Awesome Grill Alert: We Took The Traeger Eastwood 22 For A Spin

November 8, 2018

It’s no secret we here at Classic Dad love grilling.

Maybe it’s because we’re dads. Maybe we just like cooked meat. Or maybe we spent years writing and joking about grilling so, one day, we could partner with The Home Depot to review the Traeger Eastwood 22, available exclusively at dad’s favorite home improvement store. Yeah, that feels right!

And you know what else feels right? The Traeger. We actually filmed a video for the sponsorship, and the “actor” we brought in happened to be a competition-winning cook, meaning WE ATE A LOT OF DELICIOUS SMOKED MEAT.

Sorry.

The point is we tried St. Louis style ribs, BBQ chicken and some nice thick ribeye steaks. For those of you unfamiliar with Traeger grills, one of the nice things about the Eastwood 22 is that it cooks with pellet-based, indirect heat. In other words, you fill up the hopper, get everything to the right temp, and then you can just go about your business for a couple hours while the Traeger goes about its own business.

All the meat was delicious, particularly the yard bird. Nice and smoky, not dry and seasoned to perfection thanks to our expert/actor. As for the grill…

Official Traeger Ratings

Aesthetics: 9/10 — It’s not just a cooker. It’s a looker, too.

Functionality: 9/10 — Worked just as advertised. There’s nothing wrong with some good old-fashioned charcoal grilling where you need to tend to the grill like the cavemen before us, but smoking on a Traeger is a nice, relaxed alternative. Leisurely. The temp control is nice, even if we did peek inside a little more often than usual due to filming the process.

Cord: 7/10 — You really need to have an outlet (or generator!) handy. A longer cord would’ve been nice.

Capacity: 8/10 — The Eastwood 22 has plenty of space…to a point. It’s great for family and small gatherings. For giant parties, you’re going to have to smoke in shifts.

Wheels: 12/10 — All-terrain wheels? On a grill? Yes, please!

True story

The only problem we had with the Traeger was a fight about who on The Classic Dad team would get to keep it. So, we had to buy a second one and split the cost to avoid long-term grudges.

Video Review: