Best Pellet Smokers to Barbecue Juicy and Delicious Steaks

If you are the kind of person who enjoys BBq parties on weekends or during the holidays, you definitely understand how important a grill is. Therefore, if you plan to host the next party and can't tell which are the best pellet smokers, keep reading this article to find out.

Owning the best pellet smoker will make you look like a pro at grilling, even if you suck at it. So, if you plan to amaze your friends with your skills (which are probably non-existent, lol), get yourself a good pellet grill and see what you can do with a steak.

What is a Pellet Smoker?

Good question there. How can I even start telling you why you need something without telling you what it is? My bad. So, a pellet smoker is also known as a pellet grill or a grill smoker. It is a piece of cooking equipment people use for braising, smoking, baking, and grilling meat.

A grill smoker uses food-grade wood in the form of pellets as fuel. The difference between these wood pellets and the usual wooden chips is that they stay longer, produce less harmful smoke, and even burn slower.

Here's also best wood for Brisket smoking.

The Best Five Pellet Smokers

1. Z Grills ZPG-450A Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker

You will stop your hunt for the best pellet smokers when you finish reading about this upgraded model of Z Grills. It is the ultimate eight-in-one barbecue wood pellet grill. You can use it for baking, grilling, braising, smoking, BBQ, char-grilling, searing, and roasting. In addition, its temperature ranges between 180-450 degrees Fahrenheit temperature range, making it highly versatile.

Z Grills ZPG-450 is designed for small families as its cooking chamber is 452 sq. inches. Therefore, it is not suitable for large gatherings, but it is best to prepare a mouth-watering meal with natural flavors for your small family. In addition, the pellet hopper capacity is only 15 lbs, so you don't waste pellets once you finish cooking.

This pellet smoker is constructed to last. It is made with sturdy steel with a high-powder coating finish that makes it long-lasting it prevents rust.

2. Green Mountain Davy Crockett Wood Pellet Grill

Green Mountain Grills has another one among the best pellet grills. Their Davy Crockett is the best portable grill that you can use at home. Its small size makes it suitable to carry with you when you are going on a road trip. In addition, it has a foldable design that makes it easy to store and carry, making it the best portable pellet grill.

Green Mountain's Davy Crockett is wi-fi enabled, so you can connect it to your mobile devices to control it easily. With this connection, you can check the temperature range and set it as you desire without going near the device. The best thing is that it can also notify you when the temperature is dropping.

It also has a thermal sensor that keeps monitoring grill temperatures to ensure it is constant. Its approximate dimensions are 30 by 15 by 22 inches and weigh 68lbs.

3. Camp Chef SmokePro DLX Pellet Grill and Smoker

Camp Chef makes some of the best pellet smokers, and this smokepro DLX is not an exception. It features two meat probes, giving you control over the temperatures of your food, and an easy digital display that lets you know what's happening under the grill lid.

Every time you cook, the burned pellets produce ashes, which you need to clean to flush the burner and dispose of. To make that easier for you, all you have to do when using this pellet smoker is pull a knob, and the ashes will drop from the burn cup into a removable cup. So you can clean out the ashes easily.

The pellet hopper capacity is 18lbs. This Camp chef smokepro DLX pellet grill and smoker feature a PID controller for 160-500 degrees Fahrenheit consistent temperatures. Smoke settings are also adjustable, from one to ten, making it easy to customize. The cooking area is big enough; the rack is 573 sq. inches.

4. Traeger Grills Pro Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker

If you don't believe that food cooked with wood tastes better, try this Traeger pellet grill. It is versatile cooking equipment that allows you to hot and fast-cook or low and slow-cook.

It offers six cooking options, including grilling, baking, smoking, braising, BBQ, and roasting food to improve the taste and make a unique dish. It also has a precision temperature control that maintains a plus or minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit temperature control for precision grilling.

This unit is among the best pellet smokers as it is durable, and once you buy it, it will serve you for a lifetime. It is constructed with powerful steel with a durable powder coat finish. The Traeger grill grates are made of porcelain that is easy to clean. The wheels are also all-terrain, so do not worry if you use them in a place with rough terrain; it can stand it all.

Are you planning to host a large group of people? Don't worry. This pellet grill smoker has a large cooking capacity to cook a large quantity of food at once. It has 884 square inches of cooking space. It also comes with a large pellet hopper.

5. Camp Chef Woodwind Pellet Grill and Smoker-36 Inch

This Woodwind pellet grill is another great wood pellet by Camp Chef that allows you to carry a cleanout by removing the burned ashes after every cook. It features a new wi-fi and Bluetooth PID controller that automatically maintains the cooking temperatures with four meat probes. The sear box gets up to 900F.

Temperatures range between 160 degrees Fahrenheit to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, making this pellet grill suitable for slow smoking to grilling. The slide and grill technology allows for direct flame cooking with high temperatures of up to 650 F.

Whichever smoke level you want, you got it. With settings from 1-10, you can change your smoking levels as per your preference. It has about 1236 square inches of cooking space.

Benefits of Using a Pellet Smoker

a). Easy Ignition Startup

Arranging a considerable amount of charcoal and lighting it up is not easy, not even for BBQ lovers. However, with pellet grills, you don't have to do all that before you start roasting. Instead, you only have to press a button, and you are set to start.

b). Hassle-Free

Using pellet grills is a hassle-free process. The roasting process does not have to be hectic with a pellet grill; all you have to do is follow minor steps like ensuring the pellet hopper has enough pellets ad that the machine is plugged in. Most of the other jobs lie temperature control is automatic, and the device handles 90% of that.

c). Consistent Taste and Flavor

The best thing about pellet grills is that you can achieve consistency in taste.This is possible because you can put in your desired settings, and if you use the same settings every time, you can be sure to achieve the same results.

d). Safer

There are often cases of explosions when grilling with a charcoal grill. This happens when fat drippings and fire get indirect contact. In contrast, it is not common to experience such incidences with pellet grills.

e). No Fats

Eating food with no extra fats is enjoyable because you can be sure that yOu are eating healthy. When using a pellet smoker, you don't have to worry about added fats because that is unnecessary. You can roast your steaks to the desired levels without any fat additions.

f). Eco-Friendly

Wood pellets do not produce carcinogenic smoke, which may harm you and the environment. Instead, these pellets work in the same way as biofuels, and they help to minimize the filth and particulate matter from the environment.

g). Convenience

Like an electric smoker, you get to set it and forget it; all you have to do is ensure the pellet hopper is full, set the temperature as you desire, and then let your steak get cooked. The temperature control is also simple as most pellet grills let you set a temperature range of five degrees, and the unit maintains a stable temperature.

Factors to Consider When Buying the Best Pellet Smokers

a). Size of the Hopper

The hopper is the container that holds the pellets before they are taken to the fire-pot. The hopper size will dictate how long your cooks will be. Generally, a 40-pound pellet hopper will cook for about 40 hours at standard smoking temperatures. If you live in a colder climate, your cooker will need more fuel to bring the smoker up to maintain the given temperature.

b). Durability and Construction Material

The pellet grill parts that matter the most are the flame deflector, fire pot, grates, and drip pan. If those parts are constructed with marine-grade stainless steel, the cooker will last you a lifetime. I'm not saying that other parts don't matter; please do not misquote me.

If you buy a smoker made with powder-coated steel, ensure the coating is high quality. This is because a low-quality coating will easily chip off, and that will expose your cooker, and it will start rusting.

Also, note that if you get a pellet grill made with high-quality materials, it will perform better by retaining heat. By so doing, it will be consuming fewer pellets and even maintain temperature better when it is cold.

c). Ease of Clean Up

The ash from burnt pellets builds up around the burn pot and under the heat deflector, so pellet grills must be cleaned frequently. However, some pellet grills are easy to clean even without removing parts.

However, for some models, you will have to take apart the whole grill before cleaning it; this is because the pot needs cleaning after every cook to prevent ash build-up that may cause ignition problems.

d). Pellet Consumption

You don't want a pellet hog; that is a pellet burner that consumes excessive pellets. A very thin pellet cooker will lose heat through the body, and many pellets will be needed to maintain the temperature.

An excessively thick metal will also consume a lot of pellets. That is because the walls act as a heat sink. Heat is taken away from the cooking area and stored in the walls of the cooker.

Therefore, you will need a lot of pellets to raise the temperatures of the pellet grill and maintain it.

e). Portability

Nothing feels as cool as having a pellet smoker that you can easily move around. A lightweight pellet grill will be more portable than an extremely heavy one. However, even if you want something more portable, be sure not to buy one with compromised quality just because you want it to be lightweight and portable.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Best Pellet Smokers

1. How do I choose a pellet smoker?

Before you buy a pellet grill, you may need to check its;

• pellet consumption rate
• mobility
• durability and material used in construction
• size of the hopper

2. What are the disadvantages of using pellet grills?

Since nothing is always 100% perfect, pellet grills also have some flaws. Some of them include;

i). Starting the device in most cases requires electricity; this may limit its usage.

ii). They are highly-priced

iii). You can only cook within the given temperature range.