I’ve previously written an article on portable pellet grills. However, I’ve noticed that tabletop pellet smokers, in particular, are becoming more popular, and more models are coming onto the market. Portable pellet grills, in general, are regarded as any model that a single person can load/unload from a car/truck. I would, therefore, personally describe tabletop pellet grills/smokers as ‘ultra portable’ units, these are essentially the smallest models on the market. So let’s try and see if we can find the best tabletop model.
Disclaimer: Hey! By the way… any links on this page that lead to products on Amazon or other sites are affiliate links, and I earn a commission if you make a purchase.
UPDATE: You may want to read my article on battery pellet grills/smokers to see my comments on why I currently don’t think they offer great value.
Introduction To Tabletop Pellet Grills/Smokers
Originally portable pellet grills were mainly focused on providing products for tailgating.
However, then even smaller portable pellet grills started to appear, commonly known as tabletop pellet grills for obvious reasons. These tabletop pellet grills/smokers are the smallest units on the market.
While they are primarily targeted at customers who want to go camping or take it out in their RV without taking up much space, they are also quite good as a low-cost means for people to dip their toes into the world of pellet BBQs.
Now, there is currently just a handful of tabletop pellet grills on the market. However, I’m expecting more models to appear in the coming years.
Below we’ll look at the features and price point of the current crop of tabletop pellet grills to see if we can work out which unit is currently the best deal.
First, I’ll provide some key details on each product along with what I’ve found to be the best owners review, and then we’ll get into the comparison.
1st Contender: Traeger Ranger Tabletop Pellet Grill/Smoker
As the most well-known brand in the world of pellet cookers, it makes the most sense to start with the offering from Traeger, the Ranger.
Now, Traeger did previously produce two tabletop pellet grill models which I’ve previously written an article on, the Traeger Scout vs Ranger. However, Traeger appears to have dropped the cheaper Scout variant and now only offers the Ranger on their website.
Traeger Ranger Key Features
- Total Cooking Area = 184 sq.in
- Weight = 60 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 8lbs
- Temperature Range = 164 to 450 degrees
- Typical Price = $399 @ Traeger.com
Best Traeger Ranger Review
2nd Contender: Country Smokers Tabletop Pellet Grill/Smoker
The Country Smokers Tabletop pellet grill was one of the first such products to come onto the market and one of three tabletop pellet grills on this page which are part of Danson LLC, who also owns the Pit Boss and Louisiana Grills brands.
Country Smokers Key Features
- Total Cooking Area = 256 sq.in (using additional suspended rack)
- Weight = 43 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 3.5lbs
- Temperature Range = 200 to 500 degrees
- Typical Price = $224 @ BBQGuys.com
Best Country Smokers Review
3rd Contender: Louisiana Grills 300SL
Another member of the Danson LLC group is the Louisiana Grills brand. However, Danson market Louisiana Grills as a more premium brand than Country Smokers and Pit Boss.
Hence, it shouldn’t be too surprising that the Louisiana Grills 300SL is the more expensive option. If purchased through their website, its actually the most expensive option here, even priced above the Traeger Ranger.
Louisiana Grills 300SL Key Features
- Total Cooking Area = 333 sq.in (using additional suspended rack)
- Weight = Currently unknown
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 10 lbs
- Temperature Range = 180 to 500 degrees
- Typical Price = $425 @ Louisiana-Grills.com
As the Louisiana Grills 300SL is the newest tabletop pellet grill of the current batch of contenders, unfortunately, there are not any owner’s reviews available that I can reference.
Though once that changes, I’ll include an owner’s review video below. You’ll also notice that I don’t have a figure for the weight of the unit, for some odd reason, its not stated on the Louisiana Grills website, and I cannot get hold of the manual yet. Again I’ll update the weight figure as soon as I have that information.
4th Contender: Pit Boss 150PPS Tabletop Pellet Grill/Smoker
Here is the third offering from the Danson group in the form of the Pit Boss 150PPS. This model is a relatively new addition to the Pit Boss lineup and is currently the cheapest Pit Boss you can get.
Now, you’re going to notice some similarities between this Pit Boss tabletop and the ASMOKE below. They feature the same control panel, for instance. However, ASMOKE is not actually part of the Danson group, I’ll explain more below.
Pit Boss 150PPS Key Features
- Total Cooking Area = 256 sq.in (using additional suspended rack)
- Weight = 50 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 5 lbs
- Temperature Range = 180 to 500 degrees
- Typical Price = $279 @ PitBoss-Grills.com
Best Pit Boss 150PPS Review
5th Contender: ASMOKE AS300 Tabletop Pellet Grill/Smoker
ASMOKE is a recent entrant into the world of pellet grills and smokers, so what’s their background? Well, ASMOKE appears to have been started by a Chinese manufacturer that used to make Danson LLC/Pit Boss products.
Hence, this is why the ASMOKE AS300 below looks very similar to the Pit Boss 150PPS and Country Smoker’s tabletop above.
I’m not sure why Pit Boss separated from this manufacturer, but I don’t believe the split was amicable as they have been fighting in the courts over the marketing of their products (see here).
ASMOKE AS300 Key Features
- Total Cooking Area = 256 sq.in (using additional suspended rack)
- Weight = 48.5 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 4 lbs
- Temperature Range = 180 to 500 degrees
- Typical Price = $229 @ ASMOKEGrills.com
Best ASMOKE AS300 Review
Honourable Mention – Ooni Fyra 12
Now, not I’m including the Ooni Fyra 12 as part of this comparison because its not a pellet grill/smoker with the same capabilities as the products referenced above.
However, its an easy, portable means to cook with wood pellets you should be aware of.
While its primarily a pizza oven, with the help of a cast-iron pan/skillet, it can cook burgers, steaks, fish or vegetables, basically anything that likes to cook fast at high temperatures of 750 to 950 degrees
As the Ooni Fyra 12 doesn’t require a source of electricity, portability is obviously one of its strong points. Anyway, if you would like to learn more about it, you can read my separate article on the Ooni Fyra 12.
Round 1: Temperature Control & Cooking Performance
So the first thing I should note is the features that none of the tabletop pellet grills above have which are becoming more common on full-sized pellet grills/smokers, and that’s PID and WiFi functionality.
A PID temperature controller uses a mathematical algorithm to constantly monitor and adjust when the auger feeds pellets and how fast the fan runs to maintain an accurate temperature.
WiFi functionality means you can control and monitor a grill through an app on your phone, and the Traeger Ranger, for example, is not currently a WiFire pellet grill.
All the pellet grills/smokers above are not only the smallest but also the cheapest offerings from each brand, so its not too surprising that they all lack PID/WiFi functionality.
Therefore, in terms of control panel technology, all of the above are pretty much on par with each other when it comes to temperature accuracy.
I would predict the Country Smoker features the oldest time-based control panel tech, but it won’t produce a significant difference over the likes of the Traeger, Pit Boss, Louisiana Grills or ASMOKE.
So what about the temperature range? Well, the Traeger Ranger comes in last place for two reasons. First, its maximum temperature setting is 450 degrees compared to all the others, which offer 500 degrees.
Second, the Traeger Ranger is the only tabletop above which doesn’t offer direct-flame access. What that means is the searing performance of the Pit Boss, Louisiana Grills, Country Smoker, and ASMOKE will all be superior to the Traeger.
With direct-flame access there is the potential of reaching around 650 degrees in the centre of the cooking grate. I have an article on indirect vs direct heat cooking that goes into more detail.
Round 2: Cooking Area, Weight and Hopper Capacity
First, let’s discuss the cooking areas. As discussed, there are connections with manufacturers/brands between all of the pellet grills above except for the Traeger.
Therefore, it shouldn’t be too surprising that three of the above tabletop models, the Pit Boss, Country Smokers and ASMOKE offer the exact same 256 sq.in. The Traeger then comes in as the smallest with 184 sq.in and the Louisiana Grills as the largest with 333 sq.in.
With regards to weight, the lightest unit is the Country Smokers at 43 lbs, with the Pit Boss and ASMOKE coming in slightly heavier at 50 and 48.5lbs respectively. The Traeger comes in at a hefty 60lbs which is a bit surprising.
Currently, its unclear what the weight of the Louisiana Grills 300SL is. Though with the largest cooking area and similar components to the other Danson LLC products, I would estimate around a similar weight to the Traeger at 60lbs.
The lightest unit, the Country Smokers, unsurprisingly, has the smallest hopper at 3.5lbs, with the ASMOKE coming in a little higher at 4lbs. The Pit Boss offers a little more at 5lbs, with the largest offerings of 8lbs and 10lbs coming from the Traeger and Louisiana Grills, respectively.
Now, as these are very small pellet cookers, normal pellet consumption/usage estimates for full-sized pellet grills don’t apply. With these tabletop units, you should expect as low as 0.3lbs/h for smoking and around 1lb/h when grilling/searing at max temperature.
I think this round is a tie between the Pit Boss, ASMOKE and Louisiana Grills. While the Louisiana Grills offers the largest cooking area/hopper capacity, the higher estimated weight of an additional 10lbs or so is a negative against the portability of the unit.
Whereas I think the Pit Boss and ASMOKE in that middle ground with cooking area, hopper capacity and weight are going to be more suitable for most people’s needs.
Round 3: Pricing and Value
The Traeger Ranger and Louisiana Grills 330SL are priced significantly above other the other tabletop pellet grills within the comparison at $399 and $425, respectively.
It could be argued that the Traeger has the most durable hammered paint finish of all the pellet grills above, and the Louisiana Grills offers the largest cooking area and hopper capacity.
However, as both are priced around nearly double the offerings from Country Smokers, Pit Boss and ASMOKE, the Traeger Ranger and Louisiana Grills 300SL are hard to argue as being good value.
The Pit Boss 150PPS is typically priced at $279, with the Country Smokers and ASMOKE AS300 coming in at the cheapest price point of $225.
However, as discussed above, the ASMOKE AS300 has the edge over the Country Smokers with slightly more modern control panel tech and a slightly larger pellet hopper capacity.
Therefore, when it comes to the best value overall, I believe the current winner of this comparison and the best tabletop pellet grill/smoker is the ASMOKE AS300.
Conclusions On The Best Tabletop Pellet Grills/Smokers
So there you have it, currently, overall, I think ASMOKE AS300 is offering the best option when it comes to tabletop top pellet grills/smokers.
Now, when we start to get the next generation of tabletop smokers with PID/WiFi integration, I think that will make things a lot more interesting.
For instance, the Traeger WiFire App has an extensive resource of video recipes and instructions, which have been very popular in their full-sized pellet grills.
Hence, when we start to get more advanced tabletop pellet grills, I think this comparison will get much more interesting! I should also note, all of the above tabletop units require a source of AC power, therefore please check out my article on portable power options for pellet grills.
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed the tabletop pellet grill comparison above. If you have more questions, my Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker Guide should be of assistance. 🙂
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