Pellet vs. Electric

[Central PA Cowboy]

My buddy has a Rec Tec pellet smoker and an MES electric smoker. Says the pellet smoker blows the electric smoker out of the water. Leaning towards the Pit Boss PB340 pellet smoker. Sell me on why I should get an electric smoker rather than a pellet smoker. And go!

 

[PerazziMx14]

Please remove

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Thanks for the info. That's a great question. I just want to smoke pork and chicken mainly. Maybe even a brisket. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[PerazziMx14]

Please remove

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

What would be the difference between a pellet smoker and an electric smoker? Convenience?

 

[dr k]

Mes is less expensive and pennies to operate per hour. I think the Mes gets lower than pellet smokers down to 100 for sausage, sticks, fish and jerky etc. Cold smoker for cheese, bacon etc.

 

[hank2000]

I have an MES and a pellet smoker. The mes works good for pulled pork sausage bacon cheese things like that pellet smoker works best for turkeys chickens prime ribs because it gets hotter. Like both

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

I have an MES and a pellet smoker. The mes works good for pulled pork sausage bacon cheese things like that pellet smoker works best for turkeys chickens prime ribs because it gets hotter. Like both

This is the information I was looking for. I would be doing more of chicken breasts, ribs/pulled pork, and probably brisket. What would you recommend having used both?

 

[hank2000]

Well if I could only have one I would go with the mes because I like the way it cooks You can cook just about any thing in it the only think about an mes is that when u cook a turkey or a chicken the skin will not be crispy because it does not get hot enough. That’s a pellet smoker would be better because it will get hotter chickens and things like that need to be cooked at 325 or higher for crispy skin (I cook mine at about 350 till internal temp 165 in the breast and 175 in the thigh). Now after saying all that I used a mes for years to Cooke everything and that is still my go to smoker for almost everything I do. I also us an amazen pellet tray to generate smoke and I use there pellets only. Do a wag search or they may be sponsores here Plus I use one of there tubes for extra smoke in my pellet rig. I would start with an mes but be forewarned u will expand as time goes on because it’s addictive I started out with pulled pork that’s all I wanted to do now years latter I do that and sausage (starting some today) bacon and everything thing in between. And I use thermometers not time to tell when meat is done it’s safer and better cooks as well. I’ve said a lot I hope it helps please let me know what u decide on. And as questions I love to help and if I can’t someone here can. Good luck

 

[forkin pork]

I've never been a pellet or electric type of guy, but my son last year got a Silverbac Pellet smoker from Grilla Grills.
I have to say that cooker in the bomb, my son loves it and so do I.
Also, Silverbac got super great reviews and sometimes when you order one, you have to wait 3 months for delivery due to demand.

 

[petehalsted]

Hank has given you some great info.

One more question, do you have a grill now? You said chick breast, not whole chickens was your goal. I just did some wings on my MES and between dry brining and a couple minutes on the grill at the very end I had nice crispy skin on my wings.

We you like BBQ, Grilling, etc. you still need a grill regardless, so you can use it to finish off stuff if you want the crisp. Not so easy with whole chicken but for anything else it would be.

On the pellet front, there are some that are suppose to be able to smoke and grill. But I have seen lots of comments that they don't do a great job of grilling because you can't get enough direct heat for a good sear. I have no personal experience, just based on post I have seen.

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Thanks for all of the info. I already have a grill, so no need for another "grill".

 

[hank2000]

What Pete said is all true. If u have a grill and get a mes u can smoke steaks on it to an internal temp of about 120 ( I like med rare steaks) and finish them on a hot grill this give u a good smoke flavor and a good sear as well. I use my pellet grill for this to I just use grill grates from start to finish have a good tamest and a sear as well. But the sear is not as good as a gas grill. But my deck is full no room for any more grill. Hmmmm may be time to ask for an outdoor kitchen.

 

[hank2000]

What ever u decide on u can’t go wrong. Just practice and each cook will better then the last. Get to know ur smoker and u will be doing more then just chicken and check out Bears step by step he has a lot of recipes on there and he uses an mes for everyone of them. I have learned a lot from him and others I hope all this helped

 

[troutman]

This is exactly why I have multiple cooker syndrome (MCS) of which there is currently no known cure. I find that differing cookers do certain things better than others for my taste. Plus I just like having all kinds of gadgets. I also cook indoors with sous vide and conventional convection ovens. If you can afford, get both, if not then go for the one that satisfies the things you cook most. Good luck !!

 

[ross77]

I had a MES but never did like the type of smoke flavor it produced. It was too bitter and ashtray like. The controller also failed twice. IMO the Weber charcoal smoker made the best tasting que but required too much work for me.

I now have a RecTec and really enjoy it.

 

[browneyesvictim]

It has been said many times around here about the MES that using wood chips the conventional way as designed is vastly inferior to using pellets in a tray such as an A-Maze-N in so many ways. But when using a pellet tray in an MES is vastly superior to the smoke of a pellet pooper. Any claims of ash taste or creosote taste from the MES are simply the results of mismanaged burning of the chips or other aspects of the smoker such as leaving vents closed or partially closed. I can also understand however, if a person chooses not to take the time to learn their smoker (no mater what kind it is) that a pellet grill would suit them better because they are more forgiving in that sense.

The real main drawback of the MES as I see it is the 275' limit. But if you have a grill, this is a non-issue. Now if you go with charcoal with a bullet or other vertical smoker you can get the best of all worlds. But as pointed out requires a little more work and tending to. If you add a controller such a cyber-q to one of them, then I would argue the benefits vs effort is a notch above about any other method out there.

 

[ross77]

You don’t seem to be a fan of pellet smokers....

 

[browneyesvictim]

You don’t seem to be a fan of pellet smokers....

Don't get me wrong. I would rather have a pellet "smoker" than a gas grill. They have a convenience factor to them that is attractive for a VERY large population because they sure sell a lot of them! But they are a GRILL not really a SMOKER.

 

[hank2000]

This is exactly why I have multiple cooker syndrome (MCS) of which there is currently no known cure. I find that differing cookers do certain things better than others for my taste. Plus I just like having all kinds of gadgets. I also cook indoors with sous vide and conventional convection ovens. If you can afford, get both, if not then go for the one that satisfies the things you cook most. Good luck !!

Yes I have more then one myself. And thinking about building a smokehouse to do bacon and hams in.