Z Grills 1000E Review (2024)

The Z Grills 1000E is a spacious wood pellet grill offering three tiers of cooking space and a sizable hopper providing up to 20 hours of smoking time without having to refill.

We've been testing this pellet grill out for the past month, in below freezing temperatures and snow, and are ready to share what we've found in this review.

If you're considering the addition of a wood pellet grill in your future and wonder if this one might be a right fit for you, then come on in! We'll tell you what we liked, what we thought could be improved, and who we think this grill would be perfect for.

Check Price

Shipping:

The Z Grills 1000E came in two boxes, and was delivered by Fedex or UPS, which is notable. Most of the major pellet grill manufacturers can’t use standard delivery services because of the size of their boxes, meaning that freight and shipping on pallets is their only way to deliver. ZGrills gets around this by having the end user do more assembly, which saves them on shipping costs as they pack to fit limits set by the shipping companies.

Packaging:

The two boxes weighed 114lbs and 65lbs for a grand total of 179lbs. We were really impressed by the packaging as there was very little wasted space in the way things were packed. The larger box of the two housed the grill chamber with the lid attached, and the inside was completely filled with parts to maximize space usage. The small box housed the cart and doors along with other parts to finish out the pellet grill build. The boxes were wrapped in plastic straps, which we appreciated given the weight of the box, making sure things stayed inside as they are jostled around during transit.

Assembly:

We were able to put this pellet grill together in just about an hour with two people involved in the build. There is a bit more assembly involved in the Z grills units compared to some of their competitors as they seem to focus on making their pellet grills shippable via the major shipping carriers rather than using freight companies. That just means that there’s a bit more assembly required with things like attaching the pellet hopper and auger to the cooking chamber instead of it already being assembled.

Seasoning the Z Grills 1000E:

We followed the instructions and burned off the pellet grill at 450° for 45 minutes. After we’d burned all of the manufacturing oils off, the pellet grill was good to go for the 4 cooks we had planned for this review.

Check Price

Smoking:

Smoking is where this unit really shines. It’s designed to be a smoker first, and we put that to the test with a whole chicken right out of the gate. We spatchco*cked a whole chicken, rubbed it down with our sweet and spicy bbq rub and got the pellet grill to smoke this chicken for about 2 hours. The chicken was juicy and had a great smokey flavor that the whole family enjoyed for dinner.

Grilling:

With a top cooking temperature of 450° when the pellet grill is set to high, this unit is more smoker than grill. Also, without the ability to place food directly over the firepot to sear, even setting the unit to 450° is still cooking your food with indirect heat rather than having direct access to fire. Can this unit be used to grill? Yes. Is it the same as grilling on a gas grill or a pellet grill with flame door access? No. But here’s the deal, you can grill on this unit, it’s just using an indirect heat source because of the grease tray that’s separating your food from the fire. Just know that when you’re considering this unit, it’s more smoker than grill and you’ll be fine.

Z Grills 1000E Storage:

The Z Grills 1000E comes with a cover included in the box, and we suggest you use it if you’re going to store the pellet grill outside. We store the grill in the garage and just pull it out into the driveway when we’re planning to cook on it, so we haven’t really exposed this wood pellet grill to the elements to see how it would hold up. We like that there’s stainless steel built throughout the construction, so we’re sure that those parts would stand up to the weather if it were kept outside.

Check Price

Check Price

Conclusion

So, overall what did we think of the Z Grills 1000E pellet smoker?

The 1000E is reminiscent of our Traeger Renegade model that we reviewed as our first wood pellet grill. That Traeger was the first pellet grill that we had ever used, and the controller on this Z Grill unit reminds me a lot of the Renegade. No WIFI, or bluetooth connectivity, and the pellet grill just flat-out ran. This grill is a set it and forget it machine, and we haven’t had any error codes or mishaps in our time testing this unit. That being said, who is this wood pellet grill a good fit for?

My opinion is that this grill is perfect for the first-time pellet-smoker. That person who wants to get into smoking, but doesn’t want to worry about managing logs on an offset or charcoal in a Smokey Mountain. It’s perfect for someone who’s getting into smoking as a hobby, and will give them the smokey goodness they desire with very little learning curve. The beginner smoker can have success right out of the gate with this unit, and all they have to do is make sure the hopper is full of pellets and their cooking temperature is set for the meal they’re preparing.

The retail price of the Z Grills 1000E at the time of this publishing is $849 and there’s currently a sale running for $190 off. If you’d like to check out the current price, just click on the button below. If you make a purchase through one of our links, it won’t cost you any more, but we will earn a small commission from Z Grills that helps support our channel, which we greatly appreciate!

Check Price