 tiers of racking and offers 3 different shelf areas.

As for ease of use, both smokers pretty straightforward with 3 basic functions:

• Off
• Smoke
• Temp *

Pellet Boss vs Z Grills – Spec Comparison

Yes every pellet grill is all about that moist, soft fall apart meat – but if you need to sell it to the Minister of War and Finance (spouse)- it can bake cakes too!

The Pit Boss 850G has 2 racks, whilst the Z Grill 10002B2E’ – has way more BBQ real estate to cook and smoke on (+1200 sq cm)

As well as a ton of cooking space with 3 levels the Z-Grill 10002B2E also has side shelves, bottom shelf and a folding front shelf. For the same price point as the Pit-Boss 850G that gets the chubster going! (that’s my nickname by the way).

Currently, Z-Grills has a free cover with this pellet smoker, which is a must for any pellet grill (gotta keep those wood pellets dry, or no barbecue deliciousness).

Cleaning is the bane of most cooking, who likes cleaning? For the Pit Boss, you will need to remove racks and grease trays to get inside and do the dirty work.

The Z Grill 1000 series has a removable ash pan that slides out from the back. This is quite the game-changer not available on the Pit Boss, in fact this type of system is only available on more premium-priced pellet grills from Weber and Broil King.

If you are weighing toward the Z Grill, currently you get a FREE BBQ Cover with a Z Grill 10002B2E – Check the deal out in more detail here.