Search “pellet grill review” and Traeger, Pit Boss, and Recteq dominate every list — Cookshack’s Fast Eddy’s line barely comes up, despite building the only pellet grill on the market with true charbroiler searing technology. Here’s what the PG500 and FEC100 actually cost, what makes the charbroiler system different, and who it’s really built for.
Last updated: August 25, 2026 — re-verified PG500 ($3,750) and FEC100 ($6,500) pricing and specs directly against cookshack.com; both confirmed unchanged, no factual corrections needed.
Quick Answer
Cookshack’s Fast Eddy’s PG500 ($3,750) is the only pellet grill on the market built around charbroiler technology — a direct-flame searing zone that reaches 600°F, well past the 450-500°F ceiling on most consumer pellet grills, per Cookshack’s own product specs. The FEC100 ($6,500) trades searing for competition-grade capacity: a 1,564 sq in insulated smoker oven with an IQ5 digital controller, a cook-and-rest automation cycle, and room for 100 lbs of pork butts per load. Both are built in the USA from stainless steel, but Cookshack backs them with only a 2-year limited warranty — short next to Traeger’s 10 years or Yoder’s 10-year grill body — so Cookshack fits buyers who specifically want its searing tech or competition capacity, not someone comparing warranty length across mainstream brands.
Cookshack lineup at a glance
| Model | Cook space | Max temp | Fuel use | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG500 | 784 sq in | 600°F | 1.2-2 lb/hr @ 400°F | Direct-flame searing | $3,750 |
| FEC100 | 1,564 sq in | 400°F | 0.75 lb/hr @ 250°F | Large-batch competition smoking | $6,500 |
What Cookshack gets right
Cookshack Fast Eddy's PG500
- The only pellet grill on the market using charbroiler technology for direct-flame searing, per Cookshack's own spec sheet — most competitors cap searing performance around 450-500°F using indirect diffuser-plate heat.
- Front-access ash drawer keeps cleanup to roughly 3% ash residue by weight, and the stainless-steel body with front-opening doors is built for repeated high-heat use rather than occasional searing.
- Ships with a warming drawer, side shelf, 40 lbs of hickory pellets, a meat probe slide, and a utensil holder included — fewer add-on purchases than most grills at this price tier.
- Fuel-efficient at typical cooking temps: 1.2-2 lbs of pellets per hour at 400°F keeps a full cook session's pellet cost manageable despite the grill's premium price.
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Charbroiler technology is the real story with the PG500. Standard pellet grills sear indirectly — heat radiates off a diffuser plate positioned near the firepot, which limits most consumer models to roughly 450-500°F even in a dedicated “sear mode.” Cookshack routes direct flame to a purpose-built searing zone instead, pushing the PG500 to a genuine 600°F, closer to what a gas grill’s dedicated sear burner produces. That’s the specific gap this grill fills: pellet-smoke flavor on one side of the cook, steakhouse-style direct-flame searing on the other, without switching appliances mid-cook.
Where it falls short
The 2-year limited warranty is the clearest weak point — Cookshack covers parts and labor for the first 90 days, then parts only through year two, well short of Traeger’s 10-year coverage on its 2026 flagship line or Yoder’s 10-year grill-body warranty at a comparable price point. The PG500 is also non-insulated, which matters more for the FEC100’s low-and-slow competition use case than for the PG500’s searing-focused design, but it does mean colder-climate cooks will burn more pellets holding temperature through winter. And at $3,750, the PG500 costs roughly four times a $899 Traeger Woodridge for 784 sq in of cook space that isn’t dramatically larger than what mainstream grills offer at a fraction of the price — the premium here buys the charbroiler system specifically, not more room or a longer warranty.
Cookshack vs. the field
| Grill | Cook space | Signature feature | Warranty | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookshack PG500 | 784 sq in | Charbroiler searing to 600°F | 2 years | $3,750 |
| Memphis Pro | 568 sq in | IntelliBurn secondary combustion | Multi-year (304 stainless build) | $4,499 |
| Yoder YS640s | 640-1,070 sq in | 10-gauge carbon steel mass | 10 years (body) | $2,699 |
| Traeger Woodridge | 860 sq in | WiFIRE app control | 10 years | $899 |
For a heavier-steel alternative at a lower price and a much longer warranty, this site’s Yoder Smokers review covers the closest premium competitor. Buyers weighing a searing-capable pellet grill against Memphis’s IntelliBurn combustion approach should read the Memphis pellet grill review for the direct comparison. And for most backyard cooks who don’t need direct-flame searing at all, the best pellet grill guide covers where mainstream-priced options already deliver strong results.
Who should buy a Cookshack
- Buy the PG500 if: you specifically want direct-flame searing on the same grill you smoke on, and $3,750 fits your budget for a stainless-steel, USA-built pellet grill.
- Buy the FEC100 instead if: you’re cooking competition-volume batches (100 lbs of pork butt or more per load) and want an insulated, IQ5-controlled smoker oven rather than a backyard searing grill.
- Consider the Yoder YS640s instead if: you want premium steel construction, a 10-year body warranty, and lower upfront cost, and can live without dedicated charbroiler searing.
- Skip it if: a 2-year warranty is a dealbreaker, or you cook occasionally — a $900 Traeger Woodridge covers most backyard use cases at a quarter of the price.
The verdict
Cookshack earns its niche through genuine engineering, not brand marketing: the PG500’s charbroiler technology is a real, patented-style approach to direct-flame searing that no mainstream pellet grill replicates, and the FEC100 is built for teams and operators moving real competition volume. Neither model is the right pick for someone comparing warranty length or cook space per dollar — for that buyer, our best pellet grill guide points to far better value. But for a buyer who specifically wants pellet-smoke flavor and steakhouse-grade searing from one machine, the PG500 is doing something the rest of this category doesn’t.