GRILLS&GEAR
Meathead Goldwyn from AmazingRibs.
com has a great explanation for how pellet
grills work. And with a name like Meathead, he’s got instant
cred for knowing his stuff about grilling. He writes: “Bottom line: It’s
all about control. And convenience. Oh yeah, taste, too. Set it and
forget it. Great flavor. No brainer. Pellet burners are a real revolution.”
Here are five key components that make
the pellet grill work. They should be
considered carefully when deciding which
grill to buy.
1. Hopper. The hopper connects to
the grill and stores the pellets. Size does
matter because it is important to
understand how many pounds of pellets are
needed for any particular cooking plan. A
smaller hopper could mean that the pellets
may run out before the food is done and
nobody wants that to happen. Pellet
consumption per hour can vary based on
the grill and temperature settings.
2. Auger. The auger rotates and feeds
the pellets into the burn pot. The speed at
which the auger rotates is determined by
the temperature controller. Having a high
quality auger that will not jam up or quit
working is very important. Before buying
any pellet grill, know the troubleshooting
protocol because if the auger don’t work,
the grill don’t work.
3. Auto Start and Fan. Like a gas
5. Structure and Materials. As with any grill, materials used on the inside
are important. Pay attention to materials used for grill grates, box insulation and the
hood. These materials can impact the long-term durability of the grill, along with pellet
consumption and the evenness of cooking.
grill, an auto-start button will be pressed
to ignite the pellets. A fan blows to feed
them oxygen and then the igniter will turn
off. Most grills initially require 300 watts
of power, which is important to know for
a generator or outlet capacity. After a few
minutes, the power required drops down
to 50 watts, the equivalent of the power
needed to light a household light bulb.
4. Burn Pot and Deflector
Plate. These components work together
to create and distribute the heat. When it
comes to making the convection process
work correctly and consistently, the quality
of the materials is important and so is how
they are used. The burn pot is usually the
size of half of a beer can. It’s where pellets
are fed from the auger and burned. The
deflector is placed above the burn pot to
absorb the heat and spread it out below
the cooking surface. Not only does this
create the convection-oven process, it
prevents flame-ups.
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