Pellet Grill with Direct Heat for Grilling

[bob3]

Hi - shopping for a friend. He wants a new grill to replace an old gasser. It will mainly be for grilling burgers, steaks, chicken, etc. He's coming from something about the size of a weber genesis. He wants something like this that can also be used for smoking (butts, briskets, etc.). I have an old MAK and weber, so I keep my grill and smoking separate. But he'd like a 2:1 product if there's a good one. Is there? Something that can help you cook a dozen burgers, not just over a small fire pot. For budget, a few options in the $1,000 to $2,500 range. I haven't kept up with this type of technology and am personal skeptical of getting a pellet grill for direct grilling. Am I wrong? Thanks.

 

[16Adams]

Have your friend read reviews at this website and independent reviews. PID controlled if I read correctly. When it comes to options and costs on a pellet cooker, you can reach pretty high. Sub 300 to >3000. Warranties vary, customer service reputations vary. WiFi, Blue Tooth nothing. USA Assembly, Foreign Assembly It’s not easy. Here’s an example of low cost not necessarily low options

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Expert-Grill-Commodore-Pellet-Grill-and-Smoker/675237961

 

[16Adams]

Deleted,

 

[rwalters]

Based on personal experience, with the budget your buddy has I would go with a MAK 1 Star. It will easily take the duties of grilling and smoking.

 

[MountainMan]

Several American Made pellet cookers exist.


Each have their own advantages / disadvantages, it will take a bit of research.

 

[bob3]

Thank you. My MAK 1 Star doesn’t have flame zone. Is it the real deal and allow direct grilling on the entire grill grate? I was thinking about this as the high end option, but also YS640. Same price with more space on the first rack. MAK is a little small if you’re only using the first rack, which would be the case for grilling.

 

[16Adams]

Deleted,again

 

[KevinJ]

Thank you. My MAK 1 Star doesn’t have flame zone. Is it the real deal and allow direct grilling on the entire grill grate? I was thinking about this as the high end option, but also YS640. Same price with more space on the first rack. MAK is a little small if you’re only using the first rack, which would be the case for grilling.

MAK 1 Star with Flame Zone is standard now, I have a 3yr old 1 Star and purchased the FZ. Had family in town and cooked these NY Strips on it using the FZ.

 

[crboggs]

The Yoders (480 and 640) come with a diffuser plate that opens to allow direct grilling on either grill grates or the existing rack. So its easy to convert from smoker to griller config on the fly when you want to reverse sear or just load up some burgers.

 

[NCGrimbo]

I got the two piece diffuser for my old Yoder 640. It used to cost extra but it now comes with the standard package. The opening in the diffuser is right above the firebox and I'll admit that I got it so that I could clean the ash out of it easier. But I've found that it makes getting a high temp for burger and steak easier than using my Weber. With the firebox exposed, you can crank the temp up to get a nice sear on a steak or burger. I'd also suggest getting the "GrillGrates with Tool" brining the total to around $2090 plus shipping.

I will admit that I've not used any of the other pellet grills out there, so I have no way to compare them.

 

[Shiz-Nit]

For $2500 I personally go with the Yoder YS640.
Nothing wrong with the other options this is just me and something I have my eye on as well.

 

[ttkt57]

For $2500 I would get in line for the new Lone Star Grillz pellet cooker. I think this little beast is going to be a game changer. I recently got a $1500 Outlaw and I'm extremely happy with it, but I would have been very tempted to spend $1000 more for the LSG if it had been on the market back when I bought the Outlaw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jg5MUAGLfY

https://lonestargrillz.com/products/pellet-smoker

 

[gtsum]

I’ve had the two major direct fire pellet cookers (yoder ys640 and memphis elite). If I was going to spend 2500 or so, I’d seriously look at the lsg pellet cooker as mentioned above. It looks very very good imo


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[electron_si]

I’d also recommend looking at the YS 640. For the money I think it’s the best option for direct searing and still being able to smoke

 

[bob3]

Thanks all. I’m convinced the 2 in 1 high end option is the YS640. Then the question is what’s the better setup, a Weber gasser for $800 and a mid cost pellet grill like RecTeq/GMG (so all-in at or a little under $2,000), or the YS640 as the single solution? Assuming space isn’t an issue and there’s more use grilling than smoking. I still wonder if the YS640 can compete with the convenience of a gasser for your average weeknight grilling. Regarding LSG, one issue I’ve come across is shipping. I was quoted $900+ for shipping to the northeast for an average sized offset. That makes it out of budget.

 

[Titch]

Thanks all. I’m convinced the 2 in 1 high end option is the YS640. Then the question is what’s the better setup, a Weber gasser for $800 and a mid cost pellet grill like RecTeq/GMG (so all-in at or a little under $2,000), or the YS640 as the single solution? Assuming space isn’t an issue and there’s more use grilling than smoking. I still wonder if the YS640 can compete with the convenience of a gasser for your average weeknight grilling. Regarding LSG, one issue I’ve come across is shipping. I was quoted $900+ for shipping to the northeast for an average sized offset. That makes it out of budget.

2 differant types of Cookers would come in handy sometimes
doing butts in one while feeding the group burgers and Dogs

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Here is another option to check out:


https://smokinbrothers.com/


I'm giving this one a good look as I too have never owned a pellet grill.


Good Luck.

 

[Gore]

I was asking myself similar questions the last 5 years. I narrowed things down to a Yoder and a MAK. Grilling options with pellet poopers were extremely limited, and I believe they still are. I went with the MAK last year and am quite happy with it for grilling.

 

[Volsfan846]

I have a Memphis Elite. It has a direct flame option but only a pretty small area directly over the fire box. Personally, I like to smoke on my pellet or my kamado, but I want to sear over very hot charcoal or burning wood chunks or splits. I want 800 deg + at the grill level. I Sous Vide my steaks so they are done already, I am just looking to sear them. My suggestion would be a pellet grill to focus on smoking (Yoder's are great, Memphis as well and others) and pick up a Weber kettle for your searing needs. It will always be better than a pellet pooper.

 

[glitchy]

I don't have any hands on with a Yoder, which by some of the pictures in this thread seems to do pretty well at grilling. How big of an area do you get to work with to get those results?

I have had a Memphis, MAK, and SmokeFire. The MAK definitely does pretty OK at grilling, better than most other pellet grills I've tried. I don't have the MAK sear grate which appears would help even more. The Memphis also did pretty good, but as Volsfan mentioned the space is very limited, like searing one steak at a time.

For high temp grilling and searing, my experience was the SmokeFire is in a class of it's own as far as pellet grills. It does sear pretty well, better than some of the cheaper gassers I had in the past. However, it comes with a set of odd quirks that frequently change with software updates at no extra charge from Weber. It had enough quirks or moods that I gave up and went to a MAK to get a more consistent and reliable performing cooker. When Weber figures out how to do better with their software and firmware updates and remembers how to QA products well again, it will probably be a pretty stellar offering in that $1000 and under price point. It is also assembled in the USA (from globally sourced parts), which is unique for that price range. Weber is definitely trying hard to get it right, they just haven't gotten it completely dialed in yet.