There are certain foods people often associate with grilling. You can slow smoke a brisket, char a whack of burgers, or maybe even fire up some veggies if you’re trying to balance out the barbecue. Traeger, however, hopes hungry backyard cooks will use its new Timberline-series pellet grills to cook just about anything they can think of thanks to smart new additions like a modular accessory system, redesigned digital interface, and totally new induction burner outside the main cooking area.
What is the Traeger Timberline pellet grill?
The Timberline series represents Traeger’s flagship cookers. It comes in two models: the $3,499 Timberline, with 880 square inches of primary cooking surface, and the $3,799 Timberline XL, which offers 1,320 square inches of grate real estate. Beyond the size difference, both grills share an extremely similar suite of features.
Those prices put the Timberline grills far above the realm of most charcoal and propane cookers at the local home store, but Traeger justifies that price with a mixture of versatility and high-end features.
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How does the Traeger Timberline pellet grill work?
Like all Traeger cookers, it relies on wood pellets, which it continuously feeds into a burning chamber to produce the heat required to cook the food inside. Traeger digitally controls the auger’s output so it doesn’t pump too many pellets into the fire at once; that can cause excess smoke, heat spikes, or annoying ash build-up that needs regular cleaning. Traeger has drastically reduced the amount of cleaning required in the new Timberline and streamlined the ash emptying process.
Cooks can control the temperature—which ranges from as low as 160 up to more than 500 degrees—with built-in controls or via Traeger’s companion app. The controls are relatively simple—Traeger has provided four function buttons and a single knob, as well as a touchscreen display. The app provides a more advanced, but familiar experience that allows for easier cooking customization.
The entire cooking chamber employs dual-wall construction to keep the heat inside while maximizing fuel efficiency. Think of it like your Hydroflask or travel mug that keeps your drink hot or cold by surrounding it with a layer of insulating air.
Traeger Timberline pellet grill features
While Traeger has upgraded just about every part of the grill itself, it has also paid close attention to the accessories and secondary cooking areas. The side burner now relies on induction, which allows it to heat up food quickly and efficiently by exciting the metal in the pan. If you’re going to reverse sear a steak—which involves slow cooking the meat at a low temperature and searing it at a high temperature—you can do it all in one place.
Traeger also added a rail around the outside of the grill to which you can attach modular accessories, like a roll of butcher paper for wrapping briskets or other common barbecue tools.
Since this is a flagship grill, the fit and finish also promise high-end materials. A thick wood cutting board sits next to the cooking chamber. In addition, wooden shelves are built into the structure to hold more accessories. Traeger recently purchased the Meater wireless meat thermometer company, so the Timberline includes Meater compatibility and probes (one of our favorite meat thermometers). The Timberline isn’t up for sale at the moment, but it will be rolling out in the spring. If you’re looking for an excellent pellet grill without as many bells and whistles, the Ironwood 885 can still cook mean pork belly burnt ends.