Which Smoker Reigns Supreme? Electric vs Pellet Decided!

Todays video answers two of the most common questions people have when comparing a pellet grill and electric smoker: #tastetest #cooktime. I will be using a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker and an Expert Grill Commodore pellet smoker for this test to answer the following questions.

Question #1 - Can you taste a difference between an electric and pellet smoker and if so, which is better?

Question #2) - Is there a difference in cook times between pellet and electric smokers?

When it comes to making great barbecue the smoker used is key to the kind of product produced so understanding how different smokers work is imperative. For this test I cook two 10lb pork shoulders to make pulled pork both starting at the time and with the smokers at 275F in a head to head comparison to answer the most commonly asked questions.

Equipment Used

Pellet - Expert Grill - Commodore - (At Walmart)

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Thank you for helping to support my channel!

[Mixwell]

If you have a vertical electric smoker for example you can smoke a chicken and get really good smoke flavor but it's going to be very hard to get crispy skin.. don't be afraid to throw it under a broiler or on a hot grill to crisp the skin. Think of all your cooking elements as tools and use all of the tools for certain jobs to get the results

[hankt]

Recently found your channel. I have two offsets and recently bought an electric smoker for the ease of use, don't have a pellet grill/smoker yet but was wondering about this topic. Thanks for making the video..

[MrPhoenix]

One of the reply’s was pretty helpful did you have the vent wide open? If not he mentioned that closing the vent could create stale smoke

[Mixwell]

I have both the Pitboss Austin XL and a cheap Master built cheap vertical electric.

If I want smoke flavor on the pellet smoker i have to use a smoke tube filled with smoldering pellets BUT i can set it and forget it for 4 hours.

My vertical electric I have to change the chip/chunks tray out every hour.

If I'm looking for pure smoke I'd fo with the vertical electric. It's a shame cuz my pitboss on smoke mode blasts lovely smelling smoke etc but the fact is that it burns pellets too efficiently and when it comes to smoke you don't want an almost complete combustion, the flavor comes from incomplete which is why I have to supplement a smoker tube.

[pilarchuck]

My wife just got me a cuisinart smoker that looks identical to your electric masterbuilt. How is it you get smoke from your chips. I’ve messed around with a couple of things but my chips never smoke.

[Mixwell]

One thing i didn't chime on is my electric vertical smoker im lucky to hit 225-250F cooking temp so I kinda treat is as a "smoking marinade machine" and if I need something tender ill take it from the smoker to my crockpot or pressure cooker to get the results I want.

Don't be pigeon holed as a cook into thinking you have to do a whole cook on either, you can get the smoke flavor you want and instead of wasting charcoal, pellets, electricity on a unit throw it in the oven at 275, crock pot or pressure cooker to get your final results. Use all of these tools at your disposal. If you want some char and Mallaird throw the meat in the oven on broil or pan sear or on a hot grill to finish.

One thing I've learned from going to culinary school and learning how to cook is use all of your cooking appliances to aid you to get the results you want.

[jgesler]

Next time you do another taste test let me know.

[USA__]

Interesting results. I have both pellet and electric smokers and my results were almost the opposite. I've done briskets and chicken on both and the pellet grill gets both done quicker, sometimes way quicker. Same temps of course. The other difference in my outcomes is the taste. The food from my electric has a good but mild smoke flavor. There is very little smoke flavor from my pellet smoker. I got the best smoke flavor from the pellet grill when doing reverse seared steaks. In that case I was pretty surprised. I use the Masterbuilt cold smoker attachment on the electric now but it still had good flavor before I started using it. I use wood chips in the electric and I think that's where the difference is.

[waynegranzin]

did you not refill the chip tray in the electric? that's a MASSIVE "variable" in smoke presence right there.
like many of your other videos, you're making a number of fundamental mistakes in how the information is understood and presented.