MCS Incoming - Should I add a Pellet Grill?

[jhoskins]

Hey folks! MCS is starting to bite me, egged on by a mandate from SWMBO telling me to go buy the pellet grill of my choice for a Father’s Day gift. Some relevant background:

I’m a dad with a moderately demanding job and 3 kids under 4. Time is at a premium at this point and so my cooking has gotten less frequent over the last year or so. I find myself gravitating more towards shorter, faster, and more convenient cooks than the long elaborate stick burner smoke sessions of the previous 3-5 years.

I have a gasser (PGS A-30 is the main with a Weber Q for lake day/travel), a stick burner (KBQ that I love) and a charcoal grill (Weber Kettle). I previously had a Big Green Egg but found myself using the Kettle when I wanted charcoal and KBQ when I went low and slow so I sold the BGE.

The gasser gets a lot of use and the KBQ is almost exclusively a long low and slow on Saturday kind of activity.

I’m considering a pellet grill that can “do it all”, likely a RecTeq or the Weber Searwood (leaning for the Searwood). The theory here is that I can prep food the night before and then have my wife throw food on the smoker so it’s ready for dinner during the week (weeknight ribs!? Oh my!). I don’t want to buy it to have it sit idle… so a few questions.

any advice? Has buying a pellet increased your desire and ability to smoke food in a busy season? Has anyone gone to the depths of the “MUST GET PURE WOOD FIRE SMOKE WITH CLEAN COMBUSTION” rabbit hole and then been satisfied with a pellet grill? Once you get a “do it all” pellet that can sear at moderately high temperatures, do you ever use your gasser (implicit here is that if I need ripping hot temps for a sear, I’ll use the kettle with a vortex).

Thanks in advance Pit!

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

The Weber options would be the better grill for your expectations if those are the 2 you're looking at.

As to "clean smoke", for the most part ignore that when it comes to pellet smoking. You won't taste the "dirty" smoke unless the thing is constantly billowing a giant cloud of actually dirty smoke like some of the cheaper models will do or a very dirty pellet smoker will.

RT can't "do it all", but low and slow is fine, grilling is ok. Most pellet grills can't actually sear (and quite a few, especially box store offerings, aren't even very good at grilling), even if they can it's only over a very small portion of the main cooking grate from an exposed firepot mechanism.

For example, my MAK can sear over the entire cook grate, but I would need to buy the additional searing grates. I just use a cast iron pan or one of my other cookers if I really care about a solid sear (I honestly usually don't, I've come to enjoy a smoked all the way steak and don't miss the sear). It handles grilling duty just fine, but an actual sear ain't happening on stock grates usually.

[realdocBBQ]

Can't say much about the gasser, as I don't have one - but I expect I would still use the gasser for searing more than the pellet, as I never use mine for this.

I say absolutely go for it if you have the room and the budget. You don't need anything s00p3r d00p3r essspensssive, it's not like this is going to be your sole cooker and you're looking for the end-all and be-all of multifunction cookers to last you for 20 years.

I would suggest either of your choices sounds pretty good to me. I still love my pellet grill, though it doesn't get used a LOT at my house anymore - just because I have something like 9 cookers I try to keep 'in the rotation', so it's easy to get left out.

One thing you might not have considered about your potential pellet grill, another use people don't think about for them -


BACON.


Saturday/Sunday morning bacon, my man. Throw a whole package (or two!) on some baking racks and throw them in the pellet grill anywhere from 350-425 and walk away. Come back in 10 minutes, rotate, walk away. People complain that oven baked bacon isn't the same as pan fried bacon. I'll agree, it's not. And neither is pellet smoked bacon, but it's a whole different experience. I love me some homemade bacon from the pellet grill, I can do large amounts and have very VERY little effort in it.

Just one more great use for a pellet cooker!

I say do it, man! DO IT!






Maaaaan, you didn't TRULY expect ANYONE around HERE to talk you OUT if it, did you????

[Michael_in_TX]

I started with a Weber Kettle, then added a PBC, then added a Grilla Grills Chimp pellet grill. I got the pellet grill exclusively to do brisket. (I just know myself, I am not the type of person who enjoys tending a fire for half a day or more.)

However, I've really enjoyed using it for other things as well. I treat it as exactly as it is.....a wood-fired convection oven. The smoke profile, of course, like any pellet grill, is light. I use that to my advantage a lot. I don't like a heavy smoke profile on ground beef or fish and the pellet grill does well with these. I do smoked mac and cheese in it fairly regularly as well. I do jerky on it a few times a year, too.

I especially find myself using it on weeknights when I just don't want to mess with charcoal.

Mine tops out at around 375 F. Above that, it struggles to keep temp and also goes through a lot of pellets. Other pellet grils have searing plates and other mechanisms to work better at higher temperatures.

[Huskee]

I would get one, for sure, especially if you have permission from the CFO!

What I love about pellet cookers is the fact that you don't have to smoke your ribs or brisket on it if you find it too delicate in the smoke flavor dept, as some do. They are very useful for other things, things that actually benefit from a more delicate smoke flavor, for instance chicken wings, burgers, or maybe roasts like prime rib, foods where a full-on charcoal cook could be too bold for your family's tastes. But you certainly can do all the long low & slow smokes you're used to, with relative hands-off ease.

Pellets have the convenience of a gas grill, push-button-walk-away, which clearly you're experienced with having used your gasser a lot, except that the air is smokier and you can set a temp like your indoor oven. That said they also can be used as an oven too - think apple pies, lasagna, or storebought pizzas cooked on the pellet cooker! Yum.

You live a couple hrs south of me so I know you cook in the same cold that I do, so might I also add a shout-out to the Grilla Silverbac. It's built tough and holds heat well for cold weather cookin'.

Happy deciding!

[Huskee]

jhoskins Oh ok. In humid or rainy weather pellet cookers need a little extra TLC. You will want to run the auger empty if you're not going to use it for a week or more. Pellets & pellet dust can absorb humidity and swell, effectively seizing your auger and possibly breaking a shear pin or otherwise necessitating you removing the auger to clean it out- a minor to major pain, depending on your view of maintenance. Keep that in mind if you get one and use it intermittently in humid/wet weather.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

jhoskins I definitely would want a pellet grill with a pellet dump or you will have to invest in a dedicated pellet vac. So that takes the RT out of your equation. Like Huskee said, you'll want to burn off the grill between cooks to empty the auger tube. Unless the grill is completely isolated from moisture, the pellets will find it eventually if not used regularly.

[jhoskins]

Interesting. Sounds like a bit more maintenance but as long as I can easily dump them and keep it covered, still should be ok? Never heard about the humidity bit.

[Jfrosty27]

My RT700 just turned 6 years old this last May. I love it and use it very often as my primary cooker in a fleet of 9 in total. The RT does not sear at all. Obviously I have other options for that. But the newer models might be able to do it. I don’t know. Also if you’ve been using a stick burner for years, you may not like the subtle smoke from a pellet burner. We like it in my house but to each their own. But hey, there’s only one way to find out!!

[realdocBBQ]

Yeah, RT's new line they've been pushing really hard as searing stations. I haven't done any real research into them, just seen the marketing ads on FB.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

realdocBBQ they don't, it's bad enough even die hard fans are finally calling out their "overly optimistic" marketing. RT has unfortunately done the one thing that kills brands, and that's having too many SKU's and introducing new ones regularly. A big selling point for RT was that they were one of the few Chinese made brands that had replacement parts or were upgradable via 1st party... change SKUs constantly and the parts eventually aren't there or don't fit.

[DavidNorcross]

I love my Silverbac. If my pellet cooker stopped working and was beyond repair I would not hesitate to get another one right away.

[Skip]

I've had a Pellet Grill since around 2003 and will never be without one. IMO they don't smoke or sear like Gas or Charcoal but that doesn't bother me. I have a Gas and 2 Charcoal Grills I can do that with. Pellet Grills are a great addition to a Grill Arsenal. I use mine more in Cool or Cold Minnesota Weather.

[bbqLuv]

Traeger I have and Traeger I will

[xaugievike]

a lot of words expended above to just say....

"duh"

[jhoskins]

lol it’s hilarious that I thought anyone in this group would even remotely consider saying anything other than “yes of course buy one”.

[Jerod Broussard]

I have a gas grill and a pellet pooper and it is a very good setup.

[barelfly]

So…..


have you ordered it yet

[jhoskins]

Currently watching reviews on the Searwood and deciding between normal or XL lol

[Spinaker]

YES

[WI Bubba]

If you really have the option to get whatever you want, then look at either the LSG or the MAK. There is nothing wrong with the RecTec or the Weber, but no one that I know that has spent the money on either of those has regretted it. I love my LSG pooper, and would buy another one tomorrow.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Maybe he'll get lucky... my wife was less than thrilled when I got my first MAK, then less than 2 years later she told me to sell it and buy the all stainless 2 star because I use it so dang much... the weber should last quite a while, plenty of time to decide if one wanted a lifetime grill like MAK, LSG, Yoder, etc...

[WI Bubba]

jhoskins I hear ya. I had that same problem, but once I paid the bill and started cooking on the LSG, I don't regret a penny of the $'s spent.

[CaptainMike]

And you only have to pay for it once.