Experiences with pellet smokers?

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I talked to the better half and got the go-ahead so I am going to pull the trigger on a Green Mountain Grill Daniel Boone with wifi and I am considering the stainless lid model. Now the problem is going to be finding one as the Green Mountain website says the closest retailers to me are an hour and a half away and I haven't been able to find them online.

Thanks again for the help. What is the top pellet brand? I have heard good things about Traeger.
 
beernutz said:
I talked to the better half and got the go-ahead so I am going to pull the trigger on a Green Mountain Grill Daniel Boone with wifi and I am considering the stainless lid model. Now the problem is going to be finding one as the Green Mountain website says the closest retailers to me are an hour and a half away and I haven't been able to find them online.

Thanks again for the help. What is the top pellet brand? I have heard good things about Traeger.
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You won't regret it. I use Traeger's pellets because they're available for a really good price in my really small home town. I also like them because they sell the wood as is. In other words, you can buy Hickory, Apple, Cherry, Pecan, etc., Rather than buying "Competition BBQ Blend," "Hamburger Blend," etc. I'd rather come up with my own blends if I choose to do so.

If you do end up going to get one, make sure you take a truck and a back brace!
 
Update: As was pointed out previously by jafo28 (thanks!), the Pit Boss 820 sq-ft model is currently 20% off at Lowes for a Memorial Day sale so I thought I would at least take a look since its online reviews were pretty solid and the store is ten minutes from my house.

While it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the Daniel Boone such as wifi and a meat probe, it seemed to be built like a tank, came with a flame broiler, 820 sq-ft of grilling space on two racks, and it was only $399 on sale. I already have an Inkbird bluetooth food temp probe so I didn't think the lack of a meat probe was a big deal and the boathouse on a river where I'll use it doesn't have wifi currently.

I guess seeing the Pit Boss in person convinced me I didn't want to make the hour and a half each way drive to a GMG dealer, which is an electrical supply store that had zero mention of grills on its website. Hopefully I won't regret it. Link to Pit Boss: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Pit-Boss-8...&cm_mmc=AFF_CJ-_-7149918-_-2617611-_-10935405

Thanks again to everyone but especially to Boomer for all the mouth watering pictures and the great info on the Daniel Boone.
 
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I am also in the market for a pellet smoker. A friend of mine who has been in competitions says to get the Camp Chef. It is the best price wise. Not as expensive as the Rec Tec, but a better quality than the newer Traeger models.
 
I did my first smoke on the Pit Boss yesterday--a beer can chicken that was very good despite some initial temperature fluctuations that I've seen reported in video product reviews for this model while in its break-in period.

Today is the real test as I'm smoking St. Louis style ribs using 3-2-1. I can't believe I waited this long to buy a pellet smoker.
 
Ended up going a different direction, and pulled the trigger on a GMG Davy Crockett. I really only ever smoke meat for myself, so the smaller size isn't an issue, and I really like the portability of it. Just did a quick meatloaf this afternoon before the supposed storms roll in.
 
beernutz said:
I did my first smoke on the Pit Boss yesterday--a beer can chicken that was very good despite some initial temperature fluctuations that I've seen reported in video product reviews for this model while in its break-in period.

Today is the real test as I'm smoking St. Louis style ribs using 3-2-1. I can't believe I waited this long to buy a pellet smoker.
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Beernutz- make sure you work out that issue while the grill is still under warranty. I have the GMG Daniel Boone and it’s never fluctuated over 2 degrees, and I use it fairly regularly. I have also verified the temp w other thermo.

Happy smokin!
 
The ribs came out great. I was going to do both racks using 321 but after overanalyzing the cook I decided to do one rack, the one pictured, with no wrapping or saucing, one rack with a 2 hour Texas crutch wrap, and a couple of ribs with both the Texas crutch and with Allegro Tennessee bbq sauce applied while wrapped.
My wife and I thought those were the best. I used Blues Hog rub with additional brown sugar.

My only issue with the Pit Boss were that after starting and preheating to 350 it took about 35 minutes to get back down to 200. Over the course of the next six hours it stayed within 10 degrees of 200 according to it's digital readout except for a couple times when it inexplicably rose ro around 285 before settling back down to the set temp. I'll call their customer service to see if this is normal next week.
Q9wLnyX.jpg

beernutz said:
I did my first smoke on the Pit Boss yesterday--a beer can chicken that was very good despite some initial temperature fluctuations that I've seen reported in video product reviews for this model while in its break-in period.

Today is the real test as I'm smoking St. Louis style ribs using 3-2-1. I can't believe I waited this long to buy a pellet smoker.
Click to expand...
 
beernutz said:
The ribs came out great. I was going to do both racks using 321 but after overanalyzing the cook I decided to do one rack, the one pictured, with no wrapping or saucing, one rack with a 2 hour Texas crutch wrap, and a couple of ribs with both the Texas crutch and with Allegro Tennessee bbq sauce applied while wrapped.
My wife and I thought those were the best. I used Blues Hog rub with additional brown sugar.

My only issue with the Pit Boss were that after starting and preheating to 350 it took about 35 minutes to get back down to 200. Over the course of the next six hours it stayed within 10 degrees of 200 according to it's digital readout except for a couple times when it inexplicably rose ro around 285 before settling back down to the set temp. I'll call their customer service to see if this is normal next week.
Q9wLnyX.jpg
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Don’t be afraid to open the lid to get that temp to drop quicker. I’d rather have it open for a bit than too hot for half an hour.
 
jafo28 said:
Ended up going a different direction, and pulled the trigger on a GMG Davy Crockett. I really only ever smoke meat for myself, so the smaller size isn't an issue, and I really like the portability of it. Just did a quick meatloaf this afternoon before the supposed storms roll in.
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You should look online at some of the photos where people have built semi-permanent stands at home to get the Davy Crockett up to a normal height. Pretty slick stuff out there.
 
I've been doing a bunch of research on pellet grills, although probably not going to buy one until next year. I have a couple other big purchases I'm saving up for right now. Couple questions though.

1: Is there any way to do, I guess you'd call it duel-temperature zones? If I'm cooking fajitas on my Weber kettle, I'll put the coals on one side of the grill and sear the meat, then move it to the cool side to finish cooking while I put a cast-iron pan with the peppers and onions over the coals.

2: Are there any in the $800 and less range that are made in the USA? I'm not some MAGA hat wearer, but if at all possible I try to buy American.
 
Boomer said:
You won't regret it. I use Traeger's pellets because they're available for a really good price in my really small home town. I also like them because they sell the wood as is. In other words, you can buy Hickory, Apple, Cherry, Pecan, etc., Rather than buying "Competition BBQ Blend," "Hamburger Blend," etc. I'd rather come up with my own blends if I choose to do so.

If you do end up going to get one, make sure you take a truck and a back brace!
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Traeger pellets are not what you think they are: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/new-info-on-whats-in-traeger-pellets.116254/
 
I use these: https://cookinpellets.com/

Most of the pellet sellers use a blend, or oil. Put some research into it, and find what's right for you. I'm burning pellets for smoke, not for heat, so purity is more important to me. If you're using a pellet grill, maybe purity is not so important. Oak or alder would be a reasonable consideration, if that were me. Spend some time getting an education on pellets, and decide what best suits your application, situation, and budget.

I'm using an AMAZEN tray in an electric smoker, so pellet makeup is more critical in my situation. Your situation will probably be much less give-a-floccish.
 
Disagree 100%. I’m using my pellet grill to smoke probably 90% of the time. I’ve owned damn near every kind of smoker out there and take pride in what’s coming out of mine. I had no idea that these pellets were anything other than what they’re marketed as.

Now that you’ve pointed it out, I’m definitely going to find something that is 100% what it says it is.

To be fair - the food has been amazing since I bought it; but, I don’t like the lack of authenticity I’ve apparently been giving folks for the last six months.
 
Boomer said:
You should look online at some of the photos where people have built semi-permanent stands at home to get the Davy Crockett up to a normal height. Pretty slick stuff out there.
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I have seen a few, for now I put it on a movers dolly and used a couple of U bolts to hold it in place.

IMG_4627.jpg
 
Update to my update. Short version: The smoker works but is a pain to operate and has control issues so its going back.

Long version: I am going to return the Pit Boss 820D to Lowe's. I cooked on it four times (beer can chicken, ribs, chicken thighs, and pork loin) and while all the food came out great the smoker is a PITA to operate. That's a shame because it looks beautiful on the outside and is built seemingly like a tank. Also it is going to be a major pain to get it off the raised deck where it is located onto my trailer to get it back to Lowe's but that's the way it has to be.

My biggest complaints are startup times and wide temperature swings during cooks. The startup instructions say to run it on smoke setting for 5 minutes with lid open until it ignites which was never a problem. They then say to close the lid and set it to 350 to preheat for 15-20 minutes and though it typically overshoots 350 by 25 to 50 degrees initially it seems to eventually get back down to it during the 15 minute period. However, if you want to run it on low and slow like 200 or 225 it takes at least 40 minutes to get back down to that temp. I have tried letting it drop temps with the lid closed as the instructions state and also at least once by opening the lid however when you open the lid the smoker temporarily resets (by design) to high heat so to minimize heat loss so that doesn't help much. I have also tried adjusting the P value to help here without success.

For one low and slow cook I decided to try skipping the preheating to 350 and going straight from the Smoke setting to 225 but the smoker immediately took the temp up to over 350 and it was at least 30 minutes for it to get back close to my setting. I could probably live with that long total startup time if not for the next problem.

The issue that is really driving my desire to return the smoker is that when set to a low and slow temp like 250 or lower the Pit Boss periodically will increase the temp by up to 100 degrees seemingly at random and then slowly over the course of the next 20 minutes or longer drop it back down to the set temp. When I cooked ribs at 200 this happened at least twice that I saw, once going up to 285 and once to 305. When I cooked chicken thighs at 275 the temp increased up to 370 at least once. Same with the beer can chicken and pork loin. I have tried various P value settings which control how often the auger pushes pellets into the fire pit without any improvement. It appears that sometimes the auger pushes more wood pellets into the fire pit than are needed but that's just a guess. On one cook when I was trying the P value at its highest setting of 7 the fire went out.

I am not sure how to reconcile the high Lowe's website product ratings for the 820D (4.5 out of 5 average) with my experiences. After buying last week I found the 820D ratings on Amazon which are problematic as they are mixed in with ratings for other Pit Boss smokers but it didn't take long reading the numerous 1 star reviews to see that there were many users having the same issues I was having. Their reports of getting customer service help also were disappointing. Most reported getting help by the CS person sending a new part to replace the old one but either the new part such as the PID temp controller didn't fix the problem or it was very difficult to install such as a replacement auger. So long story long it is going back to Lowe's as soon as I can get around to it.

Apologies for the dissertation.
 
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Good thing you found it out and can get it back while it's still in the return period. It's a lot of money to drop on something and not be happy, so getting it back there ASAP is good.

As you can see from others' reactions in the thread, there are definitely some more reputable brands out there, and GMG in particular is not all that expensive relative to some of the "budget" brands, but has much better reputation.
 
bwarbiany said:
Good thing you found it out and can get it back while it's still in the return period. It's a lot of money to drop on something and not be happy, so getting it back there ASAP is good.

As you can see from others' reactions in the thread, there are definitely some more reputable brands out there, and GMG in particular is not all that expensive relative to some of the "budget" brands, but has much better reputation.
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I ended up buying a Rec Tec Trailblazer pellet smoker, a brand which I believe you previously recommended, so thanks. It was a couple hundred more than what I had paid for the Pit Boss and about the same price as the standard model GMG Daniel Boone.

However the kicker in the decision making process was that I found a friend who owns a different Rec Tec, the larger Stampede model, who raved over it and let me come take a look before I bought mine. His was $900 and mine was $600 but the primary difference seemed to be just the size and not the build quality or features and since I rarely cook for more than 4 people I decided to save the $300 for meats.

I've only used it a couple times but so far it has been nothing short of incredible. First off it is very nice looking and extremely well built. Once it reaches the set point the temperature stays right on target and this smoker also includes wifi configuration and two meat probes, neither of which the Pit Boss had.

On the Lowe's website the 5 star reviews keep being posted for the Pit Boss with only a few 1 star reviews that describe the same problems I had so I guess I just got a lemon.
 
I have a Pit Boss 820D. Once I figured out that I couldn't trust controller I've had great results. I bought a separate temp probe (dual probe) and have one monitoring ambient temp near the grate and the other in the meat.

For a slow cook at 225, I have to set the controller to 200. It does have swings below and above 225 (Sometimes ~40 degrees higher) but seems to average out where I want it. Monitoring the meat temp is the key; I was over cooking stuff before because I didn't realize the thing was hotter inside than what it was reading itself.

I didnt seek out a pellet grill when I got mine. I just found it on sale at Academy Sports and decided to pull the trigger on it. For the price I paid it was a good find and has made me a fan of the pellet grill. When this one croaks, I'll replace it with a better one because you just cant beat the set and forget nature of it for long smokes. I grill on mine too all the time with great results. Even steaks!

For pellets, I usually get mine at Academy Sports too. They stock "B&B" brand which apparently is a high quality 100% wood pellet.

https://www.academy.com/shop/browse...ooking/bbq-accessories/pellets-and-wood-chips
 
beernutz said:
My biggest complaints are startup times and wide temperature swings during cooks. The startup instructions say to run it on smoke setting for 5 minutes with lid open until it ignites which was never a problem. They then say to close the lid and set it to 350 to preheat for 15-20 minutes and though it typically overshoots 350 by 25 to 50 degrees initially it seems to eventually get back down to it during the 15 minute period. However, if you want to run it on low and slow like 200 or 225 it takes at least 40 minutes to get back down to that temp. I have tried letting it drop temps with the lid closed as the instructions state and also at least once by opening the lid however when you open the lid the smoker temporarily resets (by design) to high heat so to minimize heat loss so that doesn't help much. I have also tried adjusting the P value to help here without success.
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That's exactly why I was disappointed my PB 700FB. I have noticed much of the same. After several emails to their support office, and over a year of playing with it, I've come to the conclusion you get what you pay for. Looking through some topics and comments, I realised that swings are a part of the pellet grill experience in general, but wild ones shouldn't have to be (like 100° I had).
Sold it in the end and went with Traeger instead.

So far so good, almost a year and a half of smoking w/o crazy swings.
It is a little light on smoke, especially on higher temperature cooks - the hotter you run it, the more efficiently the pellets burn and less smoke is produced. Though I have heard that if you use mesquite pellets the smoke flavor will be greater and potentially could even oversmoke on a traeger (that's hard to believe).
 

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TexasSpartan said:
Weber is going to be getting into the pellet grill game next year. I'm going to wait until I see some reviews and can see one in person, but this is now at the top of my list. I have a Weber Kettle and a Weber Genesis and love both of them.

https://www.derrickriches.com/weber-pellet-grill/
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I think that Weber has earned their reputation as a highly trustworthy company, so I would expect any pellet grill they produce to be of stellar quality. Much like any company of their size, I'm sure they've looked at the competition extensively and are trying to emulate the positives and avoid the negatives that exist.

I'd still probably give it 6 months after release to work out the production kinks, make any improvements they need as they move to mass production and all the learning that entails. By that point it should be more than stable.

That said, the Weber reputation and name tend to bring a pretty big price tag with it. It'll be interesting to see where they slot into the market. I would expect them to be no less expensive than Traeger, but the question will be whether they try to push the higher end in between Traeger and companies like Yoder or MAK. They somewhat went high-end with the Summit grill, targeting it at the higher end of even kamado pricing. They might do the same here, as the "low to medium" end of the pellet grill world is pretty crowded, with guys like GMG, Traeger, and Rec Tec already being solid established players in the medium end, and a bunch of cheapos on the low end.
 
I've had a big easy electric smoker for a few years and I like it but the temps are unpredictable and I want a real wood fire. Grilla Grills makes pellet smokers with double-wall construction and heavy gauge steel for consistent performance all year round. When I get around to buying a pellet grill, it'll be their chimp model.
 
bwarbiany said:
That said, the Weber reputation and name tend to bring a pretty big price tag with it. It'll be interesting to see where they slot into the market. I would expect them to be no less expensive than Traeger, but the question will be whether they try to push the higher end in between Traeger and companies like Yoder or MAK. They somewhat went high-end with the Summit grill, targeting it at the higher end of even kamado pricing. They might do the same here, as the "low to medium" end of the pellet grill world is pretty crowded, with guys like GMG, Traeger, and Rec Tec already being solid established players in the medium end, and a bunch of cheapos on the low end.
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From what I have read there are going to be two models. One at $1000 and the larger one at $1200. I can definitely get a Traeger, GMG, or Grilla Grill (which I was seriously considering) for a better price. But, like you said, they have earned their reputation asnd that would make me spend a little more for the smoker. I've had 3 Weber grills, 1 Kettle and 2 different Genesis, and never had any issue with any of them. Hell, my dad has a Weber Spirit that is at least 20 years old and is still running strong.
 
beernutz said:
I am contemplating buying a pellet smoker. I have a Big Steel Keg, a stainless clone of a Big Green Egg, and a Weber Smokey Joe so I am a fan of using charcoal. However, I have a friend who raves about his Green Mountain Daniel Boone and how easy and stress free it is to use, not to mention his brisket is phenomenal, so I'm considering buying a pellet smoker.

I previously used an Auber temp controller with a PID that controlled a fan in the Big Steel Keg for long smokes which worked great. However, it died after a couple years and Auber wants around $150 for a replacement. I could build a DIY one but I am thinking I might just put the money into a pellet smoker.

In addition to Green Mountain I'm looking at Traeger and Camp Chef (found it on Amazon and it has good reviews). I would like to get the best bang for the buck and though I don't have a top end on my budget I highly doubt I'd spend more than $1000 because I'm inherently cheap.

Do any HBTers have hands-on experience with a particular pellet smoker they'd care to share?
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I have purchased a Pit Boss 440 from Lowe's around thanksgiving and after using it for numerous cooks including brisket it is outstanding. I have never smoked a bad piece of meat on it. I tried all kinds of other smokers including a green egg and could not get the results I did with the pit boss. Brisket came off after 15 hours and it sliced like butter. There are a lot of pellet smokers on the market but I chose the pit boss for $265.00 just to try a pellet smoker. No regrets!
 
dougglass80 said:
I have purchased a Pit Boss 440 from Lowe's around thanksgiving and after using it for numerous cooks including brisket it is outstanding. I have never smoked a bad piece of meat on it. I tried all kinds of other smokers including a green egg and could not get the results I did with the pit boss. Brisket came off after 15 hours and it sliced like butter. There are a lot of pellet smokers on the market but I chose the pit boss for $265.00 just to try a pellet smoker. No regrets!
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I'm glad you are happy with yours even though mine was a lemon and I appreciate the suggestion.
 
upload_2020-3-20_19-47-12.png

This was an email from Fisherman’s Marine. That’s a really good deal if they are even half decent.

I’m not sure how big of a chain they are, but they are in Oregon and maybe Washington.
 

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