Pellet smokers. Considering one, but not sure if I'll be happy...

[syoungs]

So my 2nd hand bradley is finally about out of life. Been struggling to maintain tempature, the cabinet doesnt close perfect anymore, basically just has a ton of miles on it.
I've been pretty happy with it overall, besides for the limited size, and the pain of finding the proprietary pucks in town.(only sportsmans wharehouse has em)

So, I've been eyeballing the vertical pellet smokers made by pit boss.
I'm not sure how to smoke output of the pellet grills compares to the Bradley though. I dont have a want for a stick burner, I like the set it and walk away (for the most part) of the Bradley, and think a pellet will get me a similiar cooking experience.

Has anyone switched from a Bradley or other electric to a pellet and not been satisfied? Does the final product on a pellet differ greatly from other methods? I hear it's like 90% of the performance for 10% of the work compared to the stick burner, is there truth to that??!

[Woodchuck]

My buddy has a vertical pit boss and isn't super pleased. The sloped part of the hopper isn't steep enough so the pellets don't feed to the auger well. The racks are quite a bit wider than the door so you can't just slide a rack of food out without spilling, you have to reach in to grab it piece by piece. 

[Buckmark]

I was on the fence about what to get after my masterbuilt elec died after 9 years and lots of use, i was going to get a pit boss but the reviews are not great for what they cost. 
I am leaning back to another masterbuilt, upper end of what they offer.

I do have a pellet grill which i like but it is not a smoker like a real smoker

[storyteller]

take a look at the louisana grill, my son has one for about 3 years, pretty happy with it

[wadu1]

I've done the stick burner and gas, went to a pellet grill. I was not sure if I was going to like it, when I found a Z-Grill at Sears Outlet for under $300 I got one. It's not a vertical, but so far it's been great, now I'm looking for a bigger one. It's very simple to use, get it smoking clean the grill add meat set the temp check the pellets every do often that's it.   

[Badhabit]

I have a 4 rack electric Masterbuilt with a remote and love it. I also have 2 BGE's and I smoke in the Masterbuilt. If I upgrade it will be something from Cookshack. Spendy but worth every penny. I started with a Bradley, great entry level.

[syoungs]

Well dang, gonna have to research a bit more I see. Wouldn't have even thought to look at the door vs rack width. That would be a deal breaker.

There is a sweet lousiana vertical pellet smoker st costco, it's a bit bigger then I wanted, and about 200 more then I want to spend, but I probably should look a little closer at those, or start looking for other options.

[carlyoungs]

My father in law has the stack kind forgot what brand. It holds a lot of pellets but loses heat pretty fast when you open it. I have the gmg and love everything about it. Use to have the electric cylinder style you have. It was great when I had it. Since switching to the pellet you will never look back. Has wifi built in and you can change the temp with your phone and see internal temp of the meat . Get the pellet

[lamrith]

The issue I have seen people like the OP have with pellet grills is due to flavor.  Bradley's, electric smokers, stick burners and the like really crank out the smoke, and they put a nice heavy smoke flavor on food.  Pellet grills are much more subtle of a flavor as they use the wood for primary heat and with a small firepot tends to burn fairly efficiently, thus less smoke flavor.  Just be aware of that going in and you should be ok.  The great thing about them is that they are set and forget and actually can perform a wide variety of cooks, low-n-slow, std baking temps, and even high temp like burgers.  They are very versatile units.

Yes I am biased, but even if you do not buy from me, get a good pellet.  The typical on the shelf local brands (including traeger), are 60-80% alder with a small percentage of the flavor listed added, regardless of what the bag says.  (100% hardwood is your clue they are not the flavor on the bag only and are 60%+ alder filler)  Alder is a good wood, just know that you are not getting pure hickory from the typical local brands.

[3boys]

Well dang, gonna have to research a bit more I see. Wouldn't have even thought to look at the door vs rack width. That would be a deal breaker.

There is a sweet lousiana vertical pellet smoker st costco, it's a bit bigger then I wanted, and about 200 more then I want to spend, but I probably should look a little closer at those, or start looking for other options.

I have had 3 Traegers and now run a Lousiana  900. Awesome grill with zero issues after 12 months of 3 or 4 times a week use.

[blindluck]

Check out Smokin it. I have one love it.

[syoungs]

Check out Smokin it. I have one love it.

I bet you do love it, an insulated smoker controlled via PID is awesome! out of my price range for one large enough though. wife would not be happy if she saw that bill 

[blindluck]

Check out Smokin it. I have one love it.

I bet you do love it, an insulated smoker controlled via PID is awesome! out of my price range for one large enough though. wife would not be happy if she saw that bill 

i hear you, I went through two cheaper ones then decided to buy a higher quality smoker. Wish I would’ve done this in the beginning and be money ahead.