Pellet Grill

[jaha2000]

Anybody have one?
My gas grill is finally giving up the ghost and you can finally get a decent pellet grill for less than the price of a used car.
I have a camp chef camp stove thats awsome and the pellet grill looks decent, any expirence?

 

[rifken2]

I have the RecTec mini
Rec Tec Mini

I really like it. I mean, a lot. I used to have a charcoal grill.

This thing is ready to cook in about 10 minutes. My coal burner, a lot longer than that.

Also, when I would open the coal grill it would lose heat and never really got back to temp. The pellet grill, I can leave the lid open as long as I need to check temps, flip, etc and it goes right back to temp when I close the lid. It works like an oven/appliance, you set the temp you want and walk away. Super simple to get consistent results.

I have had it this season and I think I cleaned the ash from it once, and that was only because I wanted to see how much there was. Hardly any. they are a snap to clean/maintain.

Just make sure you have enough pellets in the hopper before each cook. I ran the hopper dry once in the middle of a cook and it took it about 10 minutes for the pellets to get to the fire pot. Now I make sure to check and top it off before each use.

Two things, the Rec Tec uses a fan to assist in burning the pellets. The fan can be heard, easily. It isn't loud per se, but you do notice it. The only reason I mention it is that it caught me off guard. I was use to silence when I grilled. I am used to it now. Second is you no longer cook by time, you cook by temp. It wasn't until my 5th cook or so that I got this right. I would always take the food off too early and my Mother in Law will not eat anything with a hint of pink. I wouldn't trust the internal temp of the meat. I thought it had been on long enough. Nope, this is indirect heat and it take longer to cook than over direct heat. Now, I trust my thermometer and I get rave reviews from family and friends.

I have only used mine as a grill. I have yet to smoke anything. I make burgers, steak, and chicken. It all turns out good now. I grill at 425. It uses about two pound an hour of pellets I believe at this temp. The only thing I don't get is the grill marks on the food. If that is important to you, they have sear plates that will get you that.

I love mine. Yes, it was expensive compared to a cheap grill, but the results are much better/consistent then when I was using coal. I would assume you would get a better flavor using pellets vs gas as well.

 

[jaha2000]

The Rec tec was another on my short list. Not sure how they call it a Mini, it has almost as much surface area as my big webber...
Contemplating getting the bigger one, but it seems like an awful big step up in size and cost.

Can you fit a turkey in the mini?

 

[FiLeZz]

I have a treager. Great for smoking and cooking chicken. Not so great on hamburgers or steak. It gets up to a little over 400c. when I smoke i'm at the 250c mark usually. I also smoke with a green egg. The treager is easier and tastes just as good when smoking. Turkey was fantastic smoked.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Why the pellet over a traditional smoker or a ceramic/egg? Not trying to stir up a debate, but curious what drew you in that direction.

I've smoked for about 5 years on a Hasty Bake and recently got into the ceramics/eggs. (Full disclosure: a ceramic knock-off, but works as well as a ceramic in most head to head comparison tests) Almost feels like cheating when it comes to smoking, as it's so damn efficient you set it and forget it until it hits your desire temp. (With no adjustments to air dampers or adding in fuel)

For me, the overall cost of the pellets and the pellet grill/smoker itself kind of made me take it out of consideration.

 

[jaha2000]

Honestly, i have done a ton of research with the egg cookers.
I have a propane smoker, the worst part about it, adding wood chips to it when doing an all night smoke. Can the egg do 12 hours without adding any fuel?
The pellet seems to eliminate that issue, basically its something i can use as a grill and a smoker and eliminate half of my crap sitting on my deck. I currenlty have a weber kettle, gas grill, and a vertical propane smoker. The smoker is a pile and the gas grill is a pile. The kettle would stay in addition to the pellet grill.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Honestly, i have done a ton of research with the egg cookers.
I have a propane smoker, the worst part about it, adding wood chips to it when doing an all night smoke. Can the egg do 12 hours without adding any fuel?
The pellet seems to eliminate that issue, basically its something i can use as a grill and a smoker and eliminate half of my crap sitting on my deck. I currenlty have a weber kettle, gas grill, and a vertical propane smoker. The smoker is a pile and the gas grill is a pile. The kettle would stay in addition to the pellet grill.

lol. Agreed on the gas and the propane smoker. If it's gas or an electric smoker, they're crap. The Weber Kettle is definitely solid little grill - if not for lack of room (our backyard is all pool) I'd have kept mine, but ended up giving it to my mom.

On the eggs - yes, no fuel add required. My first time using my Akorn, I put in about 1/5 of a bag of Royal Oak mixed in with chunks of oak. Smoked a pork butt for 11 hours - once I got the temp at 225 via the air dampers, I literally didn't touch it again until the alarm went off at 203. (Which was a good thing as the FIL and I spent 5 hours fixing sprinklers) The next morning we looked back in the egg and maybe 40-50% of the lump charcoal was still unburned. I was amazed - the Hasty, while a great grill/smoker, is so thermally inefficient that it only keeps temp by adding in more fuel every hour.

The eggs just retain heat so well it really requires very little fuel to maintain a desired temp. The downfalls of the eggs - smaller sq footage and if you get it too hot, it's going to stay that hot b/c it's so damn efficient.

I have an Akorn - runs about $250-$350. (Steel w/ insulated walls) For ceramics, the Kamodo Joe and Big Green Eggs are the popular choices. Once my Akorn bites the dust I'll invest in a ceramic, but for what I paid for it (saw it on SlickDeals) it was a low cost entry into trying out the eggs.

 

[FiLeZz]

I have an extra large green egg. I put fuel in it to start to smoke. 10 hours later when done I have to put the fire out as its still making heat. they really are setup for your temp and walk away. The electric grills are set and walk away as well. as far as a grill goes the electrics are much quicker to fire up and use if your wanting to cook and not just smoke.

the green egg takes me about 20 min to get to temp to get clear smoke. the electric smoker is up and running in 4 min or less.

 

[Kaido]

I am big into grilling. Here are my suggestions:

1. Pellet grills: I have a Traeger (Junior Elite model with the Digital Thermostat upgrade, just under $400 shipped). It's pretty awesome. It's basically a convection oven with smoke. Pretty much everything comes out tasting good. Although they got outsourced to China apparently & a lot of people switched to Green Mountain Grills, and you can get stuff like Wifi built-in on those models:

http://greenmountaingrills.com/

If you have a large budget, Memphis makes high-end pellet grills. My dream grill is a built-in Memphis Elite, although it costs more than my last used car haha:

https://memphisgrills.com/shop/built-ins/memphis-elite-built-in/

2. Gas grills: Weber is the gold standard. They work well & typically last a long time. I had a cheapo Home Depot one that worked well for a season, but never really got super hot. I liked the convenience of gas, but I'd definitely get something better like a Camp Chef (+1 for versatile accessories!) like you did if I were to get one again. Again, if you have a budget, Fire Magic makes really awesome ones for $$$:

http://www.firemagicgrills.com/

3. Charcoal grills: If you want a ceramic, either Big Green Egg (TONS of accessories) or a Kamado Joe (my preference). As mentioned earlier in the thread, they have their pitfalls, but they are also amazing for a lot of stuff. For a standard charcoal grill, I would recommend upgrading to lump charcoal (burns hotter) & getting a Weber Performer ($400), which has a gas ignition for convenience, as well as a really nice cart. My $80 Walmart charcoal grill (which I actually love, but they only last a couple of seasons) is on it's last legs & that is what I will go with as a replacement:

http://www.amazon.com/Weber-15501001-Performer-Charcoal-22-Inch/dp/B00MKB5V1A

4. Flattop grills: I have a Blackstone flat-top, which is pretty good (cast iron, although it doesn't get as hot as I want - 450 to 500F max temps typically, and I want like 200F more), but I'd get a Tejas if I had to do it all over again (similar to Camp Chef but a little more DIY & piecemeal). Camp Chef of course has a lot of accessories & versatility. I love cooking on a flat-top because I can make breakfast for everyone & their dog (eggs, pancakes, bacon, and sausage all at once), amazing sandwiches, and I just got a two-pound grill press for doing smashburgers & paninis and stuff. Plus it's pushbutton gas, so it's just like letting an oven preheat. There are some outdoor Teppanyaki-style cooktops available as well from places like Cook & Dine and Twin Eagles too.

5. Pizza grills: Pretty much Blackstone is the way to go if you don't want to jump into the grand-plus price category. I'm planning on picking one up this month as I have been getting back into pizza hardcore & doing it in my oven is heating me out of my home (500+ degrees indoors in summer, ugh!), plus the Blackstone gets up to 700F, which gives a much better crust consistency. If you're already invested in the Camp Chef system, they also have a really nice pizza accessory. There are some other models as well, but after digging into it, the Blackstone is the way to go for the price (~$400 shipped with a rain cover). Lots of neat models as you get into the $1k range too, or go the DIY route with a homebuilt wood-fired oven:

http://www.traditionaloven.com/

There's some other neat stuff floating around too. I recently picked up a Namath Rapid Cooker, which is basically a salamander grill. It's pretty awesome. Twin Eagles makes a beefier one, but it's nearly two grand:

http://www.twineaglesinc.com/products/Salamangrill.shtml

Everything has specific uses. Like FiLeZz said, pellet grills are great, but not so good for stuff like burgers or steaks because it's more like an oven than a grill. Charcoal tastes the best for burgers to me, but it's also sometimes nice to have the convenience of gas for a quick meal. I cook at home a ton, so I've ended up investing in a lot of equipment over the years as my cooking skills have improved, and also based on my situation. I have a tiny kitchen & having the big old Blackstone cooktop is really awesome for keeping the heat out of the house & also cooking a truckload of food at the same time. Same deal with the pizza stuff, if it's something you're into then you can get some pretty amazing tools these days without having to spend three to five grand on imported Italian specialty ovens to get stellar results.

 

[Kaido]

I have a treager. Great for smoking and cooking chicken. Not so great on hamburgers or steak. It gets up to a little over 400c. when I smoke i'm at the 250c mark usually. I also smoke with a green egg. The treager is easier and tastes just as good when smoking. Turkey was fantastic smoked.

Yeah I did a turkey & my family really enjoyed it! My favorite is pork top loin (the short fat one, not the long skinny one). "Bacon steak", soooooo good :awe:

I haven't found ribs to be cost-effective to do at home, although I still make them from time to time. It's $19 for a rack at the grocery store & $20 at Outback or anywhere else, so I find it's rarely worth the effort. These days if I do make ribs, I use my Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) & then just broil the sauce on in the oven.

With burgers, I prefer charcoal, but I'll take gas in a pinch, like if I just want something tasty quick. I also really like smash burgers, which I do in a skillet, typically on a small bayou burner with a cast-iron pan. I've had trouble getting my Blackstone up to temp, especially in the winter, to get the smash burgers where I want them. For steak, it varies. Sous vide is fun & I'll use the Searzall sometimes. I got the Namath Rapid Cooker for finishing sous vide projects & found that I actually prefer the steaks from raw to fully cooked right inside the Namath (different texture from the sous vide) rather than finished on the Namath.

Kind of depends on how nutty you want to get with cooking. I've had severe food restrictions for the past decade, so I've gotten a lot of weird tools & toys for cooking at home. But it's also pretty cool to have a lot of control over what you do, in order to get consistent results. That's one of the big reasons I got the Traeger...plug it in, dump pellets in, let it preheat, and smoke & cook perfectly every time. I don't have to wake up at midnight to babysit it or anything, it's basically an outdoor appliance. But I also like stoking the coals & firing up my chimney starter, just depends what mood I'm in & what I want to eat, as well as how much time I have.

 

[Kaido]

Why the pellet over a traditional smoker or a ceramic/egg? Not trying to stir up a debate, but curious what drew you in that direction.

I've smoked for about 5 years on a Hasty Bake and recently got into the ceramics/eggs. (Full disclosure: a ceramic knock-off, but works as well as a ceramic in most head to head comparison tests) Almost feels like cheating when it comes to smoking, as it's so damn efficient you set it and forget it until it hits your desire temp. (With no adjustments to air dampers or adding in fuel)

For me, the overall cost of the pellets and the pellet grill/smoker itself kind of made me take it out of consideration.

Basically automation. Pellet grills are basically like indoor electric ovens, just outdoors & with smoke. You can set the exact temperature & lock it in for however long you want (depending on the pellet box you get, that can be like 10 to 20 hours without having to refill it). You can set it to a 180F smoke or a 350F convection-style bake. No babysitting required!

 

[RagingBITCH]

Basically automation. Pellet grills are basically like indoor electric ovens, just outdoors & with smoke. You can set the exact temperature & lock it in for however long you want (depending on the pellet box you get, that can be like 10 to 20 hours without having to refill it). You can set it to a 180F smoke or a 350F convection-style bake. No babysitting required!

Gotcha. I see them sitting in the mall but never looked into them much other than just some brief reading. Appreciated your write-up on the various kinds.

 

[slag]

I don't understand the hype surrounding pellet smokers. I know two friends who have treagers and both have broken (the pellet feed mechanism). Plus, the cost is high for what they are. I have an electric smoker that I light a piece or two of charcoal and some wood in a small aluminum pan and its a set it and forget it type of config. The electric element keeps the heat constant so no need to baby sit except to change out the wood from time to time. You get the wood and charcoal smoke flavor and the smoker itself is very cheap. I've smoked turkey in my electric smoker the past few years and everyone raves about it.

 

[jaha2000]

Update on a 2 month old thread.
Green Mountain Grill has some crazy black friday pricing and i pulled the trigger on a Daniel Boone WIFI unit.
Couple of notes from somebody that has not been around these and is interested.
1. The set and forget is crazy good on the better units. I got one with WIFI. Its sitting on my deck plugged in all the time. When i want to grill, i turn on my phone, pick and temp set point and hit start. When it reaches temp, my phone buzzes.
2. I am not sure how to describe the method in which it actually cooks. It can be set to grill like temps, i made burgers at 450 last night. Yesterday morning, i cooked bacon on it that was fantastic!
3. With the heat turned up there is bairly any hint of smoke. I have not tired any low temps (it will go down to 150) yet, but based on watching when it starts up, should have plenty of smoke for my needs at low temps.

Overall, i am impressed so far, we will see how it holds up. I did get the outside cover for it which will help this winter. I think i am going to need a set of grillgates for it to get those sear marks.