Should You Buy a Pellet Grill and Smoker This Summer?

from The Gear Patrol Podcast · host Nick Caruso, Will Price

Pellet grills have been around only since the mid-Eighties and feature precision computer controls: a super low-effort alternative to charcoal and gas grills. Episode Navigation:01:25 – What Is a Pellet Grill and Smoker, and What Are "Pellets?"03:40 – The Complex Components That Make Pellet Grills So Simple to Use07:30 – Why Pellet Grills Are the Most Precise of Grilling Options09:15 – Pellets Aren't a Big Hassle, and These Are Set-It-and-Forget-It Devices13:00 – Why Pellet Grills Are Also Smokers, and What They Cook Best20:00 – Comparing Pellet Grills to Other Types21:50 – Traeger, and the Genesis of Pellet Grills23:15 – The Ecological Impact of Pellet Cooking26:40 – The Surprisingly Low Prices of Pellet Grills29:30 – A Rundown of Our Top Three Pellet Grill Picks44:05 – What Is Will Grilling With This Summer? Featured:The 10 Best Pellet Smokers and Grills You Can Buy in 2021Pellet Grilling Isn’t a Fad, It’s the Future — Here’s WhyBack in Stock: The Best Tailgate Smoker You Can BuyThe 12 Best Charcoal Grills You Can Buy in 2021The 11 Best Gas Grills You Can Buy in 2021The 30 Best Things to Cook with an Instant Pot or Multicooker8 Tools You Need to Take Your Grill Setup to the Next Level9 Things Your Dad Taught You About Grilling That Were Completely Wrong25 Grill Recipes You Should Bookmark Right Now

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 24, 2021

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What this episode covers

In this episode, Editor Will Price joins to talk about the newest–and perhaps least-well-known–type of grill: the pellet grill. (Or to be more precise, pellet grills and smokers.) Will makes the case that pellet grills and smokers, which have been around only since the mid-Eighties and benefit from precision computer controls, are a super low-effort alternative to charcoal and gas grills, particularly if you're slow cooking food like ribs or brisket. Will talks about how the things actually work and how they're best used, the benefits and (very few) downsides to the category, and offers plenty of advice for pellet grill and smoker novices and pros alike. He ends with a rundown of our top three recommendations for pellet grill and smoker shoppers. If you're interested in a "set it and forget it" approach to grilling and cooking out this summer, this one's definitely for you.