If you had it to do over.

[cameraguy55]

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

I have the PitBoss Copperhead 7 and afar from only 2 issues a few months after I bought my CH7 has been working great have had it for around 3 years now,if you want a good smoke flavor try this after the startup lower your temp down to the smoke setting and leave it at that setting for 3 hours I only use a smoke tube for cold smoking cheese and certian kinds of fish. And finally and you may do this already clean out your vertical smoker after every cook

 

[Crloyd1]

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

I am

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

I have had my 1150 Pro for 5 weeks now. Hamburgers, chicken breast, steaks and a brisket later.
My wife and I both agree, I whish I would have bought it sooner.
ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

 

[Edchad]

PBV4PS2 smoker and yes I would. I just put in a new controller today and now it has changed to a big YES. We love this smoker.
I now get 10 deg increments if I do it manually, but no 275 deg, only 270 and 280 deg which is no big issue.

Hey Mike. I knew of course about your updated controller. I’ve got the same smoker but have kinda just got used to the big increments. But in reality I would like the 10 deg increments. Just curious If you don’t mind. What was the cost, procedure and how big a job to do it. Im kinda on the fence regarding this. Mine is running and cooking fine. The old saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it“ comes to mind. but it would be kinda nice. Can’t figure why they did this to start with. Thanks in advance.

 

[shoot4fun03]

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

For what it's worth, here's my thoughts...

I originally bought a 820PB a few years ago, around Christmas time. A nephew had gotten a Traeger (model: unkown) as a wedding gift and I was talking with him about it. He said it was a decent smoker/grill, but he didn't necessarily think it was worth all the hype. I did some research while we talked and he did too. He pulled up a Lowe's ad that had the 820PB on sale at the time. He said his buddies had that type and they really liked 'em. The price was good, so I bought it. A few days later I assembled it and set in to smoking some baby backs. It was a big change coming from a offset smoker to the pellet style, but I liked the results. Everything was easy. Set it and forget it... I was happy!

The same nephew had bought my father in law a new Oklahome Joe's DLX pellet grill to use at our Sunday lunch cookouts, and we used it to grill steaks and burgers, but we never smoked with it, so we had no clue if it worked well or not for smoking. I wasn't too impressed with its grilling ability though.
Then one day the family asked me to smoke a bunch of ribs for Sunday. I didn't have enough room for all the ribs in one smoker. I brought the DLX to my house and set in on both smokers. Everything went great. The DLX is a damn fine smoker! Ain't worth poop for grilling...
So, I got to thinking I needed more grate space. I did some research and decided the new 1150 PS2 was what I needed to get Everything done under one hood. Good planning. Poor execution. The 1150 was fraught with problems right out of the box. Had to replace the PID. Still couldn't maintain consistent temps. One side's always colder than the other... Just little things that add up. I've had the 1150 about 5 months or so. Since I started using my SmokeX4 to keep track of the temp it's helped. I adjust everything according to the SmokeX and ignore the PID completely. I don't even use the probes on the PID. I have 2 Smoke set ups I can use if needed.

So... In retrospect, No. I wouldn't buy an 1150PS2. I might consider another Oklahoma Joe's, if it doesn't have all the tech. I'd buy another PB if it was more primitive too.
I've loaned my 820PB to my best friend to get him started, out in Colorado. I was very specific that he was to return it to me, should he decide he wanted to upgrade some day. I miss my little 820...

 

[Big Ed Ohio]

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

I bought the Laredo Platinum 1000, I love it I have cooked so many meals on it already! All have come out GREAT! only thing I don't like is you have to plug it in. But I have a whole house generator so I guess it's not even a problem when the power goes out!
three cooking racks main middle and top! thats ok but if cooking a turkey or large piece of meat forget about the middle and top racks. I do like the wifi/ bluetooth feature but If I had it to do all over would have opted for a larger single level cooking surface. But I will not give up the one I bought. The grill has brought new life to my fun of cooking.

 

[Mike From R.I.]

Hey Mike. I knew of course about your updated controller. I’ve got the same smoker but have kinda just got used to the big increments. But in reality I would like the 10 deg increments. Just curious If you don’t mind. What was the cost, procedure and how big a job to do it. Im kinda on the fence regarding this. Mine is running and cooking fine. The old saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it“ comes to mind. but it would be kinda nice. Can’t figure why they did this to start with. Thanks in advance.

Ed I sent you a email, if I did it right.

 

[dvc_pitbull]

Interesting thread ... only read thru some of the many posts.

My take?

I got a Lexington 400 (from Walmart). I kind of like it, but there's been issues. First I had to have a new controller from day one ... ok, that happens. Customer service agreed and sent one out promising ~2 weeks for delivery. It came MUCH faster. Very good!

But, next it seems, I need a new temp probe, since the controller thinks the interior temp is at least 50F+ BELOW from what it actually is (I've confirmed this with multiple probes / thermometers / etc, incl the probe that comes with the unit.) I'm still waiting for the replacement probe, which should have come by now (the replacement controller came much quicker.)

But, OK, so sometimes you get a lemon. Customer service seems very good for this company.

BUT.... Overall? This thing is kind of a pain in the butt. Requires plug-in to electric, takes a while to churn the pellets into the hopper, on shut-down takes a long time to actually power-down, cleaning is a bit of an annoyance ... most video's talk about using a Shop Vac to clean it out (fortunately, I happen to have a vac with a hose I can use for that .. whew! .. I had no plans to buy one!)

I've yet to really see how it is significantly better than, say, a good charcoal smoker/bbq combo.

My last bbq was a cheap charcoal grill. I managed to do a decent job of smoking on it. It was, well ... eeeh. But, yet, I did reasonably well.

I have yet to try smoking on this one (waiting for the above) ... but worse, from what I've tried: the opening for flame-broiling is REALLY small. I LOVE flame-broiling steaks!!! But I can only do one at a time because this opening is so small. My crappy cheap charcoal grill was NO PROBLEM!

I'm probably going to get another crappy cheap charcoal grill to supplement this. I expect I'll continue to use my Lexington for smoking, Rotisserie Chicken (I read it is very good for this?) and maybe some other similar things.

But for Charbroiled Steaks, Hamburgers and the like ... no, I don't have high hopes for the Pit Boss. It just doesn't seem to do this stuff well.

dave

 

[Smokin' for the family]

View attachment 1609This is what they look like. Adds more flavor to your meat. I’ve even used it when I’ve grilled a steak. Got mine off Amazon.

I have one of these and I love it. Without much extra work it produces much more smoke than my 1100 Combo does on it's own. The smoke will last from 3.5 to 6 hours depending on temperature setting.

 

[BigO58]

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

Good question. Answer - probably Yes! I bought the PB Pro 850 from Lowe’s a couple years ago because I wanted to grill & smoke cook and the pellet grills seemed to fit the bill. I got rid of the gas grill and the Brinkmann el Cheapo bullet smoker and bought the pit boss. So far so good, it works as well as I thought it would and the meats I’ve cooked turned out great but don’t have too much of a smoke flavor. Probably could use more smoke, but I’m still learning! The only thing I really miss about the gas grill is a quick way to grill a couple of burgers. Going through the process of heating up the pellet grill, etc. to cook a couple of burgers is a bit more time consuming than I’d like. 850 sq inches of cooking space is a lot when only cooking for 2, but it’s nice to have when you need it. Overall, the grill was easy to assemble, is sturdy, well constructed, and nice looking on the patio, so no complaints! I did see that there is now a controller with Bluetooth capability & a phone app on the 850’s - that would be nice to have! I wonder if PB would send out one of those if I asked? Ha ha.

 

[JCrit]

Tell me about this “mod”. Why is it? Where did you purchase it? Can you share a photo?

 

[JCrit]

In considering your question.....

I thought about it for about 20 minutes or so.

I bought the 1150. There were a bunch of us all went and got them within a couple weeks of each other. I had been wanting a grill, and a smoker. This fit the bill.

I love this thing. There are two issues I have found with it. Neither is a deal breaker, and both of them have been modified.

1) The metal grate over the pellet hopper. I know why its there, to make sure people do not stick their hands down there and get their fingers hurt in the pellet auger. It is just annoying when trying to level out the pellets on a long cook. I just removed the whole grate because I am smart enough to not put my hand in there.

2) I feel that there is an *obvious* design flaw regarding the left side of the grill, where the heat shield has a 1/2 to 3/4 inch gap across the entire shield that allows the heat to go up right over the barrel temp probe. I had a 50 to 60 degree temp difference between the left and right side of my grill. I purchased a "mod". and installed it. Problem fixed. Now no more than a 10 degree difference between the left and right sides.

So there are a LOT of comments and threads about upgrading the controller, and the horrors of it. I have not upgraded mine. It works very well. Still fence-riding on whether or not I will.

Now. Would I buy this one again. Yes. Yes, it would have the same issues, and they would be fixed in the same way as mentioned above.

BUT.

I'm honestly debating if I need an 1150. I could probably make everything I wanted to, on the 820. Basically the same thing...just smaller.

And from what I understand, THAT one has the heat shield that keeps the heat from going up across the temp probe.

I cant give a firm, "I would buy the 820", or a firm "I would buy the 1150"....at this time. I would buy one of them again. It is absolutely an awesome beginner pellet smoker grill.

@https://www.pitbossforum.com/members/odian.5110/ tell me about this “mod” you installed. Is it something special made? Where did you purchase it? Can you share a photo? I am very interested.

 

[JerryM]

In considering your question.....

I thought about it for about 20 minutes or so.

I bought the 1150. There were a bunch of us all went and got them within a couple weeks of each other. I had been wanting a grill, and a smoker. This fit the bill.

I love this thing. There are two issues I have found with it. Neither is a deal breaker, and both of them have been modified.

1) The metal grate over the pellet hopper. I know why its there, to make sure people do not stick their hands down there and get their fingers hurt in the pellet auger. It is just annoying when trying to level out the pellets on a long cook. I just removed the whole grate because I am smart enough to not put my hand in there.

2) I feel that there is an *obvious* design flaw regarding the left side of the grill, where the heat shield has a 1/2 to 3/4 inch gap across the entire shield that allows the heat to go up right over the barrel temp probe. I had a 50 to 60 degree temp difference between the left and right side of my grill. I purchased a "mod". and installed it. Problem fixed. Now no more than a 10 degree difference between the left and right sides.

So there are a LOT of comments and threads about upgrading the controller, and the horrors of it. I have not upgraded mine. It works very well. Still fence-riding on whether or not I will.

Now. Would I buy this one again. Yes. Yes, it would have the same issues, and they would be fixed in the same way as mentioned above.

BUT.

I'm honestly debating if I need an 1150. I could probably make everything I wanted to, on the 820. Basically the same thing...just smaller.

And from what I understand, THAT one has the heat shield that keeps the heat from going up across the temp probe.

I cant give a firm, "I would buy the 820", or a firm "I would buy the 1150"....at this time. I would buy one of them again. It is absolutely an awesome beginner pellet smoker grill.

I have been cooking on my wood burner for years. Just got this 1150 pro ps2. It holds tempature so well! People are all worried about a temperature difference from one side to another. If you are smoking meat it will not matter. You only need to know what side is the hot side. I do many kinds of meat at one time. I use meat probs and away I go . remember you are cooking by done temperature. So it is the same as what we do on the wood burner. I did chicken and pork shoulder at the same time. The true hot spot is right over the firepot. It will be a big problem if you bake maybe but how many guys will be doing that? If you are going to smoke meat who cares? I will not be doing the mod as of now. I Will let you all know if that changes. Just some thoughts to think on. Yes I would buy again!! Awsome smoker!! Forget the app it sucks! That may change.

 

[JackAH1G]

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

Have a 850 for three months and have liked the smoking results, but while the shearing is a good idea, I find it is too small to cook larger cooks. To do again I would purchase a smaller smoker, and get a new regular grill for when I wanted to BBQ.

 

[Smokin' for the family]

View attachment 1609This is what they look like. Adds more flavor to your meat. I’ve even used it when I’ve grilled a steak. Got mine off Amazon.

I have one of these and I love it. My 1100 Combo alone does not make enough smoke.

 

[PostalTwo]

I haven't owned my laredo 1000 very long but I'm 100% happy at this time and would definitely buy again . I also own a propane ,charcoal and offset. I didn't buy my pellet grill to replace any of those but to add to my arsenal. All have their advantages/disadvantages I enjoy them all