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Rant: Smoked a pork shoulder on a Weber kettle vs my buddy's Traeger and it wasn't even close
Honestly, I always thought pellet grills were the easy way to go for smoking. My buddy has this Traeger he spent like $900 on and he swears by it. But last weekend I brought over my Weber kettle that I paid $150 for at a garage sale and we did a side-by-side with two pork shoulders. Same rub, same temp around 225, same cook time of about 10 hours. His came out with this nice smoke ring but the bark was soft and kinda mushy. Mine had this crunchy, dark bark that cracked when you bit into it and the meat was way juicier inside. The kettle just gives you that real charcoal and wood chunk flavor that pellets can't match. He kept saying his was more consistent but I'd take flavor over easy any day. Anyone else find that off-set smokers or kettles beat pellet grills on taste?
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richard_anderson21d ago
Wrap that kettle in foil next time for even Better heat control.
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cole99420d ago
I saw a video from a competition guy saying the same thing about pellet smokers. He said the meat has better smoke flavor on a kettle because you get that real wood combustion instead of just sawdust burning. I read somewhere that the temp swings on a kettle are actually a good thing because it helps render fat better than a steady temp pellet grill can. My buddy switched from a Traeger to a Weber kettle last summer and he wont shut up about the difference in bark texture. Foil on the kettle dome makes total sense too for keeping that heat more consistent on long cooks.
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the_wyatt21d ago
Ha! Yeah, that smoke ring is just for show man. Traeger guys love showing off that little pink line but the actual eating experience is totally flat. You got that real crust from the kettle, that's the stuff that makes you wanna keep picking at it. My neighbor spent $1200 on a pellet rig and his ribs taste like they were finished in an oven. Give me a $50 kettle and some lump charcoal any day.
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