The average across all 199 grills we have rated is 8.0.
The drawer is a real tool, but only for two jobs. It crisps sides beside a slow cook, and it cold smokes cheese and nuts. It is the only air fryer you can fill with wood smoke.
The Blackstone 900 Pellet Grill Airfryer Combo is model 2258. It is a pellet smoker with a second appliance bolted to its hip. On the right sits a boxy cabinet with its own screen. Inside that cabinet is a 7 quart air fryer drawer.
So the question is simple. Is a fryer drawer on a pellet grill a real tool or a novelty? The barrel does the big cooking, but the drawer is why this model exists. The answer turns on one small damper between them.
The grill arrives by freight truck, on a pallet. Amazon lists it at 175 pounds, while one Canadian retailer says 181. Either way, plan on two people for the unboxing and the first lift.
Built up, it looks like two machines sharing a cart. On the left hangs the hopper with its dial and display. In the middle is a black barrel under a long rollback hood. On the right is the fryer cabinet, with a touch panel above the drawer handle.
The orange Blackstone logo runs across a folding front shelf. The fryer end rolls on big wheels; the hopper end stands on locking casters. It reads as a patio appliance more than a smoker. That is not a criticism, just a fair warning about its looks.
The first cook shows how this thing wants to be used. Chicken and ribs go on the main grate, and corn rides the top rack. Near the end, you pull the drawer and load stuffed jalapeños. They crisp while the meat rests, and nothing has to come indoors.
Pairing the app is a one-time job on a phone. After that, the grill reading and both probe readings sit in your pocket. That matters more on a long smoke than on a quick fryer batch.
Most of this cart is a conventional pellet grill. The parts worth your attention are the ones that touch the drawer, so those come first.
| Metric | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Cooking space | 896 sq in combined | Covers the main grate plus the top rack. Blackstone's own artwork rounds it to 900. |
| Air fryer drawer | 7 qt | Enough wings or fries for a small family. It is a side dish, not a second grill. |
| Pellet hopper | 20 lb, with window | A glance tells you when to refill. No burn time per load is published. |
| Meat probes | 4 supported, 2 included | Two in the box covers a brisket and a pork butt. Buy two more for a crowd. |
| Size | 53 W x 50 H x 27 D in | The fryer box adds width on the right. Measure the patio before ordering. |
| Weight | 175 lb | That is Amazon's figure. One retailer lists 181 pounds instead. |
| Warranty | 1 year | One year covers the grill and the fryer alike. That is short for two sets of electronics. |
| Shipping | LTL freight | It arrives on a pallet by truck. Plan for help moving the box. |
Here the drawer starts paying its way. A pellet barrel is a convection oven with wood flavor. It does slow and gentle very well, and fast and crisp rather poorly. The fryer covers exactly the job the barrel is worst at.
Wings get a crackly skin in the drawer. Fries come out properly brown rather than limp and smoky. You can also finish smoked chicken thighs in the basket to tighten the skin.
The timing is the clever part. A pellet cook ends with meat resting under foil for a while. That rest is exactly when a fryer basket wants attention. So the two appliances rarely compete for your hands, even on a busy afternoon.
Blackstone prints no heat range for this model, and no output rating for the firepot. So a heat density figure cannot be worked out here. The grill space is also published only as a total. That total folds in the top rack, so neither number can be divided honestly.
The cold smoke setting is the real surprise. A kitchen air fryer cannot fill itself with smoke. This drawer can, once the damper is open. Cheese, nuts and salmon are the obvious candidates, since all three dislike heat.
Here lies the honest argument for buying this drawer. Crisp sides are handy, but a kitchen fryer makes them too. Smoked cheddar on a weeknight, with no cold smoke tube to fiddle with, is something new.
The body is powder-coated steel on an alloy steel frame. The spec sheet names no stainless parts. That is normal for pellet grills near this price. Even so, the finish will need a cover to stay looking new.
The wheel layout lets one person tip and roll it across a flat patio. At 53 inches wide, though, the cart needs more room than the barrel suggests. The fryer box alone adds a good stretch on the right.
The layout also balances well. Pellets weigh down the left side while the fryer box weighs down the right. Neither end tips the cart when the lid rolls back.
The bigger durability question is electronic. This cart carries two controllers, a fan, an auger and a fryer element. Each is a part that can fail. More parts simply means more ways for a cook to stop halfway.
Amazon sells it for around $1,230. Blackstone lists it at $1,299. Either way this is a premium pellet buy, and you pay for the drawer twice. Once in money, and again in cleaning.
The fryer basket needs washing after every use, like any air fryer. Smoke then adds a second chore. Run the damper often and the inside of the fryer box will darken with residue. The barrel still has its own grease, which drains to a hanging bucket.
Pellets are the other running cost. Blackstone publishes no burn rate, so nobody can promise hours per hopper. Expect the barrel to set your pellet bill, not the drawer. The fryer runs on house power from its own cord.
Value comes down to habit. Cook sides outdoors most weekends, and the drawer replaces a kitchen appliance. Use it twice a summer, and it is a novelty with a power cord. The plain 900 then makes more sense.
The warranty hurts this model more than the price does. Blackstone gives one year. That single year has to stretch across both appliances and all their electronics.
Six categories, each with a fixed weight, applied the same way to every grill. How we score.
Fan-fed pellet heat suits long smokes and the drawer crisps well, but Blackstone prints no heat range and no searing claim for the barrel.
Two control boards, a fan, an auger and a fryer element all ride on a single year of cover, which is thin at this price.
Powder-coated steel on an alloy steel frame, 175 pounds on two wheels and two locking casters; solid, though nothing here is stainless.
App control, room for four probes, a fill window on the hopper and a drawer that pauses itself when pulled open.
Around $1,230 buys a full size pellet grill plus a small smoke-capable fryer; fair only if you will actually use the drawer every month.
Two cooking chambers to clean, with smoke residue in the fryer box as well as grease in the barrel and bucket.
The drawer is a real tool, but only for two jobs. It crisps sides beside a slow cook, and it cold smokes cheese and nuts. It is the only air fryer you can fill with wood smoke.
If those jobs sound like your weekends, the drawer earns its place. If not, buy the plain 900.
