Pellet grills...pros and cons?
- Thread starter Zwiefel
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I am familiar with the ones made by Cookshack, http://www.cookshack.com/store/Grills and they are awesome - but expensive. I have one of their smaller smokers, the sm-045 which I really like. Overall I like the concept but I don't see a big advantage when grilling. It is really helpful when smoking for long periods of time.
I've never used one, but seriously looked at several pellet cookers, including the larger Traeger models. Here are the pros in my opinion:
1. Easy to use - set it and forget it, or change temps on the fly simply - for cooking or smoking;
2. Pellets are generally easy to purchase;
3. Generally low maintenance;
4. Easy to reload and cook for long periods of time;
5. Light and easy to transport;
6. Low ash.
Cons:
1. The small one has low capacity; if you're going to buy one, get the big one;
2. Not insulated;
3. Must use pellets and limited choices of pellets;
4. May not create enough smoke for barbecuing;
5. Doesn't get hot enough for pizza or super hot grilling;
6. Relies on electricity.
I have been cooking with one for years. Most of the stuff I post here is cooked on a traeger Texas grill. It functions best as a smoker and as a wood convection oven with its digital thermostat that maintains the temp in the grill by adjusting the amount of pellets being feed into the firepot. Just set it at a temp like 180 or 225, and it will smoke at that temprature for 12 hours unattended. Grilling is were it is a little weak as it has trouble maintaining high temps when you open and close the lid. I bought some grill grates and that really helped with raising the temp on the grill for grilling so that I now get nice grill marks on my steaks on the Traeger. The Cookshack grill has a better design than the traeger which makes it better at grilling, but cost a lot. If I get a new grill, I will probably try to save enough for the cookshack.
