Pellet vs Grill vs WSM

[Potkettleblack]

So, under the original premise question:
I think a WSM and a gasser probably suits your needs best.
I do think a CCWW with Sear Box or the new version of that is probably good enough to be a single grill, but... with $1500 from scratch and no limitations (I cannot use charcoal or stick burning because of local ordinances on my deck)...
Weber kettle + SNS + Vortex + Rotisserie + Pizza Stone + a BBQ Dragon to light the charcoal.
I'd get the nice, easy to clean kettle.
If I had to have a second cooker, to do more smoking, either the WSM because you know it and are good at it or the PBC.

If I wanted two cookers, and had my current limitation, and only had to cook for more than 2 folks on occasion...
Grilla Original Grilla
Weber Spirit with GrillGrates
I think this will even leave you a bit of money.

A word on pellet grills. No flip burgers are a thing, and I have no need to sear them off on the gas grill. If I were doing smash burgers, that would be on the gasser. My gasser is mostly used for Warp 10 applications. The Grilla is a BEAST on nearly anything that doesn't need warp 10, and useless on things that do need Warp 10.

[jfmorris]

I am with others and feel that while the Camp Chef Woodwind is promising on the surface, you will be disappointed in the smoke profile for the money, compared to what you were used to with your WSM18. As a gasser it is good for searing, but my buddy who has one says you can only fit 2 steaks or a half dozen burgers at a time on the gas portion. It's really meant for searing meat before or after a smoke on the pellet side. I think of the Woodwind as the TV/VCR combo of the grilling world... We had a few of those when the kids were growing up, and invariably you ended up with a TV with a malfunctioning VCR that didn't work in the base.

If I had a $1500 budget, I think I would shop for a good deal on a Weber gas grill, as parts availability and warranty are great. For pellet grills I am with Potkettleblack 's recommendation on the Grilla, as it is purported to have a great smoke profile for a pellet pooper, and is under budget.

All that said, if you are unsure of the entire pellet thing, you might be happier staying with either a WSM or a kettle with Slow 'N Sear, and you would have plenty of money to pimp it out with a fan controller and wifi enabled thermometer. I don't know how much you smoke quantity wise, but I find that my Performer Deluxe with the SNS meets most of my needs, and I use it more than my offset these days. I've got the Slow 'N Sear, a Party Q fan controller, a second level grate, and a Smoke for monitoring the cook While it doesn't have the capacity of a WSM, it will smoke 2 butts, 5 racks of ribs, a brisket, or several chickens. Plus you can direct grill with charcoal too.

[tstalafuse]

So, back to the CC Woodwind.. I was intrigued since it's sole function would be to add a light smoke to burgers, dogs, brats, chicken breasts, steaks, and having the propane for searing sounds nice... I don't have any need for it to do low/slow as I have 2 26in Weber kettles with Smoke-EZ inserts and auber temp controllers, 2 Akorns (one for the wife's fish), and an electric for when they say we are in a burn ban...

[tstalafuse]

Do you think it would really be as bad as the TV/VCR since it would only be for hot and fast with a little smoke.

Sorry for the multi-post as it wouldn't let me post it as all one post...

[jfmorris]

tstalafuse I have a friend down in Orlando with a Woodwind, and he loves it enough to have sold his Kamado Joe a few months after getting the Woodwind. He just likes the shear convenience of smoking and then doing a reverse sear on a thick steak. I know he has done longer smokes too, such as butts for a party. Nothing wrong with it, I was just pointing out that its not big enough of a gas grill to be your only grill for direct fire cooking.

[Greasy]

If you're worried about the smoke profile from a pellet grill I'd try food cooked on one before you buy one. If you want a substantially stronger smoke profile then I think you'd just be disappointed no matter what brand you bought. I have a pellet cooker but I'm not a fan of heavily smoked meat.
I also have a WSM and i think those are easy to use and cook great food no matter what your taste is.
I also have a gasser and a kettle with an SNS. The kettle is so easy to set up I just don't bother using the gasser anymore. That might be something to think about as well. If you don't get the pellet pooper then use the money you save for a kettle and an SNS. You won't be disappointed.

[jumbo7676]

Cooking should be fun and should produce delicious meals. Sounds like the WSM guarantees both based on your experience, so I would personally start there (maybe upgrade to the 22?) and then compliment it with a gasser for convenience and maybe one more cooker to experiment with, perhaps a Weber with SnS for its versatility. Can get the WSM 18 for $329, a Weber Premium 22 inch kettle for $165, SnS for $100, and have about $900 left over to out towards gasser and some covers for everything if needed.

[jumbo7676]

Can always branch out from there by finding some cheap used cookers to play with. I've been set for a while with my GMG Daniel Boone and a Weber Spirit 310 but wanted to broaden my horizons. Picked up a Weber Premium in ok shape for $50 that needs some cleanup and new top damper, a Weber Performer Premium in good shape for $100 that needed the one-touch cleaning replaced, and a WSM 14-inch in good shape for $75.

[jumbo7676]

If I had more self-control, I would have just added an SnS and had more than enough new equipment to experiment with this year, all for less than what the Performer would have cost me if I bought one new. But self-control isn't my forte, so I got the SnS, the DnG, the EasySpin grate, a Vortex, and some GrillGrates for Spirit.

[Timcee]

and add on a pellet attachment for the Weber.. There are a couple out there.. One which I just joined on kickstarter.. Cover all basis.. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...?ref=user_menu

[bvelikonia]

Hey everyone, thanks so much for the suggestions and comments. You've given me plenty to think about (and more acronyms to look up, too)! Keep the advice coming. Hopefully it is helpful for others too. I really appreciate it.

[Rob Johnston]

I have been doing a lot of research lately and am very impressed with the Grilla Silverbac. I am getting ready to pull the trigger and purchase one. I thin it would be a great starting point as it can do so much. You could always add another after that.

[jfmorris]

If you have any questions about the Grilla grills, their customer service responds very quickly to questions. I have yet to buy one, but was asking about the original Grilla versus the Silerbac, and they were quick to respond. In my case they advised the original round Grilla as I was concerned about having the best smoke profile, since I currently smoke with an offset or a Weber kettle + SNS. Apparently it gives a little better smoke than the Silverbac, but the Silverbac wins on capacity.

[Potkettleblack]

Seconding the customer service. They respond promptly, even though FB messenger.

[Hulagn1971]

WSM 22 and a gasser are my thoughts. Of course I have a WSM 22 so my opinion is well...opinionated.

[Rod]

If I knew then what I know now I'd go the kettle and a good gasser route. With a kettle and these mods plus a gasser there is nothing you can't do. For me, the gasser is necessary for a quick burger or hot dog cook where smoke flavor is not a priority. The only benefit IMHO of a pellet grill is capacity. We got some family coming over this coming weekend and I want to do Blasphemy ribs. That method is difficult to do with more than one rack on my 22" kettle.

[jfmorris]

Rod I just go out to my Performer with a pan, and grab all the ribs from the top with tongs, dump them on the pan, move the ribs from the bottom up top, then take the stuff from the pan to the bottom. Takes a couple of minutes, but not that difficult. Two racks that would fit the area in question would make it even easier.

[Rod]

jfmorris So I used the ABC elevated rack for two racks of BB Blasphemy ribs. I had them on wire racks as well so I wouldn't have to remove each individual bone. They turned out kind of dry. I rotated the racks halfway through. So when you do two racks do you still go the full 2.5hr cook or do you shorten it up a bit?

[jfmorris]

Rod I rotate the ribs top to bottom at the 1 hour mark, and at the 2 hour mark sauce all of them up, then go another 15 to 30 to set the glaze and finish up. You could probably cram them all onto the main grate at the point you sauce too, since the spacing out of things is mostly to give room for bark to form. I guess you could also check doneness with a probe at the 2 hour mark, and pull the ribs sooner if need be.

[jfmorris]

bvelikonia I see now that we've got you thinking about a kettle instead of a WSM, to go along side a gasser. The kettle is nice, as it lets you direct grill over charcoal, and I often use both the gasser and the kettle when grilling for a large party out by the pool. The only thing the kettle doesn't have compared to the WSM is smoking capacity, but with the right accessories, you can cram a lot on there. A rib rack will let you easily cook 5 racks of ribs without overlapping the Slow 'N Sear. You can fit at least 2 Boston butts (big ones), one brisket, or 2-3 chickens on there. I've cooked up to 4 full chickens if I split them and arrange them right. You can really just fit one turkey next to the SNS, but I've done an 18 to 20 pounder on there.

If you really want a grill that can serve as an "outdoor kitchen" of sorts, look hard at the Weber Performer Deluxe. I love the propane assist for lighting charcoal, and use it even if light a chimney of charcoal for my offset smoker. I love the charcoal storage bin, which probably holds about 30 pounds. I just keep a scoop in there for loading it in my chimney or in the Slow 'N Sear. And you have a ton of storage on the shelf underneath - I keep my full set of Grillgrates for the 22" Performer under there when not in use, along with the charcoal baskets or the Slow 'N Sear or Drip 'N Griddle and my Hovergrill when not in use. The best thing about the Performer though is the table. Side tables on a gasser are puny in comparison. The surface space on the Performer Deluxe really does a good job as serving as a prep counter, place to store pans/trays/accessories while cooking, and basically made my plans to build a dedicated outdoor kitchen cart with countertop go out the window.

Just my plug for the Performer Deluxe.... if is the grill I would hang onto if I could only have one cooker, as it is the most versatile, especially with the Slow 'N Sear, Drip 'N Griddle, a rib rack, Grillgrates, and an accessory second level grate.

If you find that you need more smoking space than the 22" kettle allows, later on you can always add a WSM or a Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) to your arsenal.

In short, my purchase list would be:

- Weber Spirit II 210 or 310 ($399 to $499)
- Weber Performer Deluxe ($399)
- Slow 'N Sear 2.0 with Stainless Drip 'N Griddle ($180)
- Elevated Cooking Grate (Either the ABC one or a Hover grill) ($30 to $50)
- Grillgrates for the Spirit ($100 for 200 series or $113 for 300 series)
- Grillgrates for the Weber 22" ($105)

All that adds up to $1346 if you go to the bigger gas grill and grill grates for both. I think Grillgrates are almost a necessity for gas grills, in my opinion after using them for 2-3 years. On the kettle, I only use them if direct grilling chicken or burgers. They give me the ability to use the full 22" kettle grate for cooking direct, without worry of flareups and burning things. Without them, you really want to do a 2 zone setup for cooking over charcoal, and end up shuffling food in and out of the hot/cooler zones.

[jfmorris]

Razor I dump the charcoal into the bin, and keep a garden scoop in there, and have room for a bag of wood chunks on top of the charcoal. At first I worried that even with the cover on, out in the rain that the charcoal would absorb the humidity here in Alabama, and have issues, but its never been an issue.

[jfmorris]

Razor if you have Home Depot near you, start watching their grill and garden area closely starting in August. They start marking down the Weber gas grills then. I bought a 4 burner Genesis II E-410 that was originally $899 last summer, then marked down to $699 in August, later $599, and by January, they had a couple left, outside in the garden area no one visits in winter (but in the covered area), and I snagged one for $399. Today it is selling for $999, so I feel I got a good deal!

[Razor]

Thanks for the tips. I thought about buying a second performer when they were blowing them out large last year, lol. I’ll keep my eyes open this year.

[tenphases]

I didn't read the whole thread but.....I'll give my advice anyway 😂. A woodwind gives you a pellet smoker and a gas grill for 900. A Weber 26 with slow n sear gives you a charcoal grill/smoker for about 500. Then grab a Maverick and a thermopop for about a 100 and you have a killer setup that can do anything. If I had to choose, that's easy. A pellet grill could never be my only grill, I have it for convenience but I like playing with fire and the flavor is vastly superior (my palate yours may differ)

[surfdog]

A gasser, with a minimum of three burners, and the WSM would be my choice.
Heck, even adding in a Weber kettle probably could be kept under budget. That won't include a bunch of mods...but you might want to get to know it first.

I love my gasser, especially for midweek short cooks...and rotisserie cooks...and...well you get the idea.
And the WSM is hard to beat. I'd still have one sitting next to my Summit gasser if I didn't spring for the Summit Charcoal.

I tend to agree with the smoke profile of pellet cookers... I occasionally use my fathers, and have purchased an Amaze-N-Tube to elevate that profile a bit. Still prefer the WSM or WSCG...but it's better than stock IMO.