pits and spitts pellet smokers

[van holton]

does anyone have experience with pits and spitts pellet smokers. what do you thing?

 

[TNJAKE]

I believe Misplaced Nebraskan has one

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

I have had the Maverick 1250 for a little over 2 years now. I settled on P&S after a ton of research that lead me to a final group of RecTec, Yoder, Blaze-N, Mak, and P&S.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the above at all.

My main Pros/cons for the P&S:

Pros: Thickness of steel, all welded construction, some stainless steel components (can get a fully stainless one if you $$), Roanoke controller, Roll top lid, Locally made (Houston, TX), customer service reviews, centered fire box (amazing temperature across the pit), front table included in price, Paper towel holder and hooks as well. Pellet dump chute for change out. Comes up to temp fast and can get grate temps up for a "decent" sear. You can get a trap door in the drip pan for "flame exposure", but I usually never take the pit over 350°F for chicken. It will go up to 600°F (which is really just full bore fan speed and pellet feed). I have not done it and checked the grate temp with a temp gun though. Smoke generation is really good. It burns a good clean smoke and not billowing grey smoke once up to temp. Disassembly for cleaning is super simple.

Cons: WiFi module is an add-on that they want an absurd amount of money for (over $200). At this price point, I firmly believe it should be included. A WiFi card and antenna is nowhere near that much money and sub $500 pits can be found with included WiFi. I still can't see myself buying the WiFi add on. But, the pit runs great enough that there is no real need for it. The new module about to come out has programmable cooks which I do like but I'm still holding out for a price drop someday. Another Con would be the hopper lid. It doesn't sit flush shut after a bit from the hinges bending a tad. I'm talking less than a 1/4", but still, I find I have to set something on top of the lid to keep it closed. I do this to try and keep moisture out of the hopper cause it sucks if your pellets expand and pop. Granted, this has only happened once when the pit was uncovered and there was a multi day rain storm, so I don't fault it too much. If covered, it will ride out any storm. Small complaint but the low end temp is only 180°F whereas most pits go down to 150°F.

That's a quick rundown, but let me know if you want to know anything else and I'll be happy to try and answer. I can say that after 2 years I am still extremely satisfied with my purchase and highly recommend P&S to anyone shopping in this budget range.

 

[van holton]

Thanks

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

Thanks

No problem. Best thing that really convinced me was I was able to find a BBQ store near me and actually put my hands on a few models and see what I was drawn to.