"Should I buy a charcoal barbecue or pellet grill?"

This is a question we get all year long. Despite the fact they are both fueled by wood, they make your barbecue experience completely different. From the cook to the taste, both have characteristics that you may see as favourable or not, depending on your grilling background, knowledge, time, style, and/or needs. In this blog, we'll start with the practical differences before further explaining what you can achieve with the flavours that each style produces. 

Practicality: time, money, and technology 

Oftentimes, practicality will be a barbecuer's main deciding factor when they choose a grill. Here are some differences between charcoal and wood pellet grilling from a practical standpoint: 

Pros of Charcoal Grilling:

• There is a wide variety of charcoal grills available today, including the iconic Weber Kettle, which is relatively inexpensive or you can get the world-renowned Kamado Joe or Big Green Egg for a few extra bucks.
• Burning charcoal gives you a great bang for your buck as you may be able to reuse the larger lumps in multiple cooking events.
• Charcoal is very cost-efficient, so you won't have to feel guilty about experimenting with a variety of charcoal to see what combination of flavours and types you love the most.  Big Boy brand and Buffalo Charcoal offer a variety of flavours that are very easy on a budget.

Cons of Charcoal Grilling:

• Bringing charcoal up to your desired temperature can take up to 30 minutes.
• Managing the temperature of a charcoal fire throughout each cook takes far more work than pellet grilling. Some people don't love this but it's not a drawback for everyone in fact, many pitmasters prefer charcoal. If you do enjoy this, congratulations - you're probably a seasoned griller.
• The difficulty in managing charcoal doesn't end when your food is done. Charcoal tends to be a whole lot messier and the flames take much longer to burn out. 

Pros of Pellet Grilling:

• With the technology available in modern pellet grills, you can set it and forget it. *Don't forget to use a leave-in thermometer or probe to keep your phone up-to-date on the cooking progress. Just set your desired temperature and hang out until your food is ready. Today, many pellet grills have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities to help you monitor the temperature remotely. Check out the Yoder YS640s to see one of our Staff Favourites and Best Sellers.  
• Pellet grills are generally much easier to clean with the ash being more manageable both during and after your cook. 

Cons of Pellet Grilling:

• Pellet grills are more expensive up-front than charcoal barbecues, but of course, you will get your money's worth for whichever barbecue you decide to buy.
• Fuel costs are also more expensive, with charcoal landing at about $1-$2 per pound and wood pellets ranging from $3-$6 per pound. That said, a 20lb bag of Big Boy pellets is only $9.99 every day. 
• Pellet grills do require electricity, which limits their portability. It's fine for the backyard barbecue but they may not be your best choice if you like to bring your cooking along on a camping trip. 

Final Flavours: Variety and Cooking Style

So far, we've talked about what might make you get one or the other. In this next part, we're going to tell you the results you can expect in your food if you cook on a charcoal grill vs if you cook on a pellet grill. 

Benefits of Charcoal Grilling:

• Charcoal grilling is a journey with a delicious final destination. Sometimes the simple way is best, like cooking meat over an open flame, like how cavemen did it, they would say charcoal grilling is the way to go. That is, if they could speak English. :-) You may not perfect the craft right away, but the experiences you'll take away from learning to control the flame and smoke will give you a sense of pride that you can only get when you've been through trial and error to achieve your perfect charcoal-smoked piece of meat. And when you achieve this, you'll get something you can't get with pellet smoking - and that's...Nostalgia. Remember those family cookouts you used to have with the smell of charcoal smoke in the air while you tossed the football around because you were waiting for those perfectly charred burgers and hotdogs? Even if Uncle Johnny accidentally burnt them, you still loved the food. You can't beat that classic taste and smoky smell that charcoal provides - that's why so many people prefer charcoal grills over pellets.

 Benefits of Pellet Smokers:

• There is a huge variety of flavoured pellet grills and smokers available for your cookouts. If you prefer a more flavourful and aromatic smoke for your food, pellets are the way to go. 
• We've already mentioned that pellet grills are easier to control, as they often come with technology compatible with smartphones, but we didn't quite touch on what that can do for your food. With the pellet grill route, you can set your cook low and slow, so that your foods will absorb a great deal of the smoke that the pellets produce over a longer time - days if you prefer.
• There is also a wide selection of flavoured pellets including Hickory, Mesquite, Oak, Maple, Apple and other combinations of flavoured pellets called Competition blends that infuse into your food. These exceptional flavours can't quite be achieved with charcoal grilling.
• You can cook with this super cost-effective, bang-for-your-buck Big Boy Ash Kickin' Pellets.

Now that you know the differences between charcoal barbecuing and pellet grilling, which one is right for you?

Generally, those who pursue pellet smoking love the journey of seeing how far they can push the envelope with their intricate pellet blends until they find the perfect one for them.

And, hey if you have one of those natural gas or propane barbecues, you can still enjoy infusing some smoky flavour by using pellets and one of these cool accessories; such as the Stainless Steel Smoker Pipe or A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker, you can keep put pellets onto your gas barbecues as well.

Thanks for stopping by our blog. If you want more in-store expert advice, and to lift the lid to see for yourself, then come and visit any of our 5 locations across Canada. We've got two in Calgary, Alberta (North Location & South Location), as well as three across the Greater Toronto Area: Burlington, Oakville & Etobicoke, Ontario.