The flagship of the Grilla Grills product line is their Silverbac pellet grill. The Silverbac is an incredible grill and comes in three models: Pro, Alpha and All Terrain. Let’s take a look at what makes the Silverbac such a nice grill, what are the differences between the models and how it stacks up against competing brands.
Grilla Grills was founded in Holland, Michigan and sells at “Jungle Direct” pricing to the public. Since they sell direct to the public and not through distributors they can provide a high quality product at a reasonable price.
Let me get this part out of the way…There are NO affiliate links in this article and I will not make a penny if you buy a Grilla Grills product. I just like the brand and am impressed with their products.
Why I Like The Silverbac
One of the core concepts at Grilla Grills is “More Grill, Less Money.” That is the kind of stuff that I can get behind.
My favorite example of “More Grill, Less Money” is the 1/4 inch thick stainless steel rods that are used for the cooking grate. The grates are usually the first thing to break on regular grills but the quarter inch stainless grates on this grill should last at least ten years. There is a ton of stainless steel on the grill as it has a 12 gauge stainless steel lid along with a stainless firepot, heat deflector and drip tray.
The grill also features a double walled body that provides an insulating air gap. This built in insulation allows the grill to retain heat and use pellets more efficiently. You can easily reach target temperatures in cold weather and save money on pellets. The more efficient use of pellets is something that seems small but will end up paying big dividends over the thousands of cooks you will perform with the grill.
Silverbac Pellet Grill Specifications
Here is a look at the “nuts and bolts” features on these grills.
- Main Cooking Grate: 26 inches × 19.5 inches = 507 square inches
- Upper Cooking Grate: 7 inches × 26.5 inches = 185 square inches
- Grate Material: 1/4 inch thick stainless steel rods
- Height: 51 in.
- Width: 47 in.
- Depth: 22 in.
- Weight: 170 lbs
- Hopper: 20 pound capacity with Easy Dump System
- Temperature Range: 180-500F, five degree increments
- Integrated meat probe
- Warranty: Four Years
What Is The Difference Between The Pro, Alpha and All Terrain Models?
The differences between the three models comes down to the control system and cart design.
Let’s talk about the controllers first.
There is a healthy debate in the pellet grill world about which type of controller is the best. Many people want a PID controller as it allows them to maintain very precise temperatures. You can set a PID controller to 225F and the grill is almost guaranteed to stay in the 220-230F range for the entire cook. You can set a standard controller that is not a PID to 225 and the temperature will usually stay in the 215-235 range for the whole cook.
While a PID controller is more precise, the cost of that precision is a cleaner burning fire that produces less smoke flavor than you get with a standard controller. Many people will tell you that if you are smoking with a PID then you might as well be using an oven.
- The Silverbac Pro operates using a Standard controller.
- The Silverbac Alpha operates using an “Alpha Smoke” controller that can be either a PID or a Standard controller.
Here is the video from Grilla Grills that explains the Alpha Smoke dual mode controller in more detail.
The Pro and Alpha grills have an MSRP of $749 and $799, respectively.
The Silverbac All Terrain is the same grill as the Alpha but has been mounted on a heavy duty cart that is readily transportable. The addition of the heavy duty carts ups the MSRP on the AT to $999.
Grilla Grills Versus the Competition
One of the tough things about buying a pellet grill it that they all kind of look the same. How do you make the decision between spending $400 on a Pit Boss or $900 on a Rec Tec or something in the middle when they all function in the same basic manner?
It gets even more confusing when Traeger and Camp Chef both have over a dozen different models to choose from!
Grilla Grills vs Traeger
I think the best Traeger grill to use for a head to head comparison against the Silverbac is the Traeger Pro Series 575. The Pro Series 575 has an MSRP of $799 and offers approximately 20% less cooking capacity.
Without question, the Silverbac is a nicer product.
- The Traeger has porcelain enameled grates compared to the 1/4 inch stainless steel grates on the Grilla.
- The Traeger has a three year warranty compared to four years for the Grilla.
- The Silverbac has insulated double wall construction while the Pro 575 is single walled.
A detail that always bugged the beck out of me about the Traeger is the pellet hopper. The Traeger hopper only holds 18 pounds but pellets are usually sold in 20 pound bags! Why don’t they make a hopper that takes a full bag of pellets??? The Grilla hopper holds 20 pounds.
As far as smoke flavor is concerned the Silverbac is going to be better than Traeger. The Pro 575 has Traeger’s new D2 drive train that provides very precise temperature control but does not produce much smoke. To compensate for the lack of smoke Traeger added a Super Smoke mode for their higher end Ironwood grills but this feature is NOT available on the Pro series grills. (For more information please read Which Traeger Grills Have Super Smoke Mode)
The one place where Traeger beats the Silverbac is that the Traeger has WiFi connectivity and a pretty fancy app that lets you control your grill with your phone.
The Silverbac is one of the best Traeger alternatives available.
Grilla Grills vs Camp Chef
The best Camp Chef pellet grill to do a comparison against is probably the Woodwind 24 WiFi.  The Woodwind 24 WiFi has an MSRP of $800 but is considerably smaller grill than the Silverbac with a primary cooking grate providing 429 square inches of grill space.
There is a lot to like about the Woodwind as it has an easy dump pellet hopper as well as a patented ash clean out system and integrated meat probe. This grill comes with porcelain enameled steel grates, a three year warranty and is a solidly built product. The Woodwind has WiFi connectivity and can be controlled by your phone with the Camp Chef app.
The Silverbac outclasses the Woodwind based on size, the stainless steel grates, insulated double wall construction. However, the Woodwind has a strong advantage in the department of optional upgrades. Camp Chef offers two accessories for the Woodwind that are extremely nice. The first is a propane fired infrared searing station that fits on the right side table. The Sear Station can hit temperatures of 800F and is a beast for putting a sear on steaks. The second accessory, called the Sidekick, is a propane fired griddle that also fits on the right side table. I am a sucker for griddles!
Grilla Grills vs Rec Tec
The head to head comparison from Rec Tec is the RT-590. The RT-590 is a freaking beauty and there is a strong argument that it is as good or better than the Silverbac.
There are minor differences in the build quality and materials between the two grills but in the end they are both solidly built from high end materials.
The primary grilling surface on the RT-590 is slightly larger than the Silverbac offering 590 vs 507 square inches of primary grilling space. However, the Silverbac comes with a secondary grilling rack that offers even more grilling space while the secondary rack is an optional upgrade on the RT-590.
Both grills have stainless steel grates, heat deflectors, grease trays and fire pots and both are covered by four year warranties. The RT-590 has a Wi Fi enabled PID controller like you get on the Camp Chef Woodwind.
The RT-590 has an MSRP of $899.
About Grilla Grills
Grilla Grills was founded in 2012 in Holland, Michigan as a diversification strategy by a high tech metal fabrication company.  Here is a nice behind the scenes look at there operations by the head engineer and designer, Mark Graham.
I really like Grilla Grills and what they are bringing to the barbecue community.
