I know little to nothing about grills and grilling. I want to get a pellet grill on account of me not knowing how to do it the old fashioned way. Traeger is the most popular brand but I’m intrigued by the Grilla Grill Silverbac. But Recteq is not without its charm.

Anyone have any tips and tricks or general information/education about grills and grilling techniques?

Here is the question I ask everyone: why do you want a pellet grill? It can't sear and it doesn't produce flavor like a charcoal grill or a smoker. It's an electric oven with mild wood flavor. I have a Big Green Egg and I much prefer it, or any of the other kamado style grills, over the pellets. They have a very short learning curve and once you have it down it can sear steaks to 900 or smoke meats for 24 hours without touching it. If you get on the recteq forums, you will see a lot of people use an additional grill such as a weber or big green egg for burgers and steaks. If you are locked into the pellet, I'd go with Recteq. It's going to be better quality than the competitors.

I’m leaning toward the Grilla Grill Silverbac and they have videos showing it can sear and cook burgers and steaks. You can use grill grates to help with the sear but you don’t have to.

Big Green Egg is interesting but the size I want is almost double the price of the pellet grill and I really don’t see any advantages. If you’re able to sear on a pellet, what’s the benefit of the Big Green Egg?

It really boils down to what do you want to cook with it and how inconvenienced are you willing to be every time you cook.

Answer those questions and you will have narrowed your search significantly.

It's hard to sear on a pellet. They struggle to get above 400 regardless of the numbers the manufacturer quotes. Big Green Egg can get to 700 with ease and can bump to 900. Recteq has a great forum, do research before you spend close to 1k for a grill. I've looked into them because of the ease of use and my friends love them. However, the food is better on mine than theirs, but mine does require a little more work. You can get a Kamado Joe for $750 at Lowes or Home Depot. The ceramics are all the same, if you go that route get the cheapest you can find.

If you are planning to grill steaks and burgers, I think you will be disappointed with a pellet. If you are mostly doing chicken/pork and smoking meats you will probably be happy with the ease of use of the pellet.

How about a pellet for low and slow but a Weber kettle for the burgers, hot dogs, and steaks?

Pellets always pop up on my slickdeals, thought they were just smokers, now I don't know what they are.

Cooked with green egg at my old place and they are very very nice but maybe overpriced.

Use a tiny charcoal grill recently and honestly it is perfectly acceptable with a charcoal chimney starter

That's exactly what a lot of people do. That's why I recommend the ceramic. You only need one grill and it will last your entire lifetime. I've had my Egg for 16 years.

Weber makes great grills of all sizes that work great. I agree that the Egg is overpriced compared to the other ceramic grills but they do come with a lifetime warranty.

Pellets are similar to electric convection ovens. They do a great job of maintaining temps of 180-350. Anything above that gets shaky depending on the brand. Also, don't buy a Traeger. Just search for Traeger in r/smoking and read the carnage. You will be replacing some, if not all, of the grill within five years if you are lucky. They are also known to catch on fire.

How easy is it to use? How easy to maintain a steady temp for long cooks?

It’s really easy once you get the hang of it. You just set the dampers to barely open on the top and bottom. That will get your temp to around 225. It will hold that for 24 hours plus as long as you start with an egg full of charcoal and wood. I smoke pork butts and brisket overnight all the time and have never had any issues. It might move 5 degrees by the time I wake up. The ceramic holds heat much better than metal.

If you just want to "grill" stuff, then I think a propane or a weber kettle is what you seek. No reason to make carbonizing pork chops more complex than it has to be.

If if you are looking to smoke things low and slow, then a pellet grill or a kamado is likely better. No experience of my own, but from what I have read on the internet, Yoder has a good reputation for pellet grills.

I do it the old fashioned way. But you intrigued me with other possibilities. Need to study this issue

Yoder is a high-end pellet manufacturer with a solid reputation. But I’m looking more in the $800 range. The small Yoders start at around $1800-2000.

Grilling, it is not me

Have a propane-fueled Weber that I bought for $25 off Craigslist. Have to light it with a match because I'm too lazy to replace the igniter. Produces thoroughly acceptable steaks, burgers and dogs with minimal effort.

Periodically consider getting a smoker but if I'm not willing to put in the time investment to cook over charcoal why do I think I'd spend hours making good brisket? Will just have to live with buying that ****.

Don't really know anyone off the top of my head that has gone with a pellet grill, it's mostly eggs and webers and some charcoal.

I have a Weber charcoal that I mainly use for steaks. It's A++ for steaks and is dirt cheap in combination with a chimney starter.

I also have a gas grill--had a Charbroil which was okay and now have a Weber. Weber is definitely more sturdy/nicer but more expensive but still relatively cheap. I think Gas is good for most things you do. Charcoal takes a while to get going and is a lot messier but the taste is better. So for simple chicken, salmon, burgers, etc. I use the gas grill.

My neighbor has a Traegor; I never loved the food coming off it but it's good for easy cooking for large parties. His food just misses the crust, etc. you get from a higher temp grill but he likes it. I don't smoke anything but I'm assuming if you're getting a smoker, you'd want to go low and slow with a lot of things. I don't have the friends/family (especially with Covid) to have that issue.

I've had Traegers and now have a Yoder pellet grill. It is a wood fired convection over with some direct heat capability. That, IMO, is a very useful thing. It excels at things like Thanksgiving turkey, certain kinds of roasts, and alot of classic BBQ dishes.

It is not however a substitute for primarily direct heat oriented grills. There you have to decide if your interest is searing, or cooking meat through, or a combination. We do a lot of sous vide, so we rarely cook a piece of meat through on a grill. A starter chimney with a grate thrown on top does most of what we need for searing. When we do cook burgers or something through, any reasonable gas grill is good for that although the Yoder works pretty well too.

I have two Akorn Kamado Jr's I picked up from walmart clearance for $40 each and they are amazing.

In a perfect world I'd have a Jr. then a full size Kamado that I could use for multiple racks of ribs/brisket.

Once you figure out how to get your lump charcoal started and learn your airflow holding temperature is so easy.

We ended up getting a Weber Kettle Master Touch. I miss the taste of charcoal grilling, it’s not dependent on electricity like a pellet is, and after looking into it more (YouTube is amazing), I realize how versatile the kettle can be with the right accessories.

Bought a chimney starter, some heat proof gloves, cleaning brush that won’t have the bristles fall off, and a slow and sear. The Master Touch comes with two charcoal baskets, too. Watching the videos, I can see now how to easily cook any type of meat I want being burgers or steaks or ribs or thanksgiving turkey. I’m excited to get started!

can't go wrong with a weber kettle...

My opin...

If you are new to grilling, get something like a weber Genesis with cast iron grates...it is gas, but I find you're more likely to cook more on the grill due to easy setup, and cleanup...pricey, but weber parts are easy to find...

Grilling is all about the (1) meat (2) marinade/rub (3) heat (4) time...get yourself a little instant read thermometer for quick check of doneness, and a timer to monitor time...Kinders makes great ready made marinades and rubs...when it comes to temp, I'm usually working around 400degF and change up the time for rare/med/wtf...temp can go up and down based upon what I'm cooking...pretty soon, you'll have a routine, and you'll find you're getting to be a better cook...

Youtube had infinite content on grilling...good luck and have fun...

T

The only thing that sucks right now is the price of beef. Last year I’d grill prime steaks almost every Sunday night. Now the price is up about 70-80%. Prime brisket is almost double what it was just a few months ago.

TJ made a good point, #1 is the meat. Choice is good, Prime is better.

Once you go prime, there is no choice.

I have a Green Mountain pellet grill which was just fine until it died. Now it is resting peacefully behind an old school $300 Oklahoma Joes smoker from Lowe's, which I prefer way more. I have a cheap 99 buck Weber charcoal grill from Home Depot for grilling.

I don't know why anyone would want a pellet grill unless you are super lazy... they are way more expensive and don't produce the same results.