# Pellet vs. Electric



## Central PA Cowboy

My buddy has a Rec Tec pellet smoker and an MES electric smoker. Says the pellet smoker blows the electric smoker out of the water. Leaning towards the Pit Boss PB340 pellet smoker. Sell me on why I should get an electric smoker rather than a pellet smoker. And go!


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## PerazziMx14

Please remove


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## Central PA Cowboy

Thanks for the info. That's a great question. I just want to smoke pork and chicken mainly. Maybe even a brisket. Nothing more, nothing less.


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## PerazziMx14

Please remove


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## Central PA Cowboy

What would be the difference between a pellet smoker and an electric smoker? Convenience?


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## dr k

Mes is less expensive and pennies to operate per hour.  I think the Mes gets lower than pellet smokers down to 100 for sausage, sticks, fish and jerky etc.  Cold smoker for cheese, bacon etc.


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## hank2000

I have an MES and a pellet smoker. The mes works good for pulled pork sausage bacon cheese things like that  pellet smoker works best for turkeys chickens prime ribs because it gets hotter. Like both


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## Central PA Cowboy

hank2000 said:


> I have an MES and a pellet smoker. The mes works good for pulled pork sausage bacon cheese things like that  pellet smoker works best for turkeys chickens prime ribs because it gets hotter. Like both



This is the information I was looking for. I would be doing more of chicken breasts, ribs/pulled pork, and probably brisket. What would you recommend having used both?


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## hank2000

Well if I could only have one I would go with the mes because I like the way it cooks   You can cook just about any thing in it  the only think about an mes is that when u cook a turkey or a chicken the skin will not be crispy because it does not get hot enough. That’s a pellet smoker would be better because it will get hotter chickens and things like that need to be cooked at 325 or higher for crispy skin (I cook mine at about 350 till internal temp 165 in the breast and 175 in the thigh). Now after saying all that I used a mes for years to Cooke everything and that is still my go to smoker for almost everything I do. I also us an amazen pellet tray to generate smoke and I use there pellets only. Do a wag search or they may be sponsores here   Plus I use one of there tubes for extra smoke in my pellet rig.  I would start with an mes but be forewarned u will expand as time goes on because it’s addictive I started out with pulled pork that’s all I wanted to do now years latter I do that and sausage (starting some today) bacon and everything thing in between. And I use thermometers not time to tell when meat is done it’s safer and better cooks as well. I’ve said a lot I hope it helps please let me know what u decide on. And as questions I love to help and if I can’t someone here can. Good luck


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## forkin pork

I've never been a pellet or electric type of guy, but my son last year got a Silverbac Pellet  smoker from Grilla Grills.
I have to say that cooker in the bomb, my son loves it and so do I.
Also, Silverbac got super great reviews and sometimes when you order one, you have to wait 3 months for delivery due to demand.


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## petehalsted

Hank has given you some great info. 

One more question, do you have a grill now? You said chick breast, not whole chickens was your goal. I just did some wings on my MES and between dry brining and a couple minutes on the grill at the very end I had nice crispy skin on my wings. 

We you like BBQ, Grilling, etc. you still need a grill regardless, so you can use it to finish off stuff if you want the crisp. Not so easy with whole chicken but for anything else it would be.

On the pellet front, there are some that are suppose to be able to smoke and grill. But I have seen lots of comments that they don't do a great job of grilling because you can't get enough direct heat for a good sear. I have no personal experience, just based on post I have seen.


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## Central PA Cowboy

Thanks for all of the info. I already have a grill, so no need for another "grill".


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## hank2000

What Pete said is all true. If u have a grill and get a mes u can smoke steaks on it to an internal temp of about 120 ( I like med rare steaks) and finish them on a hot grill this give u a good smoke flavor and a good sear as well.   I use my pellet grill for this to I just use grill grates from start to finish have a good tamest and a sear as well. But the sear is not as good as a gas grill. But my deck is full no room for any more grill.  Hmmmm may be time to ask for an outdoor kitchen.


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## hank2000

What ever u decide on u can’t go wrong. Just practice and each cook will better then the last. Get to know ur smoker and u will be doing more then just chicken and check out Bears step by step he has a lot of recipes on there and he uses an mes for everyone of them. I have learned a lot from him and others   I hope all this helped


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## troutman

This is exactly why I have multiple cooker syndrome (MCS) of which there is currently no known cure.  I find that differing cookers do certain things better than others for my taste.  Plus I just like having all kinds of gadgets.  I also cook indoors with sous vide and conventional convection ovens.  If you can afford, get both, if not then go for the one that satisfies the things you cook most.  Good luck !!


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## ross77

I had a MES but never did like the type of smoke flavor it produced. It was too bitter and ashtray like. The controller also failed twice. IMO the Weber charcoal smoker made the best tasting que but required too much work for me. 

I now have a RecTec and really enjoy it.


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## browneyesvictim

It has been said many times around here about the MES that using wood chips the conventional way as designed is vastly inferior to using pellets in a tray such as an A-Maze-N in so many ways. But when using a pellet tray in an MES is vastly superior to the smoke of a pellet pooper. Any claims of ash taste or creosote taste from the MES are simply the results of mismanaged burning of the chips or other aspects of the smoker such as leaving vents closed or partially closed. I can also understand however, if a person chooses not to take the time to learn their smoker (no mater what kind it is) that a pellet grill would suit them better because they are more forgiving in that sense.

The real main drawback of the MES as I see it is the 275' limit. But if you have a grill, this is a non-issue. Now if you go with charcoal with a bullet or other vertical smoker you can get the best of all worlds. But as pointed out requires a little more work and tending to. If you add a controller such a cyber-q to one of them, then I would argue the benefits vs effort is a notch above about any other method out there.


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## ross77

You don’t seem to be a fan of pellet smokers....


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## browneyesvictim

ross77 said:


> You don’t seem to be a fan of pellet smokers....


Don't get me wrong. I would rather have a pellet "smoker" than a gas grill. They have a convenience factor to them that is attractive for a VERY large population because they sure sell a lot of them! But they are a GRILL not really a SMOKER.


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## hank2000

troutman said:


> This is exactly why I have multiple cooker syndrome (MCS) of which there is currently no known cure.  I find that differing cookers do certain things better than others for my taste.  Plus I just like having all kinds of gadgets.  I also cook indoors with sous vide and conventional convection ovens.  If you can afford, get both, if not then go for the one that satisfies the things you cook most.  Good luck !!


Yes I have more then one myself.  And thinking about building a smokehouse to do bacon and hams in.


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## troutman

browneyesvictim said:


> It has been said many times around here about the MES that using wood chips the conventional way as designed is vastly inferior to using pellets in a tray such as an A-Maze-N in so many ways. But when using a pellet tray in an MES is vastly superior to the smoke of a pellet pooper. Any claims of ash taste or creosote taste from the MES are simply the results of mismanaged burning of the chips or other aspects of the smoker such as leaving vents closed or partially closed. I can also understand however, if a person chooses not to take the time to learn their smoker (no mater what kind it is) that a pellet grill would suit them better because they are more forgiving in that sense.
> 
> The real main drawback of the MES as I see it is the 275' limit. But if you have a grill, this is a non-issue. Now if you go with charcoal with a bullet or other vertical smoker you can get the best of all worlds. But as pointed out requires a little more work and tending to. If you add a controller such a cyber-q to one of them, then I would argue the benefits vs effort is a notch above about any other method out there.



The first part of your statement is spot on, you need to master your cooker, I don't care what it is.  Looking at your bio I would venture to say that you do a lot of sausage making, jerky, that sort of thing.  If so low and cold smoking are your thing and that best suits the MES.  On the other hand if you cook at higher temperature, say 325* or there about, then a grill is better suited.  Pellet grills (and I agree they are better called grills) try and achieve the best of both worlds.  In an MES you use AMNPS trays to achieve your smoke level, pellet grills the same.  I can set mine as low as about 170* and with a tray or a tube you can smoke quit nicely.  If I want to cook a steak and achieve a good sear I can do that at 400* as well.  Are smoking and grilling the best ways to use a pellet grill?  NO.  To me its a great low and slow cooker from about 225-300* range.  And of course the convenience of having a controlled temperature environment. 

So that gets to my point about my MCS addiction.  If I want to smoke below 200*, its a vertical smoker.  If I want to cook low and slow its my stick burner or my pellet pooper or my WSM.  And if I just want to quickly grill off some steaks its my gasser.  Of course a lot of folks don't have the luxury of owning or dealing with multiple cookers.  

OK well now I feel better and have just exited my soap box.  Happy New Year to all !!!


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## browneyesvictim

troutman said:


> The first part of your statement is spot on, you need to master your cooker, I don't care what it is.  Looking at your bio I would venture to say that you do a lot of sausage making, jerky, that sort of thing.  If so low and cold smoking are your thing and that best suits the MES.  On the other hand if you cook at higher temperature, say 325* or there about, then a grill is better suited.  Pellet grills (and I agree they are better called grills) try and achieve the best of both worlds.  In an MES you use AMNPS trays to achieve your smoke level, pellet grills the same.  I can set mine as low as about 170* and with a tray or a tube you can smoke quit nicely.  If I want to cook a steak and achieve a good sear I can do that at 400* as well.  Are smoking and grilling the best ways to use a pellet grill?  NO.  To me its a great low and slow cooker from about 225-300* range.  And of course the convenience of having a controlled temperature environment.
> 
> So that gets to my point about my MCS addiction.  If I want to smoke below 200*, its a vertical smoker.  If I want to cook low and slow its my stick burner or my pellet pooper or my WSM.  And if I just want to quickly grill off some steaks its my gasser.  Of course a lot of folks don't have the luxury of owning or dealing with multiple cookers.
> 
> OK well now I feel better and have just exited my soap box.  Happy New Year to all !!!



Smoke on Brotha!
My experience with Treagers and other pellet grills weren't bad and in fact I can see the draw for many folks. The Achilles heel in them is that the pellets are used for generating BTU's and thusly the amount of smoke produced is invariably related. Especially at higher temps, you simply will not get much smoke like when you cook a steak. Since you brought it up, my preference for higher temps is using charcoal with or without wood chunks. Ill come over to your place and challenge you in a steak cookoff: I will take the upper off your WSM and use it as a grill and you can use your pellet grill. We will both have a good steak and have a cold beverage. Cheers!
Happy New Year


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## troutman

That's dirty pool.  My WSM is my go to smoker, can't touch that !!!  But hey, come on over and I'll buy you a beer.  We can have that cook off any day.  We can also argue over who is better or worse, Texas Longhorns or the Oregon Ducks ..... quack !


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## Bearcarver

hank2000 said:


> I have an MES and a pellet smoker. The mes works good for pulled pork sausage bacon cheese things like that  *pellet smoker works best for *turkeys chickens *prime ribs because it gets hotter. *Like both



Turkeys & Chicken, Yes, But, But----
But, But, But, Prime Rib comes out Much better at Temps around 220°. Nice Pink Med-Rare from Bark to Bark.

Like These---All done in an MES (Electric) with about a 220° Smoker Temp:
*Prime Rib Calendar (14 Smoked Prime Ribs)
*

Bear


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## Central PA Cowboy

bearcarver said:


> Turkeys & Chicken, Yes, But, But----
> But, But, But, Prime Rib comes out Much better at Temps around 220°. Nice Pink Med-Rare from Bark to Bark.
> 
> Like These---All done in an MES (Electric) with about a 220° Smoker Temp:
> *Prime Rib Calendar (14 Smoked Prime Ribs)*
> 
> Bear



Very nice! Your prime rib photos made me hungry. What's the highest temp your MES gets to?


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## Bearcarver

Derek717 said:


> Very nice! Your prime rib photos made me hungry. What's the highest temp your MES gets to?



Thanks!
The highest temp it will hold is 275°, but I only ever set it that high for the last hour of a Chicken smoke.

Bear


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## Central PA Cowboy

bearcarver said:


> Thanks!
> The highest temp it will hold is 275°, but I only ever set it that high for the last hour of a Chicken smoke.
> 
> Bear



Thanks Bear! Leaning towards an electric smoker now. Seems like I can smoke what I want (chicken and ribs) using it. Thanks for all of the great info.


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## hank2000

You can do that and so much more.


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## browneyesvictim

Good call Derek. That's the right choice in my opinion. The Masterbuilt is a good starting place, but there are better electric smokers out there (albeit more expensive) that will go higher than 275*. When my MES craps out, a Smokin-It will be in my future.


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## Central PA Cowboy

Decided to go with the smoker below:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/MASTERBUILT-SE-ELCTR-BLK-PROB/2583054.uts?slotId=0

Thanks for all your help!


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## Bearcarver

Derek717 said:


> Decided to go with the smoker below:
> 
> http://www.cabelas.com/product/MASTERBUILT-SE-ELCTR-BLK-PROB/2583054.uts?slotId=0
> 
> Thanks for all your help!




That's an old Stand-by, loved by many!!
It's also the one I started with 9 years ago, except mine had the older "Square cornered" control box.

Enjoy!!

Bear


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## Central PA Cowboy

If it comes by this weekend, I'm doing ribs. And if it comes by next weekend, I'm doing ribs.


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## johnmeyer

You made the right decision. I've never owned a Traeger (or similar pellet smoker), but I repaired one recently and have had demos. IMHO, pellet smokers are neither fish nor fowl. What I mean is that they are somewhat like an oven in that you can set temperatures fairly accurately and do "roasting," but you can't get them anywhere near as hot as a traditional indoor oven, and certainly not hot enough to do pizza, something that might possibly be interesting if you could get a wood-fired oven taste to your pizzas.

You can't sear on them, so they have none of the characteristics of a gas or charcoal grill.

But the biggest issue is that, from my limited experience, they don't really do a very good job of imparting smoke to the food, and because they use "heating pellets" rather than "smoking pellets," the taste of what little smoke they put onto the food is not quite right. I have never gone past a Traeger and thought, "man, that sure smells good." By contrast, when I go past someone's traditional smoker or grill, I want to hang around and see if I get offered a nibble.


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## Central PA Cowboy

johnmeyer said:


> You made the right decision. I've never owned a Traeger (or similar pellet smoker), but I repaired one recently and have had demos. IMHO, pellet smokers are neither fish nor fowl. What I mean is that they are somewhat like an oven in that you can set temperatures fairly accurately and do "roasting," but you can't get them anywhere near as hot as a traditional indoor oven, and certainly not hot enough to do pizza, something that might possibly be interesting if you could get a wood-fired oven taste to your pizzas.
> 
> You can't sear on them, so they have none of the characteristics of a gas or charcoal grill.
> 
> But the biggest issue is that, from my limited experience, they don't really do a very good job of imparting smoke to the food, and because they use "heating pellets" rather than "smoking pellets," the taste of what little smoke they put onto the food is not quite right. I have never gone past a Traeger and thought, "man, that sure smells good." By contrast, when I go past someone's traditional smoker or grill, I want to hang around and see if I get offered a nibble.



John Meyer? The singer or the smoker?

P.S. Thanks for the extra info.


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## ross77

I can sear and smoke on my RecTec pellet grill. The temp range is 180 to 500+. I’ve had it to up to 550. And with Grill Grates I get excellent sear on my steaks.  Pizza?  No problem. 

Not sure what you mean by “smoking pellets vs heating pellets”?  The smoke from Lumberjack 100% hickory pellets smells delicious to me when I’m using mine. And I have owned a Weber charcoal smoker and a MES. I also haven’t touched my Weber gas grill since I got my pellet grill.

I’ve cooked plenty of delicious food on it and many have enjoyed it. Of course people have different tastes but no smell from mine has turned me off from wanting to eat food from it. 

With that said, no you won’t get a ton of smoke flavor when cooking at temps over 275 but you can always supplement with a tube if need be. 

Just my 2 cents.


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## Central PA Cowboy

ross77 said:


> With that said, no you won’t get a ton of smoke flavor when cooking at temps over 275 but you can always supplement with a tube if need be.
> 
> Just my 2 cents.



This is why I went Electric. I wanted a deeper, richer smoke flavor for my meats. Everything I've read tells me pellet smokers are more like a grill than a smoker. I already have a grill and worse case scenario, I can add my smoker box to it to give meats a hint of smoke.


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## troutman

....and the pellet debate goes on, and on, and on ........ just do what I do guys, get one of everything, its Multiple Cooker Syndrome.  We all get it or will have it to some degree within this hobby. o_O


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## ross77

Derek717 said:


> This is why I went Electric. I wanted a deeper, richer smoke flavor for my meats. Everything I've read tells me pellet smokers are more like a grill than a smoker. I already have a grill and worse case scenario, I can add my smoker box to it to give meats a hint of smoke.



Well to be fair the electric won’t go above 275... From 180 to 250 I get plenty of smoke flavor with 100% hickory on my pellet smoker. 

This is where the different tastes come in.  I got rid of my electric because I didn’t like the smoke profile. It was more acrid and bitter to me compared to the charcoal smoker I had prior. 

Yes it’s all up for debate and different folks prefer different tastes. But I’ve smoked with all three types and I have no issue with the smoke flavor on the pellet smoker. 

Maybe one day I’ll get a stick burner but I just don’t have the time to tend to a fire. Nor the space...


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## Central PA Cowboy

ross77 said:


> Well to be fair the electric won’t go above 275... From 180 to 250 I get plenty of smoke flavor with 100% hickory on my pellet smoker.
> 
> This is where the different tastes come in.  I got rid of my electric because I didn’t like the smoke profile. It was more acrid and bitter to me compared to the charcoal smoker I had prior.
> 
> Yes it’s all up for debate and different folks prefer different tastes. But I’ve smoked with all three types and I have no issue with the smoke flavor on the pellet smoker.
> 
> Maybe one day I’ll get a stick burner but I just don’t have the time to tend to a fire. Nor the space...



I have a Masterbuilt charcoal smoker right now. Loved using it besides the heat only getting to like 175°. I wanted to drill holes in the charcoal bowl, but figured might as well save the trouble and get something bigger and easier to use.


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## johnmeyer

As for temps on pellet smokers, I only have some brief experience fixing someone's Traeger, and that unit maxed out at 375. Also, in that Traeger pellet oven there is no direct, radiant heat source which I would think would be needed for searing.


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## hank2000

My traeger will get to 450 and with searing plates it will sear just fine I do with steaks and hamburgers all the time plus with a smoke tub you get a good smoke tast.


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## Central PA Cowboy

hank2000 said:


> My traeger will get to 450 and with searing plates it will sear just fine I do with steaks and hamburgers all the time plus with a smoke tub you get a good smoke tast.



From my reading, a smoker should be low and slow which is why I went with an MES. I can just use my grill to get up to 450° and throw a smoker box in it. Would be the same as a pellet grill, but cheaper.


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## hank2000

True.  I have an MES as well I use it all the time but I like my traeger for higher heat for things like chicken and turkey plus I like to fuel with wood without having to cut it. Each has its place.  If you choose the MES you didn’t go wrong


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## bregent

Derek717 said:


> From my reading, a smoker should be low and slow which is why I went with an MES. I can just use my grill to get up to 450° and throw a smoker box in it. Would be the same as a pellet grill, but cheaper.



Just because pellets grills can do high heat (mine will reach 700F) doesn't mean they can't do low and slow. All pellet grills can smoke as low as 180F, and several models can get down to 150F.


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## Central PA Cowboy

bregent said:


> Just because pellets grills can do high heat (mine will reach 700F) doesn't mean they can't do low and slow. All pellet grills can smoke as low as 180F, and several models can get down to 150F.



You're correct. They can go low and slow. But, then I have heard there isn't much of a smokiness to the meat.


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## azbohunter

Agree...one of each would be great. I have a MES 30 with a Auber PID and a mailbox mod for the AMNPS to sit in. It does wonders for salmon at 100 degrees for a couple hours before turning up the heat. I would like to own a bigger and better insulated smoker for higher temps and more room but the MES has served me for 3 years, hundreds of smoked fish, a few pork butts, ribs, chicken, just completed a venison neck roast that was awesome...MES does a good job for a very small investment.


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## lothar1974

I have 2 MES40's, a Gen 1 and a 2.5,  I use them only for smoking sausage / snack sticks.  I have a Memphis Elite pellet smoker 180 - 700 degrees, I use this for all other, pork shoulder, brisket chicken, pizza  etc.  Both are great produts and its really down to personal preference.  I prefer my pellet smoker for main Q smoking, for me its more accurate and never fails, Double Walled, Sealed, 304 Stainless Steel for MN winters  :)


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## daricksta

hank2000 said:


> My traeger will get to 450 and with searing plates it will sear just fine I do with steaks and hamburgers all the time plus with a smoke tub you get a good smoke tast.


I've read and hard that it's hard to keep temps constant in a Traeger because they're so poorly insulated. Have you found that to be the case?


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## daricksta

Derek717 said:


> This is the information I was looking for. I would be doing more of chicken breasts, ribs/pulled pork, and probably brisket. What would you recommend having used both?


I have smoked innumerable pork ribs, beef briskets (including a whole packer brisket), pork shoulders,a turkey breast, salmon fillets, ribeye steaks, boneless chuck roasts, beef jerky, and cheeses in my MES 30 Gen 1 and the results have all been very good to superb, depending how good my technique was and other factors. I only use wood pellets in my smoker. This year I hope to smoke a whole duck to make Peking Duck in my smoker. I already have the steel duck hangers so I can hang the duck from the top rack. I'll definitely be smoking bacon and pastrami. So even though my 30" smoker is a little guy, it's turned out some great Q using wood pellets. 

OK, the official top temp is 275 degrees but the MES will burn hotter than that, but I don't recommend it on a regular basis. What I don't like about pellet smokers is that they depend on a motorized auger to keep the wood pellet burner filled with pelllets. If the motor were to go out, it most likely would be expensive to replace it. 

Choosing the best smoker for you depends on what you would prefer to smoke with, the cabinet style or the offset style, how much you plan to pay, and where you plan to store it when not in use. i chose the MES 30 Gen 1 because it was going to be my first smoker (it's still my ONLY smoker), it was under $200, it was electric (I didn't want propane) and I already had a Weber charcoal grill, and it was small enough to store in my garage and to wheel out to my my front or back yards and back. if and when I buy a 2nd smoker, I will most likely stick with a larger Masterbuilt because I can't afford the higher-priced brands. Or if I want to try charcoal again, I'd consider a 22" Weber Smokey Mountain. That way I could fool around with getting smoke rings.


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## hank2000

daricksta said:


> I've read and hard that it's hard to keep temps constant in a Traeger because they're so poorly insulated. Have you found that to be the case?


No not really most pellet grills I’ve seen are not insulated I did get a blanket for mine to help it in the winter time but no I’ve never had much problems with mine


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## ross77

The motors on pellet grills are not that expensive and are actually pretty easy to replace.  On my RecTec there is just one shroud to remove and you can see all the internals.  I haven't had any issues in the 15 months I've owned it.  I've not read about the auger motors being a common problem although RecTec has a 6 year warranty so I'm not really concerned about it.  I had a 30" MES prior and the electronics failed twice but at least it was inexpensive in the first place.  
I started with a WSM and the food it produced was fantastic but I just didn't like the babysitting required.


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## newqreview

Having used a MES 40 and a Pellet Pro, I would say that great smoke flavor can be achieved on both.
I like the MES 40 better for its capacity (like 8 butts or 4 Packers) and ABT's.
I like the Pellet Pro better for ribs, chicken and smaller quantitys of roasts like Brisket and Butts.
I know a smoke ring doesnt count but the truth is that we are visual creatures and the food from the Pellet Pro is beautiful...


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## daricksta

hank2000 said:


> No not really most pellet grills I’ve seen are not insulated I did get a blanket for mine to help it in the winter time but no I’ve never had much problems with mine


I've only really known two people who complained about how the lack of insulation made it difficult to keep a stable cooking temp, one of them was my brother-in-law, but that was years ago. At that time he didn't know much about smoking or grilling and it's been years since I've eaten there.


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## BobZEE

johnmeyer said:


> You made the right decision. I've never owned a Traeger (or similar pellet smoker), but I repaired one recently and have had demos. IMHO, pellet smokers are neither fish nor fowl. What I mean is that they are somewhat like an oven in that you can set temperatures fairly accurately and do "roasting," but you can't get them anywhere near as hot as a traditional indoor oven, and certainly not hot enough to do pizza, something that might possibly be interesting if you could get a wood-fired oven taste to your pizzas.
> 
> You can't sear on them, so they have none of the characteristics of a gas or charcoal grill.
> 
> But the biggest issue is that, from my limited experience, they don't really do a very good job of imparting smoke to the food, and because they use "heating pellets" rather than "smoking pellets," the taste of what little smoke they put onto the food is not quite right. I have never gone past a Traeger and thought, "man, that sure smells good." By contrast, when I go past someone's traditional smoker or grill, I want to hang around and see if I get offered a nibble.


my Pit Boss will get to 475+ AND WILL SEAR


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## TulsaJeff

There is a definite difference between heating pellet and cooking pellets.. definitely make sure you are using the correct ones. Those are NOT interchangeable in any way.

Furthermore, pellet grills put out more smoke at the lower temperatures. I usually start everything on as low as it will go or a specialized "smoke" setting and leave it there for about an hour. After that, I set it for whatever I want my cooking temperature to be and it is as tasty as it gets with plenty of smoke flavor.


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## karateauditor

ross77 said:


> The motors on pellet grills are not that expensive and are actually pretty easy to replace.  On my RecTec there is just one shroud to remove and you can see all the internals.  I haven't had any issues in the 15 months I've owned it.  I've not read about the auger motors being a common problem although RecTec has a 6 year warranty so I'm not really concerned about it.  I had a 30" MES prior and the electronics failed twice but at least it was inexpensive in the first place.
> I started with a WSM and the food it produced was fantastic but I just didn't like the babysitting required.



I currently use a WSM 22" and I too don't like the babysitting required.   I'm really interested in the Rec Tec Bull but like others, I've been unsure of a pellet grill's smoking capabilities.  To me a pellet grill seems to have the best of both worlds of an electric smoker and a stick smoker.   It has the controlled temps, possibly a lesser smoke profile on the meats, uses wood (pellets).   My one concern is using it in the winters.  I live in Michigan and we hit -15 at times.   Does the Rec Tec maintain temps pretty well in colder temps?  I'm sure it'll use more pellets in those temps but just wondered if it can maintain a low and slow cook in 0 degree temps?
I really like what I read about the Rec Tecs and it is at the upper range of what I'm willing to pay, so no Yoders or Memphis grills for me unless a REALLY convincing argument can be made for it :-)


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## ross77

I’m in MN and my 680 maintains temp in below zero. It uses more pellets and takes longer to get up to temp. 

I smoked a brisket overnight at below zero and it held 225 with little variance.


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## karateauditor

Thanks for the info Ross77!   Just had another question if you don't mind :-)  How is it's capacity?  I like doing 18-24 lbs turkeys for the holidays.   Can it hold that big of a bird and if so, can it do two?  Probably won't do two at once but I'm just asking to get an idea of size.


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## ross77

If you’re talking about the Bull you should be able to fit at least 2. Might want to check the height measurement though.


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## karateauditor

Thanks again!


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## idahopz

I'm personally not skilled enough to do all my food on a single cooker, so I use an electric smoker, pellet grill, SRG, and a gas grill. However, if I had to decide between the pellet cooker and an electric smoker, I would choose the pellet unit. The only thing I use the electric smoker these days is cheese, fish, and jerky, but the pellet cooker is used for hotter cooks like ribs, brisket, tri-tip, etc.

On an aside, I always use the SRG for pork butt because the cook goes so fast and produces outstanding pork (I can squish the pork between my fingers when pulling). I also have never had better baked potatoes than those done on the SRG.


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## oldsmokerdude

browneyesvictim said:


> But they are a GRILL not really a SMOKER.



This seems to be true for the majority of pellet smokers out there, but there are some cases where pellet poopers are actual smokers. Mine uses the pellet "grill" for the heat and smoke and has separate hot and cold smoke chambers; in other words a "true" smoker.


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