Oso planning to go pro
Subscribed.I get these and really like them - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00819OICI/Use them in my AMNPS - https://www.amazon.com/MAZE-N-Pellet-Smoker-Smoking-Works/dp/B007ROPJ1MNice, even LBS without too much hassle. It was a good reason to get a butane torch to make sure I get a good cherry going. The built in smoke box on my smoker (meant for chips) sucks... but I'm HOA-limited to electric-only since I live in a Chicago high rise. This is the best resource for smoking questions, IMO. Been lurking there for years - https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/who-makes-the-best-pellet.241265/
Happy to see this thread since points of view tend to be a little all over the place online. I just made the leap into the pellet grill world last week, picking up a Pit Boss Navigator 850. I grabbed a 40 lb bag of Pit Boss competition blend from Lowe's for about $15 and didn't think much about the impact of the pellet brand. Now that I've done some cooking and more research, I'm curious to test out some different options. Over the weekend I made some skirt steak and some burgers on high heat and noticed the temps tended to run a little higher than expected. I noticed that on both the internal thermometer probe and my own thermometer. The difference wasn't too bad, something I can live with for shorter cook times. I also cooked a pork butt for about 12 hours, and that was when I noticed bigger temp swings, about +- 20 degrees from my selected temp of 250. I've seen plenty of comments online saying that's pretty standard and others saying temps should be more consistent. The meat turned out great, so maybe this isn't even a problem, but something tells me more consistency will always be better. Has anyone found pellets making a big difference in temp control? On a related note, I found Bear Mountain BBQ last night via Instagram, and they're offering a buy one get one free deal with free shipping right now with promo code BOGO - https://bearmountainbbq.com/
Without running an experiment, I'd argue that scientifically it seems that is would be important to vary temperature a bit while smoking meat. As temps rise, the meat will expand a bit . As temps cool, the meat will contract a bit, drawing in the smoky flavors from the exterior of the meat. . At least that's my hypothesis.
What if I’m a non-smoker?
If your pit boss is WiFi enabled, try running a firmware update.. those are big temp swings. My GMG runs real consistent with temps, if I am to believe the manufacturer, it takes 10 temp readings per second, and adjusts.
I'm actually thinking about getting a smoker. Why are the pellet burning ones so much more expensive than the charcoal ones? What if I tried to burn pellets in this? What would happen: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-18-in-Smokey-Mountain-Cooker-Smoker-in-Black-with-Cover-and-Built-In-Thermometer-721001/100657680?mtc=Shopping-B-F_D28I-G-D28I-28_22_BBQ_GRILL-MULTI-NA-Feed-LIA-NA-NA-BASE_SHP&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D28I-G-D28I-28_22_BBQ_GRILL-MULTI-NA-Feed-LIA-NA-NA-BASE_SHP-71700000041074672-58700005017609607-92700048724469239&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Pek_pLL6wIVEfDACh2BCw8NEAQYASABEgLc9PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I'm sure someone else can answer this in a more technical way, but the main reason pellet smokers are more expensive is because they're more complex. A standard charcoal smoker (aka water smoker) like the one you linked is basically a metal tube with some holes that allow you to control airflow; airflow controls the temperature. Pellet smokers control temperature by feeding pellets into a fire pot at varying rates using an electric auger system. Most of them have thermometers that read the internal temperature and adjust the rate at which the pellets are released to maintain the temperature you've selected. In short - the temperature controls are manual in a charcoal smoker and are more automated in a pellet smoker.If you used pellets in a charcoal smoker, you would burn through them too quickly and wouldn't get a long, sustained smoke like you do with charcoal.
smoke em if ya gottem-yo chili! do you soak your chips before throwing them into the fire? sometimes i do, but...
Skianth: Regarding temp variation while smoking- The biggest temp contributor in my experience has been wind and sun. A black box sitting in the sun/shad can easily vary 20 degrees in temp. Same with the wicked winds I get across my highrise balcony in Chicago. I wanted to bring that up so that you don't go to far down the pellet investigation path before just moving your cabinet into the shade.
I'm going to try some full chickens and maybe some ribs this weekend. I'm thinking that if the chicken doesn't dry out from the temp swings and still cooks in the usual 3-4 hours like it does on my charcoal smoker, then I won't be too concerned about the temperature swings.