Traditional pellet smokers are designed for indirect heat, meaning that the food is cooked by indirect contact with the heat source. This type of cooking can result in uneven searing and can often leave the meat dry and tough.
Fortunately, some pellet grill manufacturers have started to offer models that produce high heat for searing. These grills use special heat deflectors to direct the flames towards the food, resulting in evenly cooked meat with a crispy crust. However, because these grills are relatively new to the market, it can be difficult to find the best model for your needs.
This guide will introduce you to some of the best pellet grills for searing and provide tips on choosing the best grill for your kitchen.
Top 9 Pellet Grills for Searing Comparison Table
| Image | Name | Temperature Range | Cooking Space | Rating (1-5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  | 1. Traeger Grills Pro Series 780 Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker | 165°F - 500°F | 780 sq. in. | 4.7 |
  | 2. Z GRILLS 700D Wood Pellet Grill Smoker | 180°F - 450°F | 700 sq. in. | 4.5 |
  | 3. Camp Chef 20" Pursuit Portable Pellet Grill | 160°F - 500°F | 501 sq. in. | 4.3 |
  | 4. Camp Chef WiFi Woodwind Pellet Grill & Smoker | 160°F - 500°F | 1236 sq. in. | 4.5 |
  | 5. Pit Boss PB850G Wood Pellet Grill | 180°F - 500°F | 879 sq. in. | 4.5 |
  | 6. Traeger Grills Pro Series 575 Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker | 165°F - 500°F | 575 sq. in. | 4.8 |
  | 7. Cookshack PG500 Fast Eddy's Pellet Grill | 180°F - 600°F | 784 sq. in. | 4.4 |
  | 8. Camp Chef PG24MZG SmokePro Smoker Wood Pellet Grill | 160°F - 500°F | 811 sq. in. | 4.6 |
  | 9. Pit Boss Classic Wood Fired Pellet Grill & Smoker | 180°F - 500°F | 700 sq. in. | 4.6 |
Things to Consider When Buying the Best Pellet Grill for Searing
Can You Sear on the Pellet Grill?
Not all pellet grills can sear food, and you should consider the grill’s ability to sear the food before making a purchase. Ensure the grill can expose the food to direct, intense heat. If the grill does not allow you to heat the food with indirect heat, it would be wise to avoid buying it.
Fortunately, most pellet grill manufacturers have responded to clients’ searing needs, and you can easily find a pellet grill that sears the food. You should read the consumer reviews to understand the searing-ability of the appliance before purchasing it.
Portability
A pellet grill’s portability is essential, especially if you plan to use it in an outdoor kitchen or for hiking and road trips. You should choose one which is highly portable; wheels make your work easier. You should be able to push the pellet grill from one room to another effectively.
Pellet grills powered by electricity can be powered by car and boat batteries. You should choose highly portable ones for tailgating, car camping, lakeside living, festivals, and other outdoor activities.
Price
The pellet grill prices are important as almost everyone works with a budget, but the cost of the pellet grills often exceeds that of the gas grills, and you should be prepared to pay more. You might find an efficient pellet grill at about $400 to $4000 or more, and you can choose one which falls within your budget. However, you should save money before investing in the pellet grills as they are permanent investments.
You might pay premium prices for more extended and stronger warranties, better pellet construction, and top-notch customer service. You may consider the operation costs, such as the pellets per hour; the operation cost will be minimum in most cases.
Food You Can Cook on your Pellet Grill
Although you would want a pellet grill that cooks almost all food types, you may select a pellet grill based on what you will be cooking. You can smoke, grill, bake, barbecue, and stir fry any food on most pellets.
Thus, you should choose a grill that can cook almost all food types, such as charred carrots, whole chickens, roasted wings, and braised beef shanks.
Cold-Smoking
Although we are likely to choose a pellet grill for BBQ, you may need to cold smoke your food at a certain point. A few pellet grills in the market offer the cold-smoking option, and you should be keen when choosing the grills. Cold smoking might preserve your food and infuse smoke flavor into cheeses.
Grilling for Barbecue Competition
Sometimes when hosting parties, you may want to engage in grilling competition, and the chosen barbecue grill should not let you down. Most pellet grills are sanctioned in contests, and they have been winning in the game, and you might win with the right equipment.
Moreover, you can hold your smoked meats in the pellet grills during the competition until the turn-in time as it keeps the meat warm without losing the juiciness and tenderness. You may need to check the local authority rules before entering a cooking competition and determine if the organizers provide electricity.
Wood Pellets You Can Use for the Pellet Grills
All pellet grills accommodate wooden chips in the hopper and direct the smoke into the barbecuing chamber. The wood pellets are compressed sawdust cylindrical shapes and have different flavors based on the wood species. You should buy food-grade wood pellets since the furnace wood pellets might contain contaminants.
Pellet Grill Maintenance
You should easily maintain the pellet grill. Sometimes, you need to cover the heat diffuser plate with heavy-duty aluminum foil to minimize the cleanup process. However, it will be better to choose grills with porcelain grills that are easy to clean with or without covering the heat diffuser.
Pellet grills, which come with grease buckets, are easy to clean as they hold the fat which drips from the food.
You can clean the grease bucket quickly after cooking your food and wipe the other grill parts clean before storing it.
You can periodically vacuum the firebox, but ensure the grill is completely cool before vacuum-cleaning it. Moreover, a grill brush will eliminate build-up and tough stains from your appliance; after using the grill brush, you may need to wipe it with a damp cloth and let it air dry.
Advanced Technology
Newer pellet grills have more advanced technology, such as temperature probe and connection to the Wi-Fi, and you should ensure your grill has the desired technology. You may choose a grill that is easy to operate over technology as it saves your time and ensures precise cooking.
Warranty
You may need to learn about a pellet grill’s warranty as it ensures it works well for an extended time. Your manufacturer should offer a reasonable warranty period as it is possible to buy appliances with manufacturing flaws.
Best 3 Pellet Grill for Smoking Reviews
1. Traeger Grills Pro Series 780 Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker
The innovative Traeger Grills Pro Series 780 Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker offers a wood-fired taste with precise temperature control. It operates on electricity, and you will never need gas or charcoal fuel in your kitchen. However, it incorporates a wood pellet hopper, making smoky flavors easy to achieve.
You should choose the wood pellets based on the food you are cooking, as some foods go well with certain smoky flavors.
The grill works well in a smart home as you can connect it with the home technology; the WiFIRE connects the grill to the Traeger app and the home Wi-Fi. Thus you can monitor the temperature and the grill while doing other activities. You can control the grill over Alexa’s voice, reduce the temperature, and turn the grill off while doing other home chores.
The grill offers versatile barbecue cooking. You will enjoy the 6-in-1 versatility of smoking, grilling, roasting, braising, baking, and barbecuing. You can accomplish this versatility because the porcelain grill grates are easy to clean.
Moreover, it is built for family grilling as it has 780 square inches of grilling space that can accommodate food for the whole family. It can hold six rib racks and accommodate many burgers for a large family.
The Traeger grill is a market-leading appliance as it has the ProD2 controller, which eases the cooking process, and the WiFIRE technology, which makes remote cooking easy. The Pro D2 direct drive allows efficient grilling and searing through effective temperature control. The drive starts quicker, heats the grill faster, and improves the smoke quality.
2. Z GRILLS 700D Wood Pellet Grill Smoker
Z Grills 700D Wood Pellet Grill Smoker is one of the innovative pellet grills in the market, as it offers eight different cooking styles. You can cook the wood-fired pizza on the grill, low and slow cook smoked ribs, reverse sear the steak, bake the bread, barbecue, and grill the vegetables. Thus, the grill is an all-in-one cooking appliance you would need in the kitchen.
Its firebox is unique as it incorporates the Venturi-style design, which creates a burn pot cyclone of airflow for maximum heat distribution. The heat distribution contributes to complete pellet combustion and produces minimal waste. The grill has a 20 pounds pellet hopper, resulting in hours of unassisted smoking, leading to consistent smoky flavors.
The Z Grills 700D offers digital temperature control and is designed for precise temperature control at 180-450 degrees Fahrenheit. Thus, it can quickly cook fatty pork, ribs, and vegetables. Its automatic auger system offers a variable-speed fan that supplies enough oxygen to the grill pellet leading to effective wood pellet combustion.
You can enjoy convenient storage and easy storage as the compartments make it possible to store additional grilling accessories. Thus it keeps the accessories away from weather elements and improves their longevity. The four-wheeled pellet grill is easy to roll, and you can easily move it from one room to another.
Moreover, the external body is made from rust-resistant material and thus will serve you for an extended time.
3. Camp Chef 20″ Pursuit Portable Pellet Grill
The Camp Chef 20″ Pursuit Portable Pellet Grill is a slim grill but outperforms itself. The grill is equipped with the right technology to improve its efficiency, and it deserves its spot in the industry. The grill uses a PID controller, which allows for steady temperature and smoke control, making it easy to control the grill effectively.
You can cook your meat at the right temperature and achieve the right smoky flavor leading to mouth-watering meals. The smoke control has adjustable smoke settings which range from ten to one, and you will choose a range that works well for the specific meal.
The grill is among the few pellet grills with a meat probe, meaning a chef can monitor the internal temperature when cooking the food. The food probe changes the game when searing the food, as it makes it possible to grill to the best quality based on a person’s taste.
The Camp Chef 20″ Pursuit Portable Pellet Grill is easy to clean as it has a clean ash system that helps get rid of the ash which builds up on the appliance. This grill is highly portable as it weighs about 82 pounds, and you can move it easily from one room to another.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Hot Should A Pellet Grill Be For Searing Meat?
The pellet grill should be 450 degrees Fahrenheit or more to sear your meat effectively, and you should use the temperature probe to ensure the grill has the right grilling temperature. When searing the meat, you should adjust the temperature to achieve the desired tastes.
How Quickly Do Pellet Grills Heat Up?
Almost all grill types take about ten to fifteen minutes to heat up effectively, and you should allow it to preheat first before placing the food based on the cooking suitable for the food type.
How Do You Sear A Camp Chef Pellet Grill?
When searing, you should place the meat directly on the heating surface as it produces the most beautiful marks and a crispy finish. As the meat begins to warm up, the cold from the meat cools the Camp Chef Pellet Grill grates a bit, slowing down the cooking on the meat parts, which are not touching the grills directly.
Do You Flip Steaks When Reverse Searing?
You may need to flip the steaks when reverse searing to let both sides get the beautiful brown crust. To achieve the desired outcome, you need to sear the steaks for about two minutes on each side.
How Long Do You Sear A Steak?
You can sear the steak for about three to four minutes on each side to achieve the brown crusty finish and the beautiful sera marks. You can reach the best searing for your meat with the right temperature.
What Is The Best Oil For Searing Steak?
You should use refined oil with a higher smoke point because searing needs high temperatures and oil with a low smoke point. Natural oil like coconut and olive oil has a low cooking point and would smoke at high temperatures, while highly refined oil like vegetable oils have a high smoking point.
Conclusion
Choosing the best pellet grill from searing might be challenging as there are many grills in the market, and you would find several with similar features. However, you should choose a pellet grill that is highly portable, easy to clean, and offers the best sear marks.
You may consider the budgetary limitations, warranties, technology, and the ability to use it for cooking different food types. Your grill should heat up quickly, maintain the right searing temperatures and offer direct cooking, which is key to searing the food.
Good luck finding a searing grill that meets your cooking needs!
