Yoder Stick Burner to Yoder Pellet

[JakeLester9]

Hey all—

Not sure if anybody else has had a similar experience. But, my wife and I recently bought a house in the heart of a major city and I simply don’t have room for my Yoder Wichita. Yards are a lot smaller than in the suburbs. Thankfully we can take it to a place in the country and so I won’t have to sell it, and will be able to use it a fair amount over the summer.

But, I still want a smoker to compliment my Weber grill. I have never used a pellet smoker, I have always enjoyed the challenge of a stick burner. But, I love Yoder so I’m planning to get either the 480 or 640 pellet grill.

Is there anybody on here that’s gone from a stick burner to a Yoder pellet? I’m just curious whether I will notice a difference in the cook. I mean with the pellet it’s more you load the grill and let it sit versus the constant babying of my stick burner but will I notice anything taste wise?

Also, does anybody have experience with the 480? I haven’t been able to find any good pictures online of how much food actually fits into the grill at full capacity so I’m just curious about others’ experiences.

thank you

[ofelles]

I have never owned a stick burner but I do have an LSG cabinet which is charcoal and wood chunks. I do notice more smoke flavor with my LSG than my 640. Don't get me wrong I still love and use my Yoder. By the way I was able to do 70+ lbs of pork butts in a cook on the 640.

[Donw]

My offset experience has only been with COS ones so the actual experience from a Wichita to the 480 or 640 I can’t directly address. However, there will be less smoke flavor. I do have a 640 which I love. Just the right amount of smoke for our palates, and my wife likes the food coming off it better than with the COS. I originally ordered a 480 but when I went to pick it up I compared it to a 640 and went home with the 640. Glad I did mainly just for the extra cooking space.

[JakeLester9]

This is probably a dumb question, but again no experience with a pellet cooker. Is the lighter smoke flavor a product of all pellet cookers or do the Yoder cookers provide less smoke then other options?

I mean like any of us that have smokers we like the smoke flavor so my guess is that there is plenty of smoke just not as extreme as you get with other cookers. Are there tricks to increase the amount of smoke your meat is getting or is there really only one setting? Set the cooker at 225 degrees and let it go.

Setting the smoke flavor aside, do you find that your pellet cooker provides a nice bark?

in terms of the size, I’m just trying to be mindful of the outdoor space we have. A just want to make sure I can fit a full packer brisket comfortably. The 640 ideal but a lot of it comes down to the size my wife wants for the space.

[glitchy]

Pellet grills in general produce a much lighter smoke and it can very quite a bit by brand. My Weber produces the best smoke I’ve had in a pooper. From years of watching all things pellets grills, MAK and Yoder get fewer complaints for no smoke than most others. It will be no where near your offset. My SmokeFire is less than my WSCG. You can also do things to counter like using pellets that are 100% hickory (CookinPellets and LumberJack offer them) and cooking first hour or two at 180-225.

[lostclusters]

All pellet cookers have a light smoke flavor because they burn very efficiently.

Employing a smoke tube will off set that giving more smoke flavor. I employ a small charcoal basket inside my pellet cooker with charcoal and wood which dramatically increases the smoke flavor.

[glitchy]

A lot of people run stick burners at 275 for entire cook, In my experience, for most pellet grills you are not going to get much smoke flavor doing that. I usually put meat on straight from fridge before the grill is fully up to temp and cook first hour at 200. However, just like everything else each pellet grill is a little different. Some people add smoke tubes, I’m not sure if would fit a yoder: https://smokedaddyinc.com/product/th...heat-diffuser/

[Donw]

No complaints on getting bark in the Yoder

[scottranda]

Are you flexing? 😋

[scottranda]

Looks awesome!

[MTurney]

In general you get a deeper flavor profile with stick burners compared to pellets IMO

[JakeLester9]

This is great. Thanks everybody. The smoke tube is new to me so I will be reading about it more. Again, thank you.

[Alphonse]

I have an LSG offset and a Yoder YS640S pellet smoker. There is a big difference between the two. A pellet grill delivers way less smoke, period. The smoke flavor will be far more mild but it will still produce very good BBQ. My wife prefers the Yoder pellet grill to the offset.

I prefer my Yoder for those days I don't have the time nor the inclination to manage the fire box all day. The Yoder is a fine alternative.

[JakeLester9]

Thank you. An LSG is a great grill, but like you said I am starting to look forward to the ease of the pellet grill.

[bbqLuv]

AllThingsBBRQ with Chef Tom. Google or youtube.

[Whiskeyman53]

I have no experience with Yoder however I do have a pellet grill and have found it to produce less smoke than my other style of smokers. This is not bad, less smoke is better than too much and I do add more smoke if I want with a smoke tube. Your pellets should also be 100% of the wood advertised not compressed with a filler. Lumber Jack and Bear Mountain produce pellets that are 100% of the wood advertised. The lower temperature settings on your grill will produce the most smoke. Pellet grills are great at all temperatures and do allow ease of use.

[willxfmr]

+1 on the smoke tube. I mainly use the pellets for heat, and the smoke tube for flavor. As glitchy mentions, you will see a serious drop in smoke flavor if you run a pooper higher than 225.
My personal opinion is that you would be better off with either a WSM, or, dare I say it, a PBC. Either of those will give you a flavor profile closer to what you are used to, and do it with a much smaller footprint.

[glitchy]

How about a WSCG or ceramic Kamado? Far less work than your used to, decent smoke profile, and take up less space than just about anything else? Honestly, coming from a stick burner you’d probably be happier.

I’m lazy and love my pellets, but the food I remember comes from the WSCG, not the poopers.

[bep35]

Agree. If you run a WSCG with a fan and controller it will be pretty much set and forget. I use a Fireboard and PitViper fan on mine and really like it.

[JakeLester9]

I have used a Kamado a fair amount, and this is probably pretty naive, but other than making pizza I don’t find it differentiates itself enough from my Weber to be worth the extra cost.

I did some research on ceramic grills that allow you to set up 2 zone cooking, but ultimately I want something that is more designed for cooking away from the heat at low temps. And to be clear, when I was still in college and couldn’t afford a smoker. I used a smokenator with my Weber and it worked great.

But, setting aside the smoke issue (and I have seen some cool ways to address that) I just like the texture I can get off a traditional smoker versus what I have ever done on a ceramic.

a friend who has a pellet recommended this device, which looks pretty neat. https://smokedaddyinc.com/product/th...heat-diffuser/

[glitchy]

The differences between the WSCG and a kettle are quite a bit when it comes to smoking. Better temp control, much more efficient fuel wise, the distance between the coals and the food, and the diffuser plate. Grilling, they behave very similarly. As far as texture and taste, what temps did you cook on ceramics vs what do you normally cook with you Wichita? Most stick burners seem to run 275, which is usually where I run my WSCG.

[lostclusters]

I have tried that. I find it makes a lot of soot because the flame is too constrained by the apparatus meant to hold the wood. Like having a fire box that is too small. I still like my charcoal basket idea explained above. My Mak with this basket is my go to cooker now for everything except searing.

[glitchy]

I’m not trying to push a WSCG on you, just trying to help arm you with info so you can make the decision that will make you happiest long term. I shared that same link a week ago in this thread for the Heavy D. Does your buddy run it in a Yoder? I don’t remember the Yoder fire pot design to know if would work. Another thing to keep in mind is in most poopers, the fire is closer to the food than about any other cooker, shielded by the drip tray. Depending on the design of the tray and thickness, distance from grate, etc. it delivers some radiant heat which can affect texture.

If you want the Yoder because you want a Yoder, just buy it learn it and mod it fit your needs. They’ve been around a while and have a loyal following. I know from a couple friends they’re great cookers. However, they’ve never compared to stick burners.

Edit: I also went back and reread your original post to see one of your biggest questions is capacity and looked at Yoder’s site. Keep in mind, you generally don’t want food past the edges of the drip tray, so the space is usually a fair amount less than they list. The Yoder has a good sized upper rack though. I’ve had several poopers with that size main grid and you can cook a lot, but are also somewhat limited too. Like if you cook ribs flat, your probably going to get 2 racks per shelf. I’ve done 4 butts, two on each shelf, but it added 5-6 hours because of the reduced airflow filling up that much of the chamber. Yoder might be a little taller to help there. You should be able to do 2 packers one on each shelf. I think the main grate on my SmokeFire is the same size, so I attached a pick of 2 racks of St. Louis ribs taking up most of it.

I also think the Heavy D probably wouldn’t work in the Yoder looking at pics.

[Alphonse]

glitchy, spot on about the radiant heat.
Ref. grease - I have found that on my YS640S, the sloped heat deflector plate works well in draining grease into the catch bucket. I have had no issue with it being smaller than the grates above and not catching all the grease. In the beginning I spent way too much time lining it with foil to keep it clean. I now use a putty knife and find that is the best approach. I use no catch pans.

[ofelles]

+1