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.
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