Traeger Lil Tex Elite 22 Wood Pellet Grill Review
Traeger Lil Tex Elite 22 Review
The Traeger Lil Tex Elite 22 is easy to set up, use, and clean; perfect for a beginner that wants to enjoy the experience. This utilitarian grill has everything that’s necessary to either grill, sear, bake, smoke, roast, or braise.
Overall, it’s a small grill that has all the essential functions present in its bigger siblings. Read along to dig out more exciting features from this model.
About The Manufacturer
Traeger Pellet Grills Inc. is a grilling hardware manufacturing company based in Salt Lake City. Established in 1985, it’s a pioneer in the industry that provides all of their customers’ grilling needs from high-quality grills, sauces, rubs, and other accessories. They also manufacture their temperature control apparatus, auger drive motor, and other components of their grills.
It's an established brand leading the pellet grilling industry. This position makes every model release highly anticipated.
Key Specifications
6 Key Features Of The Traeger Lil Tex Elite 22
1) Industrial Strength Hopper Feeding System
Some smoking methods tend to last for more than 10 hours, so you usually end up using a lot of pellets. If the hopper system is not strong, then you're going to have to feed it more wood pellets as you cook.
Therefore, it is important that the pellet feeding tray has industrial strength. The heavy-duty construction on this small Traeger grill is made to withstand a load of up to 18lbs. which is more than enough for 20-hour long cooking time.
2) Heat Deflectors
There are a couple of heat deflectors covering the fire pit on the Traeger. Their function is to evenly distribute heat within the cooking chamber of the grill from top to bottom and from side to side. This ensures that the meat cooks evenly.
3) Covered Smokestack
It's essential for some of the heat to be able to get out of the grill somewhere. This is precisely the function of the smokestack. However, if the water gets in through the smokestack and gets the inside of the grill, it may compromise the heat dissipation. Traeger, therefore, added a cover to their smokestack to prevent it from happening.
4) Heavy-Duty Steel Wheels
Even if it’s already one of the smallest grills on the market, this heavy piece of equipment is still too difficult to move around. Especially, if there is a space-saving aspect to buying the Traeger Lil’ Tex grill, it is also essential to be able to move it.
This is why the heavy-duty steel wheels are such a welcome feature on this model. There are other grills featuring this as well, you can check out other brands here.
5) Digital Elite Controller
The controller is one of the most important components of the Traeger grill. It is responsible for getting the temperature to the cooking heat that the users might require.
Using the dial, you could adjust the temperature from 170⁰-450⁰ Fahrenheit.
6) Grease Cleanout and Grease Bucket
One of the best reasons for grilling is the ability to decrease the grease from food. All that grease does not just disappear with the smoke. The product offers an easily cleanable drip tray inside the grill that funnels the grease into a grease bucket hanging on the side of the grill.
The grease bucket is conveniently placed on the right side of the grill where not much activity is expected, so it's not in the way of your cooking.
The Pros and Cons
Its versatility would be an excellent value for money for beginners and advanced barbeque enthusiasts. It’s a 6-in-1 machine that excels in all of its functions. However, there are still some areas that the Traeger can improve on. To see if it’s worth spending your money, here are some pros and cons.
PROS
CONS
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does it come with a warranty?
Yes. It comes with a three-year warranty on workmanship on all steel parts and electrical.
2. Does it have a fan for convection?
No. However, the heat deflectors are surprisingly better at spreading the heat around versus a convection fan. Meats cook evenly from all angles.
3. Does it come with pellets?
No. It does not come with pellets. However, you can purchase all kinds of pellets online or at your local store.
4. What are the dimensions?
The dimensions of the entire product are 42 x 49 x 22 inches.
5. Do I have to use Traeger-branded wood pellets, or will any brand of pellets work on it?
No. Any brand would work on the Traeger.
6. How do you clean the ash on the Traeger? Is maintaining difficult?
You can use a regular vacuum cleaner to clean out the ash from the inside of the grill. However, don’t forget to let it cool down first as the hot surface might melt plastic nozzles on the vacuum cleaners.
Maintaining is not difficult at all if you follow these simple steps.
7. Are there additional accessories that I need to buy?
The Traeger Lil’ Tex Elite is ready to be used right out of the box. However, the relatively limited cooking surface might be too difficult to live with, so you may want to buy a Traeger extra grill rack.
8. How long do the pellets last?
Generally, pellets last for 2 ½ lbs. per hour on maximum heat. So, a full hopper would last for around 6-8 hours.
Final Verdict
Traeger Lil Tex Elite 22 Wood Pellet Grill
Our final verdict is, we highly recommend this grill due to its excellent heat deflectors, which are one of a kind. Also, it cooks food perfectly evenly from all sides.
However, while the Traeger Lil Tex Elite is an excellent grill, paying for the caveats might be too much for some buyers. Perhaps one of the most deal-breaking for them is the lack of the finer details, but hey, with its affordable price, we can't expect so much right?
All in all, this is still a wood pellet grill to go with. It manages to bag 4.5 stars out of possible 5 from us.
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