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Business Insider
2 days ago
- General
- Business Insider
Pit Boss Sportsman 850 review: I've tested nearly a dozen smokers and this is the first one I've used with a lever for searing meat
In keeping with the familiar, time-tested design of wood-pellet smokers, the Pit Boss Sportsman 850 is pretty traditional — it's even got a classic venting pipe and a hanging bucket to catch grease drips. But despite the traditional design, it has one unique feature: a pull lever, which will expose your food to direct heat and flames. It's a moderately priced grill, retailing for $749, that should have plenty of cooking space to feed a room full of people. Over the last several years, I've tested nearly a dozen of the best BBQ smokers and best pellet grills, including the new Traeger Woodridge Elite, and the Sportsman 850 stacks up well in its raw performance. The heat is consistent, and there are a decent number of features. My biggest concern, however, is that compared to other products, it's just not that polished, which means it doesn't offer the best experience for newcomers and casual backyard smokers. Assembly The grill comes in a sizable box, weighing around 140 pounds. I assembled it where the box was delivered and then rolled it into the backyard. The actual work of attaching the Sportsman 850's four legs, wheels, a handle, and a few other pieces is manageable, but a few steps require a second person. For instance, I simply couldn't screw two of the legs in while holding them in place. The grill does need to be laid down on the ground and picked back up, which isn't as hard as it sounds, but is definitely easier with another set of hands. During assembly, I noticed some rough internal welding seams. They don't seem to impact the heat retention, but they were noticeable. My biggest concern is that after a few weeks in mild Southern California weather I found rust on parts of the exterior. If you buy this grill, immediately buy a cover along with it. Features and specs At the heart of the Sportsman 850 is the sizable 849 square inches of cooking space and a 21-pound pellet hopper. Pit Boss optimized this grill for storage. On the right is a fixed food shelf with utensil hooks and up front is another shelf to hold food or tools. The front shelf can't be removed, but it does fold down for slimmer storage. Between the legs of the grill is a wide shelf to hold pellet bags or other odds and ends. The normal operating temperatures range from 180 to 500 degrees — that's typical for a smoker where low and slow cooking is the goal. What makes the Sportsman 850 different is that it can also get scorching hot. With the Flame Broiler lever pulled open, the grill can reach 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit for searing and direct heat. Pit Boss lists a 'rapid igniter' as one of the features, claiming to help you reach cooking temperatures twice as fast; I'm just not sure what it's being compared to. From a cold start, the Sportsman took 10 minutes and 30 seconds to reach 225 degrees. I did the same test with a Traeger Timberline, and that smoker only took 8 minutes and 59 seconds to reach the same temperature. The grill features two probe ports, allowing you to monitor the internal temperatures of multiple cuts simultaneously. Only one probe comes with the grill, however, so a second one must be purchased separately. WiFi connectivity Having a remote connection to a smoker is nearly essential in 2025. I know people who would prefer the more manual process of smoking meat, but for the majority of us, the convenience of checking ambient and probe temperature away from the house is magical. The Sportsman 850 supports wireless connectivity via WiFi or Bluetooth, depending on how close you are to the grill. I understand the necessity of having two types of connection, but I found that it led to a slower response time: the mobile app needed to determine its best path every time I opened it, leading to annoying delays at crucial cooking times. At a basic level, the app is fine. You can easily see and change the temperature, set a timer, and see connected probe temps. There are integrated recipes and the ability to save them as your favorites. There are even how-to videos buried in the app if you want that info. However, the mobile app needs polish. One example of this was its notifications: When I turned on the grill and set it to my desired temperature using the grill's onboard controller, it didn't send an app notification when it reached its goal. A small detail, but in comparison, Traeger's app is a lot more reliable with the same task. (Read more in our guide to the best Traeger grills.) In theory, the app graphs ambient and probe temperatures, but this feature never worked for me over several weeks and more than half a dozen uses. The app's cooking history log was also unreliable, sometimes listing multiple cooks with 0:00 times or listing the wrong duration of time when it did recognize one. Smoking performance is great but not perfect The Sportsman 850 performed well and proved reliable for smoking meat and other kinds of food. Though I'm not convinced the rapid igniter makes much of a difference, the Sportsman did reach target temperatures quickly and in line with recipe estimates. The most important aspect of the smoker is its temperature retention. My periodic temperature checks with an infrared thermometer indicate that the grill keeps a consistent temperature, only fluctuating briefly a few times, usually on the hotter side by 5 to 10 degrees. This is normal behavior for a smoker. Similarly, using the mobile app to check its reported temperature indicated the same results. I smoked several racks of ribs, a small turkey breast, steaks, and experimented with boneless country-style ribs and fresh ears of corn. Cooking the meat I was familiar with came out as expected and nearly identical to other smokers. I was equally as satisfied with the new recipes I looked up online and tried. The Pit Boss mobile app has a decent number of recipes to get you started if you need them. I liked how the recipe directions have a checkbox next to each step so you can easily keep track of where you are in the process. I found the hopper's 21-pound capacity sufficient, but its tall and narrow design, along with a non-removable security grate at the top, made it hard to push the pellets down if they didn't always filter in smoothly during a smoking session. While the Flame Broiler lever is a neat addition, I'm unsure about its general need. I used it on steaks to give them a sear and it worked well. But after spending time with the lever, my concern isn't around its functionality, but how much it's needed. Beyond searing steak, I didn't find many situations where I'd want to engage it for extra heat. Be aware, too, that when there is a lot of grease or food remnants they can catch fire when the Flame Broiler is engaged. I noticed the dirty grates causing sparking and embers when exposed to the fire, which was only several inches away. Cons to consider As I tested the 850, the digital controller stood out as a weak spot. Its biggest problem is that it's positioned low, so you need to bend down to see it well. There are also some confusing markings, like dots between each temperature digit. I also have concerns about the construction and long-term durability. After a few weeks and only two, nonconsecutive days of light rain, I spotted rust on the handle, shelf hooks, and top hinges. The grill does not come with a cover, so this will be an immediate problem without spending some extra money. Sportsman 850 vs Navigator 850 The Sportsman 850 isn't the only Pit Boss grill to consider in this price range. The Navigator 850 should probably be on your radar as well. Compared to the Sportsman 850, the Navigator 850 drops the smoke vent, adds a larger hopper (30-pound) and a bigger hopper window, shifts the shelf hooks to the front, and makes some changes to the digital controller. For example, the Navigator's controller has a color display for easier number distinction and has a flame intensity indicator. I'm not quite sure why Pit Boss didn't stick with its usual naming convention of the model number reflecting the cooking area, but the Navigator 850 is bigger than the Sportsman 850, offering 932 square inches for your food. One of the most interesting design changes in the Navigator is its grease catch is underneath the grill, out of sight. These are small changes, that make the Navigator worthy of consideration, especially considering it costs just $50 more than the Sportsman. Should you buy the Pit Boss Sportsman 850? The Pit Boss Sportsman 850 is an overall solid smoker grill. Its standout feature, the Flame Broiler lever, gives it some unique versatility. I'm not sure if that alone is enough to sway people to it over the competition. I didn't find myself drawn to it or constantly using it — certainly not enough to consider it among the best grills you can buy. As intriguing as the Sportsman 850 is because of its consistent temperature control, it just falls short of the polish that the new Traeger Woodridge grill has for around the same price. Even the Pit Boss Navigator 850 seems like a better-designed and more modern grill for only $50 more. If you can find a deal on the Sportsman 850, then it could be a worthy buy.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
West Valley photographer gives back by bringing photography to south Phoenix kids
For about an hour after school, Jana Nolan, a lowrider and lifestyle photographer based in metro Phoenix, brings her students together and teaches them the basics of creating everlasting images that preserve the history of their changing communities. Nolan's family roots lie in the West Valley, in a part of Glendale that locals called "Sonorita," — smaller Sonora in Spanish — but moved to Mesa after her father noticed the community changing. With only an uncle and a few cousins still living in the Glendale area, Nolan said her father photographed the neighborhood before her family left. This family history inspires her work with students in Phoenix, who in recent years have seen a shift in their communities, with changing landscapes and development leading to many of them leaving the neighborhoods they grew up in. She does this through 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids, an after-school program based at the Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy of Arizona, a public charter school in south Phoenix, through which students gain photography skills and are tasked with documenting the history of their communities while opening their futures to potential career paths. In addition to running 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids, which she co-founded, Nolan said she currently works in human resources specializing in safety and compliance for the grill company Pit Boss. But at 47, her true calling lies in running 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids, which she co-founded in 2024 — a skill she began to develop at 16 when taking a photography elective at the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa. Photography, however, has been a constant in Nolan's life. While her father served in the Vietnam War, Nolan said her grandmother, whom she lovingly calls Nana, sent him his camera which he then used to take albums' worth of photos during his service. When he returned home, Nolan said he went to printing school and worked his way from the Arizona Highways' print shop to become a published photographer in the magazine. He filled albums of family photos of Nolan and her sibling up until he passed in 2015. Nolan inherited his film camera which she used for many years before she thought to herself, "I would die if something happened to my dad's camera." In the years since learning how to photograph and film her surroundings, Nolan has freelanced for several magazines including La Cultura Magazine, Lowrider Magazine and Oneway Magazine in Japan, dipping her toes in car, portrait, lifestyle and street photography. After stepping into an educator role, Nolan now focuses on teaching photography to a new generation through the Phoenix-based program. 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids was founded by Jana Nolan and Abel Perales, a historian and director at the same school. The program was intended to be a spinoff project of 2 Live and Die in A.Z., which mirrored the original 2 Live and Die in LA, a Los Angeles-based art festival and exhibition that celebrates street culture in Los Angeles, California. Noticing rapid changes in the south Phoenix neighborhoods surrounding the charter school — with increasing development leading to gentrification — Perales sought out Frankie Orozco, founder of the Los Angeles show, to offer guidance on how the school could document their communities. Nolan had already participated in the 2 Live and Die in A.Z. festival years past. So Orozco made the connection and from a group chat, 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids was founded at the school, with Nolan and Perales at the helm. The program was launched in February 2024. Nolan, Perales and the students enrolled in the program took a trip to Superior at the start of 2025, where they were tasked to document its history and the changes locals were experiencing. Once there, students got the chance to photograph a local lowrider car club — a cherry on top for Nolan. She was "on cloud nine," when she saw her student's eyes light up as the lowriders pulled up, she said, taking her back to her early days snapping photos of lowriders across the Southwest. Perales said they also used the trip to teach the students the importance of traveling outside of their communities and sharing their culture and experiences with others, regardless of distance. Students like Amairany Olivera and Reyna Noriega had no idea Superior was a city in Arizona until the trip. "It was really cool. I didn't know about Superior and just going there and learning about new things is awesome," Noriega said. But the Superior trip also had a profound impact on Nolan, watching her students put into action everything that she and Perales have shared with them. "It really did something to me and it drives me to do more, not just for them, but in general," Nolan said. The 45 minutes spent with the 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids students are everything to Nolan. A mother herself, she said the time the students spend in the program also helps give peace of mind to their parents. "It's like knowing that you make a difference in somebody's life, even if it's for 45 minutes that we get together, even if it's just us sitting around this table talking, it just feels good," Nolan said. And the community knows it. The support that Nolan and Perales have received is crucial to sustaining and growing the program, she said. "It doesn't matter how big or small people's donations or their time that they're contributing to us — it means a lot," Nolan said. For now, the program only operates out of the one charter school, but Nolan plans to expand it to other local campuses. Those interested in supporting the program can reach out to her via her Instagram @nolangirl_photography and at the 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids Instagram: @2liveanddieinazkids. The account is private for security reasons but messages are permitted. Have story tips on Latino culture and cuisine in the Valley? Reach La Voz reporter David Ulloa at This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How a west Valley photographer gives back to south Phoenix kids
