Home grillers are looking more often to pellet grills for their easy set-it-and-forget-it approach to smoked meats. Unlike traditional grills, these high-tech grill machines automatically feed fuel to your fire, allowing for a low and slow burn that is the calling card for superior smoked barbecue.
Fuel for the Fire
Ditch the charcoal. Pellet grills burn small hardwood pellets that are about twice the size of a pencil eraser. Bags of smoking pellets are available in several different flavor varieties, like hickory, pecan, cherry, apple and mesquite. If they aren’t available in a local store, it’s relatively easy to order a few bags online and have them shipped to your home. Most smoking pellets are less than $50 on Amazon.com.
The Inner Workings of Pellet Grills
Pellet grills generally have a storage hopper for the pellets and an auger that feeds the pellets into the firebox. An electric igniter heats up when you start the grill, and when pellets drop onto it, they catch fire. No lighter fluid or charcoal needed.
Pellet grills leave nothing to chance. Similar to an oven, you set your desired temperature and a digital thermostat controls how many pellets are added to the fire pot to regulate the temperature. The fire is continually fed from the pellet auger for an even, constant temperature range.
Next Level Pellet Grill Designs
Pellet smokers can also include heat diffusers and pit designs to eliminate barbecue hot spots. The Grilla Electric Pellet Smoker & Grill has a round fire box design that removes cold corners, and its swing lid lets you sneak a peek at the meat without releasing too much heat. Its heat shield and grease catch design features also reduce flair ups.
Convection Airflow
The Grilla’s design also maintains a convection oven-like environment. Hot, smoky air circulates around the conical cooking chamber, surrounding your food with heat and cooking it evenly on all sides at once. You may not even have to flip your food unless you’re chasing the perfect grill marks. Grilla temperatures range from 180° to 550° Farenheit and this plug and play wonder has 488 square inches of smoking and grilling surface.
