I finished out an outdoor kitchen last summer and went with a Bull griddle (wish I would have gone with a Blackstone built in, but I hate the rear grease trap) and a Yoder pellet grill. Absolutely love the Yoder and it is much more durable than any other pellet grill out there. They loaded it on my truck with a forklift and it took 3 guys to unload it. It's a beast and fires up quickly for what I would usually do on a gas grill and holds temps great for the long cooks.

I've got a traeger for easy smoking. Honestly I'd suggest looking at a Weber kettle. They are fantastic for burgers and steaks. I use my kettle when the wind isn't blowing (rarely in the panhandle) and results are much better in my opinion. Plus they aren't so expensive that it would break the bank to replace 5 years down the road.

oh no said:

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I had a traditional horizontal smoker for about a decade, then went to a BGE for about a decade, and now have a pellet.. at home.. for smoking.. All the while, having a gas grill built into my outdoor kitchens for quick grilling and direct heat. Out at my land property, I have a traditional horizontal smoker because I collect, split, and cure my own oak and pecan firewood and I love playing with fire.

They all have their pros and cons.

I'd say a pellet is not what you're looking for, Scruffy. For normal grilling of say, burgers, as you said, pellet is not the best for quickly grilling some meat, and can't even really be used well at all for something like searing a steak at +500 degrees. The advantage of the pellet is making long low and slow smokes more convenient. You can turn it on/off, monitor probe temp, adjust grill temp, even program recipe times and temps all remotely from an app on your phone. If you have a million things to do and errands to run and can't be around your brisket for 14 hours, pellet is great... but if you enjoy playing with fire, want more smoke, etc. or if you want to cook with direct heat and don't also have a gas or propane grill, I recommend you don't go pellet for first grill as a new homeowner that wants to grill burgers.

An egg smoker can cook with direct heat or use the plate for indirect low and slow smoking. They hold temp really well. They require less attention and less fuel/wood/coal than traditional smokers. For direct grilling, it's just like any other pit over the coals. I recommend you go with the BGE for your purposes if you're not going to also get a built-in gas grill and against storing propane tanks for a gas grill. Burning some oak and hickory mix coals in the BGE will smell delightful and make your neighbors jealous every time you fire it up.

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This is a great post.

I have a propane grill and a pellet smoker at home. I use them for different things.

At my ranch, I have a large offset smoker that doubles (of course) as a charcoal grill.

When I'm doing a low and slow, the pellet grill is so much easier. Great for beer can chickens too. Smoked turkey. Etc.

Steaks though? Give me charcoal and then finish in a cast iron skillet with butter and herbs.

I have an XL BGE in The Woodlands area I'll let go. It has the plate setter, a cast iron grill and a bunch of other things I'll let go for $1000. I also have the table. It's all in excellent condition. Let me know if interested.

Any interest in a trade for a pellet grill? I have a Traeger Ironwood 885 I've been thinking about selling to get a BGE.

If I was in Texas I'd hit you up on that... I'm in Nashville though.
Thanks for the offer.

Have pictures of the setup and accessories?

I can take pictures when I get home. I'm in the Conroe/The Woodlands area.

I have a kamado grill (Vision brand) and a pellet grill (Reqteq).

I use the kamado for higher temp grilling mostly, and the pellet for smoking.

To be honest though, that is just a general rule, as there are exceptions. For example, I like burgers from a pellet grill -- it adds a nice smokiness to the meat that my family likes.

edit: oh, forgot to add, if I went with just one to start I'd go with a kamado/BGE.

bevokilla said:

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As an owner of a gas grill, BGE, pellet grill, and blackstone, get a Pellet grill over a BGE. I have a large BGE and it is too small to do a full brisket on as the edges hang over the heat deflector plate so you need to get at least an XL or XXL and by then its very expensive and a pellet grill is so much easier with the set it and forget it.

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This is how I do it.. the easy way on the pellet smoker

I freaking love my recteq.

If you want to grill and don't want gas, get a Weber kettle charcoal grill.

Predictably this thread is everywhere as we all have our preferences. I have a Traeger Timberline XL and love it. Next Friday i will have all of the following cooking at the same time:

18 pound brisket for about 10 hours.
2 racks of ribs for about 5 hours.
4 trays of candied pork bellies for four hours.

All will be ready at the same time. It really is the easy button for cooking for a party. Last weekend I made pulled pork and it was a massive hit. 8 hour cook, 10 minutes with some bear claws. Pulled pork sliders for a couple of days.

As someone noted reverse sear steaks is hard to beat. We don't go out for steak anymore. We go get inch thick Prime ribeyes and they melt in your mouth.

It's good for things like chicken breaks or pork steaks as long as they're decent thickness. It's not great for sausage.

I own two grill stores in the Houston area. Go Yoder pellet grill or Big Green Egg. Can't beat either one but for ease and convenience I'd give the edge to the Yoder.

Let me know if I can help with anything, depending on your location. Sam at Creekstone outdoors dot com

I am late to this but will put my 2 cents in..... I have had my XL egg for about 8 years. i absolutely love it. I also have a Green Mountain Pellet grill basically for when I am feeling lazy and don't really care about the results. That's not saying I get bad results off of my pellet grill but I get way better results from my egg. I can do everything on my egg that I can do on my pellet grill but I can not do everything I can do on my egg on my pellet grill. on the egg you can Smoke, bake, sear, grill, you name it. one of my favorite things to do on my egg is reverse sear a tritip. i do cheat on overnight cooks with either the Flame Boss or Egg Genius. (same thing). I just like to be able to set my temp and go to bed and not touch it until I open it the next morning to tell if i am going to wrap it in butcher paper or not.

One of the best things about the egg is the lifetime warranty on all of the ceramic parts. The only time your claim will get denied is if the picture you send in shows that is fell over. the longest your Pellet grill is going to last is about maybe 8 years or so? I know some will last longer than that but most will not and you will be paying to replace parts to keep it running.

Here was my set up for a long time. The I made a table for my XL. Now it is in a modular nest. I always tell my customers to go with the XL (depending on what they are cooking). Definitely don't recommended going below a large.The Eggspander is a must! I hate cooking in batches. Also GrillGrates are awesome for steaks and just about zero maintenance compared to cast iron grates.

If I were to buy anything today, I would get the Primo oval. I've had two Large BGE for a long time and they are awesome. Kamado style grills/smokers are superior to pellets, but they do take more time and attention.

The oval shape on the Primo just gives you a better surface area for briskets or larger cuts with all of the same benefits of an egg.