I’m giving serious consideration into delving into the world of smoking meat, fish etc. The Rec Tec 340 pellet smoker seems to have a lot of fans. Is there anything I should be aware of before going down this particular rabbit hole? I’m not looking to host large parties, mostly cooking for three or four.
I’m going to recommend that you nix the pellet smoker and go with a good old-fashioned charcoal smoker. Hear me out, here…
My problems with pellet grills, and this is all from hearing from people who have them so that this for what it’s worth, is that they are essentially an outdoor, wood-fired convection oven. There’s a lot of reasons why this is a bad thing (or, for me at least, not a good thing), but in your case it boils down to this: they aren’t designed to smoke. That is, a dedicated smoker – be it electric, propane, or ideally charcoal, is designed to burn wood. Small or large chunks of hardwood, slowly smoldering in low heat to provide smoke. A pellet grill can’t really do that due to the design. There are a couple of work-arounds: special pellets that are made from hardwood and designed to burn smoky, and a “smoke tube” which is basically a mesh cylinder that can be filled with the same pellets and then placed somewhere near the fire to begin burning.
Both of these approaches, however, are trying to solve the fundamental problem that pellet grills simply aren’t made to be smokers – hell, they’re not really made to be grills, in that they don’t get hot enough to do a proper sear.
Pellet grills also have thermostats and motors and sensors and lots of other bits that are natural enemies of fire and moisture. I live in Western Oregon and my friends who have pellet grills have to keep them in a garage 8 months of the year, just to keep them dry. A simple BBQ grill cover is insufficient when electronics are involved and the humidity averages 80% 2/3 of the year. In El Paso or someplace similar, this may not be an issue.
Again, this all comes from stories I’ve heard from people who’ve bought them, not my own experience. Take it with whatever size grain of salt you wish.
Personally, I have a Weber Smokey Mountain and I am absolutely in love with it. It’s a bullet smoker, so it looks like a giant medicine capsule sitting vertically. It’s charcoal fired, which took a bit of getting used to but since I’ve always preferred to use a charcoal grill over propane, the learning curve was was quite flat. The shape allows the smoke to circulate very well, giving whatever you’re cooking a very even and thorough cook. There are also no electric motors or regulators or any of that other junk that will wear out or fail after a few years and the whole thing is either stainless steel or enamel coated, so nothing will rust. Cleaning is laughably easy, just dump the ashes, give it a quick rinse, and scrub the water pan and grills with some blue Dawn. Easy Peasy. The only moving parts are the air control dampers. I absolutely love it, and combined with my Weber kettle I have yet to find something that I can’t cook outdoors.
I got a Camp Chef Smoke Vault years and years ago and it still smoking as good as ever. That despite that I’m not anywhere near meticulous with cleaning and maintenance, and also live in a drizzly environment. It’s probably somewhere between the pellet grill and Weber system. Uses a propane tank as fuel source, so it’s easy to get going and adjust the heat when needed, but doesn’t have the complicated circuitry and such that needs extra attention.
Recent threads:
Tell me about backyard smokers - #32 by Palooka
I've decided I'm going to take up smoking.
I’m absolutely not an expert, or even a journeyman, and I’m not attempting to talk you into or out of any device.
In the Spring I experimented with smoking a couple of times on my largish barrel-style charcoal grill. I put coals at both ends and the meat in the center with a pan of water underneath the grate in the center. I got great results, but it was very touchy - I was constantly having to monitor and adjust vents, wood chips, and lump charcoal to keep things at the ideal temperature.
But it was my first adventure smoking meat, and I could see…or rather taste…the allure.
After a few weeks of research I settled on a pellet grill as MY best combo of price, convenience, and results. I considered gas (“it’s what commercial kitchens use!”), but most people said it would not yield quite as good results as some other methods.
I got a Traeger at Home Depot for around $700 (apparently you can easily spend $2K on a smoker), which did, and does, seem like a lot of money. The first unit was DOA (the motor wasn’t properly connected to the auger), but the replacement has worked perfectly for 8 or 9 smokes thus far.
It definitely gets the smoke-flavored results you want, and it definitely is rather hands-off, which is a feature I want, since smoking something might take 3 or 7 hours. It does have firm requirements, like not letting stuff get wet, like @Lancia mentioned. I keep mine outdoors with a cover, and so far, even with torrential rains, the electronics and the few pellets I leave in it have stayed dry.
It really won’t SEAR in the way a regular grill will, but it will definitely get to 400 degrees (lid closed); I have a separate thermometer I keep in there to confirm its readout, and it will reach that temp, though I am typically smoking at 225-250.
Bottom line: I’ve learned that I do like smoked food, and I do like smoking so long as I have a device that lets me be rather lazy.