Pellet smokers. Yay or nay?

bhedges1987

hondabbq said:

bhedges1987 said:

hondabbq said:

Thank for the comments, suggestions and banter. 

I have 2 eggs for grilling etc, I just want to know if this will provide a better grade of BBQ than the egg currently does without the incessant babysitting if an offset. 

I however suggest you think about what you want. You started by saying you have wanted a offset for some time, but kind of seems like now your wanting somebody to convince you more to get a pellet cooker.  Don't make any rash decisions. 

that's not what I am saying. 
Yes I would like an offset, but as I said in the original post,  I don't have the want to babysit it all day or want to have a stack of split wood in the corner to feed it or have to split said wood. 

What I wanted was to know if cooking food on a pellet grill is closer to an offset than the the egg. 

There re are no Yoder dealers in my province. 

Okay, do you mean smoke flavor? Tenderness? Smoke wise, not even close to what a egg or offset will produce. They burn too efficiently.  

hondabbq

there are different levels of BBQ apparatus' that can BBQ, each having their own level of quality food coming off of them. there is a reason that BBQ competitors use offsets or Aaron Franklin for that matter.  

What I was trying to find out, as my experience with offsets and pellet smokers is NIL, was that is there a bump in quality of food overall using a pellet smoker over an egg to get closer to an offset final product.

Spaightlabs

Egged food is superior in smoke/bbd profile to pellet smoker food, IMHO.

That said I'm doing 22 lb brisket on the pellet smoker tomorrow  for Saturday - i will be at work all day tomorrow and don't want to leave a live fire at the house for 10 hours with just the dogs to supervise.

pgprescott

I really like pork ribs on the pellet cookers. They do a pretty good job with pork and beef IMO. They lack versatility. They are a nice secondary cooker if you are not a purist. They are a plug in and drink device. 

bhedges1987

hondabbq said:

What I was trying to find out, as my experience with offsets and pellet smokers is NIL, was that is there a bump in quality of food overall using a pellet smoker over an egg to get closer to an offset final product.

I mean.  It depends on what you think.  Everyone has their own opinion.  The cooking environment in an egg is great, it's ceramic.  It produces top notch food.

The reason stick burners are good I believe and aaron franklin actually says it in his book, is that they are strictly using wood for heat.  You would think a gas or electric smoker feeding it logs would produce a similar taste, but it just doesn't in my experience.

Pellet grills again, burn extremely efficient.  You need to smoke on a pretty low setting to get any amount of noticeable smoke flavor into your food.  If your cooking 250 and up, you might as well be cooking in an oven with liquid smoke.  On my traeger actually, it had a "Smoke" setting, which was 180 degrees.  Anything above really 215 and your basically cooking in an oven.  But the better quality ones you buy and that will change.

You are wanting a final product of a stick burner.  So in my own opinion you will not get improved quality of food off of a pellet smoker compared to an egg.  But again, those are my tastes.  I'm sure maybe others here disagree with me.

Put it this way:  I wanted a stick burner all along because of the flavor. I figured any smoker would produce similar results.  I started with an electric smoker and then sold it, then got a bubba keg and sold it, then a traeger and sold it, then a yoder and sold it, then a medium egg.  KEPT THE EGG but upgraded to a Large and paired that with a stick burner. I will be adding a MM.  

GregW

There is a local rep for Cookshack in my area. He operates a small roadside BBQ concession trailer. He uses the Fast Eddy FEC pellet fired smokers. He has a 120# , 300# and a 500# smoker.
I have tried his BBQ. The pork butts were not a flavorful as what I get off my egg. The smoke flavor was there, however it was a lot more subtle.
The BBQ 1/4 chickens were a lot better. With that being said, he uses the Cookshack mild sauce which has a really smokey flavor. The sauce was providing a real smoke flavor boost.

I was actually looking at buying a FEC 120 pellet smoker. In the end, I got cold feet because I don't think I would be satisfied with the smoke flavor intensity produced with the pellets. Technically the FEC cooks perfectly. Excellent temp control and ease of use. I just don't think I could get the smoke profile that I would prefer.

As for me I'm looking at a gravity feed smoker such as Stumps or Deep South. I like the way my egg cooks low/slow. I'm thinking the gravity feed smokers would cook in a similar way and smoke profile.

I love my egg, I just wish I had more space to cook on sometimes.

hondabbq

@bhedges1987 that's what I was looking for by a comparison. 
I know the egg puts out great food. I was looking to see if a pellet smoker does an improvement on it. 

I don't cook for a lot of people often, but when I do the  egg seems small sometimes. 
If im gonna run the same charcoal for 12 hours for 1 butt I might as well do 4 is my train of thought. 

If if the pellet was going to give me just as good if not better finished product plus give me more room that's what I was ultimately looking for. 
If the food is just as good but not an improvement and the only bonus is more space I'll just invite less friends over for bbq. 

bigalsworth

@hondabbq there is a Yoder dealer in Saskatoon just in case of you wanted to go that route.  I talked to him about one of Yoder's stick burner models and asked him about wood supply, his partner owns land somewhere in Manitoba with a lot of Manitoba maple on it and they will supply if a customer wants it.  That is pretty much the only good smoking wood readily available in western Canada.  God knows what it would cost to get other types of smoking wood in from the states.  

The constant feeding and the lack of hardwoods in Saskatchewan is really what is keeping me from a stick burner and I was wondering the exact same thing as you so thanks for asking, it has helped me out as well.

beansberry

I had a FEC-100 also that I just sold.  It produces outstanding BBQ IMHO.  I used it for comps, wonderful company to deal with and great temp control and think that the smoke was perfect.  Now they say that the pellets do produce a less intense smoke compared to others,  but it was a brisket and pork butt machine!   2nd brisket I ever cooked which was the 2nd time using that machine I got 11th outta 55 and that was at my first KCBS contest.  I only sold it because of financial reasons.    Personally I love the smoke profile of pellet smokers.  

Toxarch

This forum is going to make me go broke. Now I want a gravity fed smoker on a trailer for competitions. No way am I taking the egg.

ra1nman967

Big_Green_Craig said:

ra1nman967 said:

I just sold my Traeger Texas after having it less than a year.  We just couldn't get the food off of it that we wanted.  Some cooks were decent but an example of what wasn't good were the burgers.  You get no sear and no real BBQ taste.  You can't own a BBQ that doesn't produce good burgers.  So on to Facebook for sale it went.  Sold within a day.

Proud new owner of a Large Egg.  Luckily the Traeger sale helped offset the cost.

Did you try changing pellets?

@BigGreenCraig Definitely.  Noticed some difference with 100% hickory from cookin pellets but overall I never noticed a taste profile difference amongst different flavor wood pellets.

billt01

@hondabbq

I understand what information you are after, but I don't believe that there is an answer to a question that involves personal preference..

Trying to compare a pellet cooker to a offset to a gravity fed cooker is like trying to compare an apple to an orange to a football...

They all offer advantages and disadvantages, but at the end of the day its your money so definitely do your home work...I have owned a LANG 60D (which is arguably one of the best offsets out there), I loved it and if I didn't like to sleep I would still have it...Does it put out great product, YUP!!!!, does it require a feeding every 45 minutes to an hour...YUP!!!

I've owned a Cookshack SM150 (not a pellet but a chip cooker), the product that came off it was MEH...at best..the only reason I purchased it was because it was NSF certified and I was going to start vending...but that was going to cost too much money and time...sold it for a Stumps Baby..

The Stumps gravity fed line is absolutely awesome as far as maintaining temperature and allowing you to get a full nights rest...very comparable to the green machine....I've cooked in rain that was coming down sideways, sleet, 95 degree heat, wind storms...and the temp holds...The product that comes off my Stumps is absolutely consistent..every time..

Big_Green_Craig

hondabbq said:

@bhedges1987 that's what I was looking for by a comparison. 
I know the egg puts out great food. I was looking to see if a pellet smoker does an improvement on it. 

I don't cook for a lot of people often, but when I do the  egg seems small sometimes. 
If im gonna run the same charcoal for 12 hours for 1 butt I might as well do 4 is my train of thought. 

If if the pellet was going to give me just as good if not better finished product plus give me more room that's what I was ultimately looking for. 
If the food is just as good but not an improvement and the only bonus is more space I'll just invite less friends over for bbq. 

Here's my most recent pellet brisket. I have a Rec Tec Pellet Grill. This was cooked at 225F, buicher paper wrapped at 165F IT. My pellet cooker has turned into my brisket & rib cooker and I love having it as a secondary cooker to the Egg. 

Pghegger

Timely thread for me.  I just got rid of my gasser which I hated and am replacing it with a pellet to compliment the egg.  Needed something that I could set and forget and was wife friendly.  Went with the Blazn Grill Works Grid Iron and can't wait til it arrives!!  Hope I am not disappointed.

hondabbq

Well I had to make a sauce drop at a local BBQ store. I asked him about pellet grills and he carries traeger and Louisiana grills. 
He has a Louisiana pellet along with several other styles including eggs. He sells both pellets. 
Nothing will duplicate an offset he said. The pellets are a set and forget operation. They are good he says but again nothing beats or compares to an offset. 
He said he would take the Louisiana grill over the traeger. Plus it's a bit cheaper. I'll have to look at them both deeper. 

blasting

Because of this thread, I've stopped twice to look at Traegers while walking past.  Once yesterday at Costco, and today at Ace.

Gotta say, I couldn't be less impressed.  I don't doubt some have produced good Q on them, but to me they seemed tinny and cheap to me.  Not trying to offend anyone, but that's my honest first impression.

gmac

And is that an opportunity?  

My friend has a Traeger and yes, they are idiot proof because he is an idiot. I will be out in Winnipeg again soon, let me know if you need help chopping wood for the off set

hondabbq

gmac said:

And is that an opportunity?  

My friend has a Traeger and yes, they are idiot proof because he is an idiot. I will be out in Winnipeg again soon, let me know if you need help chopping wood for the off set

Let me know when your coming. Depending on your schedule maybe we can meet. 

Hans61

For some reason I have an aversion to plugging in a grill/smoker - cooking outside means with a fire - it's weird I'm forward thinking on most other subjects 

blasting

Hans61 said:

For some reason I have an aversion to plugging in a grill/smoker - cooking outside means with a fire - it's weird I'm forward thinking on most other subjects 

I feel the same way, even about temp controllers for the egg.  I have one, and use it, but if I have time I like to go old school.

Legume

Save some $ and get a masterbuilt for a couple hundred at Home Depot...if you want an electric.

jeroldharter

I had a Traeger and my buddy has a Yoder and a Traeger. You will never get any love for pellet smokers from died in the wool wood burning folks who have unlimited time to devote to BBQ. But pellet grills are very nice. They are easy to use, pellets are relatively inexpensive and readily available, you can easily try different species of wood, and they are mostly idiot proof. The downside is that they require electricity, some are not so good in very cold weather (e.g. Traeger), the heat is not even throughout the cooking surface, and the have moving part which break.

FYI the build quality of Traeger has declined over the past several years. Yoder is much better at this point. I am sure there are other good brands as well. 

A pellet grill is a handy item in the arsenal and need not be the only cooker.

hondabbq

Well the Traeger is off the table. I have looked at the Louisiana Grills CS570 and the CS680. That BBQ store I spoke of has them to look at but its $100 cheaper at Canadian Tire, but id rather buy it from the BBQ place. I just found out there is a place that sells the Green Mountain Grills here as well, so I will have to go and take a look at those. They are pricier by about $200 but have  a few more bells and whistles. Plus its wifi enabled. LOL.

The journey and research continues

bigalsworth

keep us updated, I am in the same predicament and would like to hear your thoughts on how they compare to the egg.

Big_Green_Craig

hondabbq said:

Well the Traeger is off the table. I have looked at the Louisiana Grills CS570 and the CS680. That BBQ store I spoke of has them to look at but its $100 cheaper at Canadian Tire, but id rather buy it from the BBQ place. I just found out there is a place that sells the Green Mountain Grills here as well, so I will have to go and take a look at those. They are pricier by about $200 but have  a few more bells and whistles. Plus its wifi enabled. LOL.

The journey and research continues

I cooked on a Green Mountain Grills pellet grill a couple weeks ago. The lid it flimsy and the pellet hopper is so small that you'd have to reload it during a long cook.

Traeger has different levels of grills. The small entry levels aren't worth the price of admission. Some of the higher grades are worth checking out. 

Check out the Rec Tec's. So far, it's been the most solid out of most of the retail outlets. 

Yoder has a line of pellets, but they are a higher end cooker. 

hondabbq

Big_Green_Craig said:

hondabbq said:

Well the Traeger is off the table. I have looked at the Louisiana Grills CS570 and the CS680. That BBQ store I spoke of has them to look at but its $100 cheaper at Canadian Tire, but id rather buy it from the BBQ place. I just found out there is a place that sells the Green Mountain Grills here as well, so I will have to go and take a look at those. They are pricier by about $200 but have  a few more bells and whistles. Plus its wifi enabled. LOL.

The journey and research continues

I cooked on a Green Mountain Grills pellet grill a couple weeks ago. The lid it flimsy and the pellet hopper is so small that you'd have to reload it during a long cook.

Traeger has different levels of grills. The small entry levels aren't worth the price of admission. Some of the higher grades are worth checking out. 

Check out the Rec Tec's. So far, it's been the most solid out of most of the retail outlets. 

Yoder has a line of pellets, but they are a higher end cooker. 

40 lb hopper capacity is nuts. Largest I have seen was 24 and most are in the mid teens. Of those they all have a hopper extender, if so desired. All of us tend our BBQ at some point, so if adding some pellets is needed so be it.

180F is too high of a starting temp for me. I like to do meat sticks and sausages etc and 180 is the finishing temp not starting temp.

Plus, they wont ship to my address.

Big_Green_Craig

 Plus, they wont ship to my address. 

Definitely check out the Yoders. 

bigalsworth

I'm not sure what the prices are of the Louisiana grills are but the smallest Yoder pellet smoker is near 3 grand Canadian.  I believe @hondabbq mentioned that he has no retailers for Yoder near him as well.  But we do have one in Saskatoon and if you want @hondabbq I can get you their contact info. 

HeavyG

I've been watching/catching up on Steve Raichlen's tv show "Smoke" Seasons 1 & 2 and I have really admired the Memphis Wood Fired Grills pellet cooker they use frequently. Looks very nice. Pricey, but it looks to be very well built and thought out.

hondabbq

bigalsworth said:

I'm not sure what the prices are of the Louisiana grills are but the smallest Yoder pellet smoker is near 3 grand Canadian.  I believe @hondabbq mentioned that he has no retailers for Yoder near him as well.  But we do have one in Saskatoon and if you want @hondabbq I can get you their contact info. 

I was just on their site looking for dealers and saw the 3 in SK. If that's the prices ill pass. Im on the fence with this process already, so Im not willing to drop 3k on it. thanks though.

LG are CS 570 -$1099 and CS 680-$1199 for the 2 im looking at and comparing against.