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Considering taking the grill-pill: Does anyone here have any experience or recommendations on pellet smokers? I've had some success in the past smoking meat on a basic kettle grill with charcoal, but it's a bit of a pain to setup and baby sit all day. I'm thinking it'd be interesting to get something a bit more turn-key to make it easier to do more frequently, and pellet smokers (Traeger, et al) seem frequently recommended these days for both traditional low-and-slow barbecue and occasionally for other outdoor cooking (pizzas? burgers?). Are they actually as good as advertised? There are tons of models at different price ranges, but which features (and sizes) are actually useful?
A family member recently discussed pellet smokers with me; he recommends the Weber Searwood 600 for $999 (Weber is known for its quality), and he also listed the Green Mountain Grills Trek Prime 2.0 Wifi Pellet Grill for $399 (it is pretty small). I think Pit Bosses are considered okay, similar to Blackstone. They may not have existed long enough to have a whole lot of sentiment on forums. Check Amazing Ribs to get good reviews on smokers.
They can get pretty pricey, compared to a charcoal grill, but maybe worth it, if you like to cook a lot of briskets. Briskets are hard to do well on regular smokers or grills, but apparently a pellet grill can nail them consistently, and it's automated, so you can set it before going to work and then come back and have tasty brisket, whereas other smokers would require a free weekend. On the other hand, I wouldn't trust a pellet grill to "grill" anything.
Personally, I'm just going to stick with stuff I can do on the Weber 22 inch kettle grill for now. I did a pork butt on one a couple weeks ago. My uncle took the Weber Smokey Mountain approach, which is much better at smoking, and he claims you can take out one of the grates and just use it as a regular kettle grill if you want; he got the larger of the two models. Check Facebook Marketplace for both because they're both significantly discounted when used, and they're big hunks of metal that typically outlast their owners, so used is basically as good as new in most cases. If you want to smoke with a kettle grill, definitely pick up the Slow N' Sear.
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