Traeger Scout Portable Tabletop Wood Pellet Grill - TFT18PLDO

This is the second scout which treaters replaced my first one after a 6 month wait due to being back ordered. I have a pro 32 at home and it always works great. I have tried 6 time now to smoke and then cook meals on this unit. With the same results: Over cooked and dry Out of control temperature Pellet box and auger have burning pellets The engineers who designed this one did not get it the firebox is to big and the auger is to big It will never cook ribs at 225 Makes a nice grill buy a Webber and leave the extension cord in the motorhome

4 users found this review helpful

My wife got me the grill for going camping. Used it two times and can not regulate temperature. I would set it at 250. Temperature would go up to 400 and drop maybe 50 degree then go up and down from there. Called customer service and they said it was the thermostat. They send me a new one after two weeks finally got it. Installed it and same issues. I've always heard Traeger made the best pellet grills. They missed it on this one.

10 users found this review helpful

Okay so buying this was my error. It works perfect as a high heat grill for our family, but will not be useful if you need 225* The Trager reps were helpful in adjusting the p settings but I'll just go back to charcoal since the temps using a thermometer are usually at 290-320 when set on smoke or 180. Can't do ribs or brisket with these issues. Really a shame

3 users found this review helpful

I bought this for our camping trip. I couldn't fathom cooking my food any other way while camping. I was nervous because it needed power. The sales guy at Costco assured me it would work with the power source inverter. This came free in the deal. It was hooked up to the truck battery and we ran an extension chord to the inverter. It worked perfectly! We used it a few times a day. Pizzas burgers tri tip potatoes. This Traeger is going with us everywhere!

We had trouble with the temperature skyrocketing for the first few days, so I called Traeger, and they were very helpful. To regulate temperatures that keep increasing and you can't control them locate the "P" setting. It is on the right side of the digital display, just a tiny hole covered by a black sticky. Remove the sticky to access. Use a straightened paper clip. Insert it into the hole until it contacts the button. Make sure grill is on push the button once and the P setting should appear. Ours was set at 1 from the factory causing the pellets to dump really fast and the temperature to spike a lot. We increased the P setting to 3 you can go as high as 4. It make the pellets dump slower and not as often. This really solved the problem. Also check when you first start the Scout what the digital read out is for the temp. It should be close to the actual air temp outside. The " P" setting also fixed this issue. Note: This is not in the manual!

we had trouble also with the thermostat controlling and maintaining the correct temp. I called Traeger, they said to check the "P" setting. It is a small black hole on the right side of the digital readout covered by a black sticky. Remove the sticky and with the grill turned on inset a paper clip that has been straightened. The P setting will show up. Ours was on 1 from the factory. Push the paper clip and increase it to 3, you can go as high as four. This regulates how many time pellets are being dumped into auger, the higher the number the fewer times, It dumps. Nothing in the manual about this but sure corrected ours in a hurry. So much better now. Also when you turn the unit on the temp displayed should be close to the outside temp. If not give Traeger a call, they are great to work with. By adjusting the P setting everything was solved. Good Luck!

3 users found this review helpful

Got this December of 2018 and love it. Gets hot quick so it's perfect for grilling my steaks and tri-tips. I did notice that it's usually 20-30° hotter than what I set it to so I either set it to a lower temp to make up for it or prop the lid open a little if I want to use it for smoking; I know I can get a fix for that with the warranty but I haven't worried about it. I saw the 2020 version of the Scout has more vents than mine so I assume the newer version holds temperatures better but I'm pretty happy with what I got.

1 user found this review helpful

Put it on smoke mode and jumps to over 400 degrees with a raging inferno. Will never get below 375 degrees no matter what temp you set it at. My big unit at the house works great but this little one needs serious help.

1 user found this review helpful

This is our second Traeger. We do a lot of camping and other small grills just weren't cutting it. The only issue is that it is very hard to keep a lower temperature. It's the nature of the design, it's very small, and doesn't have the ventilation that a full size grill has. That being said, it's perfect for our needs. We wanted a grill, not a smoker, and everything that we have made has been perfect. One of the best steaks I've ever had was made on this little grill.

I bought it over the weekend while camping to try it out, with its compact size it makes a great addition for the camper and it works no issues at all and the taste is great. Keep in mind this is not going to do those long 6-10 hr cooks its for quick cooking.