Who the Z Grills 700 is for
This is the smoker for the beginner who wants real wood smoke but not the fuss of charcoal. If the flavor of a charcoal pit appeals to you but managing a live fire does not, a pellet grill is the happy middle — and the 700-series is the one we reach for because it delivers that experience at a value price. Set a temperature, walk away, and come back to genuine barbecue. Families cooking on weekends and anyone who wants a hands-off long cook without babysitting a fire will feel right at home.
It is also the pick for the value-minded buyer who wants room to grow. The generous cook area handles several racks of ribs, a couple of chickens, or a big cut with space to spare, and the large hopper can run a full low-and-slow day without a refill. You are getting a cooker you can grow into for meaningfully less than the marquee brands charge — which is exactly why it leads our value recommendations. Still deciding whether a pellet grill is right for you at all? Our take on whether a pellet smoker is worth it is worth a read first.
Who should skip it
Skip it if you are chasing the deepest possible smoke flavor and a bold smoke ring. A pellet grill’s smoke is real but lighter than what a charcoal cooker or an offset delivers, and no setting fully closes that gap. If maximum flavor is the whole point for you — and you do not mind tending a fire to get it — a charcoal smoker will make you happier.
You should also look elsewhere if you want a cooker with nothing to plug in or break. The 700-series depends on electricity to run its auger, igniter and fan, and those moving parts are more than a simple electric or charcoal box has. For most beginners that reliability is a non-issue, but if you want the absolute simplest possible machine — or you cannot get power to where you cook — a plug-in electric or a plain charcoal smoker is the better match. Our pellet vs electric comparison lays that choice out in full.
What it does well
The standout strength is its PID controller. This is a smarter type of controller that constantly measures the chamber and makes small corrections to hold your target, so it swings less than the simpler controllers on many budget pellet grills. For long low-and-slow cooks — where a steady temperature over many hours is exactly what you want — that steadiness is a real, practical advantage, and it is a big part of why the 700-series punches above its price. It also includes dual meat probes, so you can watch the food from the panel instead of the pit.
The other headline is sheer capability for the money: a roomy cook surface and a large hopper that together make big, all-day cooks easy. Real wood-pellet smoke means you get authentic barbecue flavor and even a light smoke ring, and choosing a pellet blend you like shapes the taste more than the machine does — our guide to the best wood for smoking covers where to start. Roomy, steady and genuinely wood-fired, at a value price, is a hard combination to beat for a first serious smoker.
The honest limits
The first limit is dependence on power and pellets. This is an electric appliance with a fuel supply, so it needs an outlet and a hopper that never runs dry — if a pellet grill runs out of pellets mid-cook, the fire goes out and the temperature crashes. The big hopper makes that unlikely on a normal cook, but it is a habit worth keeping: check your pellet level before a long session.
The second is complexity relative to the simplest smokers. An auger, an igniter and a fan are more parts than a plain electric or charcoal cooker has, and the built-in app and WiFi are basic next to premium pellet grills. Neither is a real problem for a beginner — the machine is reliable and the controller does the hard part — but it is honest to note that you are trading a little mechanical simplicity for that hands-off convenience. And, again, the smoke ring is lighter than charcoal delivers.
Z Grills versus Pit Boss, and versus electric
The 700-series’ closest budget rival is the Pit Boss, and it is the comparison we get asked about most. In short, the Z Grills tends to lead on all-round value — a larger cook area, a steadier PID controller and a bigger hopper — while the Pit Boss competes on the lowest possible entry price and a smaller footprint. Which wins depends on whether capacity and steadiness or the rock-bottom price matter more to you; our Pit Boss vs Z Grills comparison settles it point by point.
The bigger philosophical choice is pellet versus electric. An electric smoker is even simpler and can be cheaper, but its smoke is milder because the heat is electric; a pellet grill burns real wood for both heat and smoke, so the flavor is closer to charcoal while staying hands-off. If you are torn between the two formats, the 700-series is the pellet side of that argument at its most affordable — read our pellet vs electric breakdown before you decide.
Pellet versatility: smoke low, grill hot
One underrated appeal of a pellet grill is that it is not only a smoker. The same machine that holds a low temperature for a brisket can run hotter for everyday grilling and roasting, which makes it a legitimate do-it-all cooker for a household that does not want two appliances on the patio. That flexibility is a big part of the value story — you are buying range, not just a smoker.
If a single cooker that smokes low and grills hot is the dream, it is worth seeing how the 700-series stacks up against machines built specifically for double duty. Our roundup of the best smoker-grill combos puts it in that context, so you can judge whether the Z Grills covers everything you want from one cooker or whether a more grill-focused model suits you better.
Your first cook and safe temperatures
A pellet grill is a forgiving place to attempt an ambitious first cook, and a brisket is a great showcase for the 700-series’ steady controller and big cook area — set your low temperature, let the PID hold it, and lean on the dual probes to track progress through the long hours. The hands-off nature is exactly what makes a beginner brisket feel achievable rather than daunting.
Whatever you cook, keep the chamber in the beginner 225–275°F range and judge doneness by internal temperature, not the clock. Cook poultry to a safe minimum of 165°F, and whole cuts of beef and pork to at least 145°F with a three-minute rest. Take tough cuts like brisket and pork shoulder up toward 200–205°F for tenderness — a texture target, not a safety number. Even with the built-in probes, an independent meat thermometer is worth having as a trusted second opinion on doneness.
The verdict
The Z Grills 700-series is the pellet grill we recommend to the most beginners, because it delivers the pellet experience — real wood smoke, hands-off control — at a genuine value price. You get a steady PID controller, dual meat probes, a roomy cook surface and a big hopper for meaningfully less than the marquee brands, and the format itself doubles as a grill. Accept that it needs power and a full hopper, that it has more moving parts than the simplest smokers, and that its smoke ring is lighter than charcoal, and you have one of the easiest, best-value ways to make barbecue that genuinely tastes like barbecue.
