So, I know I expressed some optimism regarding Weber's ability to get this right eventually. After reading more about pellet grills and the issues and even just the amount of work that goes into using them, I gotta say I'm probably just out on pellet grills in full. In my mind the whole idea of using a pellet grill should be to make it easier than actually burning/tending wood and/or charcoal to smoke your food. Between the issues that all pellet smokers seem to have, combined with the amount of work involved in cleaning them, and on top of it all add in the much higher price points than other traditional smokers.... I just don't see what the benefit is for using this medium at all.
While I have confidence that Weber can/will put their heads together and probably get most of this all figured out eventually, I guess my lingering question is still a huge WHY? Why would they even try to get into this market and why go through all of this at all? My suspicion is that it's purely a corporate decision to have a presence in the market (which I always felt was the same reason behind the Summit Charcoal), but as a huge fan I'd rather them just bask in the confidence of knowing they have already mastered this whole BBQ and grilling thing and don't need to venture into the "gimicky" world of compressed sawdust burning. lol. That's the way I'd frame it, at least.
My original hope was that Weber would lure me into the market, but sadly they have probably only reinforced my decision to not enter it.
So, I guess my question is to you folks that are in the pellet market (Weber or otherwise) why have you chosen to do the pellet thing? I mean, a propane or electric cabinet smoker would accomplish the "set it and forget it" goal and you don't have to deal with all of the stuff that goes with the pellet smokers, and you would probably spend way less money on fuel. Again, just wondering if I'm missing something here.
