Review of the Country Smokers The Traveler Portable Wood Pellet Grill

The Traveler, as the name suggests, is a portable wood pellet barbecue by Country Smokers.

Until recently, if you wanted to take a pellet smoker camping or tailgating, you didn’t have many options.

We put The Traveler to the test for this review to see how well it worked as a portable pellet barbecue.

Country Smokers provided me with this grill for free in exchange for an honest assessment. My views and opinions are all my own.

Country Smokers The Traveler Review Overview

The Traveler has been intended for mobility, with 256 square inches of grill area and a 5-pound hopper.

But how well does it cook?

We can certainly tell that this grill performs what it promises it can do after extensively testing it in a variety of circumstances. It has a strong sear and an excellent smoking ability.

The temperature is fairly constant and easy to operate.

Specifications

• Black sand exterior
• Control type: dial-in digital
• Cooking temperature: 180F to 500F
• Total Cooking Surface: 256 square inches
• Searing zone
• 5 lb hopper capacity

You may power the grill with conventional electricity or, if you’re on the move, a 12-volt DC outlet in your car with a 100-watt inverter.

Dansons, the same firm that owns Pit Boss, owns Country Smokers.

What I like:

• At 52.9 pounds, the smoker is light and portable.Portability A portable pellet barbecue for road trips, camping, or tailgating at the stadium. This barbecue
• The scorching zone This function looks to be more than just a marketing ploy. It is effective. This small grill’s ability to sear some meat astonished me!
• Grates for grills The grates were extremely simple to clean and seem to be nicely manufactured. The top grate may be separated from the base grate. This feature is fantastic. It is useful when you need as much room as possible.

What I don’t like:

• There is no carry handle. The grill is portable, however it lacks carrying handles, making it difficult to transport. In order to utilize the grill’s mobility, it must also be within extension cord range and have a gel starter.
• There is no barrier to keep food from rolling down. The grill grates slip food much too easily! As there was nothing to stop me, I slipped a burger straight off the back of the grill. I was trying to utilize every inch of the grilling surface since the cooking space is small. It would probably be advantageous if there was a tiny lip or something to function as a backstop to prevent food from slipping off.

The cooking space is certainly modest, but it is similar to other portable barbecues. Continue reading to discover how it stacks up against the competition.

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Unboxing and assembly

Thick cardboard and foam were used to protect the box.

More foam and cardboard were used to cover the grill grate and diffuser plate, as well as the sear zone sliding plates.

Metal pieces were placed such that they did not come into contact with one another during shipment.

So simple. It doesn’t get much simpler than this. A few screws for the handle. Just a couple screws for the legs and you’re finished!

It took 15 minutes conservatively.

Read and carefully follow the directions for priming, starting, and preheating your grill. I cannot emphasize this more. This is the key to having a fantastic pellet wood cooking experience.

Build Quality

All metal pieces were freshly painted. There is no corrosion and no unpainted areas. High temperature caulking was used to seal the corners of sheet metal pieces.

I was really satisfied with the coating and tensile quality of the pieces, especially considering this is a portable grill. I feel this barbecue might be used for many seasons.

Initially, there was a little problem with how the cover fit on the base. The lid was positioned to the left of the base. I loosened the hinge screws on the lid, adjusted it, and tightened them again. The lid was then neat and square.

Temperature control and accuracy of grill and probes

The grill contains two internal probes, one of which is visible on the control panel and the other in the hood.

When tested with my Thermoworks Smoke, these probes measured quite precisely.

They varied from 0 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit from my testing instrument. Some of this may be explained by the probes being in slightly different places.

Temperature Consistency:

When adjusted to higher temperatures (350 or above), the temperature range averaged 355-375. The highest temperature I measured was 375, however it only stays there for a short time before dropping again.

When set to lower temperatures (225), the temperature range averaged 227-252.

Not too shabby for a portable pellet grill

Because most pellet grill flames function in waves, this degree of volatility is rather usual. Pellets fall, smolder, catch fire, and burn away. Repeat.

As a result, the temperature in the firebox will often rise and fall in waves. The temperatures will temporarily increase and then fall. This is standard behavior.

For comparison, I tested my gas stove, which had a temperature range of 235-248 (a range of 13) when set to 250.

Cooking on The Traveller

You may connect the traveler into a conventional 120V circuit for usage around the house, but this barbecue isn’t meant to be left unattended!

The grill may be powered by a 12-volt DC socket in your car when used in combination with a 100-watt inverter.

The auger and control panel will be powered by this, however the grill igniter must be detached since it needs 1000 Watts to work.

As a result, a gel starter would be required to ignite the pellets at first. Then use the 100 watt inverter to keep the grill running.

Pellet consumption: Approximately lb per hour at moderate temperatures (250 or less). On higher temperatures, around -1 pound each hour.

If the wind is blowing, pay attention to which direction the grill is positioned. I made the mistake of placing it incorrectly with the wind blowing.

Every time I opened the hood, smoke blew directly in my face.

This tiny sucker can generate a lot of smoke. This is not a criticism of the grill, but rather unexpected operating facts.

How to run the grill without a vehicle

I dislike being linked to a car by an extension cable. If I want anything portable, I’ll take it!

If you want to go cordless heres what you need:

• Inverter with a maximum power rating of 1000 watts (the grill igniter requires 1000 watts to operate).
• 35 AH SLA (sealed lead acid battery)

You’ll have all the portability you need with these things.

If you’re going to purchase an inverter to power the grill, you may as well spend a little extra and get one that also powers the igniter. In any case, the igniter only lasts a few minutes.

The grill consumes 8.3 amps per hour to operate. So you can purchase a little SLA battery to power the grill for as long as you wish!

I picked the 35 AH size since it will provide around 4 hours of run time. If you were camping, I imagine you could cook for many days before needing to recharge the batteries.

Obviously, if you want to use it to smoke meals, you will need a bigger battery.

Alternative portable pellet grills

The portable pellet grill, which began as a little bus, has recently grown fast. The Green Mountain Grills Davy Crockett and the Traeger Tailgater are the two most probable alternatives worth investigating.

In our guide to the finest portable pellet grills, we go over everything in detail.

Davy Crockett VS The Traveller

• The Traveller is about 15 pounds lighter
• Davy Crockett is currently more expensive
• Davy Crockett has WiFi connection and may be operated through an app (but its range is restricted).
• Davy Crockett includes a meat probe

Traeger Tailgater VS The Traveller

• The Traveller is about 9 pounds lighter
• The Tailgater is significantly more expensive
• The Tailgater features 300 square inches of cooking area, making it somewhat larger.

The Country Smokers Traveller, in our view, is more of a true portable grill, but the other two alternatives may be used as a small grill at home and have some portable capabilities.

Verdict

This is a great portable pellet grill/smoker.

It is quite simple to use. It is simple to clean and maintain. It consumes pellets in a very efficient and fair manner. It’s reasonably priced for its size, yet it has some of the same features as larger grills, such as the searing zone.

And, although I wasn’t able to overcome the disadvantage of having no backstop, I was able to provide a fair solution to being attached to a vehicle.

Do you like the flavor of food cooked over real wood but want to keep things simple? Do you like going camping? RVing? Tailgating? Grilling in the park?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, this is a grill you should seriously consider.