Had to decide between a pellet smoker and a stick burner for competition season

I spent two weeks agonizing over a pellet smoker vs a traditional offset stick burner for this year's KCBS events, and I went with the offset for that deep smoke flavor. First cook turned out amazing but I was up every 45 minutes reloading logs all night and barely got any sleep. Any of you guys run pellets in serious comps and feel like judges really notice the difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer_west1mo ago

Is it really that easy for most judges to miss the difference though? I used to be a diehard pellet guy, swore you couldn't tell once the meat was sauced and rested. Then I did a blind taste test with some buddies and the offset brisket just had this deeper, smokier aftertaste that hung around longer. The pellets were cleaner but almost too clean if that makes sense. I still think most average judges probably can't pick it out though, especially in a KCBS box with sauce and garnish. It changed my whole view on competition cooking honestly.

angelab621mo ago

Honestly if you're running an offset in comps you already know the flavor difference is real but the real question is how many of those judges can actually pick it out after the first few bites when everything's slathered in sauce?