Best Pit Boss Accessories in 2026: 8 Upgrades and Parts That Fit

Pit Boss® sells more grill per dollar than almost anyone, and it does that by leaving things out — single-wall bodies, basic probes, bare grates. That makes it the brand where accessories change the cooking the most, and the brand where buying the wrong accessory is easiest, because Pit Boss has shipped a lot of similar-looking 820 and 850 barrels and reused model numbers across generations. Our top pick is the Comnova 600D cover, because weather does more damage to a single-wall Pit Boss left on a patio than cooking ever will, and a third-party cover cut for the 820/850 body costs a fraction of an OEM one. If you want the upgrade that changes a cook rather than protecting the grill, buy the Hiorucet cast-iron grates — over the Flame Broiler slider, heavy grates are what turn direct flame into a real sear.

Every pick below is matched to specific Pit Boss bodies, and each section says which. Before you buy any fitment part, read the model plate on your grill rather than trusting the number you call it — that single habit prevents most returns on this brand.

Quick Picks: Best Pit Boss Accessories

How We Chose

Pit Boss accessories divide cleanly into three jobs, and we ranked within those rather than pretending a cover and a bag of pellets compete.

• Protect the grill. Pit Boss bodies are generally single-wall powder-coated steel kept outdoors year-round. A cover is the cheapest thing that extends the life of the grill, and the brand's aftermarket is competitive enough that OEM pricing is hard to justify on a standard barrel. We picked by stated fabric weight and by how specifically the listing names fitment.
• Change the cook. Only two accessory categories measurably change results on this brand: heavy grates over the Flame Broiler, and an insulation blanket in winter. Both are on the list; neither is a gimmick.
• Fix what breaks. The meat probe, RTD chamber probe and hot rod igniter are the three parts Pit Boss owners replace, and all three are owner-serviceable. We included the parts rather than only the upgrades, because a grill that will not light is a bigger problem than a grill without cast iron.
• Fitment honesty over fitment claims. Where a listing names specific SKUs — the Hiorucet grates name eight Pit Boss variants, the Lexington blanket names PB500NX, PB500SP and PB550G — we say so, because a seller that will not name SKUs on a brand with this much model overlap is a coin flip.

We have not run these products through lab testing. Our assessment combines published listing specifications, the ratings these products carry in our own grill grates, cover and insulation blanket roundups, and aggregated owner feedback. Prices come from our price layer and are read when the page loads.

1. Comnova 600D Cover — Best Overall Accessory

The Comnova 600D cover is the sensible default for the Pit Boss 820 Deluxe and Pro 850, and the listing also covers the Z Grills 700 body because those grills share a very similar barrel-and-hopper footprint. It states 600D fabric and waterproof, heavy-duty construction — the standard specification for this category, at a price that makes the OEM cover difficult to argue for.

A cover is the first accessory for a reason that has nothing to do with cooking. Pit Boss grills are value-engineered, generally single-wall, and overwhelmingly kept outside. Water sitting in a hopper swells pellets into a solid plug and jams an auger; UV fades and chalks powder coat; a wet controller is a dead controller. None of that is dramatic, all of it is cumulative, and a cover is the cheapest intervention available.

Who it is for: anyone with an 820- or 850-class Pit Boss that lives outdoors. Who should skip it: Austin XL owners (go to the GuardKove below) and anyone whose grill is garaged.

2. Hiorucet Cast Iron Grates — Best Performance Upgrade

This is the accessory that changes how a Pit Boss cooks. The Hiorucet cast iron grates are a 2-pack listed for the Pit Boss 850 and 820 series, with compatibility spelled out across a long list of specific variants — PB820, PB820PS1, PB820D, PB0820D3, PB820FB, PB820XL, PB820D3 and PB850PS2 among them. That variant list is the useful part: "fits Pit Boss 850" from a seller who will not name SKUs is a gamble on this brand.

Why cast iron pays off here more than on other pellet grills comes down to the Flame Broiler. Sliding that plate open exposes food to direct flame, but bare thin grates over an open fire pot produce heat without contact — you get a hot draft rather than a sear. Heavy cast iron stores that heat and presses it into the meat, which is the difference between grey grill lines and a proper crust. It is our best-for-Pit-Boss pick in the best grill grates roundup.

Who it is for: 820/850 owners who use the Flame Broiler for steaks and burgers. Who should skip it: anyone who only runs low-and-slow — the grates add nothing at 225°F, and bare stainless is less maintenance.

3. Lexington Insulated Blanket — Best for Cold Weather

Pit Boss grills are the classic case for a blanket: competitive on price and capacity, generally single-wall, and often bought by people who did not plan on winter smoking and then discovered they wanted to. The Lexington insulated blanket covers the 500 Series, Navigator and Sportsman bodies, naming the PB500NX, PB500SP and PB550G among its fits.

The mechanism is simple and real. In cold weather a single-wall barrel bleeds heat continuously, so the controller runs the auger harder to hold a set temperature — you burn more pellets and you get wider swings. A blanket reduces the heat loss, which reduces both. It is also the best-value tailored blanket in our insulation blanket roundup, at roughly half what Traeger-fit blankets cost, which is the Pit Boss aftermarket advantage in a sentence. Our pellet grill cold weather guide covers the rest of the winter routine.

Who it is for: anyone smoking below about 40°F on a 500 Series, Navigator or Sportsman. Who should skip it: owners in mild climates, and anyone with a different Pit Boss body — check the part numbers first.

4. Pit Boss Replacement Meat Probe — Best Cheap Fix

The Pit Boss replacement meat probe is the cheapest pick here and the one most Pit Boss owners will eventually need. Meat probes fail in a predictable way: the cable gets pinched in the lid gasket cook after cook until a conductor breaks, and the controller then reads a wild number or nothing at all. It is not a defect so much as a wear item, and keeping a spare in the drawer means a failure costs you a minute rather than a cook.

Two related parts are worth knowing about, and both are owner-replaceable. The RTD chamber probe is what the grill uses to measure its own cook chamber — when it drifts, the grill reads one temperature and cooks at another, and no amount of recalibration habit fixes it. The hot rod igniter is the part behind a grill that cycles pellets but never lights. If you are chasing a fault rather than stocking spares, start with our Pit Boss error codes guide, which maps each code to the part behind it.

Who it is for: every Pit Boss owner, as a spare. Who should skip it: nobody — but if your readings are wrong rather than missing, the RTD probe is the part you want.

5. QuliMetal Cover — Best Budget Cover

If you want the cheapest thing that works, the QuliMetal cover fits the Pit Boss 850/820 and Z Grills 700 series and is the lowest-priced cover in our cover buying guide. It does the same fundamental job as the Comnova: keeps rain out of the hopper and sun off the powder coat.

Buy it when the grill lives somewhere sheltered — under a deck overhang, against a wall, in a garage between cooks — where the cover is insurance rather than armour. In full sun and open weather, step up to a heavier fabric; thin covers in harsh UV are the category's known failure mode, and a cover that cracks after two summers is not a bargain.

Who it is for: budget-conscious owners with a sheltered grill. Who should skip it: anyone in open sun or heavy wind.

6. GuardKove 1000D Cover — Best for the Austin XL

Owners of the big Austin XL need their own cover, and the GuardKove 1000D cover is the pick — the only cover in our guide that states the heavier 1000D fabric. On a grill this large that matters more than it would on a 500 Series: there is more surface for wind to catch and more area for sun to hit.

Who it is for: Austin XL owners, especially in open weather. Who should skip it: owners of smaller Pit Boss grills — it is cut for one body, and heavier fabric is also stiffer to wrestle over a grill in the cold, which is a genuine everyday annoyance rather than a defect.

7. Cast Iron Grates for Pro 1000 / Austin XL — Best Grates for Big Bodies

The cast iron replacement grates for the Pit Boss Pro 1000 and Austin XL are the same upgrade as the Hiorucet pick, cut for the larger bodies. The argument is identical — mass over the Flame Broiler is what produces a sear rather than a hot draft — and so are the trade-offs: season them, do not store them wet, and expect to lift real weight when you clean.

On a grill this size there is a second benefit. Big barrels have more pronounced hot and cool zones, and heavy grates even out grate-level temperature between the fire-pot side and the far end, which makes a full load of chicken thighs finish closer together.

Who it is for: Pro 1000 and Austin XL owners replacing worn grates or chasing a better sear. Who should skip it: low-and-slow-only cooks.

8. Pit Boss Competition Blend Pellets — Best Pellets

Pellets are the only Pit Boss accessory you buy forever, and Pit Boss Competition Blend in the 40-lb bag is the sensible house pellet: a hardwood blend that suits pork, poultry and beef without committing you to one flavor, in the size that actually matches how a pellet grill burns fuel.

One myth worth killing: you are not required to run Pit Boss pellets in a Pit Boss. Any hardwood pellet runs in any pellet grill, and our best wood pellets for smoking roundup ranks the alternatives on flavor and ash. Buy on price per pound and on whether the bag names its woods — filler wood is the real quality difference between bags, not the badge.

Who it is for: every Pit Boss owner. Who should skip it: cooks who want a specific single wood for a specific protein; see the wood pellet flavor guide.

Buying by Model: Which Pit Boss Do You Own?

Pit Boss's naming is the messiest in the category — the Navigator, Sportsman and Carbon lines overlap in size and Pit Boss has reused numbers across generations. Our best Pit Boss pellet grills roundup decodes the series naming if you are not sure which one you have, and the Pit Boss Navigator 850 review covers the most common body in detail.

The Universal Accessories Worth Adding

Three things improve a Pit Boss that have nothing to do with fitment:

• A thermometer. The grill controls its chamber and knows nothing about the meat. Our best wireless meat thermometer picks are all brand-agnostic.
• A smoke tube. Pit Boss publishes a SMOKE setting, but the strongest smoke on any pellet grill still comes from smoldering wood in a tube. See the best smoke tube guide.
• Long-cuff gloves. The Flame Broiler means reaching over open flame more often than on other brands. The best BBQ gloves roundup covers it.

If you are shopping for someone else rather than yourself, our best pellet grill gifts guide sticks to accessories that need no fitment check at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

What accessories should every Pit Boss owner buy first?

A cover, then a thermometer, then pellets. The cover protects a single-wall grill that lives outdoors; the thermometer answers the question the controller cannot; pellets are the ongoing cost.

Do Pit Boss covers fit more than one model?

Often, and that is both the convenience and the trap. Match the part numbers in the listing against the plate on your grill — Pit Boss has reused numbers across generations.

Are cast iron grates worth it on a Pit Boss?

More than on most brands, because the Flame Broiler gives you direct flame and cast iron is what converts that flame into contact heat and a real crust. Skip them if you only smoke.

Which Pit Boss parts fail first?

The meat probe, then the RTD chamber probe, then the hot rod igniter. All three are cheap and owner-replaceable, and all three sit behind the most common error codes.

Do you need an insulation blanket for a Pit Boss?

In a cold climate it has the largest measurable effect of anything here: less heat loss through a single-wall barrel means fewer pellets burned and narrower temperature swings.

Our Top Pick

For most Pit Boss® owners the first purchase is the Comnova 600D cover — the grill is single-wall, it lives outside, and water in the hopper is the failure that costs real money. The upgrade that changes a cook is the Hiorucet cast-iron grates, because mass over the Flame Broiler is the difference between a hot draft and a sear. If you smoke through winter, the Lexington insulated blanket does more for pellet consumption and temperature stability than anything else on this page, and a spare meat probe is the cheapest insurance in pellet grilling.

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