yet another MCS question

[Mark V]

I haven't been real happy with a PBC for long cooks, I had a BGE that did well for pork shoulder, it has passed on. Think Humpty Dumpty. I am looking for something that does well for longer cooks, easy, good smoke. A stick burner I am sure would be the ultimate, but I am not willing to babysit that.

I am looking for something good for smoking butts and brisket, the long cooks. Without a lot of effort. I don't care about ability for grilling, etc for this, just long smoking.

Can anyone tell me that I can get great smoke flavor from a pellet grill as good as a PBC or stick burner? I don't want to give up flavor for convenience. I see many on here have pellet grills, some very expensive. Can anyone tell me they do a really good job, as well as anything else?

[Jerod Broussard]

Love my pellet. It replaced the PBC due to long cooks whilst I sleep or work 12 hour shifts 6 days a week.

While the PBC carries with it a distinct flavor, by the time I get the meat served, they know I cooked it so they focus more on the conversation at the table, and pay no mind to what smoke flavor is attached to the meat surface.

[Mark V]

Are there big differences in how pellet grills perform? Which do you have? Does price get you more?

[STEbbq]

Sounds like you are ready to join the kamado club. I’d start with a Akorn!

[jfmorris]

Sounds like he LEFT the kamado club in Humpty Dumpty fashion (broken egg). An Akorn is metal, right, so would be unbreakable in that sense, and cheaper than most kamados.

[DavidNorcross]

I have used a number of cookers and honestly liked them all. I have had a Grilla Silverbac for going on a year now and love it. I am not overloaded with time and it works great with my schedule, is reliable and the food coming off that cooker is great.

[Panhead John]

Hey Mark, if you’re looking for a good smoker that doesn’t require a lot of baby sitting….and you want good smoke flavor, this should be a serious contender for you, the Oklahoma Joe Bronco. Now, I’ve never had or used a pellet pooper, but the general consensus is most of them won’t give you as much of a smoke flavor that most of us like. I do have a Bronco though, and I can tell you that it’s one of the best charcoal smokers there is for almost…set and forget. I’ve done several smokes on mine and once the temperature has settled in, I can go several hours without having to touch it. It’s a real beast with a reputation for holding rock solid temps for hours. Every Bronco owner I’ve seen here says pretty much the same thing.

[Panhead John]

UncleSpike Without a doubt it’ll do 225*…I’ve done it before on a brisket cook. I did it more as a test for myself, I usually run 250-275. After a few hours at 225 I bumped it back up to 275. As Uncle Bob mentioned, it has an excellent charcoal pan as well, I’ve never had a problem with dying coals or built up ash in the pan. Most of it just falls down to the bottom of the ash pan, below the elevated ash grate. The hinged lid also comes with a Kevlar gasket installed, making it air tight.

[cgrover60]

+1

[fracmeister]

Mine does 230 easy greasy every time I try. But I almost always run wide open at 350 cause this thing is a chicken cooking machine. I hand 2 costco birds and 1 hour and 40 minutes later they are at 155 and I take them out for a little saucing and put them back in for 5minutes and it is dinner time

[CaptainMike]

I have a LSG pellet pooper in the que and by all accounts it produces very good smoke results. I'm on the LSG Facebook page and even folks with offsets praise them. I guess I'll see.

[WI Bubba]

There is a FB group? Who knew?

[Greygoose]

I share ur pain,,,,
I would get an insulated vertical smoker,,,,
There are a few choices out there
I personally Like the Lone Star ,,,,
Im getting older and I like my sleep but,,,I really like a great brisket

[Mark V]

Brisket is what I am most concerned with. I have done ok, but I have had brisket at competitions and know I can do better.

[Old Glory]

The Weber Summit Kamado would be a good choice. Greygoose has a good suggestion as well with the insulated cabinet smoker.

[Jerod Broussard]

I have a Blazen Grill Works Grid Iron. If get another it'll be a LSG.

[Old Glory]

Not a MAC?

[Redwng]

I have a LSG 20x36 pellet cooker (and a LSG offset) now after having a Rec Tec for 7-1/2 years. This LSG is heads and tails above the Rec Tec. The smoke profile, ease of use and searing capability is amazing. I have done two overnight briskets with no issues and have done some pastrami that turned out real good. The smoke profile is very very close to my LSG offset.

I was reading your post and I am thinking you have to see the LSG. It has good mass (495#) and retains the heat. I did a spatchcocked chicken and I get smoke out of the stack when I have it set to 350, unheard of for my Rec Tec.

IMO, the LSG pellet grill has been a game changer. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[WI Bubba]

I'll second the LSG pooper. The smoke profile is much better than what I got out of my Camp Chef. I can't compare it to a stick burner because I have never owned one, but with the performance I'm getting from it, I may be selling my WSM. If you happen to be thinking a WSM would fit your needs....

[fzxdoc]

Weber Summit Charcoal Smoker. Versatility of a kamado and a kettle depending on the setup, and rock solid cooks. Watch this video if you're interested in kamado style cooking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glt8Jn2MKgU

If you're unhappy with your PBC's ability to retain the cooking temp you desire (although my PBC can hold solid temps for hours), the easiest fix is a Pit Viper fan and a Fireworks Drive (or other automatic temperature control device) that turns the PBC into an appliance that delivers great tasting food. All that delicious smoke flavor and none of the babysitting.

Kathryn

[Alan Brice]

Once again Ty! I Love my PBC!

[bbqLuv]

Blaze Cast Aluminum Kamado Charcoal Grill

Won't rust, bust, or collect dust.

[Murdy]

Never sleeps -- or rests

[bbqLuv]

Panhead John "Rust" does not need to be capitalized, Thank you for the input.

[Panhead John]

bbqLuv I was going for a dramatic impact. 😂

[rickgregory]

Budget? And what's a long cook to you (8 hours? 14?)

The LSG pellet is really really interesting but it's not cheap. If I was willing to drop $2400+shipping, it would be my choice, but I'm not, so...

From what I've read here, pellet grills do better smoke at lower temps which is what you're going to do so the question is profile of the smoke at 2xx. Things like the Summit or an OK Joe Bronco should do fine but whether they would reliably go 14 hours (vs 8 or something) might be an open issue.

Kathryn brings up a good point too - if the flavor off the PBC is fine and it's mostly reliability and cook length, fan+controller might be the way to go

[Murdy]

Or perhaps just a good old Weber Kettle with a fan.

[rickgregory]

I mean, the kettle with a fan is incredibly versatile. Aside from budget and cook length, the other issue is what capacity one is after. I could do a single brisket on my 22" Weber, but not 2+ I think and certainly not a brisket and other things too.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I'm a huge fan of a Kettle with a fan and controller. I can do 2 full packers in my 26" kettle if I use a second shelf. IMO a kettle is the most versatile grill/smoker/cooker for the money on the market today. Don't get me wrong, I love my pellet cooker but I wouldn't do without my Kettles.

[glitchy]

I think it comes down to how much you liked your BGE and liked the food from that and your PBC. If a lot, buy a Summit Kamado or a insulated cabinet smoker and an ATC setup. I think charcoal smokers have a distinct flavor that is more tunable than other smokers by cooking temps and the amount of wood, especially insulated cookers where 225 vs 275 to me creates foods most people would think came from different smokers. I also think the type and brand of charcoal can be used to tune too.

Pellet grills are about convenience first. I like their clean smoke profile myself. There is a huge difference in build quality alone between $1000 pellet grills and $2000 pellet grills. There’s also a difference in smoke profile between all the cookie cutter grills and those that change things in the design to be different from others. That usually equates to more expensive grills that are willing to truly differentiate themselves or companies with very deep pockets to spread out the R&D costs over high volume (Weber). My personal experiences with several cookie cutter grills and a few that aren’t tell me different exhausts, drip tray configs, fire pots, and better controllers all can create a noticeably better smoke profile than the others that are almost interchangeable once you’re past the shell.

I would love to have one of the stick burner company’s pellet rigs like Yoder or LSG to play with a while. One thing I keep seeing from some coworkers with Yoders and some of the posts about LSG is they might be pellet hogs, especially in cold weather. Just pointing out you might want to research that more being even more northerly than me. From what I’m seeing, if you use it very regularly it might easily burn an extra $200 a year worth of pellets…if you think or care about things like that.

Pellets are not going to match a stick burner at all or what a charcoal smoker can do if you usually throw a bunch of wood chunks on your coals. If I run 275 on the WSCG with 3 chunks of pecan, I feel it’s a pretty similar smoke level to my MAK and Weber SmokeFire results the past couple years. The pellet grill is usually running 200-225 for 2-3 hours, then bumping to 275 until done, Overnight is 225 while I’m sleeping, then 275. However, the WSCG food still has a distinct little difference too me that I always associate to charcoal.
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