Updated on Sep. 24, 2024
With the Yoder Pellet Grill, price and quality go hand in hand—it may be one of the more expensive pellet grills we experienced first-hand, but it won us over as the best heavy-duty option we tested
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Yoder is a widely respected heavy hitter in the pellet grill world. And after firsthand testing, our Product Testing Team agrees that it lives up to the hype. The Yoder YS480S model was ranked the best compact and heavy-duty smoker on our list of the best pellet grills. It boasts a generous cooking space and is capable of reaching temps of up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Most importantly, it yields incredibly tender and juicy pieces of meat.
Like with the other pellet grills, our Product Team tested the Yoder YS480S, overseen by our grilling expert, Catherine Ward. Here’s what we learned.
It’s hard to say where the Yoder YS408S first won us over. Maybe it was the 800 square inches of cooking space and 12 inches of headroom that fit large pieces of meat. Maybe it was the temperature range of 32 to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which gives you a lot of control as a griller. One thing to note: This grill is on the heavier side. It comes in at 277 pounds and measures 53 inches long, 55.1 inches high and 36.1 inches deep.
The cooking grates are made of steel. The lower row has three cooking grates, and the second level has a cooking shelf that slides out. Overall, the Yoder YS480S puts a high-end spin on traditional grilling features. But one of its claims to fame is that you can set it up for direct, over-the-flame grilling, which gives you a lot of control over what and how you want to cook.
It’s also pretty high-tech. The grill has WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and pairs with an app that lets you control everything from your phone. The app also has plenty of mouthwatering recipes if you need a little more inspiration.
Our Product Team tested the Yoder YS480S from start (receiving it and setting it up) to finish (cleaning it).
The setup took about three hours. The instructions in the manual were a little unclear, so our test team found this resulted in some backtracking. Overall, it’s not that complicated, but it requires two people to stand the grill up after it’s assembled on its side. Seasoning the grill and filling the hopper were similarly straightforward. We seasoned it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then shut the grill down. The easy-to-open side lid made it a cinch to deposit the pellets.
Then, our favorite part. To see what the Yoder YS408S was capable of, we tested it by cooking salmon, chicken breasts, pork chops, pork shoulder and corn. As with our other tests, we used Pit Boss apple blend hardwood pellets.
The salmon was brined and rinsed. Typically, we smoked the salmon at 190 degrees Fahrenheit, but the closest we could select was 192 degrees Fahrenheit. After 45 minutes, we increased the temp to 225 degrees Fahrenheit and added the corn alongside it. When finished, the fish came off the grates very easily but didn’t have that nice, smoky look we were hoping to see. The corn also lacked a smoky taste or brown color.
Meanwhile, the chicken breasts—which were smoked at 225 degrees Fahrenheit for about 3.5 hours—came off with some more color. The chicken had some bark (that tasty crust) on the bottom, but less than we achieved with other pellet grills. The lack of color was also an issue with the pork chops, which were seared at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. They came out looking juicy, but they were pretty pale.
The hallmark was by far the pork shoulder, which was dry rubbed with mustard and spice. We placed it in the grill at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for about 8.5 hours, which was shorter than some of the other grills we tested. When it was done, it had a nice bark and was so tender that it fell apart barely touching it. It had a pink smoke ring, which you hope to see, but not a very intense smoke flavor.
Cleaning up the Yoder YS480S required a little extra time, especially because the vent is rounded, so it’s a little harder to scrape off food. Our team scraped it, scrubbed it with a wet sponge grill brush and then took a paper towel to the excess water. However, using a wet grill brush on the warm grill along with a steel scrubber simplified the process. One downside is that we had to vacuum out the rest of the pellets, as there’s no place to empty them.
This is always a bit subjective depending on budget, how much you love grilling and your experience level. There are great, less expensive options out there that might be friendlier to grillers with less experience or who don’t grill frequently.
But if you’re serious about grilling and want a serious upgrade on what you’re using now (pellet grill or otherwise), the Yoder YS480S is worth the investment. It’s also a very, very nice gift for a griller.
According to the manufacturer’s website, Yoder pellet grills are made in Kansas.
Our Product Testing team put numerous grills through the paces, led by grilling master Catherine Ward. We tested models from Weber, Pit Boss, RecTeq and Cuisinart, as well as four Traeger models. (The Ironwood XL, Timberline, Pro 575 and Tailgater, to be specific). We documented everything from the assembly process to the actual grilling to cleaning everything up. We also evaluated how pellet grills compare to other hot buys, like charcoal and gas grills.
I’m a food and lifestyle writer with experience in creating gift guides and evaluating the merits of different products based on people’s budgets, interests and experience levels. Also, there are few things I love more than a hamburger fresh off the grill.
The Yoder YS480S starts at $2,139, not including shipping. The cost may be on the higher side, but it includes multiple warranties: 10 years for the cooking chamber, 3 years for the adaptive control system and 3 years for the ceramic igniter.
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