Smoking Meat -- Tips, Opinions, Recipes

Guys with pellet smokers, do you prefer them over charcoal/ stick burners? Do you get the same taste, or is it just convenience? I’ve always thought half the fun was the activity of watching and perfecting the heat enjoying the outdoors with a beer, but meat to meat what is preferred?


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Snboarder113 said:
Guys with pellet smokers, do you prefer them over charcoal/ stick burners? Do you get the same taste, or is it just convenience? I’ve always thought half the fun was the activity of watching and perfecting the heat enjoying the outdoors with a beer, but meat to meat what is preferred?


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It all really depends on what you enjoy to eat/cook. If it’s bbq/smoking. Nothing will compare to a legitimate stick burner smoker. Pellet cookers put out some great food and are super easy to figure out. They do take maintenance though and I would argue more than any other type of cooker. I clean mine weekly and it can be a chore. Something to think about that never gets brought up. And they are expensive as all hell to operate in comparison to any other method. And it also depends if your a burger and steak guy. You may not like say a traeger or whatever due to the lack of high heat or open flame where a charcoal grill is great for that.
All that to say is. I cook via pellets 4+ days a week. 🤣

My next cooker will be a big offset smoker.
 
Snboarder113 said:
Guys with pellet smokers, do you prefer them over charcoal/ stick burners? Do you get the same taste, or is it just convenience? I’ve always thought half the fun was the activity of watching and perfecting the heat enjoying the outdoors with a beer, but meat to meat what is preferred?


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HighwayTrout said:
It all really depends on what you enjoy to eat/cook. If it’s bbq/smoking. Nothing will compare to a legitimate stick burner smoker. Pellet cookers put out some great food and are super easy to figure out. They do take maintenance though and I would argue more than any other type of cooker. I clean mine weekly and it can be a chore. Something to think about that never gets brought up. And they are expensive as all hell to operate in comparison to any other method. And it also depends if your a burger and steak guy. You may not like say a traeger or whatever due to the lack of high heat or open flame where a charcoal grill is great for that.
All that to say is. I cook via pellets 4+ days a week. 🤣

My next cooker will be a big offset smoker.
Click to expand...

^what this guy said. He’s been “feeding” this thread and knows a thing or two.

I’m very new to the smoker world. Just a few months in. Prior to that it was really just propane to my Weber and doing chicken and fish. It was this thread and the watcha cooking thread that turned me on to getting a RecTeq and doing full tri tips, pork loins and even a full turkey. The auger feed of a pellet smoker was a huge plus and getting a good pellet smoker with a good auger at different speeds was a must. The recteq gets to temp quick and holds temp great. The flavor I get is vastly improved over propane.

I’m able to get high enough heat and hint of smoke to do good burgers, which I’d have thought needed propane or charcoal.

I had no interest in a stick burner or charcoal, so the decision was an easier one for me.
 
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HighwayTrout said:
It all really depends on what you enjoy to eat/cook. If it’s bbq/smoking. Nothing will compare to a legitimate stick burner smoker. Pellet cookers put out some great food and are super easy to figure out. They do take maintenance though and I would argue more than any other type of cooker. I clean mine weekly and it can be a chore. Something to think about that never gets brought up. And they are expensive as all hell to operate in comparison to any other method. And it also depends if your a burger and steak guy. You may not like say a traeger or whatever due to the lack of high heat or open flame where a charcoal grill is great for that.
All that to say is. I cook via pellets 4+ days a week. [emoji1787]

My next cooker will be a big offset smoker.
Click to expand...
Yeah I agree it's pretty spendy to run. Pellets aren't cheap. $20 for 33lbs at costco seems about the cheapest I've found. Only thing cheaper is when that bag is mis-marked as pellet fuel and it rings up for $5.99...haha.

What is your preferred method for cleaning? I've yet to do so but I can see it would be a chore when I do. I've mostly used propane and I always let it "clean itself" (crank it up to full blast until all the shit catches fire and burns off)...haha. At work we have Dawn Power Disolver (commercial stuff). It works awesome on anything.
JAGS said:
^what this guy said. He’s been “feeding” this thread and knows a thing or two.

I’m very new to the smoker world. Just a few months in. Prior to that it was really just propane to my Weber and doing chicken and fish. It was this thread and the watcha cooking thread that turned me on to getting a RecTeq and doing full tri tips, pork loins and even a full turkey. The auger feed of a pellet smoker was a huge plus and getting a good pellet smoker with a good auger at different speeds was a must. The recteq gets to temp quick and holds temp great. The flavor I get is vastly improved over propane.

I’m able to get high enough heat and hint of smoke to do good burgers, which I’d have thought needed propane or charcoal.

I had no interest in a stick burner or charcoal, so the decision was an easier one for me.
Click to expand...
Same here and I've been very happy with my Camp Chef. Reason I chose it over Traeger was its ability to get to 500°. If I hadn't gotten the pro deal on it I would have went with Req Tech for the same reason.

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jesse3638 said:
What is your preferred method for cleaning?
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I pull the grill grates and scrape the big stuff off but, besides that, I like it seasoned with the stuff from prior use.

With the grate out, I pull the internal covers and shop vac all of pellet dust from the interior of the Traeger. I also clean all of the pellet dust/ash from the fire pot.

I also scrape the grease and drippings off of the grease pan and make sure that the little grease bucket doesn’t have much in it.

The entire process only takes me about ten minutes and I do it every other cook.


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jesse3638 said:
What is your preferred method for cleaning? I've yet to do so but I can see it would be a chore when I do. I've mostly used propane and I always let it "clean itself" (crank it up to full blast until all the shit catches fire and burns off)...haha. At work we have Dawn Power Disolver (commercial stuff). It works awesome on anything.
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Elbow grease really is the only way.

A good stiff wire brush on the grates top to bottom. Then the real messy work begins. Scraping the sludge off the diffuser plate. Once that gets clean enough I remove it and shop vac all the ash and bits that get to the bottom. It takes time and is awkward to deal with all the stuff to not make a greasy mess on my porch. I do really think it makes all the difference to have a clean cooker. It’s not adding “season” it’s begging for a grease fire by letting it pile on. I never use any chemicals or soap. Nor do I lay foil down. Daily, just a quick pre and post cook scrape of the grates when they are good and hot is all it needs.

Nothing like cleaning my big green egg. After every cook I let it rip wide open for a bit then shut it down. Clean as a whistle every time. lol

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Did some wings on the traeger last night.

Brine 24hr in brown sugar, salt, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes.

Dry rub was brown sugar, ancho chili powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and a bunch of the traeger veggie rub.

90 mins at 260 then 5 mins each side at 450 to crisp the skin.

Wife also made a soy sauce, honey, siracha sauce to go with it. IMG_20210308_182145_01.jpg

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I’m excited for this one. Any advice for brisket virgins? Picking up some pink butcher paper too.
63711867926__10CEF82C-7D0E-4A95-B5C1-BB0C9BD642D5.jpg


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Snboarder113 said:
I’m excited for this one. Any advice for brisket virgins? Picking up some pink butcher paper too.
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I just picked up a brisket today too for my first attempt at it tomorrow. I'm going with the traeger coffee rub, fat side down, 250 until internal temp of 165 then wrap in butcher paper until 204. I'll let you know how it turns out. What method are you going with?

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I read about wrapping the butt in freezer paper...why doesn't it burn?...wouldn't parchment work since it's good to 400 degrees?
 
I’ve never wrapped my butt in parchment, although I do put it in multiple layers of foil with some cider once the internal temp hits 160 (about 4 hours in).


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