Pellet Smokers

[HeavyDuty]

I've got mine in a similar spot. No problem other than the smoke turning the paint gray.
Most of the time the smoker is running below 300F. Nowhere close to being able to ignite even wood siding (mine is brick).

Ok, I feel better about placing one there - years ago I remember reading a claim recap at work where someone accidentally torched their house repeatedly using a charcoal grill this way. I’ll have to see if the airflow will cooperate with placing it on the edge of the patio or if I need to put it on a pad in the yard. The contractor is providing a built in gas grill in the outside kitchen (on the knee wall I scrawled in on the left of the pic) and I’m thinking putting a pellet smoker to the right of that on the open side would be ideal.

[JclInAtx]

I'm inching ever-closer to ditching the charcoal smoker for a pellet. The setup and cleanup times with the charcoal are getting in the way of me doing simple stuff like wings and salmon that I could have up and smoking in no time with a pellet.

I kinda feel like maybe I should buy a Traeger or a Recteq to get my feet wet with pellets, and then upgrade later if required. Only thing is I've rarely had good luck starting out with "cheap" or even "middle of road" and tend to jump right in the deep end in terms of price and quality to much better overall effect.

frontrunners are as follows...

Lone Star Grillz 20x36 Pellet Smoker
Yoder YS480s
RecTeq RT-700 (or possibly RT-590)

I'm growing tired of the Pit Barrel and have been eying pellet grills, but keep going back to the old country gravity fed, a UDS with the features I want, or a Weber kamodo.

I've read good things about all 3 of your choices. MAK is another American made grill with a strong reputation, but high price. Have you looked at Pitts & Spitts? Jeremy Yoder of mad scientist bbq thought highly of his. They are supposedly sold at Academy Sports, so if you have one local you may be able to save the shipping. Wifi is extra, so if you want that it may not be worth it. Ive never found one at local Academy's, but that's just been wandering by the grill section while my wife and daughter shop.

Years ago I looked at the Yoder 640 locally. It was a beast. I realized if I didn't get the competition cart I wouldn't be able to move it, and wasn't sure about putting that much weight on the old deck.

[JclInAtx]

Ok, I feel better about placing one there - years ago I remember reading a claim recap at work where someone accidentally torched their house repeatedly using a charcoal grill this way. I’ll have to see if the airflow will cooperate with placing it on the edge of the patio or if I need to put it on a pad in the yard. The contractor is providing a built in gas grill in the outside kitchen (on the knee wall I scrawled in on the left of the pic) and I’m thinking putting a pellet smoker to the right of that on the open side would be ideal.

I used to use a fan to help direct/disperse smoke when the wind was blowing it directly at my neighbors. Bonus is you can use it to keep yourself a little cooler and keeps the bugs away too.

[RoyGBiv]

Ok, I feel better about placing one there - years ago I remember reading a claim recap at work where someone accidentally torched their house repeatedly using a charcoal grill this way. I’ll have to see if the airflow will cooperate with placing it on the edge of the patio or if I need to put it on a pad in the yard. The contractor is providing a built in gas grill in the outside kitchen (on the knee wall I scrawled in on the left of the pic) and I’m thinking putting a pellet smoker to the right of that on the open side would be ideal.

The gas grill will generate more heat and flame than a pellet smoker.
If the deck below is wood, definitely safer to use a fireproof pad. If it's concrete, no need.
I had an idiot neighbor who used charcoal in their gas grill when they ran out of propane. On the wood deck. Embers fell through and lit up the dried leaves under the deck and burned the house. Total loss. No loss of life, luckily. Don't be that guy.

[RoyGBiv]

I'm inching ever-closer to ditching the charcoal smoker for a pellet. The setup and cleanup times with the charcoal are getting in the way of me doing simple stuff like wings and salmon that I could have up and smoking in no time with a pellet.

I had a chance to use an Oklahoma Joe charcoal grill this weekend. One of those double barrel versions. First time I've cooked with charcoal in a decade, at least.

Cooked Ribeyes Sunday, and offset smoked tilapia last night.

This morning wife says "The charcoal grill really adds a lot of flavor, maybe we need one."

Nothing beats a gas grill for speed.
Nothing beats a pellet smoker for smoke.
Charcoal is still great if you have the time.

[HeavyDuty]

The gas grill will generate more heat and flame than a pellet smoker.
If the deck below is wood, definitely safer to use a fireproof pad. If it's concrete, no need.
I had an idiot neighbor who used charcoal in their gas grill when they ran out of propane. On the wood deck. Embers fell through and lit up the dried leaves under the deck and burned the house. Total loss. No loss of life, luckily. Don't be that guy.

This one is concrete; I saw more than a few homeowners claim reports arising out of using charcoal grills (and even a few fire pits) on wood or Trex decks. Responded to a few calls, too.

Here is what it looked like eight weeks ago before the LP was roughed in:

Nothing beats a gas grill for speed.
Nothing beats a pellet smoker for smoke.
Charcoal is still great if you have the time.

I’m a Chicago boy, so nothing tastes quite like charcoal when I’m not in a hurry. I’m trying to decide how I want to scratch that itch, it may be a simple Weber on a pad in the yard but I may go all in and get a Big Green Egg or Kamado Joe type grill. Jebus, am I actually considering three grills?

[randyho]

I’m a Chicago boy, so nothing tastes quite like charcoal when I’m not in a hurry. I’m trying to decide how I want to scratch that itch, it may be a simple Weber on a pad in the yard but I may go all in and get a Big Green Egg or Kamado Joe type grill. Jebus, am I actually considering three grills?

No need. Charcoal starts quick on a camp stove. Do NOT use the little butane single burners, however. WHEN the butane canister blows up, it looks like the sun just landed in your back yard. Pretty exciting.

[rd62]

Just bought a Pit Boss with the wifi controls. Its awesome and I love it.

[rob_s]

Shocking, I know…

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...aYs6OQ-0k/edit

[JclInAtx]

Shocking, I know…

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...aYs6OQ-0k/edit

Few comments from my experience-
I lost my pellet grill to a burn back, so I really like the Yoder's design where pellets drop from the auger several (looks like 4 or 5) inches into the burn pot which pretty much eliminates the chance of that happening.

A pellet dump to empty the remaining pellets in the hopper is useful.

Double walled probably won't make much difference in Florida.