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.

 

[mcokevin]

I run my 1050 with a hickory split vertical in the charcoal chute. I don’t think I’ll ever be convinced a pellet cooker will give better flavor.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I run my 1050 with a hickory split vertical in the charcoal chute. I don’t think I’ll ever be convinced a pellet cooker will give better flavor.

I agree. But I gotta qualify it that I've never cooked or eaten bbq from a pellet smoker. I do see a lot of complaints about a lack of smoke flavor from pellets.

 

[912smoker]

I agree. But I gotta qualify it that I've never cooked or eaten bbq from a pellet smoker. I do see a lot of complaints about a lack of smoke flavor from pellets.

First time cooking on a pellet grill was last weekend.
Used a Pitboss with Competition blend pellets .
Did a breakfast fatty, smoked cream cheese, brisket flat, baked beans, party ribs and a slab of spares.
While the food turned out good, it definitely was lacking the pronounced smoke flavor I'm accustomed to with the 1050.
Funny thing......I just ask my wife's opinion on the smoke flavor.
Her response:
"It's BBQ ! It all tastes the same "

Keith

 

[Smokin Okie]

First time cooking on a pellet grill was last weekend.
Used a Pitboss with Competition blend pellets last week.
Did a breakfast fatty, smoked cream cheese, brisket flat, baked beans, party ribs and a slab of spares.
While the food turned out good, it definitely was lacking the pronounced smoke flavor I'm accustomed to with the 1050.
Funny thing......I just ask my wife's opinion on the smoke flavor.
Her response:
"It's BBQ ! It all tastes the same "

Keith

I think that may be true for a lot of people.

Mrs Okie has the refined pallet between the two of us. She can pick up on flavors that I don't get. If the smoke is not there, she lets me know.

In that vid I posted, I was very surprised at the cost comparison between charcoal and pellets. So many complain about their MB GF's being charcoal hogs ( and maybe the XT is more efficient ) but pellets are far more expensive, according to the guy in the video.

 

[912smoker]

I found that to be true!
Was using the small Lexington model and was having to stir or refill the hopper a Lot!
Once, for some reason, the pellets didn't slide down into the chute and the temp started dropping. Don't know if it was during to older pellets or what happened.
Made sure to stir the hopper every hour or so after that! Used a 40 lb bag before I knew it!

Keith

 

[chopsaw]

I made it to the 6 minute mark in the video and had to bail .
I guess for him , and comparing the results of the 2 units he used might be true / fact ?


Could hardly say that as an across the board statement .
Not here to defend or promote anything . I do find this interesting for a couple of reasons .

Ran 1 rack of spare ribs in my pellet smoker yesterday .
Average temp was 250 .
Opened a brand new bag of Lumber Jack oak pellets and dumped in about a half a hopper .
There were some pellets left in the bottom . Maybe 2 pounds .
20 pound bag was $14.00
Ran the ribs from 11 am to 5 pm . So 6 hours .

This made me grab the bag and weight it .
15 pounds , so 5 pounds of pellets dumped , and I could do that cook again with what's left in the hopper . Like I said , there were some pellets in there , but could say it took 5 pounds to do the cook .
So .70 cents a pound for pellets , I did that smoke for $3.50 .

I gotta qualify it that I've never cooked or eaten bbq from a pellet smoker.

I like your style . Keeps it credible .
I never thought I would have a pellet smoker . I couldn't be happier with mine .
Would I love to have a gravity feed ? Heck yes .

All the can't get good smoke flavor from a pellet grill is just not true in my experience .
My offset is long gone . Just a cheap Char griller pro , but made great food . I get the comparison , but for me it's not the " smoke " It's the cooking with wood . Huge difference in texture and end result of the meat . For me it's not just smoke that makes an offset king .

I was at one time in the class of not adding unlit charcoal to my kettles , because of impurities .
I always started it in a chimney first and dumped it . Don't do that anymore , but that's where I had questions about gravity feed , but sounds like it's not an issue .

 

[Smokin Okie]

I'll be blunt, I don't like this Smoking Dad guy. Neither does Mrs Okie.

And I also don't like subjective taste tests in these YT videos. That varies from person to person and really doesn't tell me anything.

I do think his cost comparison was about as objective as that kind of thing can be. One of the reasons I don't care for this fella, is he tries to know the unknowable and this may've been the case for that. But the cost diff here was too extreme to not pay attention.

What really stood out to me, was the side by side appearance of the ribs. The pellet ribs were pale in comparison to the GF. The GF ribs had more coloring due to smoke, and its not dirty smoke. They produce a clean thin blue smoke.

And I disagree with where he put the wood chunks, he spaced them in the charcoal chute. My experience doing that, is they all turn to charcoal quickly, no matter how high they are placed. Its the perfect place to create charcoal ..... and that's wood in a high heat, low oxygen environment.

I think he could get better wood smoke putting them in the ash pan.

He also used a smoke tube in the pellet smoker, which did not seem to help those ribs.

 

[chopsaw]

I went back and looked at the ribs . Had to mute the video , but yeah . I agree on the color .
When I first got mine I did several cooks just to see what it would do .
Ribs . Salt and pepper only . No rub or sugars .
I don't use a smoke tube or tray .

Chicken parts and a couple pork steaks . Again no rub , no tube or tray .

Mine's open and uses flavor bars like a gas grill .
I use a broiler pan to set up 2 zones or catch grease .


I'll have to go back and find the final cost numbers . I'm interested in what he says .
I don't remember what he said he paid for the Traeger pellets , but I remember thinking it was lower than I've ever seen them .
I buy my pellets based on 2 main things . Quality smoke profile and fuel .
Meaning I use some to run it in smokeboost and early in the cook , then others that in my opinion don't offer as much in flavor I add as fuel to finish . Strictly for heat .
So I load the hopper accordingly . ( that's why a hopper dump is a must for me )

 

[Smokin Okie]

He arrived at about twice the cost, and I've forgotten his time frame.

And for many people, smoke flavor is secondary to marinades, injections, rubs, and sauces. Its just another seasoning. It becomes subjective as to its importance.

I never thought I'd be defending this Youtuber, but he specifically cooked those ribs to find a difference in smoke flavor. Everything else was the same. As I said, these subjective taste tests on YT videos are highly suspect and subjective, but if he's looking for a specific difference in smoke flavor, I'll give him a " maybe " on that.

I owned a MB560. Really liked it as a smoker. Got thin blue smoke and good air flow. It just had too many other flaws.

 

[Smokin Okie]

And this fella did do a review of the MB XT . In this vid, he says MB sent that to him. He did not pay for it. But he strongly denies it has any influence on his opinion. Says his review is honest and can not be bought.

FWIW