I doubted the pellet grill crowd for 5 years, now I get it

I was always a stick burner guy, charcoal only, the whole purist thing. Last month my buddy offered me a brisket off his Traeger at a cookout in Austin and I almost turned it down. That thing was juicy, had a smoke ring, and honestly beat half the stuff I've pulled off my offset. I borrowed his unit for a weekend, ran a pork shoulder at 225 for 11 hours, and the bark was solid enough that I didn't feel embarrassed. I'm not throwing away the offset, but I've stopped talking trash at the family gatherings. Is anyone else out there secretly using one of these for weekday cooks, or am I the only convert here?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancy_ross10d ago

90 percent as good" is pretty much spot on, man. The way I look at it now is the pellet grill handles the Tuesday night stuff so I don't burn out on the offset for the weekends. Just make sure you keep the hopper full before you start a long cook, learned that the hard way when mine died at hour 6.

alexc9310d ago

Man, I was the exact same way. My brother in law got one and I gave him so much crap about it for years. Then I did a brisket on it last summer when my offset was being a pain and I was shocked, it came out with that nice smoke ring and the flat was actually moist. I still fire up the stick burner on weekends when I have the time, but the pellet grill is my go to for like a Tuesday chicken or a quick pork butt. It's just way less babysitting and the food is honestly 90 percent as good.