Pit Boss 700FB2 vs 500FB2

Which one, in one line

You smoke overnight. The 700FB2. The hopper is the reason, not the cooking area.

You grill on weeknights and want smoke flavour sometimes. The 500FB2. Same controller, same searing hardware, $150 less.

You want a pellet grill that sears like a gas grill. Neither, unless you are happy running the Flame Broiler lever open over a direct flame.

Everything below is why.

The hopper question

The 700FB2 holds 21 pounds of pellets. The 500FB2 holds 5.

That is not a size difference, it is a different kind of grill. Twenty-one pounds is the capacity pellet grills are normally sold on, because it is enough to walk away from. Five pounds is a hopper you keep an eye on.

So the question is how long your cooks run. On a three hour cook the difference never comes up. On a brisket that starts the night before, the small hopper is something you get up for, and the whole reason you bought a pellet grill was not getting up. If holding a low temperature overnight without you standing there is the point, the 500FB2 works against the point.

The cooking area question

747 square inches against 518. That is 44 percent more room, it is the number in the product name, and it is the second most important thing on this page.

At list price on Pit Boss's own site the 700FB2 is $549.99 and the 500FB2 is $399.99, both read on 25 July 2026. Street prices move. That is $150 for 229 extra square inches, which is a fair rate if space is what you are short of.

Space is usually not what you are short of. Both figures cover two tiers of racks rather than a primary grate, so on either grill part of that number is the upper rack, and the upper rack is not where a steak goes. Four people are fed comfortably by 518 square inches.

Everything else is the same grill

Both reach 180 to 500°F on a digital control board with 5°F increments. Both have the Flame Broiler lever, which opens a slot to the fire for direct flame searing that Pit Boss rates up to 1,000°F. Both have two tiers of porcelain-coated steel racks, two meat probe ports with one probe in the box, and a solid bottom shelf. Both carry the same 5-year warranty.

The controller, the temperature range, the searing hardware, the probe support and the warranty do not enter into this decision at all. Cooking area and hopper capacity are the entire difference, and they point the same way.

Who should buy which

Get the 700FB2 if:

• Brisket, pork shoulder or anything that starts the night before is the reason you are buying
• You want to set a temperature and leave the grill alone
• You regularly cook for more than about six people

Get the 500FB2 if:

• This is a grill that happens to do smoke flavour, rather than a smoker
• Your longest cook finishes inside an afternoon
• You are short of patio rather than short of grate

Common questions

Is the 700FB2 worth $150 more? If you smoke overnight, yes, and the hopper is the reason. If your longest cook is a Saturday afternoon pork loin, no. Buy the 500FB2 and put the $150 towards pellets and a second probe.

Can the 500FB2 do low and slow at all? Yes. Same controller, same 180°F floor, same ability to hold a set temperature. The limit is the 5 pound hopper rather than the grill, so short smokes are fine and overnight ones are the problem.

Do either of these sear like a gas grill? Not without the Flame Broiler lever open, and that is a direct flame over a fire with the flare-ups that implies. Pit Boss rates it to 1,000°F. It works, but it is a different thing from a gas grill's sear burner, and it wants watching.

Which one for a family of four? Either. 518 square inches feeds four without trouble. Decide this on hopper capacity and how long your cooks run, not on cooking area.