Pit Boss PB440D2 Wood Pellet Grill, 440 SERIES, Black

Our old pellet grill finally bit the dust after many years of turning out great food. (It wasn't a Pit Boss) I've been shopping around for a replacement and this one gets a lot of good reviews so I thought I would give it a try. It's a beautiful grill. I will admit to feeling a little intimidated when I laid out all of those parts on the kitchen table (see photo). But with a little patience and just following the instructions step by step it went together rather well. I haven't cooked on it yet but I did run it through a break-in and test run. Everything worked perfectly, I started with the smoke mode and then ran it up through the temperature settings until I got it up to 450. It heated up well and fairly quickly considering that it was only about 45 degrees outside. It held temperature at least as well as my old grill, within about 10 degrees. I love the control panel, the Prime button, and the overall simplicity of use. The ability to slide a panel over to expose the burn pit is a nice feature for searing. You can easily empty the pellet bin to change pellets. (Yes, the bin is rather small but should be more than adequate for my use) There are two Jacks to plug in temperature probes into the meat and have the internal temp of whatever you're cooking displayed right on the panel. (The probes didn't come with it but when I saw that feature I immediately ordered some) And the grill is sharp-looking. I love the offset color of the lid. It really makes the grill look sharp. I'm looking forward to creating some great barbecue on this nice grill. Update: I finally cooked on the grill today. It sure wasn't fancy but it was a great test run. We had company over including 5 grandkids so I cooked up some burgers and bratwurst. Following the grill instructions I started it on the smoke (lowest) setting with the lid open and waited for the smoke. In just a few minutes there was billowing white smoke rolling out of the grill. I waited for the smoke to dissipate a little and then closed the lid and turned the heat up to 400. The grill heated up quickly considering it was about 40 degrees and windy. I decided to take out the upper grill to give me a little more room to flip the brats and burgers. During cooking, I found that the Prime button is very handy. What it does is boost the heat up by dumping extra pellets into the fire pot. It worked well by using it either right before or right after raising the lid to keep from losing too much heat. It also cranks up the smoke level for a few minutes which adds some great smoke flavor to the burgers and bratwurst. I found the grill to be very easy to use, and I can't wait to do something a little more serious on it such as ribs or brisket. I like the grill a lot.

Great beginner wood pellet smoker grill. Some initial frustrations first time I took it apart to clean, but then I took a deep breath and slowed down and had the cleaning done in 5 minutes. Take time to learn if you want to do it right. There are plenty of on-line videos. Lessons include how to start your grill, cleaning your grill, important cooking steps and of course all the amazing cooking videos. I’ve done chicken thighs, a brisket and pork shoulder. They all come out great but not perfect as I’m a smoking novice. For example I learned the cut of the brisket matters, not something I ever realized. Also make sure you get the right equipment: a small shop vac for cleaning, disposable rubber gloves for cleaning and prep, temp probes (cooking to temp is recommended by all the pros), an external temp probe just to verify what the mounted probes say, butchers paper, grease bucket liners and lots of patience. This unit is also nice because of the broiler plate slides open and cooks burgers or sears steaks with direct heat. I have found it is all easy if you just take your time and watch a couple videos. Like I said, for beginners this grill has made it a 5-STAR experience.

I usually don't write reviews when I am happy. Just when products are bad. I have to say I have had this grill a while now. NEVER disappointing! Easy to use! Does just what they say. People that may put a bad review needs to do their homework Like I did. Yes Temps will vary! Depends on outside Temps. Depends on how much you open the lid and let the cool air In. Get a good recipe,,,, Put your meat in, LET the smoker do It's Job......Cant remember what I spent. But I am very happy with this smoker! I am happy with the Metal That it has been made from. I will say I do not use it every weekend! My concern was maybe I do not want to smoke a Roast for 12 hours at 250Deg..... What IF I want a steak tonight? Twice? Fired It up at 450 and 20 to 40 Min had a very delicious Ribeye...I give thumbs up!

It's my first smoker so I didn't know what to expect. But I'm very pleased with it. Cons: - The hopper is on the smallish side. Needs to be refilled every 90 minutes or so. Pellets tend to cling to the sides leaving a void in the middle, and you can't really use your hand to even then out because of the screen on top. - The top rack is too short and too close to the top of the barrel to be useful. A baking sheet will fit there, but make sure the weight is more towards the back or it'll fall over when you open the lid. - Don't trust the thermometer in the lid. - The design of the flame shield makes it difficult to get on and off for cleaning. Good: - Easy startup, easy shutdown. - Probe temp reads a bit low, but it's consistent so easy to adjust for.

I was so excited to get this new grill/smoker to try out that after we assembled it and was ready to Prime it up and do the first burn, when we turned it on, there was an ERR error code on the display screen. *SUCKS!* According to the manual, that means the "Grill Probe wire not making connection". It instructed us to remove the hopper access panel and check for any damage to the Grill Probe wires and Ensure the grill probe molex connectors are firmly connected, and connected correctly, to the control board. So while we did what it required in terms of looking for disconnected or damaged wires which all appeared to be firmly connected, it's not like the manual came with a picture of what the each wire is for and it's connection to the control panel and what "probe molex connectors" are -- but we googled it lol... nevertheless, as I stated before, everything looks fine and in order, yet the error code continues. I'm really hoping Customer Service can provide a quick solution because it's been a month and we're just getting around to getting this resolved after several unfortunate events have taken place since this purchase. Just pretty disappointed at experiencing this sort or issue out of the box. I'll update the review after guidance and a solution from the Pit Boss Support Team. ***UPDATE*** I'm super late on this update and regret not doing this sooner bc we realized that the disconnection was not coming from the area the manual stated but in the area on the back, specifically where you connect the wires for the hopper when you're doing the assembly and then cover it up. So when we uncovered the wires, while it appeared connected we took them apart and then reconnected the wires and whala! It worked! We gently placed the cover back on and it's been working every since! We love this grill!! Since then we've smoked several beef plate ribs, beef back ribs and chicken and it comes out perfectly! A few tips tho, we never trust internal temp displayed on the face of the hopper, we turn the temp dial up one notch above what's needed to get the right temp and we generally judge the internal temp of the smoker by what's displayed on the circle dial on the lid of the smoker. Our first time as novices smoking chicken and beef was a dud bc of the inaccurate temp displayed but when we began doing this and using our better judgment all has been well! We love this grill and are happy with our purchase!

This is a great beginner smoker! I would do your research and talk with a known experienced smoker like I did. You need to purchase the heat shield/deflector to eliminate hot/cold spots in the smoker. I grabbed a nice stainless steel one off Amazon for 40 dollars. I also had to bend it to get it to fit in this grill. I’ve been smoking meats and veggies every night since I have gotten the smoker and it’s a game changer. After the initial 2 hour high heat smoke to clear the oils that are put on the parts for shipping, I cleaned it and used a paint brush to coat the inside and all parts inside with bacon grease. Then I did another high heat burn for 2 hours. (450 degrees). This will help protect your investment and enhance flavor. I definitely recommend getting the pit boss meat probes for your meats to accurately cook things to temperature without drying them out. The only negative thing I can find is the hopper is on the smaller side and you can run it dry if you don’t pay close attention to your pellets. But it is a beginner’s grill and I’m sure they sell hopper extenders for longer smokes! I love the purchase, and since it was on prime day it was only 279.00 dollars! You can’t get a decent propane grill for that cheap.

This is my first pellet smoker/grill I’ve ever purchased and I couldn’t be happier with the quality for the price. It was easy to put together with two people (took my husband and I about an hour). It works great. Holds temperature well. It comes with a guide on how to use and clean including how long to cook cuts of meat. I love that we can smoke low and slow or sear meat quickly. We have used it every day since we got it and couldn’t be happier. I’m glad we went with this model. I think with proper upkeep and cleaning this grill will last us many years to come!

I purchased this product 5/17/2022. The grill failed after 8 months. I called the service number, it was under warrantee. They do not work with any vendors to repair it, therefore, they could not send anyone out to fix it. Instead, they send parts and expect the buyer to do the repairs. For example: after plugging it in, the grill did not start, no power was connected to the unit. After many long hrs of holding for customer service, they troubleshooted and determind it was the control board. They sent a new board, I had to connect, still did not work. BTW, I also had to send photos of how I connected it to make sure it was right. (which it was) They then said it was the fuse, I changed that, did not work, then said it was the power chord, so they sent a new power chord, I changed that, still did not work. Then they said it was the auger, still waiting for that for 5 weeks now. After not being able to use the grill for 3 months, just call them and asked them to return my money or send a new grill. The supervisor C, said they would never do that. They will just keep sending new parts until it's fixed. I said this grill is a lemon. It doesn't matter, he kept reading/reciting the company policy/line. Poor product/poor policy. Never again will I purchase a Pit Boss product. BTW, a friend purchased a Traeger grill, they sent a vendor to their house to repair their grill. Dansons need to change their repair policy on these Pit Boss/Dansons Grills. This one is headed to the landfill and I'm out $400+. Bad bad business! Update 6/21/23: I bought a Recteq RT-B380 Bullseye wood pellet grill, and it is EXCELLENT! Easy to set up, use, holds the temp. Highly Highly recommend this product.