For the most part, fire pots are not directly exposed to the grill grates; they're usually separated by an angled steel plate, which catches dripping grease and feeds it away from the fire pot and into a catch. This means the majority of pellet grills cook with indirect heat, which is why temperatures are lower than their gas and charcoal counterparts. In truth, pellet smoker-grills are flawed but still valuable, depending on what kind of cook you are.
If you want to grill the perfect steak, pork chop or carne asada, consider a charcoal or gas grill. If you're interested in smoky ribs, pulled pork, burnt ends, chicken, turkey and really any other meat or hardier veggies , pellet grills are worth the money, as they effectively eliminate the learning barbequing learning curve associated with manual smokers and smoking on a charcoal grill.
The convenience of Wi-Fi controls, which is present in many mid-market pellet grills, accentuates this. Likely the most popular budget-minded pellet grill maker, Pit Boss consistently offers grills with the space and looks of more premium pellet grills for a couple hundred dollars less. So if this medium-sized back porch pellet grill doesn't suit your needs it's wise to browse the company's many other options in the pellet space. We recommend the Sportsman because it fulfills its base functions — grilling and smoking — extremely well for the price and size, and comes with a 5-year parts warranty that covers electrical components, ceramic parts, steel parts, wood parts and even the caster rollerblade-style wheels which we liked.
This level of warranty is usually reserved for more expensive grills, or differs from part-to-part. Electrical issues are fairly common in the pellet grilling world, so 5 years of coverage on issues related to the motor or onboard computer is a strong selling point. This specific Pit Boss model does not come with Wi-Fi control, though, so if you're set on managing your pellet grill from your phone or another controller, consider Pit Boss's Pro line , sold exclusively at Lowe's.
Lastly, the number of additional accessories and add-ons available to the Pit Boss customer is a plus, albeit a smaller one. Accessories like a stainless steel wing-smoking rack , sausage hooks and other odds and ends more easily fit the grill to the griller. A pellet grill that does most things well. ZGrills' E runs in the typical pellet grill range to or so and manages to fit a lot of cooking space into a relatively small grill.
Its primary cooking area is only square inches, but there's also two more racks above it that see the grill's total cooking area nearly triple that figure square inches. The short of it: it's a rib-smoking machine. The space between each rack may not accommodate larger cuts of meat unless you remove one of them, but it can feasibly handle 7 to 8 racks of ribs. It's also got an extra-deep hopper that holds 20 pound of pellets, which means you spend less time checking on fuel level and more time perfecting your barbeque sauce.
Technology, moving parts and Wi-Fi connectivity create more avenues for problems to occur than any other kind of grill. The more flashy features, the more potential problems. As with most pellet grills, the temperature range is to , which is plenty of juice for a long smoke but not quite hot enough to sear a steak properly. The upgraded version of the standard Daniel Boone comes with Wi-Fi controls, which takes the pellet grill from a slightly hands-off grilling experience to a completely hands-off grilling experience.
The Prime Plus also comes with handy quality of life improvements like a built-in rotisserie, collapsible front shelf and the perhaps the best sleeper grill feature there is: an under-hood light. Its motor and pellet-efficiency is better, too. If you're struggling to decide between the two, consider how often you might expect to use the grill.
If the answer is less than once every other week, the more affordable option should do the trick. More than that, though, the convenience and options presented by the Prime Plus make the few hundred dollar price hike worth it. If you want value in build quality, this is it. Rectec is a direct-to-consumer pellet company that makes its grills for the long haul. Where many companies might throw some chintzy plastic wheels to save a few bucks, Recteq's are literally for rollerblading.
All of the component parts — from the vents to the handles — are stainless steel. It also boasts an absolutely massive for the grill's size, at least pound pellet hopper, which supports more 30 hours of consecutive smoking.
Perhaps the biggest selling point, though, is its 4-year warranty, which covers every component in the grill. This is especially uncommon in the pellet grilling space, where the reliance moving parts and electronics makes the grills less reliable over time.
Along with plenty of Weber standards — sturdy materials, simple assembly, solid warranties, etc. Unlike those pellet grills that place a drip tray under the grates that blocks direct heat, the SmokeFire employs the same upside-down, V-shaped heat diffusers its gas grills do, which allows for the heat source to interact more directly with the meat. In practice, it gets about to degrees hotter than 95 percent of other pellet grills.
Today's Best Deals. Type keyword s to search. By Will Price. This content is imported from Third party. Temperatures range from to degrees Fahrenheit for slow and steady cooking but it can also achieve degrees Fahrenheit for searing and direct-flame grilling. It also has the ability to cook over direct or indirect heat at up to degrees Fahrenheit and a two-year limited warranty.
Pellet grills have a hopper, or basket, that holds the wood pellets. These pellets are then driven into a pot through a shaft with an auger. The heating rod then fires up the pellets drawn into the pot by the auger while the fan blows. They typically are able to heat up to to degrees Fahrenheit without you needing to tend a fire. These are things that all barbecue cooks strive for and the pellet grill makes it easy.
The biggest pro to investing in a pellet grill versus other types of grills is its simplicity , according to Lampe. Marks agreed that when it comes to ease of use and consistency , a pellet grill wins. They can also be expensive and require regular maintenance. To help prevent this, he emphasized the importance of keeping your pellet grill dry and protected from the elements with a secure cover. But if problems arise, he noted not to be afraid of reaching out to the manufacturers for help or insight.
Catch up on Select's in-depth coverage of personal finance , tech and tools , wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date. When you plug in grill in and set the heat on a digital controller, the pellets start getting pushed through and turned into heat and smoke.
Central to all pellet cookers is a digital controller similar to the controllers on modern indoor ovens. You select a temp you want, and there is an LED display that tells you the actual temp. Pellet cookers usually have an auger or another feed mechanism that pushes the pellets into a burn pot typically about the size of a beer can ripped in half. An igniter rod sits in the bottom of the pot and when you turn on the grill it glows like the element on an electric stove. The controller is one of the most important parts of a pellet smoker.
Even if there is plenty of stainless steel on the outside, the manufacturer may have cut corners and used cheap materials that will rust on the inside. The components of your pellet grill that matter the most are the fire pot, flame deflector, drip pan and grates. If these components are made of marine grade stainless steel, you have a cooker that will last you a lifetime.
As soon as the paint blisters and chips, your cooker will start to rust and these components will deteriorate. It is also worth noting that a pellet smoker made of high quality materials will perform better. High quality materials will retain heat, ensure more efficient pellet consumption, and maintain temperature better in the cold weather. The hopper of your pellet cooker is the container which stores the pellets ready for the auger to take them to the fire-pot.
Therefore, the size of your hopper essentially dictates how long your cooks can be. So, settling for a hopper that is too small will prove to be annoying to say the least, as your cooks will fail to go the distance. As a guide, a pellet grill with a 40 pound hopper will give you around 40 hours of cooking time at standard smoking temperatures.
Considering some cooks take around 20 hours, an 18 pound hopper, for example, is going to be problematic. And remember, if you live in a colder climate, your cooker will use even more fuel to bring the smoker up to, and maintain temperature. You can purchase hopper extensions for your pellet grill. Make sure the hopper extender you buy is compatible with the pellet smoker you purchased, and that the manufacturer is reliable. Before deciding how big your cooker needs to be, you need to ask yourself a couple of questions.
How many people will I be cooking for? Do I plan on cooking large cuts or even a whole pig? Purchasing a huge pellet cooker can really just mean wasted pellets. A standout feature of pellet smokers is that the temperature is relatively even across the cooking area. As a result, there should be no temperature difference between the top rack and the bottom rack while cooking.
Primary cooking area refers to the area on the main cooking plate. Total cooking area takes into consideration secondary racks. Therefore, a large cooker with a primary cooking area of square inches, might actually be of less use to you than a smaller cooker with a total cooking area that includes a square inch primary rack and a square inch secondary rack.
Unlike your traditional charcoal or offset smokers, pellet grills can come with a whole bunch of bells and whistles. Some features you should think about include:. Pellet grills require regular cleanup as the ash from burnt pellets builds up around the burn pot and under the heat deflector. Most models are fairly easy to clean with a shop vac. Some models like the Camp Chef Woodwind have an easy way to clean out the ash from the burn pot without taking apart the whole grill.
You can simply pull a sliding rod that relaces a catch pot for quick disposal. There are some fairly high tech components in pellet smokers. There are also moving parts, such as the auger. This means that there are parts of your cooker that may break, and that you may not be able to fix yourself. Make sure you are clear about exactly how long your warranty is, what it will cover, what would void it, and where you would need to take your smoker for any repairs under warranty.
If your pellet cooker is too thin, heat will be lost through the body of the cooker. It will use a lot of pellets just to maintain the temperature. If the metal is too thick, you will also use a lot of pellets. Heat is taken away from the cooking area and stored in the walls of the cooker. So, it will take a lot of pellets to get the cooking area up to the desired temperature. While thick walls are desirable for some types of cookers, they are not required in pellet smokers. Do some research and find out how many pounds of pellets per hour the smoker burns.
Anything up to a pound per hour, at smoking temperatures, is OK. In the world of pellet smokers, there is a fine line between useful technology and tacky gimmicks. With increasing competition among manufacturers, companies are keen to stand out above the rest.
That is not to say that all features are simply gimmicks and should be dismissed as such. Ultimately, you have to think about whether the features on the pellet smoker are of actual use to you.
If the feature is something you would consider helpful, is it included at the expense of other, more important things, such as pellet usage or durability? The manufacturers of the Rec Tec Grill firmly stand behind their decision to not include a remote control in their smoker.
You gotta go outside and put the meat on the grill. Is it too much to ask to press a button? And to lift the lid and see if you got pellets? However, if you live in a cold climate and it is freezing outside, the ability to control your cook from inside your warm home may well be an appealing feature.
In there were only two consumer pellet grill manufacturers. Today there are more than a dozen. The market for these relatively expensive devices is small but growing fast.
Not all of these small manufacturers will survive. When it breaks will they be able to diagnose the problem over the phone? They may be able to figure it out, but then you have to buy the replacement parts and do the repair work yourself. Are you up to the task? Buying from a larger, established company means there is likely to be a dedicated customer service team. It also means the company is likely to still be around a few years down the track when you may need their assistance.
On the flip side, a smaller company may be able to offer more personal and reliable service, and the people you contact are likely to be very well acquainted with your model of pellet grill. Pellet grills vary greatly in price. Some will set you back a few hundred dollars, others cost thousands. On the other hand, if you purchase a cooker that has all the bells and whistles, but you never use them, you will have wasted your hard earned cash when a more basic cooker, that cost less, would likely have done the trick.
Before forking out cash, be sure to review all of the points above. Then, all that is left to do is enjoy your new cooker! Given the huge variation in price, it is important to know what you are looking for when purchasing a pellet smoker.
Like an electric smoker, you get:. Steven Raichlen has an excellent breakdown of the various pros and cons of pellet grills that you may want to check out. Pellet grills are versatile. You can barbecue, smoke, roast, grill sort of--more on that below , and even bake or braise in a pellet grill. Like gas grills, pellet grills preheat fast 10 to 15 minutes. The design discourages flare-ups. Some pellet grills allow you to regulate temperatures in 5-degree increments, giving you pinpoint heat control.
A thermostat in the cooking chamber sends precise signals to the controller and regulates pellet delivery. Pellet smokers are fast proving to be more than just a fad. Hopefully this guide has helped you understand a little bit more about the pros and cons of cooking with a pellet grill, and helped you pick out the right model for your budget and needs.
Happy smoking! Check out our full Thermapen One review here.
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