Neighbor had it a couple years but wanted to "upgrade".

So I bought it for $100.

Like new. With some extras.

Smoke stack installed. Cover. extra grates. Bag of competition pellets.

Anyone have one similar?

Am I going to love or hate it?

I have used my Weber kettle and then went to a propane vertical smoker.

I love it, except it can't keep low temp when the water pan runs dry. So I am married to it every 4 hours.

Enter my first pellet smoker.

I envision overnight briskets for those early football games.

And how does it do grilling? Will I be re-gifting my gas grill?

I used the camp chef less often, and while I produced some good food on it, I could not get the great flavors that I get cooking with charcoal and wood. Sold it.

My buddy had a Green Mountain pellet smoker. Tried my food... sold it got a WSM. He liked the set it and forget it of the pellets and went back to a newer Green Mountain, and he makes good food with it.

You paid $100 for it. Can't really go wrong.

But it was still better than Papa Murphy’s.

Fucking nice score you made there, TOTG. (The Other TG)

Realistically speaking, almost all pellet grills in that lower price tier are very similar. There are a number of different manufacturers who all buy their pre-fabed augers, tubes fire pits, sometimes even the diffuser plates and grease slides from the same parts manufacturer digital controls are often remarkably similar. Grates all come from the same couple places.

Shape, accessories and creature comforts tend to be the differences.

Pellet cookers have their place. They are simply kitchen ovens. They burn very clean. This produced thin bark and more subtile smoke flavors. Not everyone enjoys "in yo face"*slap* level smoke. But if you do, they can be made to do it very simply

As you said they are very convienient. I've run probably run a bit shy of two tons of pellets through mine over the , six or seven years I've had it.

Some comments on operation later

Timing is everything.

http://www.cigarbid.com/Forum/c/posts/666444/Video-Cooking-Channels 

And as far as your gaser, I recommend that you keep it. There will be times that you will need it for short cooks when the smoker will not be practical. I have two BGE's and there are times when I turn to the gaser for burgers, chicken or even chops.

Can't argue that logic...

Ditto!!!!

due to an ambiguous post by you, other Frank and I (wif our spice/spouses) will be arriving for dinner one night the last two weeks of July.

This could be EPIC!

BTW, TLC doesn't eat meat(s), smoked or otherwise.

But what exactly is the point of eating then?

I have 3 WSM's, 2 Blackstones, an electric smoker (not pellet), and a Chargrill Akorn. I'd like to upgrade the Akorn to a Kamado Joe or BGE someday but I've been happy with its performance for two years now. It just doesn't work for low temp stuff. 300ish is the lowest I can maintain without going out. But it'll do 6-700° real easy.

Dug a Weber Genesis gas grill out of the garbage last year but gave it to my dad. If I'm using gas I might as well just use the stovetop in the kitchen. I can appreciate the convenience of gas, but I've grown to enjoy the process of charcoal. I run all the things year round.

Electric smoker is plumbed into the garage I used to use it for winter smoking so I wouldn't get cold but now I've learned winter smoking in the WSM is great because I can hold low 200's easily. After I pull the meat from the WSM and wrap it I let them finish in the electric box with no worries about temps or fuel.

My next grill build will be a large volume offset smoker to cook with a real wood fire. Been trying to find large air compressor tanks to build with. The big volume propane tanks are a little too big, and would be a trailer mounted setup. I do big cooks at the track a couple times a year but I don't think that justifies the cost and size and fuel etc for a trailer smoker. 3 WSMs does well enough.

I did a few years vegetarian. Occasionally had meat if someone else made it, but predominantly ate vegetarian. It wasn't hard, I wasn't really into grilling/smoking back then and I lived in Chicago without a place to grill anyway. I was very fit, 170lbs. Now I'm not fit at all, 250lbs, and really like my bbq. But a vegetarian diet can be very delicious and just fine for nutrition. You don't need meat, but I'd recommend retaining eggs and dairy. Vegan diets are another beast entirely. Maybe a mental health disorder.

Once you've crossed the line into bbq meats n stuff, I think it would be really difficult to cut animals from the diet. Like a drug user crossing the line to injections vs smoking or snorting. When I cut meat out it wasn't hard because growing up my parents never made meat correctly. Everything well done and unseasoned. To do it today... I don't think I can.

A large enough arsenal to cook some pig.

TOTG

The Original TG.

I like it!