Traeger Pro 575 vs Pro 780 : which one is better?

Last Updated on: 26th January 2023, 10:58 am

Traeger grills are the leading pellet grills that are loved all around the world. One can easily choose Traeger grills over other brands grills keeping in mind their versatility and ease of use.

But when it’s Traeger vs traeger, then it’s not easy to choose one .

The most common example of such situation is when you have to choose one from traeger 575 and traeger 780  .

It is one of the most common confusion that pitmasters have when deciding to purchase a traeger grill.

It’s totally normal because both grills are equally effective for smoking and grilling, but you have to choose the one that fits your needs .

To put this conflict to end, i have to decided to create a complete guide for our readers that are confused at this point.

Hopefully, by the end of this guide, you will have a clear picture of which grill to choose. Let’s get started.

Traeger pro 575 vs traeger 780; what’s the difference

Traeger pro 575 and traeger pro 780 are the best smokers in the pro series of traeger.

they are absolutely gem of smokers when compared to other brands, but when compared to each other, it can become difficult to choose one.

That’s why we have decided to carry out a research on which one is better choice.

I have analyzed them myself, discussed on several forums and went through customer reviews on multiple platforms to decide which one is better.

Price difference

The main difference between traeger 575 and traeger 780 is the price tag . Traeger 575 pro costs around 799$ while traeger 780 is available at 999$ . So there is a 100$ price difference between the two.

It confuses the buyers when they decide to choose one from these two options. The reason is that 100$ is not a big difference if the traeger 780 is better than traeger 575 . But the reality is that both models share identical feature with a slight difference.

Occasionally, you can even find both traeger 575 and traeger 780 listed at the same price at the home Depot. In that case , traeger 780 grill is better choice because it can come Handy if you need extra space in future.

But if both the grills are listed at their original prices, then you need to ignore the price tag and choose the one on the basis of other features like grilling space , weight and pellets consumption. In general, if you are cooking for a small family, then 575 is better choice than traeger 780.

Grilling area

The second and the most important difference between a traeger 575 and traeger 780 is the grilling area . A traeger 575 has the grilling area of around 575 inches while a traeger 780 has the grilling area of 780 inches.

In traeger 575 , this grilling araa consists of a primary grate of 418 sq inches and a secondary grate of 154 sq inches. While in traeger 780 , the primary grate is of 570 sq inches while the secondary grate consists of 210 sq inches.

To simply put, in traeger 575 ,  you can smoke 5 slab of ribs in a single go , while in traeger 780 , you can smoke 6 slab of ribs at a time . So traeger 780 has a bigger grilling area than traeger 575 and that is the primary reason for price difference.

In my opinion, the grilling area of both the smokers is the approximately same , because smoking 1 extra slab of ribs doesn’t justifies going for traeger 780. However if you have a large family or host dinners frequently, then traeger 780 would be better for you.

Size difference

Another factor that differentiates the traeger 575 and traeger 780 is their size. You can easily differentiate between traeger 780 and 575 at a glance by their sizes. Traeger 575 has a compact design while traeger 780 has a bigger size.

So it can be another point to decide which smoker will be better option for you. If you have a small backyard or smoking area ,then traeger 575 will be better choice because of its small design and nearly equal grilling area to the traeger 780.

But if you have a large enough smoking area and can make sure to allow airflow for the traeger 780 , then you can go for it. $100 price difference is not that much,but you have to decide your model on the basis of other factors like size and grilling area.

For details-loving persons, traeger 575 has a dimensions of ” 41 W x 53 H x 27 D ” while traeger 780 has dimensions of ” 49 W x 55 H x 27 D ” . So you can easily choose the model that will be perfect fit for your backyard depending on its size.

Portability

Another factor to consider when deciding to go for one of these is the portability of both smokers. Both of the smokers have a set of bigger wheels and a metal handle at the front to drag and move them around.

Traeger 575 is a relatively smaller smoker than traeger 780 . It has a set of bigger wheels on the one side of frame and a handle on the other side, to hold and drag it. It has a weight of 124 pounds , which makes it easier to drag . So it is the go to choice if you are looking for a portable smoker.

On the other hand , traeger 780 also has the set of bigger wheels on the one side of frame,plus a set of smaller wheels on the the other two legs of frame. So it has wheels on the all four legs of the frame to move it around.

The reason behind adding smaller set of wheels is the massive size of the smoker. Traeger 780 has a weight of 150 pounds, due to which it is not easy to pick it up and drag it , especially for senior pitmasters.

So although both the smokers are portable to some extent, traeger 575 is the winner here. The reason is that it is looking lighter than the traeger 780 and can be moved around the backyard or put inside the truck easily,if you are considering to go on a camping trip.

Pellets consumption

Another factor to consider when comparing traeger pro 575 and traeger pro 780 is the pellets consumption. The reason is that both of the smoker nearly smoke equal amount of meat , so you need to go for one which is pellets efficient.

Both of these members of traeger pro series have a hopper of 18lbs , which means that they can hold equal amount of pellets at a time . But to your surprise traeger pro 780 uses more pellets per a time interval than pro 575.

The reason is that traeger pro 780 is of bigger size , so to reach a set temperature, it needs more heat , which results in increased burning of pellets. In addition, due to increased size , the heat absorbed by the metal is also increased.

In other words, traeger pro 575 is more efficient in terms of pellets consumption due to its smaller size . Although traeger pro 780 can smoke a little extra meat , it can cost you heaps of extra pellets, which can make it more expensive to smoke meat.

Pellets consumption is really important to keep in mind, because it is similar to running cost of any instrument. So traeger pro 780 will not only cost you few extra bucks but will also be expensive in the Longer run.

What customers have to say

To make this guide more authentic and avoid giving a biased opinion just depending on my own perspective, I went through a number of traeger communities on Facebook, reddit and other social media platforms.

The majority of users preferred to grab traeger pro 575 due to its lower cost , less pellets consumption and requiring less area. Although some users recommended to go for traeger pro 780 if you can get it at the same price of traeger pro 575 ( this discount is occasionally available on Home Depot).

After that I decided to go through the customer reviews on different stores like Amazon, home Depot etc. To my surprise, both the smokers had an nearly equal rating, which is why it makes the decision of choosing one a bit difficult.

Similarly to the social communities and forums , the users of both the traeger pro 575 and traeger 780 shared the same feelings. But given the lower price and less operational cost , traeger pro 575 was the winner here.

Traeger pro 575 vs traeger pro 780 , which one is the real winner?

After going through the different aspects of both smokers and taking in account the experience from 100s of users , Traeger pro 575 is the clear winner here. The reason is it’s compact design, lower price, portability and using less pellets.

Traeger pro 575 is always the better choice when comparing it to the other members of the traeger pro series. It is go to choice for beginners and experts pitmasters alike due to its versatility and ease of use.

Traeger pro 575 has all of the features that a traeger pro 780 has , while keeping the Design intact. Even if you compare the grilling area, which is only factor in which traeger pro 780 beats traeger pro 575 , you will not find much difference there.

You can smoke nearly equal amount of chicken or ribs in both of smokers at a time. To make it more understable , if traeger Pro 575 can smoke  4 chickens at time , traeger pro 780 can help you 6 chickens at a time .

It is not that much difference here to affect the purchase decision. If you are stuck at the decision of choosing out of these to , then  don’t procrastinate and just order traeger pro 575 to explore the grilling space further.