Pit Boss is a brand that manufactures a variety of grills including pellet grills. There are pellet grills for every occasion whether you’re looking for a portable pellet grill to take camping or a larger one to place in your backyard.
Given that Pit Boss also manufactures vertical smokers that use wood pellets, gas, or electricity to create smoke, a common question with Pit Boss is if the pellet grill is a grill or smoker?
Pellet grills are versatile machines that can be considered both a grill and a smoker. Pellet grills can sear steaks or smoke ribs depending on the temperature setting. Although pellet grills produce smoke at all times, the amount of smoke produced varies based on the temperature setting.
So Pit Boss pellet grills can be considered both a grill and a smoker.
To understand this better let’s cover how pellet grills work.
How Pellet Grills Work
Pit Boss pellet grills use wood pellets instead of propane or gas to generate heat and smoke.
In fact, all pellet grills use wood pellets as the fuel that gets slowly fed into the firepot. In the firepot, the pellets get burned which creates both heat and smoke.
The consistent heat and smoke are what make pellet grills so special since you can set a temperature, such as 225°F, without having to maintain the fire.
Below is an image that shows how a pellet grill works:
Pellet Grill vs Smoker
Generally, most people consider a smoker where the smoke is created by burning wood or charcoal. This is the most traditional way to create BBQ and requires both a lot of effort and skill to maintain a fire.
On the other hand, pellet grills are a user-friendly way to create and maintain a fire while creating smoke. As wood pellets are fed into the fire, both heat and smoke are created which allows food to be smoked for multiple hours when set to a low cooking temperature.
Although pellet grills can be considered a grill when set to a high cooking temperature, pellet grills can also be considered a smoker when set to a low temperature.
See this article for a comparison between pellet grills and traditional stick smokers.
How To Use Pellet Grills
Pellet grills are simple and beginner-friendly cooking machines that can sear a steak or smoke ribs. Unlike charcoal or wood fire smokers and grills, continual maintenance is not needed in order to keep the fire going.
As long as the pellet grill has wood pellets in the hopper, the pellet grill will continue to cook or smoke the food.
Follow these steps in order to turn on and use a pellet grill:
- Plug the pellet grill into an electrical outlet
- Fill the hopper with wood pellets
- Turn the pellet grill onto the “smoke” setting which will ignite pellets in the fire pot
- Wait until the pellet grill produces smoke and starts rising in temperature
- Set the pellet grill to the desired cooking temperature such as 225°F
- Place food onto grill
- Sit back and wait until the food is done
Final Thoughts
Pellet grills made by Pit Boss are versatile cooking machines that both beginner and passionate BBQ enthusiasts should consider purchasing.
Although Pit Boss grills are made in China, they are still created with high-quality materials and offer budget-friendly models.
See this article for a list of pellet grills made in the USA if you want to purchase a USA-made pellet grill.
Regardless of which pellet grill you decide to purchase, it’s great to know that they can be considered both a grill and a smoker. Pellet grills can even be considered a wood fire oven when the cooking temperature is set to high.
After all, there are recipes for cookies and even pizzas that can be baked inside of a pellet grill.
So make sure to take full advantage of all the different foods that a pellet grill can smoke, grill, sear, and even bake!
