Why I Chose a Pellet Smoker

There are so many smoker options. So which one is going to be best for you? Lets go over some options and I will tell you why I picked a pellet smoker.

There are so many options out there for smokers. Pellet, electric, wood chips, propane, charcoal. Vertical, off-set, gravity fed. So how did I pick? Now this is my opinion based on the research I did. You may find a different type fits your style better.

For the vertical vs offset I went with offset. This just means it sits horizontal and vertical well sits vertical. I went with offset because a lot of the verticals there wasn’t a window to see your food. Offset doesn’t have that either, but the lid is very easy to open to take a quick peak. Pit Boss does make a vertical smoker with a window. But review wise, the Traeger out did the Pit Boss.

For taste, first, I don’t like the taste of charcoal. It gives this weird burnt taste to food. So, that eliminated that pretty quick.

Propane sounded like a pain. Getting a propane tank, having to take it somewhere to get it filled or replaced. And running out mid smoke with no way to fill it up without taking it somewhere? That sounded like a no for me. If you have other outside things that already take propane and you have a lot of tanks on the ready this may be a good option for you!

Electric was on my list. But I was worried about it not giving enough smoke flavor. You will find a lot of times electric smokers are a combo and you can add wood chips for flavor. Price wise electric seemed to be the best price point. You may see a spike in your electric bill if you use it a lot but nothing super significant. Unless you’re doing all day smokes, every day. So, how did I end up with a pellet smoker?

Really it came down to reviews and what people said about flavor. I read views that Traeger was considered the best brand for its customer service. Which I can say has proven true. They were more than helpful when I had a technical issue. Also, I have tried food from a wood chip smoker. If you want the highest smoky flavor you can get then get a wood chip smoker or electric you can put wood chips in. It is a very strong smoky flavor. I honestly wasn’t into it. There were times I couldn’t get the flavor of the food over the smoke taste. Traeger has so many pellet options that give you the ability to go from that super smoky flavor to almost none. I liked being able to choose like that.

Also, when your hopper gets low on pellets you just put more in! I bought $10 Craftsman 5-gallon buckets that latch that work amazing for storing pellets inside or outside.

My advice when looking for a smoker is read views and think about convenience. Also, check out my post about different sizes!

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