Z Grills 700D Review

What it is

The Z Grills 700D is a mid-size wood-pellet grill built around one idea: deliver the fundamentals of pellet cooking for the lowest sensible price. It works like every pellet grill — an auger feeds hardwood pellets from a 20 lb hopper into a firepot, a hot rod lights them, and a controller meters fuel to hold your setpoint — across 697 square inches of porcelain-coated grate. Z Grills isn’t a flashy brand; it’s a value one, widely owned precisely because it does the job without the price premium of the name brands. If your goal is to smoke a brisket or a rack of ribs without spending Traeger money, this is the archetype.

The controller and temperature

The reason the 700D is worth recommending rather than just cheap is its PID controller. A PID reads the chamber temperature continuously and trims the auger in small corrections, so the grill settles into a tight band and holds it — the difference between a clean 225°F smoke and the wide sawtooth swing of the cheap on/off controllers that used to define the budget end. In practice the 700D holds a low-and-slow line about as steadily as grills costing far more; the fire management, which is the part that actually determines your barbecue, is genuinely good. For most cooks, that’s the spec that matters most, and the 700D nails it for the money.

Capacity and everyday use

697 square inches is real capacity — enough for several racks of ribs, a couple of pork butts, or a brisket with room to spare — and the 20 lb hopper runs a long cook without constant refilling. The grill is simple, sturdy and widely owned, which means it’s well understood and easy to find help and parts for from the community even if the official network is smaller. Assembly is straightforward, and there’s nothing fussy about running it: fill the hopper, set the dial, and cook. It’s an honest, functional grill that does what it says.

Where it falls short

Two things, both about what’s not there. First, no app control at this trim — you set the temperature on the controller, not your phone. WiFi is convenience, not accuracy (a cheap WiFi meat thermometergets you phone alerts on any grill), but if watching the cook from the couch matters to you, know it’s missing here. Second, the support and parts network is smallerthan Traeger’s — fine for most owners, but a consideration if you want a big-brand dealer behind the grill. The 700D also tops out around 450°F, so it’s a smoker first and no searing champion. None of these undermine the cooking; they’re the corners cut to hit the price.

Value in context

It’s worth being clear-eyed about what “budget” means here, because the 700D isn’t cheap in the sense of flimsy — it’s cheap in the sense of not paying for a brand. The steel, the PID controller and the auger do the same fundamental work as the hardware in a grill costing hundreds more; what you’re not paying for is the app, the marketing, the dealer network and the resale premium that come with a name like Traeger. For a cook whose goal is to put good barbecue on the table — a steady 225°F for ribs, a long hold for a pork butt — that’s money not spent rather than corners cut. The honest counterpoint is that the intangibles a premium brand sells are real to some buyers: resale value if you upgrade, a big support organization if something breaks, and the convenience of app control. If those matter to you, they’re worth paying for; if they don’t, the 700D delivers the part that actually cooks for a lot less. Pair it with a good leave-in thermometerand it wants for nothing on a real cook. And the fundamentals of running any pellet grill — good pellets, ash cleanout, keeping moisture out of the hopper — apply here exactly as they do on a Traeger; see how a pellet grill works.

Who should buy it

Buy the Z Grills 700D if you want the most steady, capable pellet cooking for the least money and you don’t care about app control or a big dealer network. It’s the value pick for someone whose priority is smoking good barbecue on a budget — and it’s our budget pick in the best pellet grills roundup. If you want the app, the ecosystem and the resale value, pay up for a Traeger — we weigh the two in Z Grills vs Traeger. And if you also want to sear on your pellet grill, look at a direct-flame model in Pit Boss vs Camp Chef instead.