Your mileage may vary

[bbqchef]

Have any of the great folks here ever done a cost comparison for fuel costs?

Propane, pellets, briquettes, hardwood... how much does it cost per hour to operate various cookers?

Just a question that popped up in my aging brain during the night <lol>!

[squirtthecat]

I average a pound an hour on my MAK & Traeger pellet grills.  Roughly 70-75 cents/lb for the pellets.

[smokeasaurus]

My fuel costs have definitely gone up since switching from Charcoal to pellets...won't know until the end of the year the exact amount but the added cost is worth not hearing the family complain anymore.....................

[Keymaster]

I can burn 3  pounds of lump for a good six hours at 250 deg f. That would be about 50¢/hour.

[Tinnmel]

Propane and pellets are only being used when  cooking.  Charcoal may burn for 6 hours, but your cook may be done in 4 hours.  So that needs to be factored in to the cost.

[Keymaster]

I shut my vents when done cooking and the lump coal goes out and I  use it next time. Primos have a pretty tight seal and extinguish the lump quickly.

[RickB]

Talk about a loaded question. This varies so much by cooker and temp it is near impossible to judge by pounds per hour. The only true way to judge would be by BTU per pound of fuel. I'll look into it.

[LostArrow]

Fuel costs are such a small part of outdoor cooking costs that it probably doesn't matter.
But
Cheapest to costliest all things being equal
Electric< natural gas < propane < briquittes < lump < pellets

[RickB]

Fuel costs are such a small part of outdoor cooking costs that it probably doesn't matter.
But
Cheapest to costliest all things being equal
Electric< natural gas < propane < briquittes < lump < pellets

Ahhhh but things are not equal. If we are looking at high temp grilling that is an apple. If we are talking about smoking that is an orange. No amount of electric, natural gas , propane or briquittes will give you smoke. You must add other fuels and loads to burn those fuels to reach the same effect. Both which reduce efficiency. In my opinion if you want to grill pick one of the first four. If you want to smoke pick one of the last two. If you want a combo of both pick the pellets.

[teesquare]

LA and Rick  - both good points.

For me, pellet cookers are "the ultimate compromise".  They can do so many things good enough - that they are my first choice, due to convenience. Without doing anything other than chance the temperature - I can smoke, grill or sear.

[squirtthecat]

Yeah, I think we might be comparing Apples to Orangutans...   

[Hub]

About four years ago I started to keep some records on pellets and charcoal with the intent to crunch some numbers and write an article on this exact subject!  After I got enough data to analyze, my idea fell apart trying to get what you'd call "apples to apples" scenarios.  There are too many variables:  Cook time, type, ambient temperature, cooker variances, and even recipe differences make comparisons that are almost meaningless because you have to cite too many assumptions and state too many caveats.  The article I drafted looked like government gibberish.  Underwriters Laboratories or Consumer Reports might have the laboratories, measuring equipment, and scientific study structure to create it, but I couldn't. 

So, I gave up on the idea.  I cook the way I want to on the machine that suits me, using the fuel I like for the recipe and approach.  Like T, I gravitate to pellets due to versatility, but not always.  Across all this time and work I can state that for my cookers, at least, there is no significant fuel cost difference unless I'm using the Traeger in very cold weather.

Hub

[bbqchef]

I was just curious and didn't know if anyone had actually run the numbers...

I have a bevy of cookers...

A couple of propane gassers (Heatwave IR and Broilmaster P-3), a Charbroil Big Easy, a Cobb, a Grill Dome Infinity, a couple of WSMs, a Lodge Hibachi and a YS680 that are the most often used. (Most recently I've been cooking on the Yoder as it's my new toy.)

I've just cleared an area in the back of my side yard the might become home for a real pig pit but I think SHMBO might not go for that idea.

Fuel costs are definately the least costly item in backyard cooking.

[teesquare]

I kind of think of the variety of cookers we all use as another "flavor ingredient". You know, the PBC make awesome chicken ( and other stuff to!) But if I want a real "wood grilled steak" - I use one of the pellet grills. And - if I am in a hurry to sear, I can have the Weber gasser hot and ready for whatever - I can sear on the Yoder, or the MAK - but, for speed...gas is HOT

But, I never have considered the cost of fuel much. It is just a small part of the equation that I had not thought too much about I suppose.

[Smokin Soon]

My Treager 070 does not use much at all in the NorCal climate. It is in a wind protected covered area. Pellet grills are like a giant heat sync.
Friends with Traegers and GMG's have reported much higher consumption than mine when cooking in light wind conditions as well as more temp swings.
Some will say that an insulation cover or a welding blanket is not needed for temps 50 degrees and above. When a large chunk of steel gets blown in a cool breeze it's just gonna make things work harder. Yeah, we could all buy insulated Memphis pits in our dreams, but I am not in that league financially.
Bottom line is, that wind more than cold is your enemy. It will cost more per hour no matter what the outside temp is.