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When it comes to cooking outdoors, smoker grills are one of the best vessels you can use to cook up a legendary meal.
They’re easy to use, versatile, and most importantly – they consistently deliver delicious wood fired flavor.
In the world of pellet grills, one brand has made a splash since its inception only a few years ago: Z Grills.
In this article, we’ve compiled a complete rundown of Z Grills Pellet Grills – you’ll find everything you need to know about the brand, who they are, how they came to be, and Z Grills pellet grill reviews. Read on to learn more about the Z Grills brand!
Our Top Z Grill Picks:
A Quick Note On Pellet Grills
Just in case you aren’t familiar with the ins and outs of smoker grills, here’s a quick run down before we get into our deep dive into Z Grills reviews:
Pellet grills are a type of grill (technically they’re smokers too) that rely on a unique system to heat, flavor, and cook your food.
They don’t use gas, propane, or even traditional charcoal as a fuel source – they rely on burning wood pellets specifically designed for use in pellet grills. These pellets are essentially capsules of compressed sawdust, which burn hot and slow. The best part? They release smoke which in turn imparts delicious smokey flavors onto your food.
The system that makes the pellet run is very automated, so you really don’t have to spend any time building or managing a fire to achieve that wood fired flavor. All you have to do is set your temperature on the control panel, and the grill does the rest of the work.
Wood pellets are automatically fed down from the hopper, through the auger, and into the firepot where they’re ignited. From there, a fan distributes the heat and smoke convection style throughout the chamber where your food cooks.
Z Grills Brand Overview
Z Grills has quite a distinct story of how they came to be as a full on pellet grill company.
They were founded in 2017, and many of the folks on their leadership team had been in the pellet grill industry for years. Specifically, they managed a factory that produced pellet grills for a different, very popular brand.
And after a while, they realized that they knew the ins and outs of the business – and more importantly they felt confident that they could deliver an excellent product to the market at a much better price than the competition.
So with that in mind, they launched an Indiegogo campaign that would go on to raise about half of a million dollars – which is one of the more successful campaigns the crowdfunding platform has ever seen.
The momentum didn’t stop after the campaign ended either. To this day, Z Grills still consistently delivers incredibly solid pellet grills at the best prices on the market.
Z Grills Pellet Grill Reviews
In terms of a product line, Z Grills has kept things pretty simple in their first few years of operations. This way, they can focus on providing quality products all the way around instead of getting too far ahead of their skis trying to launch too many products.
Z Grills 700E
- 694 sq. in. total cooking surface area
- 20 pound hopper capacity
- 180-450ºF temperature range lets you smoke, sear, and bake all on the same unit
Z Grills best selling and most popular line of products is the Z Grills 700 Series of grills.
The main commonality across all of the 700 series grills is the cooking surface area that each of the grills have to offer. Each of the grills in this series have a total of 694 square inches of cooking surface area split across a main rack and an elevated secondary rack. The main rack has 504 square inches of cooking surface area, and the elevated rack has 190 square inches of cooking area. For reference, that’s enough space to cook up to 35 burgers, 5 racks of ribs, or 4 whole chickens at once.
In addition, the hoppers on the 700 series can fit up to 20 pounds worth of wood pellets at once, which is a generous size (especially compared to other pellet grill brands on the market). For reference, a pellet grill burns through about 1 pound of wood pellets per hour, give or take. It will burn pellets at a quicker rate if you’re grilling on high heat (up to 2 pounds per hour) and it will burn pellets slower if you’re smoking on low temperatures (about 1/2 pounds of pellets per hour).
Speaking of temperatures, this grill can hold a steady temperature range of 180°F to 450°F. A wide range like that gives you plenty of flexibility to smoke, grill, sear, braise, roast, and even bake all on the same unit.
As far as features go, the 700 series is highlighted by an easy to use control panel where you can manage all aspects of your cook. Easily set your grill’s temperature with the turn of a dial, and from there an LED display will show your grill’s ambient temperature in real time.
Z Grills also come with a few built in features that make the cleanup process as pain free as possible. The grill has a built in system that funnels grease into a catch bucket, which can be easily removed to dispose of your waste.
Within the 700 series, there are a few different cabinet style and color combinations that you can mix and match, depending on what suits your eye.
Colors:
- Black
- Silver
- Bronze
Cabinet Style:
- Open cart
- Cabinet
An open cart design still has space for accessory and tool storage, it just doesn’t offer an enclosed space like a cabinet style cart does.
Z Grills 1000 Series
- 1,060 sq. in. cooking surface area across three racks
- Easy to use LED control panel
- 3 year warranty
If you’re looking for a little more cooking surface area to work with, the 1000 series is a step up in terms of how much you’re able to cook at once. Each of the Z Grills 1000 Series grills offer 1060 total square inches of cooking area, which is actually split across 3 racks. The bottom rack has 432 square inches of area, the middle rack features 374 square inches, and the top rack boasts 255 square inches of cooking area.
Like the 700 series, the Z Grills 1000 Series grills feature a hopper that can hold up to 20 pounds of pellets at once. Even with the larger cooking surface area, that’s plenty of pellet volume to get you through weeks of consistent use without having to refill. These grills also feature a temperature range of 180°F to 450°F, which can be set in 25°F increments to suit the needs of your cook.
All of the features you’d expect to see on a quality pellet grill come standard on the 1000 Series. An intuitive control panel with LED display is built in to the grill – which is where you can easily manage your grill. The built in grease management system also comes standard and makes the post-grilling clean up process simple and easy.
The 1000 Series is a newer line of products to the Z Grills pellet grills offerings, and from what I can tell they only currently offer the following color finish and cart style combinations:
- Silver finish & open cart (Z Grills 10002E)
- Silver finish & cabinet cart (Z Grills 1000E)
- Black finish & open cart (Z Grills 10002B)
- Bronze finish & cabinet cart (Z Grills 1000D)
Z Grills Portable Series
- 459 sq. in. cooking surface area
- Temperature range from 180ºF to 450ºF
- Intuitive LED display control panel
Z Grills pellet grills also come in smaller sizes if the 1000 and 700 series are both too large for your needs. They have a “portable series” which features their 450 and 550 grill models.
The great thing about the Z Grills 450 and Z Grills 550 grills – they’re the absolute best price point you’re going to find for a pellet grill on the market, and you still get a quality grill even with the low price point.
These grills feature anywhere from 452 to 538 square inches of cooking surface area – which is still plenty of space to cook burgers and dogs for a large gathering of people.
All of the main features present on other Z Grills pellet grills can also be found on the portable series. An LED control panel, grease management system, and heavy duty all terrain wheels can all be expected on the 450 and 550 style grills.
The hopper capacity varies by individual grill model within the portable series, but you can expect hopper capacities of 10 to 16 pounds of pellets, depending on the grill. While that’s definitely a smaller capacity range than the 1000 and 700 series, the smaller grills won’t burn through pellets at quite the same pace.
Although the grills in the portable series are certainly more compact than other Z Grills pellet grill offerings, I’m not sure that I would consider them portable grills in the truest sense of the word. Each of them weighs in the range of 80 to 100 pounds. They do have wheels and are easy to move around your patio, but that would be a little bit of a handful if you were to try to load one up to bring with you on a camping or tailgating trip.
Z Grills Pellet Grill Accessories
If the extras are important to you, Z Grills does offer a few complimentary products to go along with a Z Grills pellet grill. They offer:
- Grill covers (you should always cover your grill)
- Branded wood pellets
- Probe thermometers
- BBQ gloves
- Add on grates
- Replacement parts and warranty
You can check out all our go-to grilling accessories.
Manufacturer Warranties
One of the first things I look at when I’m making a large purchase is the terms of the manufacturer’s warranty. Especially with pellet grills, you want to make sure you’re covered with a reasonable warranty since they have rely on electronics and a few other moving parts.
Not only that, any time I’m buying an item that’s cheap relative to the competition, a warranty is often a good indicator that the underlying product is well made and no corners were cut in the manufacturing process.
If you get a Z Grills pellet grill, it will be backed by a 3 year manufacturer’s warranty – which is a little bit above average compared to the rest of the industry. Especially considering the price of Z Grills pellet grills, their warranty is generally very good and a certain positive in the big picture.
Getting the Most Out of Your Pellet Grill
Pellet grills are one of the most unique and versatile cookers on the market, and they make a welcome addition to any outdoor cooking setup.
With Z Grills pellet grills, or any other brand for that matter, you’re afforded a world of cooking possibility with a pellet grill. The best advice I can give is to have an open mind and don’t be afraid to try new things out there. Sure, you can sear a delicious steak on a pellet grill – but they’re designed to excel at simpler recipes like that and so much more.
You can not only grill and sear on a pellet grill – you can roast, braise, bake, and smoke on them too. They rely on a convection method of cooking and are designed to maintain steady temperature and evenly cook your food – every time you fire it up.
In addition to different types of food to smoke and grill, don’t be afraid to mix it up with your wood pellets. Wood pellets are available in different flavors, and each of them imparts a unique taste and flavor profile to your food.
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Final Thoughts
If you came looking for more information on what a Z Grills pellet grill has to offer, I hope you have a better idea as to whether or not this brand is the right fit for you! At the end of the day, they offer solid products at an entry level price – so they’re a great choice if you’re on a tight budget or if you’re just wanting to dip your toes into the world of pellet grills.
Looking for more pellet grill brands to compare to? Check out a few of our other resources to help get a better feel of Z Grills:
