I've been smoking for almost 30 years with a water and charcoal smoker. Using the smoker was pretty much reserved for Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys and fresh pork shoulders. Good, but what a pain. A couple of years ago I had some ribs from a pellet smoker. Hands down, they were the best ribs that I had ever had. Prior to this experience, I had never even heard of pellet smokers. I had been doing ribs on a covered Weber gas grill for years with mixed results. The secret to ribs and any other BBQ's smoked meat is low and slow. Maintaining a constant temperature on either the smoker or the Weber was a "roll of the dice" at best. For the past couple of years I've researched various pellet grills. After convincing the little Mrs. that the smoker had seen it's better days because of corrosion, I started shopping in earnest and in particular reading owner and independent reviews of various makes. None of the better ones are inexpensive. Regardless, I caved and spent more than I could have ever imagined for a "grill"!
The biggest draw to the pellet smokers is obviously the outcome. Just as important to me is the lack of attention that apparently needs to be given to the smoker to guarantee a "predictable" outcome. Anything I do as a "pellet" rookie is bound to produce a better outcome than I've been used to for the past 30 years. I look to the forum to expand my repertoire of smoked foods and to "hone" my skills for even better results!
The biggest draw to the pellet smokers is obviously the outcome. Just as important to me is the lack of attention that apparently needs to be given to the smoker to guarantee a "predictable" outcome. Anything I do as a "pellet" rookie is bound to produce a better outcome than I've been used to for the past 30 years. I look to the forum to expand my repertoire of smoked foods and to "hone" my skills for even better results!
