Can You Use Traeger Pellets In A Green Mountain Grill? (Find Out Now!)

With the summer winding down, many are rushing to get in the last sessions with their outdoor grill before the nights get colder. Many barbecuers who want to cook at a steady temperature swear by the pellet grill. The pellet grill is a modern innovation that drops pellets of your hardwood of choice to maintain a specified temperature.

Two leading companies that make pellet grills are Traeger and Green Mountain, with Green Mountain significantly cheaper than Traeger. However, when it comes to the pellets to fuel your grill, Traeger’s cost less. Luckily, you don’t have to use the matching brand, so you can put Traeger pellets into your Green Mountain grill.

Whether you already have a Green Mountain grill or you’re trying to weigh your options, knowledge is power. But, knowing you have some versatility when it comes to your choice of pellets can undoubtedly make the decision easier.

At the other end of the spectrum, the entry-level offerings of both companies show the same picture. Green Mountain’s cheapest home pellet grill, the Choice Daniel Boone, costs $599.

Traeger’s counterpart, the Pro 575, sits at $799, a 33% increase. Again, both have the same features and similar cooking space, but the Traeger is more expensive by a considerable margin.

Are you just using your grill to feed your family and throw the occasional backyard barbecue? If so, you likely don’t want to break the bank on an appliance you’ll use only a handful of times.

In this case, the choice is simple. The Green Mountain line of pellet grills gives you the most bang for your buck. But, the grill cost isn’t the only consideration; you need to consider the cost of the pellets.

Now that you have a pellet grill, you’ll need some pellets to fuel it. First, consider that pellet grills use 1 to 3 pounds of wood pellets per hour. With this in mind, wood pellets could end up costing a king’s ransom over the course of a summer.

While it might be appealing to buy some small brand that offers wood pellets for pennies on the dime, don’t. You might not know what goes into those wood pellets.

The wood might have pesticides or other dangerous chemicals or potentially isn’t even wood. As a result, the recommendation is to buy wood pellets from a reputable company, like those making pellet grills.

First, you do not need to buy wood pellets from the same company that made your pellet grill. You can use Green Mountain pellets in your Traeger or vice-versa. While the companies may claim that their grills work best with their proprietary grill, this, quite simply, isn’t true.

This is just another effort to secure your long-term business. However, since Traeger invented the pellet grill, by extension, they created the wood pellets. Therefore, many feel they could be more trustworthy or might have a marginally better product.

As such, the choice between Traeger and Green Mountain pellets comes down to personal preference, availability, and cost.

The second factor to consider is the availability of the pellets. Traeger sells their pellets online, both on their website and on Amazon. Green Mountain has a very small stock on Amazon that is often depleted.

Your only other option is a visit to an affiliated store, which is often located far away from major cities. True, that drive to the store might not be bad one time when you buy the grill. However, if you’re making the trip multiple times in a month, it adds up quickly.

Again, if you’re just an ordinary person and not a popular restaurant, the choice is clear. It is much better for your wallet if you go with the cheaper and easier option. In this case, that would be Traeger’s wood pellets.

Related Questions

Can you use Pit Boss pellets in a Traeger grill?

Like putting Traeger pellets in a Green Mountain grill, the brands don’t have to match up. Therefore, you can put Pit Boss pellets in a Traeger grill and vice versa. The pellet shape is relatively similar, and the produced flavors are comparable. You should always expect very minimal differences, but they wouldn’t be significant enough to make a big impact. 

Can you make your own Traeger pellets?

If you don’t want to buy pellets, you could always attempt making some at home. But, you need a pellet mill to do so, and they can cost anywhere from $450 to over $3,000. You need to choose sawdust from a hardwood that is a good match for barbecue, like mesquite, hickory, or applewood. To avoid contaminating food, you also need to ensure the wood is clean and free of insecticides or chemicals. Place a plastic bucket below the mill’s chute and wait for the mill to heat up. Put small batches of sawdust into the hopper and let them cool in the bucket. If you don’t use the pellets right away, store them in a sealed bag in a dry location.