The Pit Boss Pro Series II 1150 is a large format pellet smoker that you can find exclusively in Lowe's stores here in the United States.

Note: Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. This doesn’t cost you any more than normal but it helps support our channel. Read our disclaimer for more info.

Grilling Gift Guide

Looking for gift ideas for yourself or someone special in your life? We've got you covered.

Pit Boss Pro Series 1150 Product Information

Feature

Measurement

Cooking Area

1150 sq. in.

Primary Cooking Surface

697 sq. in.

Secondary Cooking Surface

394 sq. in.

Assembled Dimensions

W62" x H52" x L32"

Temperature Range

180° - 500°

Hopper Capacity

32 lbs.

Direct Grilling Capable

Yes, moveable sear plate

Assembly:

The Pro 1150 took us about an hour to assemble out of the box. There were two of us putting it together, and that came in really handy when it came time to attach the legs to the smoker body. The angles are hard to determine when you put the screws into the legs from the body, and having someone else there to help align things makes the assembly much easier.

Pit Boss Pro series 1150 in box
Pit Boss Pro 1150 unassembled

Seasoning:

All pellet grills that we’ve seen here at the Lab require an initial burn off to get rid of the manufacturing oils. Pit Boss instructs that we set the grill to 350 for 30-40 minutes before we put anything edible on to the grill.

Storage:

We’ve stored the 1150 Pro outside over the last 2 months to see how it would hold up to Midwest winters. It doesn’t ship with a cover inside the box, but there’s one available as an added accessory that we recommend picking up to keep this unit looking shiny and new. We haven’t had any problems with the controller holding moisture under the screen or any surface rust to date. Pit Boss says that their grills are heavier, and it’s true. This is thicker metal than you’ll find on the competition and it holds up well in the elements.

Pit Boss Pro series 1150 controller

Controller

Flame broil mechanism

Flame broil mechanism

Warranty:  

The 1150 Pro comes with a 5 year warranty from the manufacturer Dansons, and we’ve had quite a few of their grills over the past few years. When a warranty claim has come up for us, we’ve been able to get an actual person over the phone who spoke our language and was versed in the grill we were referencing. Other than having certain parts out of stock for a few weeks from time to time, we’ve been pretty pleased with our warranty service on Pit Boss grills.

Grilling and Smoking

The Pit Bos Pro 1150 is primarily built for smoking, but is also capable of grilling, thanks to the flame broiler. We've done a variety of different cooks on this grill, everything from grilled zucchini spears to a smoked brisket flat.

hasselback potatoes cooked on the Pit Boss Pro 1150

Hasselback potatoes

pork chili verde smoked on the Pit Boss Pro 1150

Pork Chili Verde

bbq chicken thighs smoked on the Pit Boss Pro 1150

Smoked BBQ chicken thighs

smoked brisket

Smoked brisket flat

What We Loved About the Pit Boss Pro 1150

32lb pellet hopper

This pellet hopper has a huge capacity and will last the duration of even your longest brisket cook, no problem.

32 lb pellet hopper
open pellet hopper

Sear capability

The Pit Boss Pro 1150 includes a flame broiler that allows you to easily switch from indirect cooking to direct flame with the simple pull of handle. I love the fact that this can be done on the fly with meat already on the hot grill. Plenty of other pellet grills we've reviewed may have the ability to slide open for a direct sear, but require physically going inside past the grill grates to do so.

Flame broiler adjusting bar handle

flame broiler slider open

Flame broiler slider is open

Solid handle

We are constantly moving grills around here at the Lab and honestly some of these grills have kind of puny handles that don't give you a whole lot to grab onto. This handle is substantial and makes moving a grill of this size and weight a simple task.

side handle

Smoke IT app

One of the things people love about pellet grills is that you can really set it and forget it without having to babysit it all day. When a pellet grill is accompanied by a quality app, this is all the more true. With the Pit Boss Smoke IT app I can see if the auger, fan, and igniter is on, I can monitor (and adjust) the temperature of the grill as well as view the temp of up to 4 meat probes. And I can do all that from inside the house or even at work. Connecting the grill to the app was simple and straight forward and only took a couple of minutes to complete.

Smoke IT app

2 Probes

2 probes come standard with this grill but there are enough ports to accommodate up to 4 ports at one time. I also love that Pit Boss has included probe storage into the pellet hopper.

2 probes included

10 degree increment control

This grill allows for 10 degree increment control up to 300°. After seeing a fair share of grills that only work in 50° increments, this is a welcome improvement in my book.

Removable Ash catcher

Pit Boss has given us a clever way to clean out ash in the Pro series 1150. I love that I don't have to get out the Shop Vac to vacuum out the interior of my pellet grill.

removable ash catcher
ash catcher

Abundant shelf space

The Pit Boss Pro Series 1150 is not wanting for shelf space. With the hopper lid, front shelf, and side shelf, there is plenty of room to set down food, tools, or whatever you need. The front shelf folds down quite easily, and the side shelf has 3 sturdy hooks for hanging tools.

side shelf

Side shelf with tool hooks

foldable front shelf on the pit boss pro series 1150

Foldable front shelf

cord wrap

Power cord wrap

locking casters

Locking casters

Hopper clean out

probe port

Probe port

Opportunities for Improvement

Controller Update

Our experience with the Pit Boss Pro Series 1150 was really a tale of two grills. We received a unit from the first shipment of these grills and it turns out that these controllers ended up being recalled. New shipments of this grill are coming with an updated controller, but for those of us with the original shipment, we had to remove the old controller and mail it back to Pit Boss in order to receive the update. The swap was pretty simple and Pit Boss was very helpful throughout the process. The performance of the grill with the new controller has been like night and day from the old controller.

Hopper Capacity Notifications

I realize that this is "first world problems" at it's finest. However, with a 32 pound hopper, I actually found myself taking for granted that there were enough pellets remaining in the hopper a few times and actually ran out mid-cook causing the temperature to drop. I would love it if the Smoke IT app was able to monitor the level of pellets in the hopper and potentially notify me when it's getting low. Like I said, obviously not a deal breaker, but a feature I found myself wishing for a couple of times.

Sear plate arm

It doesn't happen all the time, but a few times the adjusting bar for the flame broiler has come loose.

Other Grills in the Pit Boss Pro Series

The Pit Boss Pro Series line of grills are exclusively available at Lowe's.

Pro Series I

  • 1000 Wood Pellet Grill
  • 820 Wood Pellet Grill
  • 1100 Pellet/Gas Combo Grill
  • 4-Series Vertical Wood Pellet

Pro Series II

  • Portable 150 Wood Pellet Grill
  • 600 Wood Pellet Grill
  • 850 Wood Pellet Grill
  • 1100 Pellet/Gas Combo Grill
  • 4-Series Wood Pellet Vertical

Pro Series Elite

  • 1600 Wood Pellet Grill

Conclusion:

So, what did we think overall about the Pit Boss Pro 1150 pellet grill? The 1150 has a ton of room to smoke your favorite barbecue dishes. It’s lovely knowing that you’re going to have enough space to cook for the largest parties you’ll throw in your backyard on a single cooker. With the direct flame access for searing, it’s the combo grill that you want when you put a pellet smoker in your back yard.