Grill or smoker?

[Leon1972]

hey guys. So my grill has bit the dust and I need to make a decision. Pellet smoker or grill?
I love that smoky taste and flavor however I do t know how much of the traditional smoking I will do. I want to smoke salmon next season and the thanksgiving turkey next year. Other than that it would probably be here and there that I smoke.
I mostly grill chicken breast, pork chops, brats ,steak and burgers. I’m reading conflicting things on if a pellet grill is good for this kind of stuff. Some say it’s disappointing and others say it’s amazing and so much better than a regular grill.
What is your guys opinions on this?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Winterrider]

Look into the camp chef woodwind with sear box or side box. Might be your ticket ?

 

[fivetricks]

Isn't the obvious answer here to get both? Then get two more?

I mean, isn't that what many of the rest of us did? Isn't that kinda why we're all here gathered together? To figure out what to do with the pile of grills and smokers laying around :)

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

For the price of a decent pellet smoker (or less), you can buy a Weber Smokey Mountain bullet smoker, and a Weber Kettle for grilling at higher heat. Don't get me wrong because I also have pellet pooper, but if space or money were a concern, I could accomplish 99% of my meals with these two! This is just my opinion though, and those are like...well, you know. My pellet smoker will smoke at 150, and sear at 550. I've just realized I the flavor of charcoal, or lump. Check out the snake method for smoking with charcoal in a Weber Kettle, and you have the best of both worlds.

 

[mike243]

Been using my pellet smoker as a grill and its been doing a great job,that said its a little different flavor and i love varitey so will always have both

 

[SonnyE]

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Daughter and SIL's Treager pellet grill. Kind of meh...
I have a Gas Burner for much grillin, and a MES 30 highly modified for smoking.
But you need to consider what you like, what you do, and what you'd like to do in the future.
If it was me, I've been eyeballin a combo. Gas on the right, Off-set on the left. Best of both worlds.
And an AMNPS for cold or warm smoking.
I think it was an OK Longhorn I was droolin on at the time.
But I'd want a Natural Gas jetting in mine.

 

[noboundaries]

I'm a charcoal/wood guy, using a Kettle and the WSM. The Kettle is used for what I call "smoky grillin', always hot n fast. The WSM is used for long smokes, 6-20 hours. For $500-$600, you've got the best flavor of both worlds.

 

[retfr8flyr]

I have been a lump charcoal guy my whole life and I just added a pellet grill to my setup. I love the new grill but it's only marginal for real grilling. I think you should check out a Kamado type grill. A Kamado grill will do it all and give you the charcoal flavor you are looking for. You can smoke, bake, do high temp Pizza and grill from lower temps all the way up to very high temp searing. You should really check them out.

If you are going to get a pellet grill, make sure it is one that has actual flame style grilling capability. I didn't care about that feature, as I have my Big Joe. I think a pellet grill and a Kamado grill are the perfect combination to cook anything you can think of.

 

[yankee2bbq]

I’m with noboundaries, as I do the same.

 

[gmc2003]

Another vote for the Weber here.

Chris

 

[Leon1972]

So what you guys are telling me is it’s all a bunch of bs. So many of these pellet grills are like it’s cersatile. Use it to cook your daily grilling and then use it to smoke when you want to smoke!
However, from what you guys are saying, the grilling side of the house on these things aren’t so great?
Also, I can’t fit two on my porch. I HAve to choose between one or the other.

 

[johnmeyer]

I'm in the same boat as SonnyE: gas grill and MES.

However, if I were starting from scratch, I'd splurge and get the Weber Summit, and use it both as a grill (which I do 95% of the time), and smoker (which I do 5% of the time, if that). It has a really nice smoke box; rotisserie along with a radiant heat source that is used when spinning food; and it has a sear function which goes beyond the heat you get on a regular grill. If you search this forum for "weber summit" you'll find it gets really high marks.

If you do a lot more smoking than I do, and you are really serious about BBQ, then you should get a dedicated smoker.

 

[Leon1972]

Oh yeah. Something else I should have mentioned earlier. I cannot do a charcoal grill.
We found out my wife is allergic to something put off by the charcoal. It makes her break out every time. Yes we’ve tried many different brands. And for some reason, because a friend recently got a pellet smoker and we’ve eaten at his place also real times now, that does not affect her. That is why I want a pellet smoker to work out for me. Lol.
Guess I’m just doomed to the propane.

 

[ab canuck]

I use a pitboss pellet pooper as our main grill/smoker. Being as we can smoke sear and grill on it it works great for us. I break out the weber when I am at home and have the luxury of time to use it. I would love to go with an offset but living where I do, getting a good wood for it is not easy or cheap here. So A pellet pooper is the choice for me.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Oh yeah. Something else I should have mentioned earlier. I cannot do a charcoal grill.
We found out my wife is allergic to something put off by the charcoal. It makes her break out every time. Yes we’ve tried many different brands. And for some reason, because a friend recently got a pellet smoker and we’ve eaten at his place also real times now, that does not affect her. That is why I want a pellet smoker to work out for me. Lol.
Guess I’m just doomed to the propane.

In that case a pellet grill ,with a direct flame option, would be the best way to go. There are several good options from reasonably priced to very expensive. What is your budget, if we know how much you can spend we can make better suggestions?

 

[yankee2bbq]

Oh yeah. Something else I should have mentioned earlier. I cannot do a charcoal grill.
We found out my wife is allergic to something put off by the charcoal. It makes her break out every time. Yes we’ve tried many different brands. And for some reason, because a friend recently got a pellet smoker and we’ve eaten at his place also real times now, that does not affect her. That is why I want a pellet smoker to work out for me. Lol.
Guess I’m just doomed to the propane.

We’re not a mind reader yet. Should have been more specific in your first post. We try to suggest the best answer for what is being asked.

 

[Leon1972]

We’re not a mind reader yet. Should have been more specific in your first post. We try to suggest the best answer for what is being asked.

Not every reason is necessarily thought of right away. It’s been so long that I have been using propane exactly why had been kinda lost on me as far as thought of mention. Lol.

 

[Leon1972]

Well, my budget is up to 1000.
Need to be able To feed a family of 5regularly. More if having a party or family over. How many more would vary.
I want to be able to remotely control it. That way if it takes some time to come up to temp I can get it started on my way home from work.
Looking at the Rec Tec trailblazer right now.

 

[retfr8flyr]

As far as I know Rec Tec is the only company that offers remote starting capability. All the other companies do not allow it for safety reasons. If that is an absolute requirement then it really restricts your choices. If you are sold on Rec Tec I would increase your budget and get the RT700 Bull. Much better grill for the money, all SS, good capacity and the 6 year warranty, is worth the upgrade.

 

[Leon1972]

Well the remote start part of the WiFi isn’t a deal breaker. Just overall control. My wife can at least learn how to start it for me. Lol.
So no, rev tec is not the only choice. Any recommendations would be welcome.