Traeger sells four Woodridge grills. Three of the four share one chamber size, 970 square inches. The Woodridge Elite, model TFC97XLH, is the dearest of those three at $1,799.99.
Its cooking chamber is the Woodridge Pro Plus chamber. Rack one gives 585 square inches, rack two another 385. The same rated load of six chickens or eight pork butts. The same 500F ceiling, hopper and controller.
So the $400 that separates the two buys nothing inside the barrel. Every cent of it is spent outside, and that is what follows.
First Impressions of the Traeger Woodridge Elite
Sixty minutes is Traeger’s assembly claim, and the cart eats most of it. Before any food goes on, the grill has to be seasoned. That means 350F for a quarter of an hour. Then 500F for another 45 minutes.
Traeger’s own estimate for that ritual reaches 90 minutes. Reaching seasoning heat the first time may take an hour by itself. Plan the first afternoon around the grill, not around dinner.
Built, the Elite is a wall of matte black. Across the front it runs 67 inches, front to back 27. It stands 47 inches tall. The work deck lands at 35 inches, ordinary kitchen counter height.
The left-hand end is where your eye goes. A flat glass panel sits where the Pro Plus carries a folding shelf. That panel is the electric side burner. Price the four models and that panel is the difference.
Thighs went on the lower grate for the opening cook. Super Smoke went on from the start. What leaves the stack is translucent and blue, not billowing white. That is exactly what the manual describes.
Skin browns properly and the fat renders down. The flavour is unmistakably wood-fired. Nobody at the table asked what was different.
Key Features of the Traeger Woodridge Elite
Almost everything here is shared with the two 970-square-inch siblings. The list below leans on what is genuinely different. It also names the places where Traeger’s own documents disagree.
- Electric side burner. A glass hob on the left end, powered through the grill’s own cord. Lift the pan off for more than ten seconds and it stops heating.
- Three power levels, LED Controls. LO, MED and HI, each with a light above it. Nothing sits between the three steps. Traeger publishes no output figure at all.
- A cabinet instead of an open shelf. Two doors under the barrel swallow pellets, tools and the burner cover. At 221 lbs the Elite is the heaviest Woodridge.
- 970 square inches on two racks. Lower grate for searing and roasting, upper for smoking and baking. Eight rib racks is Traeger’s own figure for the two together.
- Super Smoke Mode. Available only between 185F and 225F. Above that band the button will not engage. A hot griller may never see it work.
- WiFIRE control and a pellet sensor. The app runs the cook from anywhere you happen to be. It pushes an alert when pellets run low. Firmware updates arrive over the air.
- Electric Igniter and an RTD. Ignition is a hot rod glowing under the pellet bed. An RTD reads the chamber, which Traeger prefers to a thermocouple.
- A grate spec stated three ways. The specs block says 970 square inches. Two lines lower the same page offers 880 on stainless tiers, then 860 on porcelain.
- An insulation claim with no part behind it. The page promises grill body insulation. The 48-page manual written for this model never mentions it.
Those last two bullets are not pedantry. Anyone choosing between three Woodridge models is choosing on details. Traeger has published those details inconsistently, and the manual is the document with obligations attached.
On the fire side, the Elite is its siblings. It sets anywhere from 180F to 500F. Traeger says the reading hovers within about 25 degrees of target. A fan and an auger are always chasing the number.
That swing is normal pellet behaviour rather than a fault. Roasting, baking and long smoking all sit comfortably inside the range. Searing on the grates is where a 500F ceiling shows its limit.
Super Smoke is the flavour feature, and it lives at the bottom of the dial. Between 185F and 225F you get thin blue smoke and real wood character. Cook hot and the button simply will not come on.
That $400 widens what you can cook, not how hot. A pan on the side burner handles a reduction or a sauté. It will take a hard cast-iron sear as well. No other Woodridge does that without a walk to the kitchen.
The catch is how coarsely that burner is controlled. Three fixed steps suit boiling and a watched simmer. It is blunter than any knob on a gas grill. HI is a label, not a number, and Traeger leaves it there.
Build, handling and durability
The cabinet and barrel feel like the rest of the range. Solid, heavy, and put together without rattles. At 221 lbs the Elite is 21 lbs up on the Pro Plus. It is the weightiest thing Traeger builds in this line.
The doors close on pellets and tools rather than leaving them on show. Two things still give pause, and both are about living with the grill outdoors.
The first is the glass burner panel. It sits outside all year and bars metal utensils from its surface. Once cool, its own lid goes back over the top.
The second is the wheels. The base Woodridge and the Woodridge Pro both get all-terrain wheels. Four casters carry the range’s heaviest grill, and nothing bigger.
Add the 67-inch width and the 20-inch clearance the manual demands from anything combustible. Choose its spot carefully, because this grill gets positioned once and stays there.
Running costs, upkeep and value
Fuel is the obvious ongoing cost. The manual insists on Traeger pellets, saying the grill was tuned on them. Other brands may give you inconsistent heat and flavour. Nobody publishes how fast it eats, so a 24 lb fill converts to nothing useful.
Upkeep is reasonable rather than absent. Grease and ash both drop into one keg you empty when full. Roughly every 20 hours of cooking, the firepot needs emptying with a vacuum. Once a month, creosote has to come off the backsplash and lid underside.
Wipe the burner down each time it cools. Covering it is a numbered step in the manual, not optional advice. Neither job is hard. Both are new compared with the Pro Plus.
The value question is the awkward one. The ten-year number is a headline, and the table beneath it is the contract. What those years protect is the steel, and only against rust eating right through.
Three years goes to the electrics, and the side burner is filed among them. Anything to do with lighting or reading the fire lasts twelve months. Labour and freight are yours to pay. Cover ends entirely if you ever sell the grill on.
Set that against the price ladder. The Pro Plus is $1,399.99 with the same racks. The base Woodridge is $899.99. Nine hundred dollars separates that grill from this one, and none of it is grate.
Order direct and delivery inside the continental United States is charged at $49.99. Unopened grills can go back within 45 days, though return carriage may be charged.
Possible Traeger Woodridge Elite Complaints
- The headline feature carries the shortest warranty. Traeger’s own table gives the side burner three years. It sits there beside the controller and the auger motor. Sheet metal you did not pay extra for gets ten.
- It asks you to learn a small rule book. No metal utensils on the glass, ever. Lift the pan for ten seconds and heating stops. Leave it idle ten minutes and it shuts itself off.
