Electric/Pellet to Pellet?

[BiscuitoftheSea]

I'm looking at moving away from my current setup which is a MES 40 with the A-Maze-N pellet smoker and instead buy a smoker actually made to use pellets. I'm wondering if anyone has made this change and if you are happy with your decision? Have you noticed in difference in cooking / ease of use / reliability / flavor? Will the meat I produce now be equivalent to the meat produced in a pellet smoker?

My current setup has me placing the A-Maze-N maze on top of the water pan in the bottom left corner. I've never had issues keeping it lit though it is pretty annoying getting it setup by lighting it on fire and then making sure the fire burns for 10 minutes before blowing it out and putting it in the smoker. Either way, having it in that location limits me from placing meat over the top of it. Not too big of a deal as I typically cut my racks of ribs in half and don't foresee myself doing a full packer brisket since I don't have that many friends :-)

I do notice with the vertical orientation, the food on top drips onto the food below, but again, that isn't too big of an issue. The food turns out pretty good.

Also, it would be nice if the smoker could get above 300 degrees - if nothing else, just so I can get it hot enough to burn off a lot of the stuff that coats everything. I feel like the MES always has a layer of stickiness over everything.

I also already have a Weber grill (Genesis E-330) for grilling (steaks / burgers / etc.), so I don't think I'd be using the grilling aspects of the pellet smoker for much unless there is a big flavor difference.

The pellet grill I'm looking at is the Pit Boss Pro Series 1100 from Lowes. Seems like it has the best features and build quality for the price (unless others have better suggestions).

Thanks for any info.

 

[undy]

I am a fairly new smoker. had a 30 MES last year. My kids got me a Treager 22 pellet grill and I like the pellet better. So far i have smoke ribs, pulled pork and a brisket this past weekend. My family seems to agree as we all like the finished product better with the pellet grill

 

[mike243]

The pellet hrill wint give as much smoke flavor but its a clean taste and never bitter, o have put a litttto much smoke on stuff over the years but not possible with a pellet grill. If you can sample some off of 1 before you buy i would do that, xtra smoke can be added pretty easy to a pellet smoker

 

[mike243]

Sorry about spelling working on cell phone and wont let me edit, also wife doesn't like heavy smoke these days so i get to use it more lol

 

[BiscuitoftheSea]

It would have less smoke flavor than my electric that only uses pellets in an amazen? I would have thought it would be comparable or more. What do you mean by less bitter? What causes bitterness in my current setup?

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

To be honest, it sounds like you have a pretty good setup right now. I don't think a pellet smoker will smoke food any better than your MES, and won't grill stuff any better than your gasser. At grilling temps, pellet smokers don't put out a lot of smoke. Also, most pellet grills don't run at very low temps needed to properly do snack sticks, etc. My RecTec with a Sawtooth controller won't go below 150. If you are trying get down to one grill, a pellet pooper is a great all-in-one grill. If not, take that Pitboss money and spend it on food and beer!

 

[Winterrider]

Mailbox mod out of the question for your 40 ? Or just Foil Or small tin over the maze to keep drippings out. Lot of pellet owners say the same about not as much smoke running stock without assistance.
Get it and have options.

 

[BiscuitoftheSea]

Mailbox mod out of the question for your 40 ? Or just Foil Or small tin over the maze to keep drippings out. Lot of pellet owners say the same about not as much smoke running stock without assistance.
Get it and have options.

Personally, I'd rather just buy something new if I need to do extensive mods to the existing one. My current one works, I'm more interested in if there were actually significant enough benefits to switching between an electric with smoke maze vs. going to a pellet. Just because something is adequate doesn't mean that something else that is better isn't worth upgrading to. I'm just trying to get clarity on whether there are $550 worth of benefits in upgrading.

 

[BiscuitoftheSea]

To be honest, it sounds like you have a pretty good setup right now. I don't think a pellet smoker will smoke food any better than your MES, and won't grill stuff any better than your gasser. At grilling temps, pellet smokers don't put out a lot of smoke. Also, most pellet grills don't run at very low temps needed to properly do snack sticks, etc. My RecTec with a Sawtooth controller won't go below 150. If you are trying get down to one grill, a pellet pooper is a great all-in-one grill. If not, take that Pitboss money and spend it on food and beer!

This is what I was thinking. Thanks for confirming. I don't smoke low temp. I pretty much only smoke pork butt, ribs, brisket and chuck roasts and pretty well all of those are between 225 and 235.

 

[Pilot Bird]

I, like you moved. More of a modification from the MES chip tray, feeding it every 20 minutes, then a pellet mod, trying to keeping it lit, to a smoke generator, with chunks of my favorite hard woods. I’m including some pictures.


After 11 to 14 hours, that’s what’s left.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

Don't forget to factor in the cost of pellets. Since the pellets are the fuel source, and the smoke source, you're going to burn through a LOT more than your tray. Also, changing out different flavor pellets is a lot more of a pain in a pellet grill than changing out in your tray. You will also need some type of vacuum to clean out the ash that all pellet grills leave behind after running.

 

[texomakid]

I had 2 electric smokers prior to my Yoder. 1st had the small Masterbuilt with the chip tray on the bottom. It was good, then bought a Bradley 4 rack with digital controls (wood pucks) and it was good as well but the overall quality of the product I cook now in the Yoder is solid. I think what I cook in the Yoder has improved several notches above anything I ever cooked in the electric ones. That too might just be I'm learning and cooking better but it all starts with a good cooker regardless of what your heat source. They're are so many variables.......

 

[LarrymickeMN]

I recently made the move from an MES 40 to a pellet smoker (Grilla Silverbac). Haven't received it yet but am excited to make the move.

I like my MES, although I liked my 30 better, but the pellet grill will allow me to "combine" my gasser and my smoker. I was also getting tired of the vertical nature of the MES and the mess it made when saucing.

 

[Pilot Bird]

Personally, I'd rather just buy something new if I need to do extensive mods to the existing one. My current one works, I'm more interested in if there were actually significant enough benefits to switching between an electric with smoke maze vs. going to a pellet. Just because something is adequate doesn't mean that something else that is better isn't worth upgrading to. I'm just trying to get clarity on whether there are $550 worth of benefits in upgrading.

The smoke generator I use was a nice modification to my mes 40. It smokes for many hours, I have gone 14 and still get great wispy smoke. The investment was well spent. I am able to use larger chunks of wood, one fill is good for the duration. I save money not buying chips or pellets.

 

[mneeley490]

Like the age-old question, "Ginger or Mary Ann?", I say, why not both?

You can do a mailbox mod for your MES for under $20. It's not that hard. Might take a whole hour.

I have a MES30 with a mailbox mod, a charcoal Weber Performer, and a pellet eating Green Mountain Grill, (among others.) They all do things a little differently, so you can change things up occasionally, depending on your needs.