My experience with the pellet smokers is that all of the horizontal cooking chamber ones have uneven heating and lackluster smoke flavor. The firepots always cause a hot spot right over them, so you either cook something small in the central hot spot, or distribute your meat around the cooking grate away from the hot spot.
After a couple of years with my Pit Boss horizontal, I picked up a Pit Boss 5 series vertical cabinet smoker. The heat is far more uniform throughout the cooking chamber, and for some reason it puts out much more smoke flavor in whatever I’m cooking, using the same pellets. One feature of the PB vertical is the “smoke” setting. The cooking temperature in that position is very low, about 120 F, and it generates a lot of smoke. I often start my cooking with the Smoke setting for about the first hour, then crank it up to normal cooking temperature.
Since I got the vertical smoker I seldom take out the horizontal. The only thing the horizontal does better is grilling. The vertical is a much better smoker. Price is typically about $500, but I got mine in a scratch and dent clearance from Tractor Supply for a healthy discount. In retrospect I would gladly pay full price considering how well it works.
PS - we scored a free frozen turkey from BJ’s this year and already had picked up a bigger one for the family dinner. The freebie was only a 14 pounder, so I intend on putting that on the Vertical pellet smoker sometime over the winter, after the Thanksgiving Turkey overload has faded.
After a couple of years with my Pit Boss horizontal, I picked up a Pit Boss 5 series vertical cabinet smoker. The heat is far more uniform throughout the cooking chamber, and for some reason it puts out much more smoke flavor in whatever I’m cooking, using the same pellets. One feature of the PB vertical is the “smoke” setting. The cooking temperature in that position is very low, about 120 F, and it generates a lot of smoke. I often start my cooking with the Smoke setting for about the first hour, then crank it up to normal cooking temperature.
Since I got the vertical smoker I seldom take out the horizontal. The only thing the horizontal does better is grilling. The vertical is a much better smoker. Price is typically about $500, but I got mine in a scratch and dent clearance from Tractor Supply for a healthy discount. In retrospect I would gladly pay full price considering how well it works.
PS - we scored a free frozen turkey from BJ’s this year and already had picked up a bigger one for the family dinner. The freebie was only a 14 pounder, so I intend on putting that on the Vertical pellet smoker sometime over the winter, after the Thanksgiving Turkey overload has faded.
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