Was chatting w/ a friend this morning regarding pellet grills in general. We are both pelletheads. I thought part of our conversation could actually be beneficial to some of us that have experienced a hiccup or two with our pellet grills in the time we’ve had them (there is no such thing as a hiccup free/challenge free cooker... the type of hiccups and challenges just change depending on cooker type)... and especially helpful to those that are looking at the possibility of buying a pellet grill for the first time. With rare exception, pellet grills are typically very reliable cooking devices... especially as you ascend the ladder quality wise.
One of the most common things that I see from non-pellet grill owners is that they are not interested in pellet grills because of all of the moving parts and the fact that moving parts break. Oh yeah, and the electronics. I also see occasional levels of frustration from current pellet grill owners (all makes/models) when something does break or when working with a manufacturer to remedy something that is not quite right.
That said, here are a few of my thoughts...
Let's say a person does 2 low n slow cooks/month. Person A uses charcoal/chunks, person B burns sticks and person C uses pellets. Well, one of the common things you hear from person A and B is that they don't use pellet cookers because of "all the moving parts" and the reality that moving parts can break or act up. Now for those of us that cook on pellet cookers, I would venture to guess that 98% of us spend less than 5 hours/year replacing parts or dealing with our grills "acting up". Way more often than not, we turn the grill on and proceed to cook... and when all is said and done it ends up being a very uneventful cook with fantastic results. Back to person A and B. Sure, they have nothing to worry about when it comes to "all the moving parts"... and perhaps their cookers are stable and don't "act up"... BUT, the amount of time over the course of a year that is spent in stabilizing temps, keeping temps swings within reason, losing sleep, adding fuel, cleaning ash, etc far exceeds 5 hours/year. At a minimum, with a fuel efficient and stable charcoal cooker like a kamado, you are investing at least 1 hour of your time for every cook in managing and assuring that things go as desired. 1 hour per cook 2x/mo = 24 hours/year... approx 5x the amount of time required to deal with the occasional broken part or correct the rare flameout situation or "whatever" on a pellet grill. Move away from kamados to something less efficient/stable and the gap widens tremendously.
Looking at pellet grills through these lenses helps me to see that the occasional issue is really no big deal after all. It's still the easiest/best performing/least amount of invested time option for me if that's one of my requirements in a backyard cooker. And with a busy family... I have found it to be a very high priority! Because of the minimal fuss of my my pellet cooker, I am able to cook way better food way more often for family/friends than with any other style of outdoor cooker... and I have tried!! I call that a win!!
Just some Tuesday afternoon ramblings...
