Posted: 12/18/2025 3:15:09 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Gatorade96][Edited]
| I have smoked on my Kettle and done a smoker box on my gad grill but I am thinking about a dedicated smoker. Are pellets as good as they sound? I don’t need a tier 1, will probably only use it once or twice a month. So I was thinking about an entry level one that might get replaced in a couple years if I decide to go deeper. So what recommendations do y’all got! |
|
Originally Posted By Gatorade96: I have smoked on my Kettle and done a smoker box on my gad grill but I am thinking about a dedicated smoker. Are pellets as good as they sound? I don’t need a tier 1, will probably only use it once or twice a month. So I was thinking about an entry level one that might get replaced in a couple years if I decide to go deeper. So what recommendations do y’all got! A pellet smoker will get you 90-95% of the way that a stick or charcoal burner will. Maybe not as heavy as a smoke ring but that's NBD, too much smoke can be bad as well. And you can augment it with a smoke box. I have a Recteq Bull that's been fantastic. Still chugging along after almost 5 years. Just did a brisket flat on it and it turned out great, with minimal fuss on my end. Started it at night on 200F, let it run overnight, then probed it and increased the temp. Finished about an hour before I needed to be at my location, time enough to take it off, let it rest, and sliced. 
|
|
Originally Posted By DV8EDD: @gatorade96 what did you end up getting? Agree with the above that a pellet smoker is a good entry level option. So easy, plug it in and go. I use mine far more than I did my Weber Smokey Mountain and it produces great food. https://i.imgur.com/rrUItPI.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/je55Mu2.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/3kUzr2E.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/uQmmWZp.jpeg Got busy and haven’t been able to look so I am still in the research phase. |
I started with a small, cheap used Traeger, and liked it so much that I stepped up to a Traeger Silverton 810, which they make for Costco. I love it and use it quite a bit. The app makes it nice when you wake up in the middle of the night and you want to check your pellet levels and temps. I'll smoke a brisket all night and never need to get out of bed. If you want a little more smoke, just toss in a smoke tube or two, which will burn around 4 hours or so.                 |
| I am new to smoking. I have grilled over charcoal for decades. My kids bought me an electric pit boss for Christmas. What I really like about it is you can put a ton of meat in it. I normally do rack of ribs or pork steaks on the bottom rack, hamburgers, brats in the middle, salmon for my wife on the top. You put all that in and forget about it for 2 hours. I think if I had to do it over I would get propane instead of electric. I cant get over 250 degrees in mine. Mine is simple. It's basically a stove element with a removable chamber above it that you load pellets in. That keeps it simple with no feeding issues. |
|
Originally Posted By bootleg15: WSM with a Thermoworks Billows fan kit. Easy setup, great temp control and better flavor as far as I'm concerned. Can't go wrong with a WSM, they make great food. I admit, though, I use my pellet smoker way more than I did my WSM. Start-up is just too easy with the pellet pooper. |
|
Someone will post this. Might as well be me. Attached File |
z - Deplorable Neanderthal Garbage per liberal media.
|
Originally Posted By cb69: I cant get over 250 degrees in mine. Mine is simple. It's basically a stove element with a removable chamber above it that you load pellets in. That keeps it simple with no feeding issues. That's basically the main problem with electric ones, they don't get very warm. And the smoke flavor is minimal. Feeding issues are basically nonexistent as long as you don't get a crappy one, I learned my lesson with the Camp Chef unit I had prior. They're only good if you live in a situation that prevents an actual burner, like an apartment or somewhere with a very strict fire code. |
| My $200 Traeger I found on facebook marketplace makes damn good bbq. Once I added a smoke tube to my cooks, the smoke flavor is comparable to a stick burner. Having 2 young kids, a pellet smoker is perfect for my needs since I don't have the time to babysit a fire- and I can monitor my cooker from the mobile app. Having said that, I do want to buy a higher end stick burner in the future (probably a Mad Scientist Solution offset). I will agree that the flavor is better on a stick burner- no question. |
|
I just got my second smoker. Small company out of Texas makes two models of what they call the Smokeslinger. Very analog compared to a lot of what folks like. But I dig that. Thing is an absolute tank. Attached File Attached File Attached File |
$->noise->$$$