I know this has been discussed but curious to get some feedback from those that currently use or have used a pellet smoker for normal backyard smoking. Really curious about the quality of the smoke. I currently have a stick burner that I like but getting lazy and would love to set it and forget it. Looking at a Pitts pellet or a Yoder pellet. Thoughts?

i have had a green mountain for 6 years and have been happy. set it and forget it.

Traeger Timberline. Best money can buy.

I'm happy with my Pitts & Spitts.

Red Tec.

Thicker steel. 6 year warranty. Excellent customer service and very simple to clean and use.

I've got a Pitt Boss. Certainly not as nice as some of the others, but it does a good job. The only thing I didn't like on it (the controller) I just replaced with a PID, and I have much more control now.

I like the smoke from it just fine. It is not the same as a stickburner, but you can get thin wispy smoke no problem. One thing I like is the ability to blend woods, or run different pellets at different times in the smoke. It really impacts the flavor. If I want a heavy smoke on something, I use an a-maz-n tube- this really adds a lot of good smoke. Awesome for cold smoking.

The versatility of the pellet grill is where it shines for me. So easy to get it going, my wife uses it a bunch. I usually smoke my steaks for an hour and a half, pretty low, pull them off and crank it to 500 for a finish sear. Only takes a few minutes to get HOT, and only a few more to cool back down.

My Traeger certainly isn't a set it and forget it, but the food that comes off is excellent

We sell gas grills, pellet grills, and kamado/ceramic grills.

For a great, dependable grill that can do it all, we have come to the conclusion that you can't beat the Big Green Egg. We love the pellet capability but at the end of the day it's jusy not as dependable. And when it boils down to time and maintenance the Egg wins again.

Pellet grill controllers have issues. Period. Less issues in the higher end market (Memphis and Twin Eagles) but the price delta is huge when compared to an XL egg with all the accessories. The cleaning and maintenance on a pellet is actually more work and more often than simply cleaning the ash out of your egg.

Ask your self this question - all things considered which grill will still be cooking the exact same way in 10 years??? 15 years???? 20 years????

We cook on both at our store. The time to get a pellet up to temp versus the egg is no different. And when your done the egg is easier to maintain and clean.

Again, we carry them all so if you have more questions feel free to email me - sam@creekstoneoutdoors.com or if your local to Houston come and see us in the north side, Woodlands area.

By the way, BGE is on sale thru 12/31 at all authorized dealers.

Happy with Rectec Bull so far. I've only had it for a month and by no means am I a purist. I haven't done a brisket yet (this weekend). Plenty of smoke at low temperatures (180-220).
It feels like I'm cheating but I'm going from a gas grill and wanted flavor with convenience. I do all the controlling from my phone.

Meat from coal fired smokers tastes like hydrocarbon to me. I get the egg's ease of use, etc, but I can tell a difference between wood and coal smoked meat. Pellet smokers produce meat closer if not identical to stick burners, IMO.

Not if you use good lump charcoal.....definitely difference between lump and briquette. There's no discernible difference between lump and pellet on flavor. Unless you ate something someone puts on the egg before the fire/smoke had equalized (maybe 10 min).

Good stuff folks. Really appreciate the feedback

I use hardwood lump charcoal sometimes if I am low on wood. It is just wood that has been burned and then choked of oxygen to extinguish the fire. HEB carries Mesquite and Hickory I think. Charcoal is terrible like you say.

I can make food taste better on the stick burner, but it is a lot more work to babysit it for hours at a time.

So occasionally when I don't have time to babysit a smoker, I use my wife's pellet grill and it is adequate.

I just got Camp Chef DLX.....only used it once on some ribs and a pork butt...turned out amazing. Crazy how easy it is to use. Also like how you can add a sear box (some models come with it) that gets 900-1000 for steaks.

I have the cabelas branded model made by Camp Chef. Love it.

I've had 3 smokers, a Pitt Boss and two Camp Chef. The following is my personal experience.

The Pitt Boss smokers cooked like a champ, head and shoulders better than the Camp Chef. Great bark, great smoke ring on brisket. The smoked chickens, etc were all outstanding. However, I had control unit issues with the Boss. On the first unit, the display went out. There was no knob on it with temp settings; it was push button, so without the display , you had no idea what temp you had it set to. Pitt Boss sent me a new controller and I installed it. It worked for a few weeks then the fan stopped working. At that point, I said to heck with it and returned it for a refund.

I then ordered a Camp Chef based on recs from this board and elsewhere. The first one would not get up to temp, especially at higher temps >= 350. Instead of calling CC and going through that, I returned it for a replacement. The second one had wild temp swings; I measured it for time and temp and graphed it. It would not cook chicken correctly, the skin was always like leather, I guess from the temp swings?! I also did two briskets on it and neither had good bark and both had a shallow smoke ring, nothing like the Pitt Boss. So I returned it.

At this point I do not have a pellet smoker and am not sure I'll get another. I'm mulling over getting a Rec Tec, but I'm gun shy after my experience. When the Pitt Boss worked for me, it was outstanding! I put the briskets on at 9-10pm at night and had brisket the next day for dinner. Great flavor and easy!

I'm not trying to discourage you because obviously others have had good success. And if it works like it should, you can't beat it!

I made the move this summer from my 18" WSM to a Green Mountain Jim Bowie. The main reason for my change was I wanted something that had a larger cooking area, and i hated the cleaning out the WSM. I could not be happier with the move. My one recommendation is stick with a single wood pellet and not use blends.

You must have bad luck...I've not read many bad reviews about the Camp Chefs. I just got mine so I hope I'm not jinxing it, but the first time around it worked great.

Fleff said:

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My one recommendation is stick with a single wood pellet and not use blends.

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Just curious as to why you recomend this? Personally, I have had good results with blends, and even have made my own a couple times. But I try to use only the real wood pellets, but the crappy ones that just have flavored oil.

Probably just my taste. I have not tried a fruit blend, but the "Gold/Competition/Texas" blends that I had tried tasted off to me. I have found that i much prefer the single note that i get from a Pecan, Oak or Hickory pellet. And I use to mix a couple different woods in my WSM. Probably personal tastes, but I would start with the control of single flavor you know you like.

My first cook was on a blend and had me questioning if i made a wise decision spending money on the pellet smoker. I have loved it after switching off the blends.

Thanks for sharing. That is really good advice- start simple and work from there. Learn what you like and what works well for you. It is dang hard to beat a good Mesquite or Hickory all by themselves.

When I'm doing chicken, I like to get about an 80/20 blend of Pecan and Apple, adds a little sweet to the bitter. I did some Hickory, Maple, and Cherry once in some pork ribs that turned out great. Cherry seems to add a lot of smoke for me- maybe it is more oily. I have not found anything I like with Mesquite- ends up with some funky flavors when you mess with it.