19 Pellet Grill Tips And Tricks For Beginners

Pellet Grill Tips And Trips For Beginners

1. Understand What You Are Cooking

   It is pivotal for you to understand that every piece of meat is not identical, and therefore, different kinds of meat must be subjected to different treatments to cook them to perfection. You must well-acquaint yourself with the composition of the meat, such as the fat content of the cut, the type of muscle, and the cartilage content of each cut.

   In addition, you must also be able to understand its texture and what kind of meat it is. For instance, is it white meat or dark meat? Or maybe you are just smoking your vegetables and cheese on the grill?

   Therefore, no matter what you’re cooking, always conduct thorough research and understand the steps of preparing that food item using the grill. You can look for the ideal temperature, the tenderness level that you’re expecting, and what should be the final temperature as well.

2. Season Your New Pellet Grill

   Make sure you season your brand new pellet grill according to the instructions provided in the user’s manual. This process will approximately take 45 minutes to one hour. The primary reason behind carrying out this procedure is to burn out any left-over oils from the manufacturing process.

3. Identify Any Hot Spots

   Most grills have a hotspot. You simply need to identify the one for your pellet grill. To do so, follow a simple procedure. Follow the instructions given in the manual and accordingly, preheat your grill to medium-high. Then lay some slices of cheap white bread in close correspondence with one another. Observe them carefully and then flip them over after some minutes. Click a photo of the outcome. The darkest bread will give an indication of the hottest temperature spot on your grill. You can even take a printout of this photo and add it to your user’s manual for future reference.

4. Don’t Let Your Meat Come To Room Temperature Before Cooking

   Regardless of the meat you choose, simply place it on the preheated smokers or grill directly from the refrigerator. Although many recipes suggest allowing it to come at room temperature, you’re strictly advised not to do the same.

5. Invest In A Good Meat Thermometer

   To assess the temperature of the grill when you’re cooking, make sure you use a good quality meat thermometer. This in turn will enable you to have an accurate temperature than the one provided by the built-in dome thermometer. Also, don’t forget to determine the temperature range of your grill model from highest to lowest.

   Using a thermometer is crucial to ensure that you don’t overcook. In addition, you wouldn’t have to repeatedly open the cooking chamber to check the inside temperature. And in fact, if you keep on looking, you are not actually cooking because every time you open the cooking chamber, you allow the heat to escape and therefore, devoid yourself of the smoky flavor of the food.

6. Take Advantage Of Your Pellet Grill’s Searing Capabilities

   Before buying a pellet grill, make sure you look at its searing capabilities. There are many models out there that offer you temperatures that go beyond 500 degrees. You can easily check the owner’s manual for information regarding the same.

7. Use Lower Temperatures To Generate More Smoke

   If you want to generate more smoke, go for lower temperatures. The maximum amount of smoke will be generated at lower temperatures. In particular, the low and slow range that is between 225 and 275 degrees Fahrenheit will offer you the most amount of smoke.

8. Use The Reverse Sear Method

   If you want to start off by smoking your meat at a lower temperature and then finishing it off at a higher temperature, feel free to do so. This method is particularly effective when you are smoking chicken with a crispier skin. Also known as the reverse sear method, this process has a practical application for smoking prime rib or thicker steaks.

9. Use Pellets Made From 100% Wood

   There’s no doubt that finding a lucrative deal on pellets is a good thing. However, you must ensure that the pellets you purchase should be made from hardwood. There should be no flavor oils or other additives. The flavor provided by the pellets should be natural.

10. Never Allow The Pellets In The Pellet Hopper To Run Out

    The pellets in your pellet hopper should never run out. If, however, this does happen, refer to your owner’s manual before you relight the grill. You can even set a timer to remind yourself to add in the pellets if in any case, you forget to do so.

11. Use Your Pellet Grill Just Like An Oven

    Your pellet grill can serve almost all the functions performed by your oven. You can cook, bake, smoke, braise, and even roast in your pellet grill. With a pellet grill, however, you have the privilege of enjoying the smoky flavor provided by the wood.

    Any recipe that requires the use of your kitchen oven for baking or roasting can be carried out on your pellet grill. All you need to do is to cook the food item for the same amount of time and at the same temperature as you would in your kitchen oven. Although you wouldn’t obviously want to smoke a bunch of cookies, you can definitely experiment with different food items.

12. Experiment With Pellet Flavors

    You can even experiment with different pellet flavor options that are available in the market. Some pellet brands, in fact, are comparatively subtle.

13. Invest In A Smoking Tube To Supplement The Smoke Generated By Your Grill

    In case you are interested in supplementing the smoke that is being generated by your grill or even for cold smoke, you can buy a maze or a smoking tube.

14. Clean Your Grill Frequently

    To prevent the build-up of grease or ash, make sure you clean your grill on a frequent basis. You must have a shop-type vacuum for the cleaning process, as well as a sharp-bladed spatula or a putty knife. Always make it a point that you clean the exhaust or the chimney.

15. Use Heavy-Duty Foil For A Perfect Clean Up

    Heavy-duty foil functions as the most appropriate item in the cleaning process. You can use it either for covering the grease tray or for lining the grease basket. You can also use empty cans such as coffee or tomato cans as bucket liners.

16. Always Store Pellets In A Dry Place

    It is extremely important to store your pellets in a dry place. If you don’t do that, there are strong chances your pellets will turn into sawdust. Even worse, if the pellets are in augur, they will turn into something similar to cement.

17. Always Use A Smoke Tube To Give You, Even More, Smoke Flavor

    Since pellet grills burn wood rather efficiently, some of you might not be able to enjoy the smoky flavor that you are expecting out of your dish. In such cases, therefore, you can opt for something known as a smoke tube.

    Visually, the smoke tube is a metal tube that consists of several holes that need to be filled with light and pellets. When you lay this on the grates just inside your smoker, you will notice that it gives off more smoke for several hours.

    This in turn will allow you to enjoy the smoky flavor that you’re looking for. Furthermore, smoke tubes are rather inexpensive and are easily available on shopping websites, such as Amazon.

18. Remove The Grease Bucket After Each Cook

    After every cook, make sure you remove the grease bucket from its point of attachment and then store it in a place that is not accessible to raccoons, dogs, or other such eaters.

19. Smoke Vegetables And Side Dishes On Your New Grill

    You can enjoy smoky flavored vegetables and side dishes by using your new pellet grill for performing this function.