Wondering why pellet grills are so popular?
Learn the top 5 benefits of these versatile grills and elevate your BBQ game with unbeatable flavor.
Most people can agree that grilling food is fun and delicious, but there’s considerable debate about which type of grill is the best. Typically referred to by the kind of fuel they utilize, charcoal grills, gas grills, and pellet grills all have their proponents as well as their respective strengths and weaknesses. And though they’re the newest entrant to the outdoor cooking world and still unfamiliar to some, the benefits of pellet grills are driving the category to become increasingly popular among grilling enthusiasts.
The overall appeal of pellet grills is due primarily to their ability to balance versatility, convenience, and flavor. Here, we will take an in-depth look at the benefits of pellet grills like the Yoder YS640s, which have positioned them as a complete outdoor cooking solution for backyard and professional cooks alike.
Pellet Grill Benefit #1: Superior Flavor and Smoke Control
As their name suggests, pellet grills use compressed hardwood pellets to provide a unique smoky flavor to foods. The food-grade pellets are free from additives, so they burn hot and efficiently as they are automatically moved from a hopper just outside the cooking chamber to a fire pot inside the chamber at a rate that allows the grill to maintain a set temperature.
Pellets are made from various hardwoods, each with its own flavor profile. For example, BBQers Delight pellets are available in Hickory, Pecan, Apple, Cherry, Oak, and Mesquite. Cooks can tailor their grilling experience based on which pellet they use on a given day. Many people prefer the moderate smoke flavor that hickory smoke produces when cooking pork while opting for cherry pellets’s sweet, fruity smoke when they desire a milder flavor profile for cooking poultry or fish.
While gas grills are popular for their convenience, they can’t provide the rich taste that wood smoke provides without the use of wood burning smoke trays or pellet tubes. Those who grill over charcoal primarily do so because of charcoal’s ability to enhance flavor. Still, it’s challenging to maintain consistent smoke levels when cooking over a live charcoal fire, and the flavor range is far narrower than that of wood pellets. One way to overcome this is with the addition of chips or chunks of smoking wood.
Pellet Grill Benefit #2: Ease of Use and Convenience
The ability to start a grill with the push of a button made gas grills a game-changer. Some people find a certain romance in starting and maintaining a fire, but folks who appreciate a cleaner and more convenient outdoor cooking experience were happy to participate in the gas grill revolution.
Pellet grills not only possess push-button features that make them a snap to start, but they also add other elements like digital controllers and automatic pellet feeders that make them suitable for both beginners and seasoned grill masters. The automated fan system that helps maintain the fire in pellet smokers also improves the pellet grilling experience by delivering temperature consistency and making indirect heat cooking more straightforward than on a gas grill.
Pellet Grill Benefit #3: Consistent Temperature and Better Control
Speaking of consistent temperatures, pellet grills are unmatched in precision temperature control. A handful of variables make it difficult to keep consistent temperatures when cooking over charcoal, and monitoring temperatures is even more of a challenge. With time and experience, individuals have developed a feel for charcoal grilling, but there’s definitely a steep learning curve.
Gas grills allow you to effortlessly adjust the level of heat output by turning knobs, but they lack the ability for you to set the grill to a specific temperature. And they certainly don’t make automatic regulations to maintain cooking temperatures, so they still require some oversight and manual adjustments.
Contrast this with pellet grills, which can maintain precise temperatures for long periods. It’s much easier to tackle the multi-hour smoke sessions that smoking a whole brisket requires if you can rest assured that your grill will manually feed pellets into the firebox right as the temperature starts to dip. And the Yoder Smokers YS640s provides additional peace of mind by allowing you to monitor grill and food temperatures via the Fireboard app and send customizable push alerts when your food reaches a pre-specified temperature.
Pellet Grill Benefit #4: Versatility in Cooking
One of the most significant benefits of pellet grills is that they can handle a much wider array of cooking techniques than gas grills or charcoal grills. The multi-zone functionality of wood pellet grills allows you to grill, smoke, roast, bake, saute, and more with a single apparatus. Gas grills are great at high-heat direct grilling. Charcoal grills are also, with larger models, able to accommodate indirect heat grilling and roasting.
But only pellet grills run the gamut of cooking techniques. The very best allow you to multitask different techniques at once or slightly modify your setup to quickly switch back and forth between different types of cooking. But do a bit of research to make sure any pellet grill you purchase truly has these capabilities, as some advertise high heat points without offering the setup options to grill food over a direct flame, limiting your ability to sear or get a nice char on food.
Also do some advanced research to see which brands offer accessories that can be seamlessly and snugly placed on the grill for different types of cooking. This is one of the features that makes the Yoder YS640s so multifaceted. The access door on the heat deflector provides easy access to direct flame grilling, while the Yoder Smokers Wood Fired Oven and the Yoder Smokers Cast Iron Griddle are engineered to quickly adjust your pellet grill to your needs.
While it might be hard to believe at first, you can cook a whole turkey, one pan chicken fajitas, italian sliders, pizza and pumpkin bars all on a quality wood pellet grill as long as it can handle multi-zone cooking.
Pellet Grill Benefit #5: Cost-Effectiveness and Efficiency
Pellet grills will cost more on the front end, largely due to the fact that they contain electronic and mechanical components. And there are added material costs for quality pellet grills when they are built from construction-grade steel and include welded seams and joints. But these features pay for themselves over time in efficiency and durability, making a quality pellet grill a cost-effective investment.
Pellet grills waste very little fuel, since just a few pellets are fed into the fire at once. When you’re done cooking your food, the grill will stop feeding the fire and it will quickly die out. With charcoal grills, you’ll eventually learn to estimate how much charcoal you’ll need for a cooking session, but there will always be waste as charcoal slowly burns down when you’re done.
Charcoal grills and gas grills are also typically constructed from aluminum or thin steel. And to be fair, low-end pellet grills are as well. But when you invest in a higher-quality pellet grill you’ll see energy efficiency shoot up as they excel at retaining heat, which results in reduced pellet usage.
And when you consider the versatility of pellet grills, you quickly realize that buying a single device is a much better use of time and space than multiple devices. Why purchase a grill, a smoker, an outdoor pizza oven and a flattop griddle when a pellet smoker like the Yoder Smokers YS640s can handle all of those tasks on its own?
Compare and contrast different types of grills, and you’ll find that a pellet grill is a great choice for any grilling enthusiast. They’re as convenient to use as a gas grill while providing better flavor. They’re much easier to use than a charcoal grill. And their versatility in comparison to other types of grills is unrivaled.
As you consider which grill is right for you, make sure to explore our selection of pellet grills for an elevated grilling experience, including the YS640s which was recently named Field & Stream’s Best Smoker of 2024, Food & Wine’s Best Professional Grade Grill of 2024, Wall Street Journal’s Best Luxury Grill of 2024, and Popular Mechanic’s Best Overall Pellet Grill of 2024.
Sign up for our loyalty program to receive a free gift, and join our email newsletter to stay in the loop on all the new recipes, tips, and techniques we are using to cook delicious meals for our family and friends.
