This'll get a little wordy, but please bear with me as I explain the situation before asking the question :)
Right now I have a Weber Performer charcoal grill, a Ducane Stainless gas grill, and a Smoke Hollow propane cabinet smoker.
The smoker is in a "shack on a pallet" that I built for it mostly to keep the wind off it as I use it year round. The Weber and the Ducane get covered in winter and just uncovered when needed. None of these gets "put away" for the winter. They don't go in a garage or anything. They're outside toys.
We were planning to add about an 8x8 foot area to our patio to accommodate the "cooking area". I was just looking at it (again) and adding up expenses in my head and wondered...
If I bought a Rec Tec, could it REPLACE the smoker and the 2 grills?
Now, keep in mind that I can't ever remember running any TWO of these at the same time, let alone all 3.
I've done almost 30 pounds of chicken leg quarters in the smoker at one time. Whole turkeys and chickens, ribs, pork butts, LOTS of poultry (which I run at higher temps.... like 375-ish). Would a pellet pooper produce SMOKE at the higher temps? Or would I need a AMNTS? (not sure I got all those letters right.... y'all know what I mean)
How would it be in winter? I live near Niagara Falls, NY so it can get mighty cold and sometimes the cold and wind isn't real friendly which is why I built the shack on a pallet for the cabinet smoker. Would it need a thermal blanket?
As a GRILL.... how evenly does the cooking surface heat?
I mean.... the gas grill has areas that are warmer than other so I have to do the hamburger shuffle if I'm cooking a dozen burgers. I kinda shift steaks around as I turn them so I don't have one end on a hot spot all the time.. stuff like that. Normally I do steaks on the Weber so I only deal with whatever I've created with my charcoal arrangement.
Can a pellet grill sear a steak?
Can a pellet grill cook EVENLY enough to do things like.... swordfish steaks, or marlin steaks?
(I LOVE grilled marlin!)
I'm just thinking that if a pellet grill can pretty much do it all, then I really don't NEED to add on the the patio. I could use that savings toward the pellet grill and if I only have one cooking appliance to deal with it simplifies things immensely. I also have an outdoor electrical plug exactly where I'd be using a pellet grill.
So .... can a good pellet grill really do it all?
Right now I have a Weber Performer charcoal grill, a Ducane Stainless gas grill, and a Smoke Hollow propane cabinet smoker.
The smoker is in a "shack on a pallet" that I built for it mostly to keep the wind off it as I use it year round. The Weber and the Ducane get covered in winter and just uncovered when needed. None of these gets "put away" for the winter. They don't go in a garage or anything. They're outside toys.
We were planning to add about an 8x8 foot area to our patio to accommodate the "cooking area". I was just looking at it (again) and adding up expenses in my head and wondered...
If I bought a Rec Tec, could it REPLACE the smoker and the 2 grills?
Now, keep in mind that I can't ever remember running any TWO of these at the same time, let alone all 3.
I've done almost 30 pounds of chicken leg quarters in the smoker at one time. Whole turkeys and chickens, ribs, pork butts, LOTS of poultry (which I run at higher temps.... like 375-ish). Would a pellet pooper produce SMOKE at the higher temps? Or would I need a AMNTS? (not sure I got all those letters right.... y'all know what I mean)
How would it be in winter? I live near Niagara Falls, NY so it can get mighty cold and sometimes the cold and wind isn't real friendly which is why I built the shack on a pallet for the cabinet smoker. Would it need a thermal blanket?
As a GRILL.... how evenly does the cooking surface heat?
I mean.... the gas grill has areas that are warmer than other so I have to do the hamburger shuffle if I'm cooking a dozen burgers. I kinda shift steaks around as I turn them so I don't have one end on a hot spot all the time.. stuff like that. Normally I do steaks on the Weber so I only deal with whatever I've created with my charcoal arrangement.
Can a pellet grill sear a steak?
Can a pellet grill cook EVENLY enough to do things like.... swordfish steaks, or marlin steaks?
(I LOVE grilled marlin!)
I'm just thinking that if a pellet grill can pretty much do it all, then I really don't NEED to add on the the patio. I could use that savings toward the pellet grill and if I only have one cooking appliance to deal with it simplifies things immensely. I also have an outdoor electrical plug exactly where I'd be using a pellet grill.
So .... can a good pellet grill really do it all?