How To Cook On A Pellet Grill

It is a while now that pellet grills are available at more affordable prices.

There is also a lot of writing that makes it sound as if all you have to do is turn it on, slap some meat on it, go along with your day and be ready to eat some fantastic tasting meat.

Although this is partially true, there are a few things we have to think about.

Cooking on the pellet grills like I reviewed here, is nothing different than any other type of grill.
The main advantage is that we do not have to mess with charcoal or propane gas.

Compared to a charcoal grill there is also the advantage that you do not have to adjust the vents on the charcoal grill, like I described in that article.

We still have to:

• Pre heat the grill
• Monitor internal meat temperature
• Keep our eyes on it
• Clean it

So, why is everybody so obsessed with pellet grills?

The main reason in my opinion is that the overall use is a lot easier and less time demanding.

Also the fact that you do not have to worry to much about running out of fuel and even can take a nap during longer cooks, can be called a big plus.

• It is impossible to write how to cook on all pellet grills.
• Each and every brand or model has it own pros and cons.

Basically I would think about the following.

• Wrap parts in aluminum foil

Just like you would do on any other grill. Thing like drip pans, bottom of the grill and more.

• Set your temperature

This is easy. This is set and forget on a good pellet grill.

• Use a probe thermometer for your meat

I had a good look at some of the best digital probe thermometers here.

• Don’t leave your grill unattended to long

Grilling on a pellet grill

This is one of the problems with a pellet grill compared to a regular grill.

Many pellet grills do not get hot enough to be used for searing. That is why most of them should be named pellet smoker instead.

Some brand offer higher temperatures or even an additional searing set to add straight to the firepot.

Things happen. Power outage, controller failure, auger get blocked.

Don’t expect any pellet grill to be without problems. Although the higher priced brands like Rec Tec might have lesser problems because of the higher quality components.

If you compare a pellet grill to a UDS (ugly drum smoker) like the Hunsaker smoker I wrote about, I think it is hard to say that a pellet grill is better.

Especially when I read that these smokers can have 12 hours sessions without adding any charcoal.

Have you got any experience with cooking on a pellet grill? feel free to share your opinion with us here.