Coyote vs Memphis: Which Pellet Grill Should You Get?

There aren’t many options in the built-in stainless steel pellet grill business. For many years, Memphis Wood-Fired Grills had the only option. Then came Twin Eagles with their pellet grill in 2018. In 2020, Coyote Outdoor Living joined the ranks and released their own pellet grill.

The most common question we hear is which pellet grill is better: Coyote or Memphis? In this article, we look at how these two brands, Coyote Outdoor Living and Memphis Wood-Fired Grills, stack up head-to-head in six main categories for their pellet grills.

In this article, we’re comparing the Coyote Outdoor Living 28″ & 36″ Pellet Grill to the Memphis Wood-Fired Pro & Elite Pellet Grills.

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Build Quality

Both Coyote Outdoor Living and Memphis Wood-Fired Grills are headquartered in the US. Both brands design and engineer their grills domestically but both brands manufacture them overseas in dedicated factories.

This was not always the case with Memphis. They moved their manufacturing overseas in 2019 in an effort Memphis said to increase production capacity.

Both Coyote and Memphis Pellet Grills are made of 304 Stainless Steel and feature double-walled lids. This helps with heat retention and prevent discoloring on the hood on the outside.

When comparing them in person, both grills look and feel nice. The hood on the Memphis seems to be a tad thicker than the Coyote lid.

Cooking Space

This is going to vary on the size of grill you purchase. Coyote offers their pellet grill in 28″ and 36″ size options. Memphis offer theirs in Pro (25″) and Elite (37″).

Both brands have respectable size cooking surfaces that have additional rack capacity. We outline each grill cooing surface size in the chart below.

The first figure in the graphic is the main cooking area and the “up to” figure is when using additional upper racks.

Coyote gives you three additional upper racks with their pellet grill for their Versa-Rack System. It allows you to have a double second tier and single third tier of cooking space.

Memphis grills come standard with a single third tier but you do have the ability to purchase an additional grate kit that gives you a double second tier to complement the top third tier rack.

Overall in this category, both grills come with decent size cooking space. While Memphis has the advantage in possible cook space, we like that Coyote gives you all the racks for maximum cook space from the get-go.

App & Controller

The App and Controller on these grills is very different.

Coyote uses a touch screen control pad on the front face of the grill. This is where you will monitor and control everything on Coyotes first edition pellet grill.

The Coyote Pellet Grill is not Wi-Fi or Bluetooth compatible. However, Coyote does have an app that features videos on how to use the grill. This would indicate this grill will eventually have Wi-Fi/Bluetooth capability in a future generation edition.

The touch screen is very user friendly and easy to use. There is not much of learning curve to get used to other than remembering to unlock the screen when turning on the grill.

With Coyote, you can cook between 175° F and up to 700° F with the 36″ model. The maximum temperature is 650° F on the 28″ model.

The Memphis controller sits off to the left side of the grill, either on the left cart shelf or in a separate housing for built-in versions. This is nice as it keeps the controller away from the heat of the grill.

The functions of this control screen are access via push buttons located around the controller. Memphis Grills are Wi-Fi enabled. Once connected with your phone or tablet, you can monitor and control the grill without checking on it. However, you must physically be in front of your grill and use the control panel to start it.

Memphis does have an app that logs records of your cooks as well as allow you to follow standard recipes for things like pork butts, steak and brisket.

With Memphis, you can cook between 180° F and up to 700° F with the Elite model. The maximum temperature is 650° F on the Pro model.

The advantage in this category goes to Memphis if you value Wi-Fi capability built into the grill. If that is not a factor, you would just want to decide which control panel you prefer operating more.

Grill Features

Similarities

Both of these grills share many similar grill features. Coyote has had the luxury of watching and learning from changes to Memphis Grills over the years.

Both brands feature easy-to-remove middle diffuser plates that both have interchangeable middle inserts based on the style of cooking you’re doing. They both come standard with a solid middle insert for low and slow cooks and grated insert for high heat, direct flame cooks. Both grills also have a tool that can be used to change the inserts without touching them or lifting/replacing grates.

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Both grills feature dual auger, dual fan and dual drip tray systems that make it easy to mix pellet flavors for custom flavors, heat up and keep the grill at the set temperature and remove for easy clean up. Each grill has slots for three food probe ports.

Differences

The Coyote Pellet Grill uses a front-load hopper. This makes access to the hopper very convenient for built-in models. With the hopper being in the front, the capacity is limited to 12-15 lbs based on the corresponding model.

The hopper for the Memphis is located in the rear of the grill. This is not a big deal for cart grills but can potentially be inconvenient for built-in grills based on where the grill is being installed. The hopper lid pulls/flips up towards the grill which is inconvenient if reaching over the lid to the pour pellets. The hopper size is 18 – 24 lbs based on the corresponding grill model.

While both grills come with stainless steel cooking grates, Coyote gives you a mirrored, laser cut grate that is designed a little different than traditional tubular cooking grates. The design helps prevent smaller foods from falling through the grates.

The Memphis Pellet Grill gives you solid stainless steel cooking grates that you’re accustomed to seeing on high-end gas grills. Between the Coyote and Memphis grates, both are good options. This difference is personal preference.

The Coyote Grill features to interior lights inside the grill for added visibility when cooking at night. The Memphis does not have lights.

The cart design for both grills slightly varies. Coyote offers two fold down small fold down shelves and two large drawers underneath. The drawers are large enough to hold a 20 lbs bag of pellets.

The Memphis cart is a double door with shelf space. However, their side shelves feature storage underneath which is a nice use of dead space on most grills. The shelf top lifts up to reveal extra storage. The shelves do not fold down.

Ease of Upkeep

Due to the similarities in metal construction of the grills, firepot design and grease management systems, both grills are equally as easy to clean up. Pellet grills do require the most routine upkeep of grills between gas and charcoal so just be prepared for that.

You would spend about the same time cleaning either grill so neither one has an advantage over the other in this category which is nice.

Warranty

We’re not going to really go into too much depth in this category. We encourage you to read the full warranty for each grill on their respective website. You can find Coyote’s here and Memphis’ here.

Coyote offers a limited lifetime warranty on the outside body of the grill, five years on the interior body, three years on electronics, heat shield and cooking grates.

Memphis offers seven years on the grill body (inside and out), three years on the electronic components and 30 days on the meat probe.

The electronic components is what’s most important on these grills. They both offer the same term limit on the controller. This category would be a personal preference as well.

So Which One Should You Get?

We have laid it all out there in terms of comparing features and benefits of both the Coyote Pellet Grill and Memphis Pellet Grill. Every person values different features and benefits so it’s hard for us to just flat out tell you which grill is the better grill.

We’ve cooked extensively with both and really don’t have anything bad to say about either. They each have their advantages. The smoke flavor off both is similar.

You can read more about the Coyote 36″ Pellet Grill here. You can read more about the Memphis Elite Pellet Grill here.

If you have further questions on these grills, reach out to us here or send us an email at info@justgrillinflorida.com.