A "kiss of smoke" is necessary for great barbeque. It combines with the meat flavor, the rub, the sauce, and other treatments to create fabulous flavor. Over-smoking and over-saucing are the two most frequent errors that spoil what might otherwise be great cooks. BALANCE is the name of the game.
Hub
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And - while I agree with you in principle - all too often this kind of statement is used as a defense of pellet smokers, rather than a balanced viewpoint.
There is a wide margin between the very little amount of smoke that most pellet grills produce - and "too much".
Thus far, the Mak has impressed me with being able to provide an adequate amount of smoke. What is adequate?
That is like trying pick out another man's socks
. It is a personal choice - and has quite a range of variability in that range of "too little" - to - "too much". Very subjective indeed.
While I - personally - do not like
what I consider over smoked food, I would draw your attention to a fine quality steak which has been cooked on a wood fired grill. There is a "kiss of smoke" in the taste - no question. But in no way would we confuse that with BBQ. Not taking into consideration the use of rubs and sauces -
just smoke.
I find that
for my tastes most pellet grills lack a little in the smoke profile. ( Bear in mind that I own one, and I like it very much - just being frank here) Obviously, I think it is better than too much smoke - but I also believe that a broad chasm exists between the "too little" and too much" when we talk about smoke.
Besides - I may have bigger feet than most
Maybe one day we can devise a system of measuring the smoke profile that is less subjective than individual taste. It could be very useful, no?
Mike - I think you made one of the best choices for a quality pellet unit - no question. And - it is not a mark of inadequacy on the part of the grill if you find that you desire a bit more smoke. It is easy to add - but you can't take it out if the grill produces too much
T
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No "defensive" or "offensive" comment intended, T. The Memphis line is well programmed and adding a smoke daddy isn't necessary. One can over smoke on a pellet cooker just like any other wood burner. It's just harder to do and works against the engineering somewhat. If I'm "defending" anything here it's my "Tao of Barbeque" statement
Hub