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Wood Pellet Smoker vs. Propane Grill - Opinions Please (1 Viewer)

Bossman

Bossman

Footballguy
... another propane grill has come to it's end of life.

All stainless construction, still looks brand new, but the guts completely rotted out. So poorly made now.

So I'm at a crossroads. Thinking I might go with the wood pellet smoker with the insta light igniter.

Smoker Grill

I used one at a friends house and it did a fine job .... after we disassembled it and cleaned out all the pellets that had swollen in the feed tube ... that took an hour.

The idea of using different wood to enhance flavor intrigues me. Hickory pellets to do salmon ... apple pellets to do ribs ... etc.

Wondering what my fellow FBG's think about these ...quality / maintenance / performance ... pros & cons

vs the std propane grill that I've used all my life.

 
Trager's quality has gone downhill considerably over the years. You're paying for the name now..

If you're mostly grilling I'd stick with charcoal IMO. Pellet grills take just as long to fire up and have lots more that can go wrong. 

The only place pellets shine IMO is extended/overnight smoking sessions 

 
Bought a Traeger from Costco a couple of years ago, and have been really happy with it. Only time we fire up the propane grill is for thin cuts of beef like skirt or flank steak, pretty much everything else we do on the Traeger now whether it’s a several hour smoke or just a regular grill of some burgers, fish, pork chops, etc. 

I do clean it regularly, and live in a pretty low humidity area so haven’t any issues with pellets swelling and getting stuck. The one downside is that it just doesn’t get as hot as advertised, really can’t get it past 400 or so, so can’t sear steaks or cook pizza. 

 
What kind of cooking do you do most frequently? Do you see that changing? By type I mean fast cooks like chicken, burgers, steaks or longer cooks like brisket, pork butt, ribs.

 
My wife bought me an electric smoker that uses pellets.     I don`t like it as you can`t control the heat and it cooks way too fast.  I put a pork butt in on low and 3 hours later it was totally burned.

 
If you can do it and do lots of grill work the answer is both.  I have a 2 burner Weber as well, the convenience is hard to beat and sometimes you need the higher heat that a smoker just can’t provide.   

 
Bossman said:
... another propane grill has come to it's end of life.

All stainless construction, still looks brand new, but the guts completely rotted out. So poorly made now.

So I'm at a crossroads. Thinking I might go with the wood pellet smoker with the insta light igniter.

Smoker Grill

I used one at a friends house and it did a fine job .... after we disassembled it and cleaned out all the pellets that had swollen in the feed tube ... that took an hour.

The idea of using different wood to enhance flavor intrigues me. Hickory pellets to do salmon ... apple pellets to do ribs ... etc.

Wondering what my fellow FBG's think about these ...quality / maintenance / performance ... pros & cons

vs the std propane grill that I've used all my life.
Click to expand...
It seems to me these two products serve different roles. A pellet smoker can’t be used for grilling as far as I’m aware. I would say, if you need to replace your gas grill, buy another gas grill or maybe go charcoal. If you want to get into bbq and smoking, the pellet smokers are a very popular alternative to traditional wood/charcoal smokers. Treagar seems to be a leader in that market, but there are several competing products worth considering.  

 
If you buy another propane shell out extra for a Weber and buy a good cover if it’s exposed where you have it. Replace the cover every year. Keep somewhat clean after every use (burn off crap, scrub the grate, etc). Clean the grill thoroughly once a year. The thing will last forever. 

 
Da Guru said:
My wife bought me an electric smoker that uses pellets.     I don`t like it as you can`t control the heat and it cooks way too fast.  I put a pork butt in on low and 3 hours later it was totally burned.
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Sounds like a terrible smoker.  Which one is it?  Good thing rabbit is a hot & fast cook, eh?

 
The General said:
If you buy another propane shell out extra for a Weber and buy a good cover if it’s exposed where you have it. Replace the cover every year. Keep somewhat clean after every use (burn off crap, scrub the grate, etc). Clean the grill thoroughly once a year. The thing will last forever. 
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This. 
I did exactly this after going though other grills seemingly every other year.  Have had my little Weber for 5 years now and its in great condition.  The heat deflectors are getting a bit rusty so I might need to replace those soon but that’s easy and cheap.  

 
I have a Costco Traeger that I bought a few years ago. Love it but you have to commit to keeping it clean after pretty much every cook Burgers are good on it but still use my gas Weber for burgers/dogs etc. 

Im looking at upgrading to a Traeger Ironwood or RecTec 

 
My wife got me a Traeger Pro 575 for Christmas.  I love it for doing chicken, ribs, briskets, etc...  on it.  I also have a Broil King propane grill with a rotisserie. I love doing our own rotisserie chickens, prime rib and turkeys.  Have not smoked a turkey yet but planning on it.  I feel that the propane does a better job with steaks.  As of right now, I will be keeping both as I feel better grilling some things on propane with experience vs the pellet.  I store both in the shed for the winter and bring them out to cook at times.  But I have a cheap propane to use all winter that I replace every 3 to 4 years on Black Friday for less than $100 because it is smaller and easier to heat up in winter. 

If you go Treager, I recommend going to the Pro 575 over the Pro 22.  Newer technology and I felt it was better over the 22.   

 
SayWhat? said:
Camp Chef Woodwind with the sear station. Woodwinds

Gives you the best of both worlds.
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Yes. You can cook whatever on the pellet side (think of it as a wood fueled convection oven) and also use the sear station as a propane grill. The sear station gets up to 900 degrees so plenty of heat and you can use it at lower temps to so fast grill type stuff (burgers brats chicken etc) or reverse sear chops and steaks to give your food a nice smokey flavor with a nice crust from the sear station. 

 
snore said:
Yes. You can cook whatever on the pellet side (think of it as a wood fueled convection oven) and also use the sear station as a propane grill. The sear station gets up to 900 degrees so plenty of heat and you can use it at lower temps to so fast grill type stuff (burgers brats chicken etc) or reverse sear chops and steaks to give your food a nice smokey flavor with a nice crust from the sear station. 
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Ron Swanson said:
What fuel does the sear station run on? Is it infrared? How hot does it get?
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As Snore stated, up to 900 degrees.  It runs on propane.  I don’t at all fault anyone for choosing other brands.  I just honestly can’t imagine having a pellet grill without that sear station.  Getting that incredible juicy cook on the pellet grill is awesome and I doubt I’ll ever go to anything else, but reverse searing steaks, burgers, chicken, etc at the end with that crosshatch just makes everything perfect.  

ETA - And if you want to grill up a few burgers/brats quick like, you can fire up the sear station and simply grill on that in about five minutes.

 
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SayWhat? said:
Camp Chef Woodwind with the sear station. Woodwinds

Gives you the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
This is my latest grill purchase.  Have had it for about a year and a half and use it for everything.  Everyone loves my reverse seared ribeyes using the sear station.  There are a couple drawbacks (drip tray warps and doesn't work correctly) but the sear station is worth the trouble.  Doesn't take very long to fire up, especially compared to charcoal.

FYI, over the past 15+ years I'd been all Weber up to this point with two propane grills, the WSM, and a few travel grills like the Smokey Joe and small propane model.  Weber's pellet model wasn't out yet when I was in the market.

 
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CletiusMaximus said:
It seems to me these two products serve different roles. A pellet smoker can’t be used for grilling as far as I’m aware. I would say, if you need to replace your gas grill, buy another gas grill or maybe go charcoal. If you want to get into bbq and smoking, the pellet smokers are a very popular alternative to traditional wood/charcoal smokers. Treagar seems to be a leader in that market, but there are several competing products worth considering.  
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I do my grilling on the Camp Chef Woodwind pellet smoker but not on the sear station.  I really only use that for finishing steaks.

 
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Thanks for the replies everyone.

I'm doing mostly quick grilling, steaks, burgers, salmon ...

But if I had the option to do a brisket or smoke the salmon, I'd certainly utilize it.

Gonna research that combo unit

 
SayWhat? said:
As Snore stated, up to 900 degrees.  It runs on propane.  I don’t at all fault anyone for choosing other brands.  I just honestly can’t imagine having a pellet grill without that sear station.  Getting that incredible juicy cook on the pellet grill is awesome and I doubt I’ll ever go to anything else, but reverse searing steaks, burgers, chicken, etc at the end with that crosshatch just makes everything perfect.  

ETA - And if you want to grill up a few burgers/brats quick like, you can fire up the sear station and simply grill on that in about five minutes.
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I was genuinely curious.  No way my Rec-Tec can get anywhere close to 900. But the propane and only 900 are nonstarters for me.  That's the only damn thing my Napoleon is good for. The natural gas infrared side burner.  Although I do use a pizza oven attachment on the gas grill portion occasionally...900 works great for that  Next time I just get a natural gas infrared burner by itself or a salamander to complement the pellet smoker.

 
Bossman said:
Thanks for the replies everyone.

I'm doing mostly quick grilling, steaks, burgers, salmon ...

But if I had the option to do a brisket or smoke the salmon, I'd certainly utilize it.

Gonna research that combo unit
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I think you would be very happy with a Weber Genesis. It is possible to smoke on those.  If you want to spend a little more time each time you grill in exchange  for a bit more charcoal/wood flavor, consider a Kamado or Weber kettle.

 
SayWhat? said:
Camp Chef Woodwind with the sear station. Woodwinds

Gives you the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
Just placed an order for the Woodwinds 24 w/ sear station about a week ago.  On back order currently.  I researched for a few weeks, wound up deciding this was the best option, tons of versatility with adding the sear station.  Cannot wait for it to arrive.  Glad to hear a few of you in here are happy with them.

 
SFBayDuck said:
The one downside is that it just doesn’t get as hot as advertised, really can’t get it past 400 or so, so can’t sear steaks or cook pizza. 
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Have both and this is my biggest complaint with the Traeger, just doesn’t get near as hot as advertised. Propane for burgers, brats, Traeger for ribs and whatever else.

 
SayWhat? said:
Camp Chef Woodwind with the sear station. Woodwinds

Gives you the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
Gotta say, the Camp Winds website absolutely blows.

Really no description of the product.

How does it operate? Gas burners over the wood pellets ignitor? Btu's?

Stainless components? Grate material? Side burner vs sear box?

It's as if they are affraid to sell their product.

 
Ron Swanson said:
I think you would be very happy with a Weber Genesis. It is possible to smoke on those.  If you want to spend a little more time each time you grill in exchange  for a bit more charcoal/wood flavor, consider a Kamado or Weber kettle.
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Considering the Weber Genesis 435 ... but some of the reviews stating the same issues that I'm having with cheaper brands ...

Hardware and internals rusting after just a short time frame. 

I'm beginning to think the materials and hardware are sourced from the same place in China as the inferior brands.

Weber Summit also a consideration ... but I'm not seeing the $900 difference.

 
Last year I bought a Traeger Ironwood 650 and I absolutely love it.  Came from a Weber. 

 
dkp993 said:
If you can do it and do lots of grill work the answer is both.  I have a 2 burner Weber as well, the convenience is hard to beat and sometimes you need the higher heat that a smoker just can’t provide.   
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I see the CampWinds / Woodwinds combo unit ... but seems the round propane burner is at the center of the grill (not that they tell you this but I was able to catch a glimpse in one of their videos)

I don't see this working well for a quick grilling session. Hot dogs & burgers or whatever.

As much as I would love just go with a pellet fed grill, now I'm leaning on 2 separate units as dk and others suggested.

Anyone familiar with Broil King? Seems like the anti-Weber brand. Pricing seems reasonable.

Found this:

All their products, as claimed by Broil King, are proudly made by high-skilled North American employees, using quality North American sourced steel.

“Our barbecue grill components are sourced with preference given to domestic suppliers whenever possible but do include some globally sourced components,”

... and a proper website. Very refreshing compared to CampWinds.

Broil King S590

 
Bossman said:
Whaaaa?  :eek:

Seems I may have found the answer ...

The Woodwinds / Campwinds is a pellet grill that converts to a gas grill (somewhat)...

This Napoleon is a traditional propane grill that converts to wood / charcoal...

Napoleon Grill

Napoleon Charcoal Grate
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... and now I'm seeing this:

Broil King Smoker Box

I'm sure it's not as "smokey" as the pellet fed smokers but hopefully adds some flavor to salmon / ribs that I've been missing with straight propane.

Anyone ever use these? Do they even work?

 
So I have a Weber Genesis. Was a hand me down so I am not entirely sure of the age, but I have had it for 6 years. 3 burners. Sear station. And a side burner where I have fried up potatoes or peppers. 
 

It is getting a bit rusty and now one of my burners is not working. Maybe just clogged, but I don’t know. 
 

Been debating anyway whether to get a Traeger or similar. I am certainly not a grill master (mostly burgers, chicken, dogs/sausages, with occasional filet or skirt steak) but would like the option to smoke chicken or a brisket occasionally. 

What are the best options these days?

 
jwb said:
Any reason you wouldn’t consider an egg or Komodo joe? My big green egg does everything. 
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Would second this.  Though I will say having both a gas and egg style is the best.  When I only had my Joe it got tedious every single time waiting for it to heat up. Sometimes you just wanna grill up a quick dog or a burger.  

 
Leeroy Jenkins said:
So I have a Weber Genesis. Was a hand me down so I am not entirely sure of the age, but I have had it for 6 years. 3 burners. Sear station. And a side burner where I have fried up potatoes or peppers. 
 

It is getting a bit rusty and now one of my burners is not working. Maybe just clogged, but I don’t know. 
 

Been debating anyway whether to get a Traeger or similar. I am certainly not a grill master (mostly burgers, chicken, dogs/sausages, with occasional filet or skirt steak) but would like the option to smoke chicken or a brisket occasionally. 

What are the best options these days?
Click to expand...
I have a pitboss pellet grill and absolutely love it. It’s set it and forget it as far as temps go. It has an option that I’m not sure the others have where the middle opens up to access the flame for searing or I guess grilling, I haven’t used that a lot. I still have and will always have a gas grill for quick grilling burgers, dogs, fish …

This is a great thread 

https://forums.footballguys.com/topic/703786-official-grilling-and-smoking-thread/page/163/

 
Cowboysfan8 said:
I have a pitboss pellet grill and absolutely love it. It’s set it and forget it as far as temps go. It has an option that I’m not sure the others have where the middle opens up to access the flame for searing or I guess grilling, I haven’t used that a lot. I still have and will always have a gas grill for quick grilling burgers, dogs, fish …

This is a great thread 

https://forums.footballguys.com/topic/703786-official-grilling-and-smoking-thread/page/163/
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i was looking for that thread!

My issue is the way my set up is, I probably only have room for one grill or smoker or combo right now. 

 
Dan Lambskin said:
I just don’t get how people don’t have an extra 15-20 minutes for a proper charcoal fire
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I agree with you, though I understand a lot of people have reasons for not wanting to take that extra 15-20 minutes.

There is absolutely something magical about "honey, I'm going to go start the grill" while you grab a cold beer, and her having the expectation that this is a 30-minute process. Even better if you can convince her that it's a 45 minute labor intensive process. 

 
pollardsvision said:
Dan Lambskin said:
I just don’t get how people don’t have an extra 15-20 minutes for a proper charcoal fire
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I agree with you, though I understand a lot of people have reasons for not wanting to take that extra 15-20 minutes.

There is absolutely something magical about "honey, I'm going to go start the grill" while you grab a cold beer, and her having the expectation that this is a 30-minute process. Even better if you can convince her that it's a 45 minute labor intensive process. 
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I’ll give you an example of why.   I’m the cook in my home, there many days where I get home after 6pm.  We have a young daughter who’s in bed by 7:30ish.  So in that short time I need to cook us something and have some family dinner time.  That 20mins is time I simply don’t have on those days.  The convenience and speed of firing up the grill for some dogs or the like on those days is valuable.  

 
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Have 3. Built in propane grill. Traeger smoker. Cooking with my new Santa Maria style grill today. Wood/charcoal. All different uses. Today it’s tri tip and chicken 

 
dkp993 said:
I’ll give you an example of why.   I’m the cook in my home, there many days where I get home after 6pm.  We have a young daughter who’s in bed by 7:30ish.  So in that short time I need to cook us something and have some family dinner time.  That 20mins is time I simply don’t have on those days.  The convenience and speed of firing up the grill for some dogs or the like on those days is valuable.  
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Makes perfect sense. The need to save that 20 minutes is clear, just pointing out benefits of the 20 minutes in certain instances.

"Starting the grill" with a cold beer or 3 is sort of like the male version of the extra long bubble bath. 

 
pollardsvision said:
Makes perfect sense. The need to save that 20 minutes is clear, just pointing out benefits of the 20 minutes in certain instances.

"Starting the grill" with a cold beer or 3 is sort of like the male version of the extra long bubble bath. 
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No doubt, and one of my favorite things to do.  

 
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