Are you considering switching to a pellet grill? Then you'll want to read this.

Are you considering switching to a pellet grill? They are the hottest trend in Barbecue Grills and as the weather turns warmer you can usually smell the delicious aroma as your neighbor makes that mouth-watering roast on their pellet grill. But what is a pellet grill and how do they work?

A few years after the birth of the pellet stove, when a fire engulfed the gas BBQ he was cooking on, Joe Treager, one of the inventors of the pellet stove, decided to apply the same pellet-burning technology to outdoor cooking.  Like pellet stoves, pellet grills run on electricity. A rotating auger feeds pellets into a burn pot where they are lit by an igniter rod. A fan stokes the fire and distributes heat and smoke evenly through the grill. A deflector plate prevents flare-ups by keeping food and grease from coming into contact with the flames. Although this all may seem very complex the end result is that it's extremely easy for the user, with a set it and forget it mentality.

Traeger grills remain very popular and come in a variety of sizes and range in price from $399. to $999.

Also available from Traeger is a large variety of barbecue sauces and rubs for meat, poultry, and fish. Not to mention incredible recipes to boot.    

Unlike pellets burned in a pellet stove, pellet grills use food-grade pellets that are made from hardwood.  Free from additives, food-grade pellets burn cleanly and produce the same smoky flavor as traditional BBQ and wood-fired ovens.  Different varieties of wood pellets such as maple, apple, oak, cherry, hickory, mesquite, etc., produce distinct flavors that can enhance the taste of specific foods.  For instance, fruit woods complement fish and poultry, while hickory and mesquite heighten the flavor of beef. Burning flavored wood, pellet grills offer the same conveniences of a gas grill, such as electronic ignition and precise temperature control, while allowing you to smoke, broil, and bake meats and other foods with wood fire flavor, safely, and without long waits. Because they operate with a digital control board the heat can usually be controlled within 5 degrees of the desired temperature allowing a nice controlled smoked flavor.

Most pellets sold for cooking come in 20 lb bags and usually last for up to 20 hours which will last for many barbecue cooking sessions. 

Pellet grills have been available now for over twenty years and marketed by leading companies in the field such as Treager, Englander, Pit-Boss, Louisiana, and others, the pellet grill enjoys a well-deserved almost cult-like popularity.  You can search anywhere online for hundreds of recipes, tips, and pointers to get that great taste you are looking for. Unfortunately, from time to time these machines do need repair but don’t fret you can find all of the replacement parts or accessories for pellet grills directly from Stove Parts For Less.

Another manufacturer to get into this trend is Green Mountain Grills which offers 3 different models to choose from. These new models have the latest technology and communicate data between the interior sensors and the control board 10 times a second. Please visit Green Mountain Grills Website to learn more. 

If you are shopping around for a pellet grill then you will probably come across the Smoke-N-Sear Wood Pellet Grill by Englander. One of the largest companies in the pellet heating market is proud to introduce a pellet grill that is unique to the industry.

• 1 of a kind the only pellet grill design (patented) that allows for direct and indirect cooking of your food over real wood flame
• Also unique in that it is the only 1 of its kind to be safety tested and approved to UL standards, giving you the peace of mind that others just can't offer
• 3 cooking zones: a direct area, over the flames, for high-temp grilling; an indirect (i.e smoker) area and a top grate area for convection cooking/warming

If you currently own a pellet grill we would love to hear from you. Please share your experience or possibly a recipe. Feel free to post a message to help your fellow enthusiasts. Happy grilling!