Smokers / Grills

Oblio

Utah
<Gold Donor>
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I have been grilling daily since I bought it. Even my ass wouldn't return it. I will just snag a pellet next year. Or maybe this year when they go on sale. After reading this thread and doing a little you tubing, man does pellet seem like a much better grilling experience.
I know you feel weird about the return, but honestly big stores like Home Depot, Lowes etc give zero fucks. They will be happy that you are getting another product that will make you happy and hopefully buy pellets from them.
 
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Lenardo

Vyemm Raider
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I like charcoal for steaks done on high heat 4 minutes a side. Done. A pellet doesn't get as hot as charcoal can.


Pellet I can set for 500 max I think. My kamado hits 650-700+ easy.
 

Tarrant

<Prior Amod>
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I like charcoal for steaks done on high heat 4 minutes a side. Done. A pellet doesn't get as hot as charcoal can.


Pellet I can set for 500 max I think. My kamado hits 650-700+ easy.

My pellet grill has a sear zone that hits 600-700 with the flames directly hitting that area. The grill can be set to 500 degrees but the sear zone gets much hotter. That's why I went with the Pit Boss. It's the only one that can do that.
 

Oblio

Utah
<Gold Donor>
11,298
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My pellet grill has a sear zone that hits 600-700 with the flames directly hitting that area. The grill can be set to 500 degrees but the sear zone gets much hotter. That's why I went with the Pit Boss. It's the only one that can do that.
My GMG does that too when it is at 500. It is like 600 all the way on the left and ~450 all the way on the right. Intended or not I don;t know, but I bought heat gun a month ago and it has been consistent.
 
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Tarrant

<Prior Amod>
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My GMG does that too when it is at 500. It is like 600 all the way on the left and ~450 all the way on the right. Intended or not I don;t know, but I bought heat gun a month ago and it has been consistent.

Nice! I didn't give mine a chance to really go hard for long, I just opened up the heat plate on it to see what it could do and measured the grates after a min or two. I plan on making steaks soon and will let it roll for a few and check it then.
 
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Nola

Trakanon Raider
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I borrowed my father in law Trager pellet grill cause his thermostat went out on it and he asked me to replace it for him. After replacing it I smoked a whole chicken for about 8 hours to test to see if it's working properly. Man talk about a juicy chicken, everyone loved it. Definetly will be buying one soon just need to decide whether it will be Pitboss or Traeger.
 

Tarrant

<Prior Amod>
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5 year warranty, more features and higher temps. Pit Boss makes sense to me. They are split too, mine is like 210lbs.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
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Charcoal gives you a flavor that you can't get any other way. Gas grills are unmatched for convenience, and pellet grills are okay as grills and they are fantastic set-it-and-forget-it smokers/ovens. The obvious answer is to get all 3, which is why there's a large Big Green Egg, a Weber Genesis, and a Yoder YS-640 sitting on my back deck ;).

With regard to the smoking chicken discussion, when I say smoking I'm talking about barbecue. Low and slow 225 degrees for hours. There's no reason to do that to chicken. You do it on briskets and pork butts because you can break down collagen and connective tissue but chicken doesn't have that. You can get plenty of smoke flavor in an hour at 350. You can cook it longer at lower temps but there's no reason to. Meathead also says to say no to beer can chicken. The liquid in the middle doesn't add flavor to the chicken, it just makes it cook less evenly and creates a reservoir for bacteria. Either spatchcock it or better yet cut it into individual pieces. Doesn't look as cool but it will cook more evenly and you can pull pieces off as they're done rather than trying to have everything done at once. I still do a whole bird now and then though. It looks cooler on the table than a pile of grilled chicken.
 
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Tarrant

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I dunno I love charcoal but I don’t see myself using mine much anymore. I love the flavors I’m getting so far from my pellet grill already. Looking forward to experimenting even more going forward.
 
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BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
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I haven't used the BGE since I got my gas grill. Makes me kind of sad but when it comes time to either spend 45 minutes getting the egg heated up or turn the knob on the weber, I always make the same choice.
 
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Ritley

Karazhan Raider
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34,247
Anyone have one of these? I like the concept but not sure how the execution would be, both for grilling and smoking since I would replace both

 

Brahma

Obi-Bro Kenobi-X
12,025
42,696
So I went ghetto on getting some wood flavors on my grilling. Placed the burgers and dogs on the upper part of the grill, and placed the wood chips on the grill proper. Did this on low heat for like an hour and half before really grilling them. Tried the mesquite and no one liked the flavor of the hot dogs at all. Burgers were pretty subtle with the flavor, but the fam liked them. Will try the apple tomorrow. Want to try this with pork.

IMG_20200604_131443.jpg
IMG_20200604_144140.jpg
 
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Tarrant

<Prior Amod>
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Look good. Apple is pretty subtle on red meat, if you thought so with Mesquite I'd wonder if you'd even pick up on the apple at all.

That said, for red meat, I'm usually all about the hickory.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
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I really can't tell the difference between the different woods although I haven't tried mesquite. I just buy the traeger pellet mix.
 

Lenardo

Vyemm Raider
3,567
2,474
with pellets i can tell the difference betwen cherry apple and pecan.

wife prefers the pecan pellets

right now i am buying the pit boss pellets and liking the results. i've used traeger, GMG and several other brands, pit boss has been good...and the price is less than most of the others too at lowes.

for charcoal, i switch between royal oak and FOGO super premium-depending if i remember to order the FOGO..
 

Pagan

Lord Nagafen Raider
502
199
Most Championship blends are tasty enough for most types of meats.

Anyone own a REC-TEC? Last year I purchased the Traeger PRO 575 and has been a great pellet smoker even in the Arizona heat. Today I find myself in a dilema for a few reasons, first- smoker is fine for small gatherings but it would be nice to go to a pellet smoker with more SQIN to fit more meat. 2nd-If I want to smoke multipe differnt types of meat during the day (Brisket and ribs and poppers) you cannot do it all with the same temp settings. So I started looking for a second smoker and had my eyes still on Traeger going to their Timberline or Ironwood models with 800+SQIN. I have been also hearing about people who own the REC-TEC and the quality has no comparison to Traeger and for a lot less. Wanted to hear what others had for opinions?
 
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Tarrant

<Prior Amod>
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To show further how well my grill can smoke, I made this over the weekend, even at only half the cook time being smoked, had a nice smoke ring on it. Posted it over in the food thread. Regime Regime you’ll prob wanna see it.

 
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Nola

Trakanon Raider
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1,391
Went to Lowes today was plan on buying a Pitboss 820 pellet grill but I went with the 1100 series. The grill weighs over 200 lbs and I damn near passed out trying to put it back of my truck. The 820 was selling for $499 and the 1100 was $599. The 1100 has more grilling space, a hopper that can hold up to 35 lbs of pellets with a slight glass and it's much taller than the 820. The height and size difference was huge between the two. I dont have to bend over when using the grill and that was the primary factor for me buying it.

Anyway which flavored pellets to use? When I borrowed my father in laws Trager he was using the competition with the maple, hickory, and cherry wood blend. Also what about day rub? I smoked a whole chicken the other day for the first time for about 8 hours with a mesquite dry run and came out pretty damn good. Was very juicy but I could of added some salt to it according to the wife.
 

Tarrant

<Prior Amod>
15,564
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Went to Lowes today was plan on buying a Pitboss 820 pellet grill but I went with the 1100 series. The grill weighs over 200 lbs and I damn near passed out trying to put it back of my truck. The 820 was selling for $499 and the 1100 was $599. The 1100 has more grilling space, a hopper that can hold up to 35 lbs of pellets with a slight glass and it's much taller than the 820. The height and size difference was huge between the two. I dont have to bend over when using the grill and that was the primary factor for me buying it...though those were just cold smoked.

Anyway which flavored pellets to use? When I borrowed my father in laws Trager he was using the competition with the maple, hickory, and cherry wood blend. Also what about day rub? I smoked a whole chicken the other day for the first time for about 8 hours with a mesquite dry run and came out pretty damn good. Was very juicy but I could of added some salt to it according to the wife.
If you go back over the last few pages you’ll see we own the same grill.

i use hickory in my hopper and I run a smoke tube filled with a variety of things depending on the meat. Mesquite and Hickory are good for chickens imo, fruit trees are good too.

I’ve found I like pit boss pellets more than the Trager ones, personally.

i love the grill. I’ve done pork butt, chickens, burgers, corn and these cheeses last week as well that are currently mellowing in my fridge...though these were just cold smoked.

B9DCD47F-8E41-40D1-8109-EED1F5CFFC60.jpeg
 
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Nola

Trakanon Raider
2,961
1,391
If you go back over the last few pages you’ll see we own the same grill.

i use hickory in my hopper and I run a smoke tube filled with a variety of things depending on the meat. Mesquite and Hickory are good for chickens imo, fruit trees are good too.

I’ve found I like pit boss pellets more than the Trager ones, personally.

i love the grill. I’ve done pork butt, chickens, burgers, corn and these cheeses last week as well that are currently mellowing in my fridge...though these were just cold smoked.

View attachment 277397
Do you slow burn your grill? Meaning slowly raising the temperature to a desired setting rather than setting it at a higher temprature setting initially. Coworker also has the 1100 and he said always slow burn it to avoid bubbling the paint.