Are pellet grills really faster and more convenient for smoking?

[Bob C Cue]

Don't get me wrong, I think pellet grills are cool and would never suggest that someone should not own one, but I got to thinking about whether they are really faster and more convenient than other cookers for smoking.

I can really only speak from the standpoint of someone who has used a weber kettle and a PBC for smoking; and since getting the PBC all my smoking is done on it.

With the PBC I fill up the coal basket with charcoal, add some wood chunks and then top it off with a small chimney of lit coals. From start to finish this takes no more than 15-20 minutes and in the meantime I am usually prepping the meat. So in 20 minutes or less I can start cooking my meat(s) of the day.

And the PBC can cook ribs in 3-4 hours and a 12lb brisket in 8 or so hours.

I guess the pellet grill can heat up a bit faster and you can start cooking in less than the time it takes me on the PBC. But I understand that many folks start at a lower "smoke" temperature of around 180 degrees to impart more smoke flavor. So I would think from start to finished product you are not going to cook much faster, if at all, than a PBC or other UDS.

Again, I am not opposed to owning a pellet grill, especially one that provides direct access to the fire for quick and effective grilling of steaks, burgers, etc. But from a smoking standpoint, I not sure that pellet grills really offer a faster and more convenient way to smoke.

Am I missing something in that regard?

PS, the cleanup of the PBC is not time consuming and I understand that you have to vacuum out the fire pot on pellet grills occasionally and there can be issues with tunneling and jam ups.

[tom b]

More convenient yes, faster not really

[chingador]

I have never used a pit barrel cooker, but 20 minutes from beginning to temp locked in and meat on sounds awful optimistic. Before I get my Rec Tec my smoking was done on my UDS or Primo Kamado. For both, here was my process, took around an hour from beginning to meat on. Some times more if the smoke wasn't clean enough.

1. take out the racks to access charcoal basket. For the UDS, remove basket.
2. Fill basket with charcoal. UDS, put basket back in the bottom of cooker.
3. light charcoal, open up all vents all the way.
4. put racks back in, close up pit.
5. don't go too far away. Gotta monitor pit temp
6. Once temps get to around 150, start gradually shutting down vents to halfway
7. Once temps get just shy of 200 degrees, shut down vents even more
8. Once temps get to desired cooking temp, shut down to final settings
9. Wait for smoke to clean up to TBS (the big variable)
10. Put meat on

None of this is really that big of a deal. Once this is done. Things are quite easy. The only variation is if I was using my Pitmaster IQ, which I would introduce around step 6.

For comparison, here is my process for the pellet grill

1. Check pellet level
2. Add pellets if needed
3. Press power button, turn knob to adjust temp
4. put meat on

Up to temp if cooking low and slow in about 20-30 minutes, but generally meat is on in around 15 min.

You tell me. Which is quicker and more convenient?

Don't get me wrong. I love my Kamado and my UDS has moved to my place in the country where it will be used quite a bit when I am out there. But I am very busy on weekends. I love to be able to flip a switch, throw on some Q then go about my busy day to come back with food almost done. Wife is generally home if needed so cook isnt 100% unattended.

But the biggest advantage to the pellet grill is the consistency. You get the same clean combustion time after time. My combustion in the primo or UDS would vary depending on charcoal, wood, user input and weather etc. Not a huge variation, but enough of one.

[Bob C Cue]

Originally Posted by chingador

I have never used a pit barrel cooker, but 20 minutes from beginning to temp locked in and meat on sounds awful optimistic. Before I get my Rec Tec my smoking was done on my UDS or Primo Kamado. For both, here was my process, took around an hour from beginning to meat on. Some times more if the smoke wasn't clean enough.

1. take out the racks to access charcoal basket. For the UDS, remove basket.
2. Fill basket with charcoal. UDS, put basket back in the bottom of cooker.
3. light charcoal, open up all vents all the way.
4. put racks back in, close up pit.
5. don't go too far away. Gotta monitor pit temp
6. Once temps get to around 150, start gradually shutting down vents to halfway
7. Once temps get just shy of 200 degrees, shut down vents even more
8. Once temps get to desired cooking temp, shut down to final settings
9. Wait for smoke to clean up to TBS (the big variable)
10. Put meat on

None of this is really that big of a deal. Once this is done. Things are quite easy. The only variation is if I was using my Pitmaster IQ, which I would introduce around step 6.

For comparison, here is my process for the pellet grill

1. Check pellet level
2. Add pellets if needed
3. Press power button, turn knob to adjust temp
4. put meat on

Up to temp if cooking low and slow in about 20-30 minutes, but generally meat is on in around 15 min.

You tell me. Which is quicker and more convenient?

Don't get me wrong. I love my Kamado and my UDS has moved to my place in the country where it will be used quite a bit when I am out there. But I am very busy on weekends. I love to be able to flip a switch, throw on some Q then go about my busy day to come back with food almost done. Wife is generally home if needed so cook isnt 100% unattended.

But the biggest advantage to the pellet grill is the consistency. You get the same clean combustion time after time. My combustion in the primo or UDS would vary depending on charcoal, wood, user input and weather etc. Not a huge variation, but enough of one.

Thanks for the very detailed response. That's good stuff!

I can honestly say that I can put the meat on in 20 minutes. That is what the instructions call far and works well for me.

The temp at the start is certainly lower than the 270-320 degree range that the PBC tends to settle into, but I have never had any troubles by doing it that way. I love the flavor that the PBC imparts and so say the folks I cook for (including quite a few Brethren who enjoyed my ribs at the last St. Louis BBQ Bash).

I have read that some folks say they are not crazy about the flavor of PBC cooked meats, but that's probably true for many other smokers. And I wonder if those who say that are doing something wrong or if it's just personal preference.

[4ever3]

Build a UDS!

[Titch]

No idea, Has anyone fitted a pellet burner to a Pit Barrel ?

[Moose]

Originally Posted by 4ever3

Build a UDS!

[bschoen]

Only the red ones are faster.

[SCRedneckBBQ]

While for grilling my Pit boss doesn't heat up as fast as a gas grill, the ability to reverse sear steaks or pork chops outweighs the time difference for me

[Hawklaw]

My personal take:
Most of the folks on this forum and those like us that smoke meat regularly probably have their start up process down to an efficient fine art and can get coals or splits up to temp with little effort or time. For these folks the convenience of pellet start up may seem pretty negligible. I have pointed out to my FIL many times that I can have my weber kettle up to temp within minutes of the amount of time he gives his gasser to preheat. What is the real savings?

All that said, have to recognize that there are a lot more folks out there who don't have these processes down to the efficient art that we do. A lot of folks don't do it often enough or just never really cared to learn. A button push seems mighty attractive if you fall into this area. And that is certainly not to suggest that all pellet users are a bunch of noobs who cant strike a match - obviously that isn't remotely true as demonstrated by the users here. But I do think the start up ease and speed are pretty marginal for veteran fire starters.

[Curt.P]

If I came home and my gasser was gone, I wouldn't care.
If I came home and my charcoal grill was gone, I'd be slightly miffed.
If I came home and my pellet grill was gone, I'd be out for blood.

I used to find excuses not to grill. Now I find excuses to fire up the pellet. Wife is making chicken pot pie tonight and it's going on the pellet grill.

[Whodat985]

With my pellet grill I can wake up grab my phone turn my grill to 180. Get ready for work put my brisket etc on leave for work an in 6 hours are so raise my grill up to 225/250. An when my alarm on my app tells me the brisket etc has reached its proper temp I can shut my grill off from work are where ever. This is the advantage I get from my pellet grill.

Now don’t get me wrong I have an off set smoker an kamado an a Bradley smoker an use these for certain cooks.

[Gimmethecash]

My stick burner is up to temp and putting the smoky love on some protein in 15-20 minutes. I still need to go outside & put another stick on it every 30-40 minutes though, so not so great on the convenience side of things. OTOH, I’m a pyro and I enjoy playing with fire, so it works out.

I’ve found a new life for my electric smoker as an outdoor oven/BBQ finisher. A couple/few hours of wood smoke and then into the Cookshack for as long as it takes to finish with no tending. Best of both worlds and the electric finishing doesn’t dry the meat out as much, as there’s very little airflow. For big cuts like butts or brisket that might finish at a bad time, it will even use its own temp probe to hold at 140* once the IT reaches a set temperature.

[ttkt57]

Originally Posted by Curt.P

If I came home and my gasser was gone, I wouldn't care.
If I came home and my charcoal grill was gone, I'd be slightly miffed.
If I came home and my pellet grill was gone, I'd be out for blood.

If I came home and my gasser was gone, I'd drive over to the high school nearby and tell the principal that one of his kids is playing pranks.

If I came home and my pellet grill was gone, I'd drive over to the high school and tell the football coach that his team needs to return my Outlaw!

[rwalters]

Having owned and cooked lots of food on kettles and a PBC myself... and now being a pellethead convert, I can say without hesitation that IMO pellet cooking is easier and more convenient in several ways. Let me explain...

1) I can walk out and flip a switch, set an exact temp and walk back inside.

2) The cooker will come up to that set temp and park it there with little fluctuation for the entire duration of the cook with no user interaction as the controller compensates for all weather conditions.

3) The smoke profile is the same every single time. Recipes/results are easily repeatable.

4) When cooks are based on a set meal time, you can easily turn temps down or crank them up to speed things up slow them down. I can do it from my phone in fact.

5) The clean up after a cook takes a few mins and I am ready for the next adventure.

These are the things that jump out to me with pellet cookers.

Now the PBC. It’s an amazingly brain dead easy to use cooker... lots to love about it. And it puts out great results as you state. Is it as easy and convenient as a pellet cooker? Not IMHO. Why?

1) You’re manually lighting a fire.

2) You’re having to watch your time as to make sure the charcoal is dumped in not to soon and not to late.

3) There were numerous times with my PBC where weather affected it. More often than not when this happened it would start running to cool. I had to watch for that and crack the lid on occasion to bring temp back up.

4) On a few occasions, I had ribs drop from the hooks. Yes they were hooked according to directions, but it still happened a few times. I had to watch for this.

5) I could never time meals as precisely when cooking on my PBC like I can on my pellet cooker.

Bottomline, the PBC and pellet cookers are both fantastic options. They each have their strengths/weaknesses. Both are very different from each other. But for ease of use and consistency, I do not think you will beat a pellet cooker.

Just my 2 cents :)