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Pellet Smoker vs Electric Smoker

Lowe's Editorial Team

By Lowe's Editorial Team
Published September 30, 2024

There are different types of food smokers. In this blog, we are going to discuss the differences between pellet smoker and electric smoker, identifying some of the important things to consider before buying your food smoker.

What Are Pellet Smokers

A pellet smoker is a versatile cooking appliance that combines features of grills, ovens, and traditional charcoal smokers. It uses compressed wood sawdust pellets as fuel, ignited by an electric power source. This method produces consistent heat and smoke, resulting in a delicious wood-fired flavor. 

What Are Electric Smokers

An electric smoker is a type of cooking device designed to heat food using electric rods as its main heating source. This flame-free option allows you to cook food like any other smoker. This smoker normally has a vertical design with shelves inside for those looking to save up space.

Know what’s Best Electric Smoker or Pellet Smoker

An electric smoker and a pellet smoker are both popular grilling devices. Deciding between electric vs pellet smoker can be a tricky situation. When buying a smoker, consider factors such as budget, maintenance, personal preferences, flavor, cooking capacity and more.

Electric vs Pellet Smoker

Maintenance

Pellet smoker can be maintained easily. Always remember to remove any ash and use catch trays while you cook.
Electric smokers do not include any ash or burning which makes it easy to open up and get it cleaned.

Easy To Use

Pellet smokers light easily. The pellets are placed in a hopper that is fed into a firebox by an auger drill as it rotates towards the burn pot. Here, the pellets burn, creating heat and smoke to cook your meat. Different types of electric ignition allow users to start pellets with a button. This simplicity stands out compared to older smokers, which require manual charcoal or wood lighting.

Electric smokers light up easily with the help of electricity. They are not just easy to use but much faster and convenient. First, plug your electric food smoker into a socket and turn it on. The bottom of the smoker will start to heat up and at the same time the wood will start burning, which releases smoke that harms the flavor of the food as it cooks.

Cooking Capacity

Pellet smokers are used by people who have larger families. It can also cook larger quantities of meat.
Electric smokers are typically designed to be vertical, and most models come with three or  four racks, which means they have a smaller cooking capacity. An electric smoker can be suitable for people with a smaller family or don't need to cook for a large group of people.

Flavour

Wood Pellet smokers produce more authentic and natural smoke flavor because they use real wood such as alder and maple as their fuel source.
Electric smokers may produce a less intense smoke flavor as they rely on electric heating materials rather than burning wood.

Price

Pellet smokers are comparatively more expensive because of the wide range and so many different features. This also includes the price of pellets which makes it costly.
Electric smokers are considered to be more affordable for those who are on a budget.

Temperature control

Pellet smokers typically use a digital controller and auger system to automatically feed pellets into a firepot, adjusting the fuel intake to maintain the set temperature.
Electric smokers use heating elements controlled by a thermostat to regulate temperature. While they might require minor adjustments based on external factors like ambient temperature, modern models often offer precise control​​.

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