I often see people looking for advice as to which $800-$1000 pellet grill they should purchase as their first, and thought I would throw in my two cents.
In my opinion the Pit Boss Lexington 500 is a great option for somebody who is wanting to get into smoking with a pellet grill. The sub $300 price point ($294 at Walmart everyday) makes it an excellent value. I have smoked every part of the chicken, ribs, tri-tip, tomahawks, burnt ends and it has never let me down. I use either Lumberjack or Bear Mountain pellets and the flavor and consistency is great (I may try the Royal Oak Charcoal pellets next) and I've never had an issue with it holding temps.
I will admit there are some cons. It's got a smaller hopper 15 lb I believe? But that's not really an issue for me. Cooking space is on the smaller side, but as you can see from the attached pictures it holds quite a bit of food, including a brisket. I think it's one of the few Pit Boss models without a lever to open the sear grate so if you will use that often that may also be a deal breaker. There's no app connectivity, but as much as everybody bitches about the Pit Boss app I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing 😂.
Will I upgrade in (Hopefully) several years when this one kicks the bucket? Probably. But as a noob I feel this is a great option for someone just getting into pellet grills. And If you decide in a couple of years you want something different at least you didn't spend the equivalent of a car payment on it so it will be easy to move on to something else.
by Reasonable_War1278
3 Comments
I bought my Lexington used thinking I’ll upgrade it when it dies. I’m still using it regularly 4-5 years later. Other than the sun destroying the display, the thing still runs like a champ.
Recteq or nothing at all…
I would have to agree with everything you said here. I first bought a Pit Boss, but had to return it because it died after only a few cooks (it was a display model)
After that I ended up getting the Louisiana grills version of basically the same model on sale for $375. They’re made by the same company and they’re almost identical, with the biggest difference being the shape of the fire pot. The Louisiana grills fire pot doesn’t burn as efficient or cleanly, so you end up getting more smoke at all temperature levels.
Also, I love Royal Oak’s regular charcoal for my charcoal grill, but I really didn’t like the pellets at all. I can’t recommend them