The Pit Boss Austin XL offers the best value per square inch in the pellet grill industry!
Ideal for large groups or family and friends.
The Austin XL offers two tiers of porcelain-coated grid construction, totaling 1000 square inches of cooking surface.
Automatically start and shut down your Pit Boss with full-function LED control.
The Austin XL model features a high-temp copper-finish on the embossed lid and a removable, stainless-steel side shelf.
Fueled by 100% All Natural Hardwood Pellets, the Austin XL operates with true fan-forced convection cooking and can reach 500 °F.
Set it and forget it, or slide the plate and sear it over an open flame, the Pit Boss standard flame broiler allows for either direct or indirect grilling.
Bake or roast, grill or smoke, this 8-in-1 grill will serve any BBQ purpose.
With heavy-duty steel construction, Pit Boss grills are built to last.
- Over 1000 sq in porcelain coated cooking surface.
- Digitally control board with LED readout with a meat probe.
- Innovative flame broiler for direct flame grilling.
- 31 lb hopper with purge system.
- Four rolling casters
- Stainless steel side table with removable serving tray.
- Temperature range 150 – 500 F
Features of the Pit Boss Austin XL
The lowest temperature setting on this unit is the smoke setting, about 180 degrees.
While the lowest actual numbered temperature setting is 200 degrees, and the highest is 450 degrees.
There is a “high” setting that is in the 500-degree range. We have had it as high as 550 degrees.
Not all pellet grills are able to direct sear meat, but this grill sear plate feature to do the job. The diverter plate that sits over the fire pot has a flame broiler option that can be activated by moving the broiler plate out of the way.
With the flame broiler, you can reverse sear everything from steaks to burgers.
The Austin XL comes with two temperature probes that connect directly to the control board. Place these probes in the food that you want to track the internal meat temperature of, and the probe will report your temperature on the front of the unit. The Austin XL comes with 2 meat probes.
Pit Boss Austin XL Size and Dimensions
The Austin XL is 53.5 inches wide and 49.25 inches tall. The depth of the unit is 27.75 inches, which means that you can lay a rack of ribs from front to back and have plenty of room.
An Austin XL weighs 179 pounds and feels solid when you’re working with it.
Cooking Space
The Austin XL has 1,000 sq. inches of cooking surface. Plenty of room to cook for friends and family.
About 930 sq. in. of cooking space are available on the main grate.
There’s a second shelf that is much smaller giving some extra room.
Cooking Surface
This size is perfect when you have whole chickens, hams, ribs, and other delicious cuts to grill.
The cooking chamber has two porcelain-coated grids that are easy to clean and maintain. One of them is narrower than the other and sits a few inches above the larger rack for indirect grilling.
The narrower rack is great for cooked meat that you want to stay hot or vegetables to get a smoky flavor.
The pellet hopper on the left side of the unit can hold 31 lbs of wood pellet. This capacity is larger than the average, allowing the fire to burn for hours unattended.
Construction & Durability
The Austin XL is made of heavier steel than most of the competition. Quality construction means it will last longer and keep the smoke inside.
The cart is made of angular steel and connects to rollerblade type wheels in the back and 360-degree casters in the front.
There’s a stainless steel side shelf that connects to the side of the unit, and the interior of the shelf is removable.
The powder-coated steel design looks impressive, it has a sturdy feel, and fits together well.
The unit seals wee so as not to leak smoke.
It has a removable stainless steel serving tray which is a nice touch.
The heavy lid has another advantage. You may notice its curvature and how it fits seamlessly on top of the chamber. It guarantees that the smoke and heat stays locked inside for a better smokey taste and even cooking.
Are you one of those cooks who like to keep an eye on the temperature constantly? Austin XL has an analog thermometer embedded on the lid, so you can check and read the internal temperature without opening it and letting the smoke out.
How Well Does the Door Seal on the Austin XL?
In the world of smoker grills, there is always the question of how well the door seals to keep smoke from leaking out. Many grills have smoke leaking out all over the cooking chamber, the Austin XL holds up pretty well in this area.
During startup mode, there’s an excess of smoke as the pellets ignite. Once the pellet grill came up to temperature the smoke rarely leaked out.
Storage
The Austin XL pellet smoker provides a removable stainless-steel side shelf with three tool hooks on the right, a flat pellet hopper top on the left, and even base support that doubles as a sizable shelf.
Grilling on the Pit Boss Austin
Smoking Performance
The performance of the Pit Boss Austin XL is really impressive.
With a wide temperature range, this smoker can do low and slow, it can sear over an open flame, it can bake, roast, and even wood fire a pizza.
The Austin XL does not come with WiFi. But, it does have an auto start and stop feature.
Unlike Pit Boss’s vertical pellet smoker models, do not expect 24 hours of uninterrupted smoke time out of this hopper. But, holding 31 pounds, 12-14 hours at 225°F in normal weather conditions is doable.
As with all pellet smokers, pellet use can vary depending on the weather conditions and pellet quality.
The Pit Boss Austin XL is reliable in terms of temperature accuracy. You will find the V3 Digital Control Board does a good job of maintaining your set temperature, even in cooler weather conditions.
Temperature Control
No matter how fancy a grill seems, the deciding factor is how well it can control the inner temperature while grilling. After all, that determines the outcome of your cooking.
This Pit Boss grill has a big power button on the left side of the panel to turn your unit on and off. It has a P set button with eight different temperature fine tunings, as well as a Prime button underneath the power button.
The P set button can be used to change the temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius by giving it a long press. The P set button also allows you to withhold pellets for a longer period, enabling grilling at low temperatures for more hours than you expect.
You can use the Prime button is used when you want to add extra wood pellets to the firepot. It can also be used to increase the smokey flavor in cooking. This feature has been added as an answer to the request of competition cookers, so it is an ideal product even for professionals.
As mentioned above, you can find Smoke on the dial menu that is the start-up mode for the grill. This is the best option if you want to run the Austin XL grill at the lowest temperature without the fire going out.
If the analog temperature viewer on the lid is not enough for you, you can use the two meat probes attached to the grill.
The temperature that each probe gets will appear on the LCD display, along with the actual reading. This is essential when you are grilling a massive turkey, ham, rack of ribs, etc.
Grilling on the Pit Boss Austin
The Pit Boss Austin XL, and all the Pit Boss pellet grills, allow you to not only cook at high-heat, but you can grill over the open flame also.
Flame Broiler
The Austin XL has a Flame Broiler feature that is easy to use. By removing the grilling grates and sliding the plate to one side the broiler is exposed which has slits where the flame can rise from.
The exposed cooking space measures 64 sq inches. You can grill steaks, chicken breasts, fish fillets, and other meat cuts over this plate then.
You may also attach the porcelain-coated cooking grates back in if you need space for indirect grilling at the same time.
Cleaning the Pit Boss Austin XL
When done cooking, the Pit Boss Austin XL does have a good pellet clean out door. This makes it easy to empty the hopper so you can store your pellets properly to prevent them from absorbing moisture.
FAQs About the Pit Boss Austin XL Pellet Grill
Q. Are Pit Boss pellet grills any good?
Pit Boss is one of the most popular manufacturers of pellet grills. Their wide range of barbecues are known to be great value for money and while they generally don’t have all the bells and whistles that some more expensive brands do, they’re a solid option for simple wood pellet smoking and grilling.
Q. Are Pit Boss Grills Good?
The quality of the workmanship is very solid. All the pieces fit together well and are made with precision. Pit Boss makes a good quality grill.
Pit Boss deals with a wide range of grills from wood pellet grills, vertical smokers, charcoal grills, and many more. The Pit Boss grills are not only affordable but are also laced with enticing features, sizable storage space, and other add-ons that make grilling easy.
Q. Which Pellets Are Best For My Pellet Smoker Grill?
Not all wood pellets are the same. Some pellet makers use lower quality woods that have flavorings added to them rather than actual hardwoods. I’ve been happy with Pit Boss’ Competition Blend wood pellets and the various woods by CookinPellets.
They both use real hardwoods without artificial flavors, spray scents, glues, or chemicals. Very little ash is left behind after smoking or grilling.
Check your pellets and read the fine print on the packaging. You may find they aren’t the real hardwoods you think they are.
Different pellets will burn hotter than others. I’ve found that Traeger pellets burn hotter and are less smokey. They may not be actual hardwoods. These hotter burning pellets are great for steaks but not for the rich smoky flavors you want when smoking.
THE WRAP-UP
Pit Boss has done a great job managing value and features in the Austin XL pellet grill. For under $500, there’s 180lbs of grill here with a computer-controlled pellet system that maintains temperature for you. It is amazing that there’s a pellet grill this large at this price point when the competition costs almost double for the same size cooking chamber.
A solid build with a wide temperature range, huge capacity, and the ability to grill over the open flame, it ticks a lot of boxes! And, with a 5-year warranty, you can’t go too wrong with this choice.
We like the Austin XL for its versatility and price point where many features are delivered when competitors seem to strip down their units at the same price. There are pellet grills costing 3 times more with just about the same amount of features and cooking surface, so don’t overlook this low-priced beauty when looking for your next pellet smoker.
Pit Boss has helped to make pellet smoking affordable. And, there’s no denying, that the Austin XL pellet smoker is simply great value for money.
What I Don’t Like About my Austin XL
The digital readout showing the temperatures is poorly lit and difficult to read sometimes especially during daylight hours.
You are meant to use a shop vac to clean out the firepot after each use. To do that you’ve got to remove the center grate and its cover and vacuum the ash out ONCE IT’S COLD. If you don’t, you’re more likely to get a flameout. It really doesn’t take that long. But it is a hassle.
Final Thoughts
Pit Boss Austin XL costs approximately $500. If you can get a Pit Boss wood pellet grill at this amount, it is enough to consider buying it. Moreover, this Pit Boss pellet grill comes with an impressive set of features, an optimum flame temperature, a digital control panel, two meat probes, and everything else that cannot be seen in mid-range pellet grills.
Flare-ups are inevitable due to the external temperature, but by following the Pit Boss user manual’s instructions, you may have better control over its temperature. Pit Boss Austin XL is a masterpiece that’s worth giving a try.
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