Hey, I'm Jeff

I bought my first proper grill in my twenties and never really stopped. Since then I've cooked on pellet grills, offset smokers, ceramic kamados, gas grills, charcoal kettles, and more pizza ovens than I care to admit to my wife.

I live in Austin, which helps. The weather means I can cook outside most of the year, and the BBQ culture here means I'm always around people who take this seriously.

Friends kept asking me what to buy. What's the best pellet grill for a beginner? Is Ooni or Gozney better? Should they get a Traeger or a Big Green Egg? I was typing the same answers over and over, so I started writing them down properly. That became this site.

How I Research

I own the gear I recommend. When I say the Traeger Pro 780 is easier to use than an offset smoker, it's because I've run both. When I say the Ooni Karu beats the Koda for wood-fired flavor, it's from actual cooks, not a spec sheet.

I also pay close attention to what real users say. r/pelletgrills and r/smoking are where you find out what breaks after six months, what the manufacturers don't tell you, and which models people regret buying. I read that stuff seriously and factor it in.

When I haven't personally cooked on something, I say so. I won't pretend otherwise.

Just Tell Me What to Buy

Outdoor cooking gear can get complicated fast. There are pellet grills from $300 to $3,000. Pizza ovens that run on gas, wood, or both. Smokers with more opinions attached to them than almost any other category I know.

My job is to cut through it. Tell me your budget and what you want to cook, and I'll tell you what to buy. No unnecessary options, no hedging, no “it depends” without a straight answer following it.

Say Hi

Got a question I haven't answered? Disagree with a recommendation? Found something I missed? I try to respond to everything.