My new Memphis Select pellet grill

[jammin]

Two racks of Spare's so far - probably do a butt next weekend.

 

[finsfan]

Two racks of Spare's so far - probably do a butt next weekend.

O dang that looks nice I plan to get a pellet pooper sometime in the future when i can afford it. for now, a cheap WSM will work

 

[sch21c]

So looking at these pellet grills, the common refrain is "but you can't sear a steak". Do any of you guys that have these use them for grilling steaks, burgers, etc., or are they primarily your smoking bbq?

I need a new grill. I have an old Weber gas grill that is dying, and I've got a weber kettle and a weber smokey mountain. I figure I could go one of two ways: 1) Get a new pellet grill and use it for smoking and grilling; or 2) get a new gas grill and get a BBQ Guru for the WSM. Option 1 doesn't really work if you can't cook well on a direct flame.

 

[finsfan]

I cant speak for the steaks, but one of the best burgers ive ever made was on a friends pellet at 350, took a little longer but was amazing!

 

[NervousDad]

So looking at these pellet grills, the common refrain is "but you can't sear a steak". Do any of you guys that have these use them for grilling steaks, burgers, etc., or are they primarily your smoking bbq?

I need a new grill. I have an old Weber gas grill that is dying, and I've got a weber kettle and a weber smokey mountain. I figure I could go one of two ways: 1) Get a new pellet grill and use it for smoking and grilling; or 2) get a new gas grill and get a BBQ Guru for the WSM. Option 1 doesn't really work if you can't cook well on a direct flame.

A Green Egg will cover all of those. I love mine

 

[jammin]

Pellet grills are gods gift to chicken and burgers. They do an excellent job of not drying the food out as they are very forgiving. I even trust SWMBO to cook perfect chicken/burgers on the pellet pooper. Flare ups...? Not on a pellet grill

As for steaks, I've always used my green egg. I'm gonna do a tri-tip on the Memphis tomorrow night though and see what she's got. Stay tuned

 

[NervousDad]

Pellet grills are gods gift to chicken and burgers. They do an excellent job of not drying the food out as they are very forgiving. I even trust SWMBO to cook perfect chicken/burgers on the pellet pooper. Flare ups...? Not on a pellet grill

As for steaks, I've always used my green egg. I'm gonna do a tri-tip on the Memphis tomorrow night though and see what she's got. Stay tuned

That's good to know, I cannot cook a hamburger to save my life. Grilled chicken breast no problem.. It's strange.

 

[FalconsBrew]

I have one of those too.... decisions decisions

I love my egg, best money I've ever spent. I also use an auber temp controller. Its cheaper then the DIGIQ.

 

[FalconsBrew]

A Green Egg will cover all of those. I love mine

co-sign.

 

[headbanger]

So looking at these pellet grills, the common refrain is "but you can't sear a steak". Do any of you guys that have these use them for grilling steaks, burgers, etc., or are they primarily your smoking bbq?

The PG500 will sear steaks just fine and so will the Mak 2 star but you have to get a "sear plate" for the Mak.

BTW, these are not my pics (these were cooked on a Mak2 with the sear plate) but I have cooked many great steaks on my 500.

 

[Veedo]

bad ass! cool to see more pellet grill users here. been using a mak 1 star since spring and I am hooked. my buddy came up for a weekend and after using ours, he ordered one the next day. worked out for me because we ended up splitting a bulk order of pellets (1 ton). should be good for a while!

 

[Rickysa]

Traeger fan here...curious to know if anyone has done a full brisket (packer's cut: flat and point)? I've been watching the "BBQ w/ Franklin" vids on youtube and am doing one tomorrow.

If I lived in Austin, I think I'd eat there everyday

 

[kstone803]

Holy crap that thing is beautiful. I'm looking for a new grill, hoping to catch an end of season deal, but seeing this thing may make me save up some more cash and get one of these bad boys. I also had no idea this section on HBT existed!!

 

[jammin]

Just threw a couple racks of ribs on for the Niner's game later today. I'm really dig'n this combo rub and so does SWMBO. It makes for a sweeter, comfort food profile.

 

[Veedo]

what rub you using?

 

[jammin]

Its the "Simply Marvelous" brand's "Cherry" and "Sweet Seduction". They just go well together on ribs, especially if you like em' sweet.

 

[FATC1TY]

Thanks for the info. I would love to have one grill that can do it all, smoke, sear and bake. I would spend the money just to free up some space in the back yard!

Not knockin the pellet stuff, but if you want to be able to do all that, look for a BGE or a Kamado Joe..or any quality ceramic charcoal cooker.

I do everything from really high temp 650* to down to mid 100's slow smoking on my BGE. Bake a pizza in 7 minutes, slow cooked wings.. Quick sear steaks and burgers..

I do alot of smoking on mine, so it's really easy, reliable, and I don't have to watch anything.. Load it up, toss in the wood, the food, and close it. I go play golf, or brew a batch and come back to just open it and drool.

Pellet smokers are great if you like to bake/smoke mainly, IMO. They can do it all, and it's an easy "clean" way to cook, with minimal flare ups if you do stuff like chickens on high heat.

 

[jammin]

^thats a flat out embellishment about throwing wood and food inside the BGE and leaving it for a round of golf and a brew session..

For low and slow cooks, you forgot to mention properly building your fire, sweeping the ash out and getting the pit stabilized at the desired temp. I'd be very reluctant to leave the pit unattended for that long w/o a pit controller as well (stoker/guru).

 

[headbanger]

Not knockin the pellet stuff, but if you want to be able to do all that, look for a BGE or a Kamado Joe..or any quality ceramic charcoal cooker.

I do everything from really high temp 650* to down to mid 100's slow smoking on my BGE. Bake a pizza in 7 minutes, slow cooked wings.. Quick sear steaks and burgers..

I do alot of smoking on mine, so it's really easy, reliable, and I don't have to watch anything.. Load it up, toss in the wood, the food, and close it. I go play golf, or brew a batch and come back to just open it and drool.

Pellet smokers are great if you like to bake/smoke mainly, IMO. They can do it all, and it's an easy "clean" way to cook, with minimal flare ups if you do stuff like chickens on high heat.

I used to have a BGE, sold it about a month after I got the PG500. There's simply no comparison between the two.

 

[FATC1TY]

^thats a flat out embellishment about throwing wood and food inside the BGE and leaving it for a round of golf and a brew session..

For low and slow cooks, you forgot to mention properly building your fire, sweeping the ash out and getting the pit stabilized at the desired temp. I'd be very reluctant to leave the pit unattended for that long w/o a pit controller as well (stoker/guru).

I've got a guru, but before I did, I did several long cooks with a butt/picnic and left to go play a round, and never had any issues.

Properly build a fire? How hard is is? I put a couple large chunks in the fire box, fill my chimney starter with a bunch of high quality dense charcoal like Wicked, and light it.. 15 minutes it's ready to go, dump it, close the lid, adjust the dampers, and go grab your food to put on it.

Obviously if you are a new owner, you won't have an idea of where to put the dampers and how much or how little to close, but after a while you learn, thats the only "time eater" I can think of.

Ash wise.. I pull ash the day after a cook, or the evening when I clean it all up and put the cover on it. If you leave it, then pulling ash takes 5 minutes at best. Use a good wood, and you won't have a ton of ash anyways, find what works for you and your style of cooking. Cowboy aint bad wood, it lights fast, burns hot and fast, but makes a fair bit of ash.

I wasn't knocking a pellet cooker, just commenting on someone that wanted something that was easy to do everything, which a kamado style ceramic cooker can do, and does it well.

Some people don't like gas or electric smokers... doesn't mean you can't have some world class Q off of them because they don't use the gold standard of seasoned wood and fire.

 

[FATC1TY]

I used to have a BGE, sold it about a month after I got the PG500. There's simply no comparison between the two.

The PG500 is a very nice set up.. Like I said, I'm not bashing pellet cookers. There are plenty of ways to get the job done. I find the BGE to be far more efficient for my needs, and style of cooking. I had a traeger select before, and they are great to use, but I do alot of high temp searing and like to make thin crust pizzas, and what not. The select was lack luster for a high temp sear and a quick cook, IMO. It was awesome for a long smoke with the big pellet hopper, and loved the space to put a fair bit of food on it. Only qualm was sometimes the lack of smoke flavor of the foods. I'm sure it had to do with type of pellets and temp, and whatnot, but after using lump charcoal, and being able to blend my wood chunks for the type of smoke, I was in love with the amount of control I had. Long smokes were simplified by a Guru..


Obviously for those of us who buy $1000+ grill set ups, it's a passion, and most know what they are doing, or what they like to make.


I'll bow out of this discussion since obviously there are passionate people here, and I don't want to step on anyones little toes.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

I've got no issue setting my drum up the night before and letting that work it's magic over night. I've made many a pork butt that way and wrapped it in the morning to bring to work for lunch. It's all about knowing your equipment, my drum will burn for 30 hours before I need to add more coal, it's a different animal but still.

 

[headbanger]

The PG500 is a very nice set up.. Like I said, I'm not bashing pellet cookers. There are plenty of ways to get the job done. I find the BGE to be far more efficient for my needs, and style of cooking. I had a traeger select before, and they are great to use, but I do alot of high temp searing and like to make thin crust pizzas, and what not. The select was lack luster for a high temp sear and a quick cook, IMO. It was awesome for a long smoke with the big pellet hopper, and loved the space to put a fair bit of food on it. Only qualm was sometimes the lack of smoke flavor of the foods. I'm sure it had to do with type of pellets and temp, and whatnot, but after using lump charcoal, and being able to blend my wood chunks for the type of smoke, I was in love with the amount of control I had. Long smokes were simplified by a Guru..

Obviously for those of us who buy $1000+ grill set ups, it's a passion, and most know what they are doing, or what they like to make.

I'll bow out of this discussion since obviously there are passionate people here, and I don't want to step on anyones little toes.

No need to bow out, I'm not bashing the BGE either, it's a good grill but I simply had no use for it after the 500. I can do it all from cold smoke to 900 degrees as a pizza oven, most pellet grills are not as versatile as the 500 or the BGE.

 

[JonK331]

Damn all you guys! Now I really want one of these. I had a long talk with a Traeger salesman in Costco a couple weeks back but didn't end up buying one because of the searing issue. Sounds like you can get one that will do that for more money. These things look awesome. Thanks for the thread.

 

[jdlev]

I've seen these cheater grills before

I actually saw one last KCBS where a guy had an auger that fed his smoke box with pellets, and his temps were PID controlled. The PIDs controlled air flow to the charcoal.

Everyone seems to love the pellets...what are the advantages, I literally know jack about them...

 

[dfess1]

No need to bow out, I'm not bashing the BGE either, it's a good grill but I simply had no use for it after the 500. I can do it all from cold smoke to 900 degrees as a pizza oven, most pellet grills are not as versatile as the 500 or the BGE.

puhhhhlease. Build your own gravity feed, that's where it's at!

 

[gerryhz]

I noticed that pellet grills have digital temperature readers...are they battery powered or through an electrical cord?

 

[finsfan]

I noticed that pellet grills have digital temperature readers...are they battery powered or through an electrical cord?

Cord. It also powers the electronic auger that feeds pellets when needed

 

[nickmv]

A Yoder pellet smoker can cook steaks at 700F.

 

[EHV]

I'm intrigued as I want something other than an electric smoker yet still has the convenience and dependability of steady temperature control while smoking with wood.
I have to ask, how many pounds of pellets are consumed in a night long pork butt smoke etc on average? Reoccurring costs are an annoyance since pellets are most likely a bit harder to come by compared to charcoal.