I tested the Traeger Woodridge Pro, and it's ideal for set-it-and-forget-it smoking

It’s almost a little embarrassing how excited I was to get my hands on Traeger’s Woodrige Pro Grill. I have spent decades using manual wood smokers with great results, but having to babysit a fire for eight hours to get the perfect brisket is an investment of time that I often can’t make these days.

And it’s a Traeger! This is the top of the mountain for so many grill consumers, and I had never had the privilege of trying one out. In a lot of ways, the Woodridge Pro was the perfect introduction to the Traeger ecosystem, but it’s also a very different experience than an offset wood smoker style that I’m used to.

I like the Woodridge Pro a lot for convenience and the upgraded grilling space (which is almost double that of its predecessor). The app is easy to use and the smoking results are quite good. But there are a couple of small drawbacks to this grill, most notably the lack of true smokiness in the meats I smoked, and limitations regarding high-temperature cooking.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Price and availability

The Woodridge Pro is available for purchase now through Traeger’s website. It costs $999 and includes a 10-year warranty. You can add accessories for the Woodridge Pro at checkout, too.

You can also purchase the Woodbridge Pro through select retailers like Home Depot. Traeger includes a dealer locator on its website if you’d prefer to go pick up your new Woodridge Pro in person.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Design

The premium experience starts as soon as you open the box for the Woodridge Pro. Traeger has included clever packaging that not only sorts out all the parts and labels them, but also makes it fun to identify what goes where. Most of the packaging is recyclable cardboard, too.

All told, it took me about 90 minutes to unbox and build the Woodridge Pro by myself. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. Traeger includes a screwdriver you can use to secure all the bolts, but I opted for an electric screwdriver just to speed things up a bit.

The materials that comprise the Woodridge Pro look and feel stout, too. It’s clear as the build process progresses that this is going to end up being a stable, solid, and well-built piece of cooking gear. My only complaint came when I got to the steps to attach the large wheels, and the lid. Both of those are secured with rather wimpy cotter pins that almost certainly won’t stand the test of time. Those are easily replaceable, of course, but given the stout build throughout the rest of the unit, I was surprised to find Traeger using cotter pins here.

Before using the Woodridge Pro for actual cooking, you’ll need to season it. This has always been something of a vague command from grill manufacturers, but Traeger makes the process simple and clear in its instruction manual. Using the app, I didn’t even have to be present while this process took place (well, after I put pellets in the hopper, of course). I followed the instructions to basically heat up the grill and get pellets flowing into the auger, and ran it at various heats to burn off any residues from the factory and shipping. It takes about an hour, and you’ll burn through a decent amount of pellets. Once that process is done, you can get to grilling right away.

The Woodridge Pro has a ton of cooking space — 970 square inches, which is 110 square inches bigger than the entry-level Woodridge. That real estate is split between the main grates and a shelf above the main cooking grate.

Beneath the cooking grates, Traeger has devised a clever system for collecting fat and other byproducts, and forcing them down into a chute that eventually drops all the waste into a removable grease and ash keg. That makes cleanup a lot easier once the cooking’s done. The drip tray is of course removable so you can clean it after a few uses; there are even hooks on the back of the grill where you can hang grates or the drip tray to keep everything close at hand during the cleaning process.

There are two prep surfaces, one on each side of the main cooking chamber. And the prep surface on the lefthand side folds down for storage. The right prep surface does not fold down, primarily because this is also where the electronic control panel is located, and beneath that prep service is where the hopper lives.

Lift that prep surface lid, dump your pellets in, and most of your work is done for the day. The hopper feeds the auger, which automatically feeds the heat source at the right levels to maintain your set temperature.

There are two ways to get your Woodridge Pro set and ready to cook: by using the dial and buttons on the front of the grill, or by using the Traeger app. I’ll cover the app more below.

The control panel features a large digital readout so you know what temperature you’re set at. This is also where you’ll see other relevant messages, like timer countdowns, error messages, and the like. The dial is a push-button selector as well. Starting the grill is as easy as choosing your temperature and hitting the starter button.

While your Woodridge Pro is heating up, you can set up your accessories. Traeger’s quick attachment system rails are mounted across the front of the grill, as well as on both sides. This gives you plenty of versatility for mounting Traeger accessories or hanging other cooking tools. Traeger included a front Pop and Lock (P.A.L.) shelf with my test unit, and attaching it to the front P.A.L. rail is as simple as pulling in the mount levers, putting the shelf in place, and letting go. It takes seconds.

The bottom of the grill offers a lot of storage space. This is where I stacked my bags of pellets, and I had plenty of room to spare. This could be a good place to tuck your cooking gear, perhaps in a plastic tub.

Speaking of pellet storage, one of the downsides of the Woodridge Pro — and any pellet smoker, really — is that you’re married to buying bags of pellets. I’m a bit old-school and have largely cut my own wood for use in my smokers, so it’s a bit of a bummer to have to head to Home Depot to grab more pellets. But that’s all part of the pellet smoker game. Fortunately, pellets are readily available at many retailers, and you can often find deals on them.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Smoking performance

Having spent much of my smoking experience with an old, offset wood smoker, moving over to a pellet smoker is sort of like going from driving stickshift to a self-driving car. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and there’s a learning curve for each.

The Woodridge Pro had me thinking, “man, is this what I’ve been missing?” Usually, smoking a brisket means spending the day tending a fire, smelling like wood smoke, and compulsively feeding the fire or finding clever ways to crack open the lid just the right amount to vent heat. It’s worth it for the finished product, so I was hesitant to try a set-it-and-forget-it option like the Woodridge. But it might have just made me a believer.

My first smoking session was two racks of ribs. With my wood smoker, I usually try to keep the temperature around 180 degrees. So that’s what I set for the Woodridge. Once it was heated to that level, I put the ribs on and…walked away. And it felt so wrong!

But from there, I didn’t have much to do but wait. Of course, if you like to spray your meats throughout the cooking process with something to add moisture or bark, you can definitely do that. But for the absolute simplest experience, you can absolutely walk away, set a timer, and come back when it’s time to pull the meat off the grill.

Since I was smoking at a low temperature, I could use Traeger’s super smoke settings. This setting ensures smoke is more or less constantly flowing over the food to give it the smokiest flavor possible.

The ribs came out good, but not great, which was mostly my own doing. I took them off the smoker too early, and while the flavors were wonderful — very smoky indeed — I learned that I need to readjust my expectations for cooking speeds. Another hour on the smoker would have made these ribs just about perfect.

I did it again on my second experience smoking with the Woodridge Pro. I took a beef brisket off too early, and while the flavors were wonderful, the meat itself needed about another hour on the Woodridge Pro. My suspicion is perhaps the Woodridge’s thermometer is actually accurate, whereas my old wood smoker’s thermometer was probably reading inaccurately.

Traeger does include meat probes that plug directly into the Woodridge Pro, and my stubborn, old-school self didn’t use them. In other words, this was completely preventable.

My only complaint during that first smoking experience was that the pellets have a tendency to get caught up in the smoker, which creates a “low pellets” reading in the app. Swishing the pellets around with my hand corrected that. I may end up removing the small grate that’s screwed into the hopper to allow the pellets to flow more smoothly.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Grilling performance

The Woodridge Pro heats up to higher temperatures (500 degrees max) quickly and easily. So you can definitely use the Woodbridge Pro as a standard grill for weeknight meals.

And yes, you’re able to get a sear on your meats too. But that comes with a bit of a caveat. The sear, in this case, comes from the heat of the cooking grates rather than from any direct flames. Call me old-fashioned, but I sure do love a little singe from flames licking at the meat on the grill. Maybe even a little char, too. You won’t get that here, since there’s no direct flames beneath the cooking grates.

I’m splitting hairs, though. I was able to cook chicken thighs on high heat with no problem, and got the sought-after sear easily. It’s not quite the same as having the meat get those flame-licked brown and black accents, but if I’m being honest, the taste didn’t suffer in any way.

If you’re using accessories like a searing plate or griddle, you might struggle a bit here. While it’s easy to get the grill up to 500 degrees, the searing plate probably doesn’t get that hot. That means searing on such plates leaves a bit to be desired. If, for example, you’re cooking burgers on a searing plate, the Woodridge Pro just can’t compete with a live-fire grill that will help the plate get up to a searing temperature.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: App

Things you wouldn’t find with my old, rusted, rickety offset wood smoker: an app. In fact, generally, apps are a disappointing experience and I’d rather do without. But Traeger’s WiFire app works, and works well. That’s notable, because it really transforms the cooking experience into something fun and easy.

It’s intuitive, easy to use, and it connects quickly. I was able to control temperatures and monitor everything from the other side of my house with no problems at all. It’s easily the best grill app I’ve used so far.

The WiFire app lets you set the temperature and even change it at any time, set timers, turn the super smoke feature on and off, and even look up recipes, resources, and learning opportunities. I was able to see the entire seasoning and cleaning processes on videos within the app before I executed either one. It’s a great, comprehensive app.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Accessories

My test unit arrived with two accessories: a grill cover and front shelf that works with the P.A.L. system. Both feel premium, well-built, and useful. The front shelf attaches quickly and easily, and it’s easy to take it off and put it aside when not in use.

I requested a few more accessories from Traeger, including a couple of spatulas and some butcher paper. Traeger also sells a side tray, tongs, cleaning sprays, replacement pellets, and lots of other useful bits, all available for purchase on the Traeger website.

One interesting accessory that just landed on my doorstep as I’m writing this review is the Meater SE wireless meat thermometer. It's wonderful to be able to insert the meat probe without having a wire running from the grilling surface out to the control panel. And tracking the temperature via the Meater app will also be a new and hopefully convenient experience.

Traeger Woodridge Pro compare?

The Woodridge Pro sits within a crowded segment of pellet smoker/grill combos. Weber, Recteq, Z Grills, Pit Boss, Yoder Smokers, and many other brands offer pellet units that function as both a smoker and a grill.

Traeger certainly has the advantage of name recognition here, and the build quality of the Woodridge Pro is a good example as to why Traeger has built such a strong name. Weber is also making excellent smokers; one notable unit is the SmokeFire EX4, which costs $849 and includes similar features like easy cleaning, an app to control the unit, and SmokeBoost. The Weber does get hotter — up to 600 degrees — which makes it a better choice for grilling. But users have reported some failures and inconsistency holding temperatures.

Traeger Woodridge Pro review: Verdict

The Woodridge Pro offers an excellent smoking experience. It’s while smoking that you’ll get the most from your Woodridge Pro; the Super Smoke feature is excellent and adds lots of flavor to your meats.

Grilling capabilities here are decent enough, but the Woodridge Pro does struggle where many pellet grills like this struggle: high-heat searing. I was able to make some delicious meals at higher temperatures, but temper your expectations for true high-heat searing.

Still, the Woodridge Pro offers true set-it-and-forget-it smoking, an intuitive app, and a stout, high-quality build. Lots of cooking space top off this backyard beast. It’s a top choice if you’re smoking frequently, and if you’re grilling quick, after-work meals that don’t require high-temp searing.