Smoking

Hi Harry and welcome,
It’s good to see someone with your obvious passion take the time to chat with us on this scale. Forgive me, being an Australian I knew very little of you until I visited your website and I must say I was impressed. I saw that you were mentored by Bentley and Kirstin in your first year. Bentley is a regular contributor on our Aussie BBQ Forum and we have a lot of respect for him. I know that I will probably be ostracized by everyone here for asking this question but seeing as how one of your Mentors is a strong advocate of Pellet Grills. What are your thoughts on using a Pellet Grill versus a WSM. Are there noticeable differences in the end result.
I should add that although I demonstrate cooking for Weber Australia of a Saturday between the end of September and end of December each year (peak BBQ buying season) I own a Traeger 075. Grilling is the most common method of cooking on a BBQ in Australia but we are changing the culture one person at a time.

Cheers mate,

Hey Phil:
I used to fly to Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney while I a 747 second officer for an Asian airline. Got laid off during the 1980's oil crisis and ended up in the US after that.
I've had great food down under and lots of Aussie BBQ. Too bad the Outback chain in US (opened by clever US restaurateurs) is a not a very authentic representation of Aussie cuisine with it's fake Shrimp on the Barbie!
I'm neutral on pellet heads, stick burners, WSMers, UDS, rotisserie, old school, high-tech, etc. When it comes to BBQ, it's all about technique and knowing your equipment versus the kind of equipment you have. You can see on the show that we do quite well against the $15K Lamborghini smokers. You can do wonderful Q with a hole in the ground if you know what you're doing. In my cooking school, I teach my students to cook using WSMs, Kettles, Gas Grills, Gas Smokers, and the Oven. Yes, the oven. You can get amazing results that isn't real BBQ of course but great nonetheless. There are many successful chain restaurants (no names here) who pressure steam ribs and toss them on the grill with rub and sauce.
I enjoy grilling also and love to cook vegetarian BBQ too! It's all good!
Keep on grilling and keep on BBQing Phil. We need as many passionate folks around the world as we can build our BBQ community on. Keep the BBQ flag flying in Aussieland!