Wood pellet smokers are all the rage these days, and for good reason! A wood pellet smoker is easy to use, and they’re great for maintaining a constant low temperature, perfect for smoking. But people often ask, “What is the better option?”
Ease of use
Wood pellet smokers:
Using a wood pellet smoker is as simple as filling the feed system with pellets, and setting the cooking temperature. To turn the the temperature up, you’ll need to add more pellets to the fire at a faster rate. Doing so will create a hotter fire, and visa-versa.
Charcoal smokers:
With a charcoal smoker, it’s not quite as easy as just lighting the grill. You’ll have the added prep time of lighting the charcoal which can take about 20-30 minutes. Controlling temperature with a charcoal smoker can be a bit of a learning curve. In order to increase or decrease the temperature, you’ll have to learn how to control the air flow.
Versatility
Wood pellet smokers:
Pellet systems are designed to be more like smokers than a grill. They’re great for cooking meat at constant lower temperatures. This is because higher temperatures are usually a bit harder to reach and maintain with pellets. Pellets burn quicker in comparison to charcoal.
Charcoal smokers:
With charcoal, you can easily cook at high or low temperatures by controlling the air flow. You can grill hot and fast, or smoke low and slow.
Taste
While there is still a nice smokey taste that comes from the wood pellets, when it comes to taste, most people still prefer charcoal over pellets. The rich smoke-infused flavor no matter what you’re cooking with charcoal is hard to beat. The BBQ pellets come in 4 flavors: Apple, Cherry, Charcoal, and Whiskey. The BBQ pellets come in 4 flavors: apple, cherry, charcoal, and whiskey.
Now, one of the great options available for wood-based fuel sources is wood pellets. A newer fuel source to the barbecue game, wood pellets are a versatile way to achieve a great smoky flavor in your outdoor cooking.