Pellet Smokers - Pros and Cons

My Bro in law has a commercial BBQ business and does competition BBQ. Whenever he cooks at home, in small portions, its on his traeger. Thats all I have, but its always been pretty damn good

I was looking at a lot of different smokers and it just makes sense to go with the pellet smoker. I also like that it comes with a meat thermometer.

I have a Blazin Grill and really like it. The digital temp control is absolutely fantastic and never varies more than a degree or two.

B;azin Grill

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Traegers are awesome. Only thing I don’t like about them is there’s no direct heat for a good sear.

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I agree. Traegers are awesome, but not for everything. I put Traeger's "prostaffers" up there with the Sitka baws.

Pellet smokers are great for smoking. They're worthless for anything that requires higher heat. If you're looking for something to do it all, get a ceramic grill like a BGE or Primo. If you want something specifically for smoking and you've got another grill for steaks, Traeger is a great option.

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My main question is Will the pellet smoker impart as much smoke as a traditional wood/charcoal smoker?

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I own several smokers including a pellet smoker. IMO to get comparative smoke flavor with a pellet smoker, the key is to cook your meat at a lower temp than usual for the beginning of the cook. Then crank it up to your normal 225/245/250 etc.. temps.

Pellet smokers burn really clean at 225+ so they have a tendency to produce lighter smoke than a traditional smoker. Burning at a lower temp makes the burn less efficient and will produce more smoke.

For example, when I smoke a brisket on my GMG, I'll smoke the brisket for 4 hours at 175F. Usually the brisket is ready to wrap at 170F internal temp. That's about 3 to 4 hours on smoke. After I wrap, I turn the pit temp up to 250 to finish the cook. At that point there is little smoke being produced because the fuel is burning hotter and more efficiently.

Same thing with a pork shoulder, I'll smoke at 175F until the shoulder reaches 165F internal. Then I wrap in foil, crank the temp up to 225F and let it roll until my shoulder reaches internal of 200F. Cooking at lower temps near the start of cook will give a great smoke ring that is comparable to traditional smokers.

All that said, you can make great tasting BBQ on a pellet smoker. It almost feels like cheating when I use mine. I'm so used to monitoring a firebox, etc that when I cook on my GMG, I feel like I've got nothing to do for several hours and quite frankly I feel a little lost/disappointed because I have nothing to do

Pros: Easy to use and clean. Almost anyone can cook on them. If you get a quality unit with a good digital controller, you can literally set the temp and forget it.

Cons: They require electricity to run the auger, fan and to start the hot rod. So you have to be near an electrical outlet to use them.

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Exactly . "BAW LOOK AT DAT SMOKE RING THOUGH. HELL YEAH BROTHER!"

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you talking about the baw whos got that gray blazer GTS
or the one with the aluminum boat that's on 50 different pro staffs?
doesn't matter, theyre all like that

I just bought a Pit Boss 700 FB, which are very similar to Traegers in design, but run a little cheaper. So far I love cooking on it, and rarely use my gas grill anymore. My particular model has a slider plate that exposes the fire from the fire box so you can flame broil/sear in addition to smoking. My first brisket was not a smoky as I would have liked or am used to from my old smoker. However, there is a "P" setting on mine and many pellet smokers where you can increase or decrease the amount of smoke you get at each temperature. It's also a useful adjustment if you're smoking in cold temps like we've had lately. I am going to try the highest smoke setting next time to see if I have different results. It's so easy it does sometimes feel like cheating, but I do love that it keeps a consistent temp, and the cleanup is minimal.

One of my favorite things to cook on there lately has been beef jerky. I can do a batch of 3-4 pounds in about 4 hours and it's so good.

I have a Traeger and the flavor off of it is amazing, better than my Bradley.

One word of caution the Traeger (at least the largest one) doesn't get hot enough for a good steak sear. I think the smaller ones do because they all use the same fire box and its not large enough on the big model.

If I were doing it again I would look long and hard at the camp chef.

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One word of caution the Traeger (at least the largest one) doesn't get hot enough for a good steak sear. I think the smaller ones do because they all use the same fire box and its not large enough on the big model.

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Have heard lots of people buying a Traeger as an all around Grill, not sure why.

I use the searer on my grill for steaks that cook at 900°.