Hot take: stick burner vs pellet grill showdown in my backyard

I spent last Saturday doing a side by side with my offset and my buddy's Traeger. We both put on the same Costco packer briskets, same rub, same wood type. His came out in 12 hours with a nice smoke ring but zero bark crunch. Mine took 16 hours of babysitting but that bark was like a crust of heaven. After 8 years of messing with both, I'm done pretending pellet grills can hang with real fire management. Has anyone else done a blind taste test with friends and had the pellet guys be shocked?

2 comments

2 Comments

julia_carter707d ago

You know, I've been at this long enough that my smoke ring is now just a permanent part of my left hand and I still can't make a pellet grill bark worth a damn. I tried one of those blind taste tests with my brother in law, who swore by his Traeger, and I had to actually hide his brisket in the kitchen so nobody would accidentally eat the shoe leather. The funniest part was when he took a bite of my offset brisket and just stared at his plate like I had cheated. In my experience, pellet grills are great for people who want to set it and forget it, but that bark is where the magic lives and you can't rush magic. Your mileage may vary, but I've got sixteen hours of babysitting scars to prove my point.

stella_baker6d ago

Are you really trying to tell me that 16 hours of constant attention is the only way to get good bark? Come on, @julia_carter70, I think you're just romanticizing the suffering a little bit. I have a pellet smoker and I can get a bark that's dark, crispy, and full of flavor without ever leaving my couch, so maybe your brother in law's Traeger just needs a better setting or a different brand of pellets. But hey, if you enjoy babysitting a fire all night and treating it like some kind of endurance sport, more power to you. I'll take my sleep and still have a brisket that doesn't taste like a work boot.