Grilling is cooking meat over direct or indirect heat.
Smoking is cooking meat inside a closed space where the temperature is controlled, allowing the natural smoke from burning combustibles to flow over the meat. Could there be another cooking method that captures the primordial essence of cooking more than smoking?
Wood. Fire. Smoke. Meat. Fat. Flavor. The constant action of allowing smoke to gradually surround and slowly heat the meat causing the fats and collagens to melt and enter, imparting wonderful and varied flavors, is an addicting affair both to cook and to eat. Smoked meats are often called barbecue in most parts of the country, and any BBQ joint in the country worth its salt is smoking its meat in some fashion.
BUT OK, I GET IT! There is a very enthusiastic group of grillers and smokers who swear by their pellet grill and wouldn’t use anything else for their BBQing. You pour the pellets into the hopper, and then the auger moves the pellets into the firebox, where they are ignited to produce heat and smoke. Above the firebox lies the heat diffuser, which distributes the heat evenly and prevents flair-ups.
You can set the temperature and even the cooking time with a knob, very much like you do with an oven. So automatically regulating the amount of heat, thus smoke, helps make the grilling process simple and mindless.
There is also a fan that circulates the heat and smoke. There’s even an app now, so you don’t even need to be at your pellet grill to set it and watch it. And pellets come in all kinds of wood flavors, so just pick your desired smoke taste. This is an exceptionally easy way to grill and smoke. Throw on your steak and walk away!
So, what’s wrong with trying to smoke meats using a pellet grill? (Spoiler: The Meat Doesn’t Taste As Good, Here’s Why)
The pellet grill was invented so competition smokers could get some well-needed sleep while smoking a brisket for 18 hours. The problem for the competitors was that a pellet grill just could not produce enough smoke to alter the flavor of the meat.
This can only happen when you smoke meats with chunks of wood allowing the smoke to flow indirectly at a low temperature for a long period of time. A pellet grill cannot possibly produce enough smoke because you are not using chunks of wood or charcoal at a very low temperature with an indirect heat source.
Just for clarification, a pellet grill works beautifully for grilling your steak. And according to some, you can even bake, roast, and braise on your pellet grill. But using a pellet grill to actually smoke meats is a frustrating use of your precious time, money, and energy.
The folks over at Napoleon perfectly describe what happens to meat as it smokes,
“But really, it’s any meat that benefits from a low and slow, long cooking treatment to get the best results. The thing these meats have in common is that they are full of connective tissue.
This tissue is filled with collagen. Collagen, when cooked fast, contracts and gains the texture of a rubber band making your meat tough. But if you smoke or slow roast something, like a brisket, then the collagen breaks down and melts. While melting, water gets into this collagen and creates gelatin, basically giving you meat jello, which makes your meat tender, juicy, and flavorful.
Triglycerides, or meat fat, are saturated fatty acids found in meat. These fatty acids have high melting points. That means that when you are smoking meats at lower temperatures for longer periods, those fats melt. This process is called rendering, and it is integral to making your meat juicy and flavorful.”
A wood smoker is rich in tradition, and for the above reasons, BBQ purists consider it the only way to smoke meats.
It is specially created to draw a thick blanket of smoke from the wood indirectly over the meat for a long period of time to break down the collagen and fats, thus imparting delicious and remarkable texture and flavors into your meat.
A wood smoker has three main components that allow air to flow through it, thus allowing the smoke to flow freely over the meat.
The firebox – is located on the side of the offset smoker and this is where the fire is started and kept burning. It has dampers that are manually opened and closed to control the flow of air and smoke.
The grill – is where the meat is placed for the smoke to flow over it.This is referred to as the cooking chamber or “real estate” by the smoking community.
The chimney – is where the smoke is released and allowed to escape after it has done its job of imparting wonderful flavors to your meat. It, too, has a damper, which you use to either hold in the heat and smoke or release it.
But, let’s face it, wood smoking requires time, patience, and skill—a skill you will develop over time by trial and error.
Traditional wood smoking is eagerly pursued by smoking enthusiasts because of the learned skill, knowledge, and commitment required to master wood smoking. Wood smoking demands constant observation, awareness, and attention. The secret to great wood smoking is the fact that it is totally controlled by you, and only you, and not some automated machine.
Wood smoking has soul, not machine oil. It’s just you, the wood, the fire, the smoke, and the meat, and taking the time required to ensure the combination of all four is correct. Wood smoking is a commitment to a very lengthy learning curve with extreme highs and lows. Highs when you succeed, lows when you fail. And you will do both, finding satisfaction in the process.
Plus, there is a pot of gold at the end of the smoking rainbow. Actually two.
The flavor you created with the smoke that now happily lives in the meat is yours to taste and enjoy. Adjectives are just words that can’t correctly describe how truly remarkable your meat is. It is indescribable.
And now, the sense of pride and accomplishment in an intense and time-consuming job well done is also indescribable. YOU did it. YOU accomplished it. YOU with your four friends. Now, you are a member of the wood smoker brotherhood in good standing, and we welcome you warmly with smoke-smelling open arms.
So, while a pellet grill will give your meat a light smokey taste from being grilled with a gentle breeze of smoke, smoking meats with wood over indirect heat at a low temperature for a long period of time is really the only definition of smoking. And that is why, after 30 years of smoking, I never switched to a pellet grill.
Let us know down in the comments what you think.
Main drawbacks to pellet grills: 1. Cost. 2. Power source required. 3. Pellets turn to mush if wet and are unusable. 4. Augur jams. 5. Augur motor failure. For me the choice is simple since I have a substantial source of white oak in my backyard.
Right on ! I have had many blissful failures smoking on my offset , from the wood to the delicate and insidious temperature control but wouldn’t change it for anything as that one out if 4 or 5 absolutely insane meats is so worth it. And the others I have found are very good, per my guests. Just not up to my smoky standards!
Yes, smoking meats low and slow is an acquired skill, that often takes years to master.
Controlling the chamber temperature, monitoring the meat temperature, selecting the type of wood, the simple seasoning like the classic salt and pepper vs everything else under the sun, mopping, spraying, wrapping etc. It’s a labor of love. Most pit masters achieve that name because it took alot of hit and misses until they mastered it. When you can cook all the meats with great success you might just be a pitmaster.😃🍻🍖
Right on ! I have had many blissful failures smoking on my offset , from the wood to the delicate and insidious temperature control but wouldn’t change it for anything as that one out if 4 or 5 absolutely insane meats is so worth it. And the others I have found are very good, per my guests. Just not up to my smoky standards!
Simple I own both. Zgrills are similar as Treager but much cheaper. Honestly, I would not use my pellet grill for steak or anything I like to get a good sear on while keeping the inside to a lower temp. The pellet grill does work well for long slow smokes. Yes, using actually wood chunks is the better deep smoker but not all of us have that kind of time. I would not put either method down and tell you to use what you have time for they both can produce great smoked items.
I built my own wood smoker and used it for years. Yes, I had the ups and downs but loved it. I now have a Trager and am really enjoying it. I now live in Arizona and it is hard to get good wood for smoking so the pellets are working fine.
I sometimes add a smoke tube with wood chunks to my long smokes on my pellet grill but it’s not necessary. My Zgrills puts out plenty of smoke and I’ve won KCBS awards with it so I disagree with just about everything in this article.
That’s what I’m talking about!
Way to go Buddy!
My traeger Ironwood xl can put a smoke ring as good as any off set smoker!
Amen!! Love my pitboss!
I have a zgrill pellet and absolutely love it. Recently started mixing charcoal pellets with my regular and that did kick it up a notch. The simplicity of it is what I love and you can absolutely do low and slow and come out with a good bark and get good deep smoke rings that is fall apart tender.
So I’ve used a pellet grill years. I love them as the add a bit of extra flavor over a gas propane grill which has no use to me. I like food and flavor too much. I even smoke steak before I sear it.
I bought a new grill this year. A camp chief woodwind pro. This grill has an extra burn chamber you can fill with wood or my favorite charcoal and once lit you close the door and it smulders rich smoke for hours before refill. This thing has been a game changer for my meat and it will go as low as 150. Plus it has a cast iron propane sear plate to finish your steak.
I do the same, I smoke my steaks on the traeger on smoke setting. Then have my egg at 600 degrees to finish the cook, works perfect
If you can’t get a good smoked flavor from your pellet grill you are using it wrong. With temperature range from 100 to 600 you can cook as slow or fast as you want. I will put my smoked meats up against any other kind of grills or smokers. I call bs on this. Low and slow for smoking and hot and fast for steak. I was a true charcoal and wood smoker before pellet grills.
This issue of insufficient smoke is easily resolved by adding wood pellet smoking tubes, you can find them on Amazon at very low cost. Yes you only get 3-4hrs on one, but you can add as many as you can fit in the remaining space in the grill. I typically use two at a time with fantastic results.
I could not disagree more strongly. I like the smokey flavor I get from my vertical pellet smoker.
I also have a Weber Smokey Mountain to compare, and the difference is minimal. The pellet smoker makes fantastic brisket, but I prefer ribs on the WSM.
I often smoke brisket to take to pot luck events and some people say it’s the best they’ve ever had. They have no idea it came out of a pellet smoker.
I have yet to find brisket anywhere that I would say is unequivocal better to my taste buds, but I am eager to keep sampling briskets everywhere it can be found.
The real drawback to pellet smoker is that there are mechanical and electrical components that will eventually fail. The unit relies on electricity.
My Weber Smokey Mountain has none of those drawbacks.
This is the comment I was looking for. Couldn’t agree with you more. Just made a brisket this past weekend and my buddy was amazed at the flavor, said it was the best he’s had.
Pit boss pellet smoker here for the last 4 years.
It’s true that pellet grills do not generate enough smoke needed for great-tasting meats, but they are convenient. To compensate for the lack of smoke, two things can be done: first, use pellets made from strong-tasting woods, like mesquite or hickory. Second, use an accessory called a smoke tube. You fill the tube with pellets and burn them to generate extra smoke.
I love my pellet pizza stove, but will always be a wood smoker.