Pit Boss Austin XL Review — Your All-Around Pellet Grill (2022)

Pit Boss is prided for making exceptional cooking grills and among these is the Pit Boss Austin XL. With all the exemplary reviews online about this wood pellet grill, our team cannot help but wonder, if this grill lives up to the acclaim. For that reason, our experts conducted this detailed Pit Boss Austin XL Review to determine if it’s worth your money or not. 

Pros

• 1000 square inches cooking space
• Maximum cooking temperature of 500°F
• Sturdy and durable construction
• Digital grill control panel
• Eight different cooking settings

Cons

• Wide flame broiler grates can cause flaring
• The body gets hot while cooking

Pit Boss Austin XL Design

While testing the Pit Boss Austin XL, our experts were impressed with its smokeless design. Except for the few minutes when the grill heats up, it generates clean, clear smoke. This is crucial because dirty smoke can add an unwanted flavor to your meat when using the Austin XL  pellet grill.

We also found the assembly of this grill quite effortless. The grill comes with most of its parts already assembled. The removable stainless steel side shelf, fire cup, and even the meat grids don’t need any attention. We only had to assemble the legs, and we could get cooking immediately.

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Grilling on the Pit Boss XL pellet grill was also a real breeze. It has a great LED read-in thermometer on the pellet system. We could monitor the internal temperature throughout the cooking without losing heat or burning our meal.

Anyone who used Pit Boss grills or any pellet smoker grills before will have no trouble with this pellet smoker. The set up is straightforward, and all you need are some wood pellet grills to get cooking. 

(Curious about electric smokers? Find the best models of electric smokers if you have spare time!)

Features of the Pit Boss Austin XL

Size and Build

The first thing we noticed about the Austin XL pellet grill was its size. It weighs 181 pounds and is about 62 inches tall. This means you'll need help setting it up and moving it around the first time since it’s so heavy. Thankfully, the wheels made the grill highly mobile, and that saved us some time.

Our team had a lot of cooking surfaces to work with on this grill. With over 1000 square inches, it’s similar to the Traeger Pro grill, except it has more space. You can cook as many as 52 burgers at a go on this grill. The removable stainless steel side shelf also provides extra room for cooking.

This pellet smoker grill is built to outlast its 5 year warranty period. The body is made of heavy-duty steel, making this pellet smoker one of the most durable Pit Boss pellet grills around. We also found that all square inches of cooking surface was porcelain coated. This coating makes it easy to clean the grill after use.

Unfortunately, the hood of the pellet smoker is thin. The manufacturer designed it to cut down the price and make the grill more affordable. The downside is that it doesn't insulate the cooking area. External cold and strong winds can mess with internal temperature and extend your cooking time. 

While reviewing, our experts also found the fire cup to be highly efficient. It heats the wood pellets in no time and achieves maximum temperature in as little as ten minutes. It is also versatile because the Pit Boss Austin XL smoker can cook low and slow or apply direct heat, depending on your settings.

Pit Boss Austin XL Grilling Zone

One of the first things people notice about the Pit Boss Austin XL’s interior is the multiple cooking grids. A smaller grid sits above the larger one, farther from the fire pit. We found that this was great for indirect grilling, perfect for keeping meat hot or smoking vegetables.

These multiple grilling zones really allowed us to maximize the grill’s cooking surface area well. Since the grill has an automatic pellet loader, cooking was as easy as loading up the meat, setting the desired temperature, and forgetting about it.

One thing we found interesting was the grilling zone’s temperature setting. We could only adjust the heat under the direct grilling zone. We had to estimate how hot the upper grid would be and plan our meals accordingly. This means you may have to check on your meat frequently.

Performance of Pit Boss Austin XL

During our Pit Boss Austin XL review, we wanted to see four things: how good it was at burning wood, it's temperature range, ease of use, and the flame broiler.

The hopper does a fantastic job of feeding the fire pot with pellets. Your chosen temperature determines how quickly the wood pellets are fed in the fire pot. Once the Pit Boss Austin gets going, you’ll get clear, almost blue smoke coming out of the smokestack [1]. The large 31-pound hopper can also accommodate up to eight hours of cooking pellets, depending on how hot your fire is.

The unit’s temperature range was also impressive, but it left a few to be desired. There’s an adjustable temperature dial on the control board that lets you select predefined temperatures in small increments and adjust the flame in the fire pit. 

The problem we had with this control was that the predefined temperatures didn’t have midway settings. For example, the dial goes from 250°F to 300°F but no 275°F. Unfortunately, many recipes recommend 375°F as the best temperature for cooking. This meant we had to do extra calculations to accommodate the recipe. Besides this, the Pit Boss Austin XL pellet grill’s temperature range was consistent and accurate through our test.

Next, our team of experts answers if this smoker is easy to use. We found that the Austin XL pellet grill is perfect for people who have never cooked with wood pellet grills before. We’ve already discussed some convenient features, like the automatic wood pellet delivery and temperature settings.

Another favorite feature of our team was the flame broiler. You can remove the grilling grates and slide back the plate to expose the broiler slits for direct grill or smoke. From here, the flames can rise and really eat up your meat. You can also reattach the porcelain coated grates and use the flame broiler heat for direct and indirect cooking.

Portability

The Pit Boss Austin XL pellet grill is not portable like other pellet grills from Rec Tec or Green Mountain. But most Pit Boss pellet grills aren’t. Features like a sturdy build, a large cooking area, flame broiler, and spacious hooper make the unit heavy. But weight isn’t the only measure of portability.

This pellet grill has two large wheels behind and two lockable ones in front. So once you have space for the grill, you can easily wheel it about. The lockable wheels keep the smoker from moving on unlevel terrain.

We also found that wheels are the best features for transporting pellet grills. Carrying it can stain your clothes, and disassembling the entire unit is too stressful.

Digital controller

The grill has one master digital controller in front of the pellet grill hopper. It features an accurate temperature LCD reading, a power button, as well as temperature control knobs. This smoke grill design is great because it puts all the controls in one place.

We observed a discrepancy between the two thermometers on the digital controller and the hood thermometer during our Pit Boss Austin XL review. They often disagreed by a range of up to 75°F. Over time, we found the digital thermometer read to be the more accurate of the two.

Other features of the Pit Boss Austin XL

The Austin Pit Boss XL smoke grill has two meat probes. These allowed us to monitor the meat’s temperature and cook it to perfection. With most grills, the temperature you start with doesn't cook the meat; the food eventually becomes colder or warmer than the grill, and that can affect doneness, flavor, and even texture. Thanks to these meat probes, this wasn’t a problem.

We were disappointed to find that the Pit Boss Austin XL smoke grill doesn’t have wifi or wireless features, unlike the Traeger series’s grills. We could, however, monitor the temperature using third party wireless thermometers. Unfortunately, these don’t allow you to set your smoker heat or control the hopper pellet delivery.

Durability

The smoke grill comes with a 5 year warranty, but you can expect it to last much longer with proper maintenance. It is as sturdy like the high-quality Yoder YS640 as you need any pellet grill to be, and the steel construction, porcelain coating, and ease of use make it a real grilling champion.

Many people are attracted to this grill because of its beautiful color scheme. But the chimney, hood, and lid aren’t just painted for beauty. They are actually coated with a high-temperature copper finish. Not only are they visually attractive, but they are also resistant to flame, rust and corrosion. Pit Boss managed to kill two birds with one stone here.

We found that the wheels were durable enough to move across most surfaces during our Pit Boss Austin XL review, including grass, tiles, and wood. However, gravel scuffs up the wheels, and over time, they may fail. A crucial part of preserving its longevity is keeping it off gravel and over uneven surfaces.

Additionally, make sure to clean the cooking space after use. Ash from the wood pellets tends to set on the grill and fire cup, which is not what you want. The ash can keep the pellets from burning and also taint your food’s flavor.

Price

The Pit Boss Austin XL is a moderately priced grill. In its category, it offers the best value, beating out manufacturers like Traeger and Jim Bowie. Popular grills in the Pit Boss Austin XL category are the Traeger Pro 780, the GMG Jim Bowie, the REC TEC Bull, as well as other Traeger Pro grills. Nevertheless, Pit Boss and Traeger are the competing top grill brands today.

The Pit Boss Austin XL and the Pit Boss Competition blend iare the most affordable of all the competent grills in its category. Considering how much value and features these smokers offers, we’d say it’s an absolute steal.

Many manufacturers undersell their products just to profit off the spare parts, but that’s not the case with the Austin XL. We found that the prices of the replacement parts were just as fair as the original purchase. 

For affordable options, check out the top pellet grills under 500 here.

Pit Boss Austin XL Warranty

Like most Pit Boss grills, the Austin XL grill comes with a five year warranty. Within this time, the Pit Boss will send you as many replacement parts as you need, provided you didn’t breathe the original.

It is quite helpful if you have had trouble with the initial assembly. It’s important to know that the warranty doesn’t cover rust and oxidation unless they compromise the grill’s and the unit structural integrity. Additionally, mishandling the grill can void the warranty, so avoid abrasive and chemical cleaners when tidying up your grill.

Pit Boss Austin XL Conclusion

The Pit Boss Austin XL grill is an affordable mid-range pellet smoker with great features like a digital control board with pre-fixed temperature ranges, a spacious cooking area, and a sturdy build. The only complaint we have with the this grill is that you have to use a shop vac to clean out the firepot after each use. Other than that, It’s great for everyone looking for a functional and durable grill.