Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Low-and-slow cooking doesn’t get much easier than this

Pellet smokers have been gaining momentum in the UK for a while now, but they're still a relative niche compared to the gas and charcoal BBQs most of us grew up with. The appeal comes down to the results. Anything cooked in wood pellets, especially meat, will offer up a proper wood-fired smoky flavour without having to babysit a fire all afternoon. Just fill the hopper with hardwood pellets, set a temperature, and let the machine do its thing. This "set it and forget it" promise helped turned Traeger into one of the biggest names in outdoor cooking.

The company has been doing their thing for 40 years now, but the Woodridge series is the brand's latest lineup, designed to bring its premium features down to a more approachable price. The Woodridge Pro sits in the middle of the range, slotting between the entry-level Woodridge and the top-spec Elite. It packs 970 square inches of cooking space, a Super Smoke mode for maximum flavour at low temperatures, Wi-Fi connectivity via Traeger's WiFIRE companion app, a digital pellet sensor, and a clever EZ-Clean grease and ash collection system.

I've been using it in my garden for the past few weeks now, including over a Bank Holiday heat wave, testing it across a mix of slow smokes and quicker grills to see whether it lives up to its maker’s reputation. Here's how I got on.

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Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Price and availability

The Traeger Woodridge Pro is available to buy now in the UK, US and Australia. Being a US brand, the pricing is noticeably steeper on this side of the Atlantic. In the US, it has an RRP of $1,150 and is regularly discounted to $999.99. In the UK, however, it sits at a firm £1,399 and can be picked up from retailers like John Lewis, Stoves Are Us and BBQ World, with no discount in sight at the time of writing. (Although some retailers do throw in a free rain cover.) In Australia, it comes in at AU$2,399 direct from Traeger's Australian store, also with no discount listed.

For context, the entry-level Woodridge BBQ (which lacks the Pro's Super Smoke mode, folding side shelf, Keep Warm function, and has a smaller 860 sq in cooking area) starts at around £1,099 / $799.99 / AU$1,899. Meanwhile, the top-end Woodridge Elite has all the Pro features but boasts an infrared sear station and costs £1,699 / $1,599.99 / AU$2,999 RRP.

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Rival pellet grills from Weber, Pit Boss and Camp Chef sit at similar or lower price points, so you are paying a premium for the Traeger name. That said, the build quality and feature offering go a long way toward justifying the cost, in my opinion, especially with the 10-year warranty, which is reassuring.

One thing worth flagging before buying is the ongoing cost of pellets. Pellet smokers like this require hardwood pellets specifically, which are pricier than softwood. I paid around £25 for a 9kg bag, which lasted me roughly three medium-sized cooks at around 240 degrees with the rack half full. There was a bit left over, but definitely not enough for another full session. It's not wallet-busting by any means, but it does add up over a summer of smoking, so it's worth factoring in if you’re considering buying a BBQ like this.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Design and build

The Woodridge Pro is a whopping bit of kit. At 79kg / 174lbs, it's not something you'll want to have to move around often, or keep hidden away to keep pulling out and dusting off when there’s a heatwave on the way. Still, if you do need to do that, it does sport two large wheels and two casters, which make repositioning it on the patio manageable enough.

Build quality is where this thing really shines, though and this will be obvious from the minute you unpack it and start assembling it. Everything feels properly sturdy and well-made. The steel feels thick and solid, the prep shelves are stable, and the whole unit has a reassuring heft that screams high quality. It really feels worth the money.

Assembly is a big job, mind. It arrives flat-packed in many pieces and you'll want to allow a good two hours with a second pair of hands. That said, Traeger has clearly put a lot of thought into making the process as painless as possible. The inside of the main box is printed with a layout showing where everything goes, and all the component boxes are labelled with animal icons (pig, chicken, deer, cow) sorted into four corners. You follow the images on each box to assemble step by step. It's probably one of the best unboxing and assembly experiences I've had with any product, and it makes this flatpack BBQ feel even more premium.

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Once built, you've got a huge cooking area split across a main grate (585 sq in) and an upper shelf (measuring 385 sq in), plus two prep surfaces (one folding). There’s also a lower storage shelf running along the bottom to hold whatever BBQ paraphernalia your heart desires, and plenty of hooks to store cooking accessories, all of which ensure it’s practical as well as cool looking. Then, the grill’s hopper sits under the right-hand prep surface and holds 10kg / 24 lbs of pellets, which is more than enough for a couple of long smokes. There's also a digital pellet sensor built in so you can monitor levels without lifting the lid.

The EZ-Clean Grease and Ash Keg is also worth a mention here. This clever design feature collects drippings and pellet ash into a single removable and disposable container, which makes post-cook cleanup a lot less grim than scraping out a traditional BBQ. That said, the grill plates themselves are pretty big, and getting them properly clean does take time and effort. It's definitely not a quick wipe-down job.

Overall though, it really looks the part. It's a beast of a thing, but a stylish and robust one at that. Anyone that spots the Woodridge Pro sitting on your patio will assume you mean business, that’s for sure.

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Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Performance and features

Let's start with what the Woodridge Pro does best, and that’s smoking. Set it to a low temperature, fill the hopper, turn on Super Smoke mode, and walk away. That's genuinely all there is to it. The auger feeds pellets into the fire pot automatically, the temperature holds steady, and the smoke does its thing. After what I know about more traditional wood pellet BBQs requiring you to manually feed wood into offset smokers or faffing with charcoal, this felt almost too easy.

And the results speak for themselves. My Wagyu burgers came out with a brilliant smoky flavour and tender texture, and slow-cooked chicken drumsticks had a proper wood-fired taste you'd expect from a dedicated smoker. This is down to the grill’s Super Smoke mode, which works below 107 °C / 225°F pumps extra smoke over the food to really add flavour intensity. It's the feature that separates the Pro from the base Woodridge, and it's worth the step up on its own, in my opinion.

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Temperature control is impressive, too. The digital controller lets you set anywhere from 74°C / 165°F to 260°C / 500°F, and in my experience it held steady. Recovery time after opening the lid was quick, and the pellet consumption at lower temps (roughly 0.5kg / 1lb per hour at 107°C / 225°F) felt efficient. The control panel on the front of the grill is clear and easy to use, too, touting a digital readout, a dial for temperature, a connected temperature prong, and buttons for ignition and Super Smoke. It's a bit retro-looking with its dot-matrix style display, but I like that and it does its job with ease.

For grilling at higher temperatures, the Woodridge Pro might be perfectly capable but it's not its strong point. You can get it up to 260°C / 500°F and cook burgers, joints, chicken thighs and the like without any issues, and you'll get a decent sear from the hot grates. But because there are no direct flames beneath the cooking surface, you won't get that flame-licked char you might be used to from a gas or charcoal grill. This is something to make sure you’re well aware of before buying – as expectations could be ruined if you’re expecting that traditional BBQ finish to your meat. If high-heat searing is your priority, you'll want the Woodridge Elite with its infrared side burner, or a separate grill entirely.

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Finally, let’s talk about the app. Traeger's companion app, called WiFIRE, is widely praised and I can see why as it lets you control temperature, monitor pellet levels, set timers and access recipes, all from your phone.

I should mention that I initially struggled to get the grill to connect. Despite multiple attempts over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, my phone simply wouldn't recognise it, which was pretty frustrating. After persisting with it, though, I eventually got it paired, and once connected it worked brilliantly. The app itself is well designed and intuitive, with a clean layout that makes it useful rather than a gimmick and not only for controlling the grill remotely but for relevant recipes, cooking guides and the like. Being able to adjust the temperature or check pellet levels from inside the house while the Woodridge Pro does its thing in the garden is a convenience that would make it very hard to go back to a conventional BBQ!

That said, if you're not one for connected experiences, the Woodridge Pro works perfectly well using just the physical controls on the unit. Everything you need is right there on the front panel, so the app is a bonus rather than a necessity.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Verdict

The Traeger Woodridge Pro is one of the most impressive BBQs I've used. The build quality is outstanding, the smoking performance is fantastic, and the whole “set-it-and-forget-it” experience means that wood-fired cooking feels accessible and in a way that traditional smokers don't.

The grill is not without its niggles, though. The pellet costs are an ongoing expense that adds up, especially with the pricier hardwood pellets this machine requires. What’s more, the grill plates are a faff to clean, and if you want proper high-heat searing, you'll need to look at the pricier Elite model or supplement with a separate grill.

Nevertheless, anyone who wants to smoke ribs, brisket, pulled pork or anything else low and slow with minimal effort and maximum flavour, the Woodridge Pro delivers and then some. It's a serious piece of outdoor cooking kit that not only looks the part but feels every bit as premium as its price tag.