Gravity Feed Vs Pellet Smoker

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charliek

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I need some help, I am trying to decide if I should buy a Yoder 640 Vs a Stumps Baby XL. These smokers will be used in my backyard, and price is not the major concern here, flavor on chicken and beef are the major concerns.

My family loves grilled chicken, not too big on Smokey chicken, so is it better to get a pellet grill over the Stumps smoker? I know I can go back and cook my chicken on my custom grill that I have but that defeats the purpose of me getting a new toy that I can set it and forget it. Any opinions/comments would be great, thanks
 
I smoke exclusively on pellet smokers. and there are a few draw backs.

1. Possibility of auger jams
2. Possibility of interrupted electricity
3. Hot Rod will fail. Just a matter of time.
4. Run out of pellets during a cook
5. Buying pellets has gotten easier but not as easy as wood or charcoal
6. Fans, fuses, controller can go too.
7. Light smoke flavor

All that said I love my pellet cookers. Sort of like being in a relationship with a high maintenance person.
Have you considered which pellet grill to buy. Some of the higher end pellet grills mitigate a lot of these issues. Memphis, Fast Eddy's, Yoder.

What about a lonestar grillz insulated vertical cooker? I dream about this cooker.
 
If you are after grilled chicken with crispy skin, and don't want a ton of smoke, definitely get the Yoder over the Stumps. You will be able to crank it up for high heat chicken during the week if you want. You can't do that on the Stumps without a ton of planning.

Buy based on your needs. For what you mentioned the Yoder is exactly what you need.
 
If you get the two part diffuser plate with the YS640, you can crank the temps up over 450 with the clean out port opened and not have to worry about the plate warping. Put some grill grates over the port and you have a nice hot grill.

As for the draw backs mention by smokeswirl, I think all but #7 apply to both smokers. I've never worked with a Stumps, so I don't know what level of smoke it produces. But in my book, a lighter smoke flavor is a good thing. And it's easier to add more smoke flavor with an Amaze-N-Tube if you want more.
 
Pellet cooker can technically do both.. but I like playing with fire.. :grin:

I think a stumps will last longer and perhaps you can dial in your smoke flavor easier with that style cooker. Both are set and forget type of cookers IMO.
 
I have owned Yoders (480, 640, 1500), Green Mountain, Traeger, Cookshack (PG-500, FEC100 & 120, RecTec 680, Smoking Brothers 30, FireCraft, and Memphis Pro.

If you want the best and money is no concern, get a Memphis Wood Fired Grill and be done with it. The is no comparison to the brands I mentioned. Memphis wins in every category in my opinion.
 
I recently added a pellet smoker after my Akorn suffered and untimely death after 4 years of faithful use. Long story short too much booze, wind shifted, nudged it forward and went off porch...

I've toyed with the idea of an pellet grill for ease of use and so far I love it. But as others have said, it's a very high maintenance woman. Expensive to buy, expensive to feed, can't leave it alone (pellets could feed incorrectly), and it can blow through a 25lb bag of pellets in the winter like it's nothing. Plus I know at some point (hopefully years down the road) I'm going to have issues with electronics, auger or igniter and it's all going to hit the fan and force me to move on....

But for the moment, I'm 100 percent happy with it.
 
No joke, after all my years with my offset, charcoal smoker, Akorn kamado, gas grill, and now pellet grill.

My entire family has raved and asked for more food off of my pellet than pretty much every other smoker combined.

100 percent thin blue smoke, 24/7, 365 and within 25 degrees of setpoint.
 
I have an Assassin 17 gravity feed. Very similar to the Baby XL. I use charcoal only, no wood, when cooking chicken or wings. I use either KB Pro or Stubbs briquettes. I find I get a very nice, subtle smoke flavor with Stubbs. Never cooked on a pellet. You wont get as crispy a skin as grilled.
 
A pellet grill will have you cooking sooner , I can fire up my traeger and be cooking in about 15 minutes , before you spend a lot of money , try Craigslist
 
Last edited:
Hog1990 said:
I have owned Yoders (480, 640, 1500), Green Mountain, Traeger, Cookshack (PG-500, FEC100 & 120, RecTec 680, Smoking Brothers 30, FireCraft, and Memphis Pro.

If you want the best and money is no concern, get a Memphis Wood Fired Grill and be done with it. The is no comparison to the brands I mentioned. Memphis wins in every category in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I can’t attest to the other grills but I can say that the Memphis is a fine machine. It truly is a masterpiece. I’ve cooked on it everyday since I’ve gotten mine and I find that it is more capable than I imagined. The smoke flavor is darn near identical to my offset when I cook at 250 but at 350 I can bake a pizza with zero smoke. I seared a couple ribeyes at 650 that had a fantastic sear.

34d377cdbb15bd4bce5b34804d0065b2.jpg


IMHO every cooker has positives and negatives but pellet is so hard to beat. Go with a quality pellet smoker and be done with it. Cook anything and everything and have time with family and friends while it does most of the work.
 
Check out the new Rec Tec's with new wifi controller. Great customer service. 6 year warranty.
 
Love my YS640.....no issues in the 3 years I've owned mine and I bought it used. You don't need wifi or any of the other fancy stuff that costs more money.
 
Hog1990 said:
I have owned Yoders (480, 640, 1500), Green Mountain, Traeger, Cookshack (PG-500, FEC100 & 120, RecTec 680, Smoking Brothers 30, FireCraft, and Memphis Pro.

If you want the best and money is no concern, get a Memphis Wood Fired Grill and be done with it. The is no comparison to the brands I mentioned. Memphis wins in every category in my opinion.
Click to expand...


Those are pretty serious statements! Would you mind elaborating on what makes the Memphis so much better in your opinion?

Would love to hear your thoughts as I have cooked on most of the stuff you mention above, and am a big Cookshack fan so I'm curious about statements like this, and always considering the next cooker.
 
I have had a stumps, kamados, and yoder 640 (still have it) and just ordered a Memphis Elite. For an all around cooker, the pellet grill (yoder, Mak, Memphis) is going to be tough to best. Smoke, bake, grill...they do it all. The good ones can sear right up there with a kamado.

I really like my yoder, but similar to Hogg’s post above, I feel the Memphis Elite is on a whole other level. My 640 is going up for sale when it gets warmer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
gtsum said:
I have had a stumps, kamados, and yoder 640 (still have it) and just ordered a Memphis Elite. For an all around cooker, the pellet grill (yoder, Mak, Memphis) is going to be tough to best. Smoke, bake, grill...they do it all. The good ones can sear right up there with a kamado.

I really like my yoder, but similar to Hogg’s post above, I feel the Memphis Elite is on a whole other level. My 640 is going up for sale when it gets warmer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...

At this point, my only regret is not getting the bigger elite model. I know you will enjoy it.
 
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