Pellets vrs Gravity Feed ?

[Smokin Okie]

I did not know where to put this. It could go in Pellet Smoker forum, or Wood Smoker, or Charcoal Smoker forums.

So here it is.

The YT creator here is not my cup of tea. I think he overthinks a lot on smokers to the point of becoming very nerdy ( a little nerdy is OK ) .

But IMO, he's nailed this one. I've not smoked on a pellet grill. I have smoked on two GF's, offsets, WSM's, and Kettles. But I don't understand why GF's are not more popular than they are.

This fellas comparison is a beat down of pellet cookers. Its not a fair fight.

I found a Masterbuilt 560 on sale at Walmart in Jan 2021, I think it was $150, maybe $200. Bought it just to see what it would do. I was expecting white billowing smoke, like what we see in charcoal chimney's when they are first lit. And far from it, it produces thin blue smoke. It had great air flow, though it leaked like a sieve.

As a smoker, I loved it. But not as a grill, but I've got Kettles that do that work.

The only reason I can think of why more major grill/smoker manufacturers have not embraced GF's, is they make more money selling pellets than grills. This fellas test may prove that to be right.

 

[FoxmanNC]

I think the GF is the best bang for the buck, hands down. It is as close to the quality of an offset with the ease of a pellet that I am aware of. I own the 560, have for 4-5 years, bought used for peanuts that had never been cooked on, and it does a fantastic job. I have never felt like it let me down on the smoke flavor. Every Pellet owner I know personally has commented that their biggest complaint is the lack of smoke flavor, otherwise they love the convenience. With that said, I wouldn't trade my offset for anything other than a bigger offset. The difference, while not huge, is... amazing. For those without the time to tend the fire, hands down, GF is the way to go. I agree that the Pellet option and popularity seem to be the marketing aspect. It dates back to the days of Beta versus VHS. No question that Beta was better quality, but VHS was by far the most available and best marketed video cassette player in the game, and eventually, Beta died a slow, painful death on the consumer end. Hopefully, with multiple players in the GF game, that does not happen.