I own a big green egg and a pellet smoker. The Egg does not get much use since I bought the pellet grill. I went with a high end pellet grill so I could get up above 600F for steaks. There are lots of options. The very best steaks I have done however still come off the Egg cooked at about 800. The pellet grill is just so much easier.

Traeger pellet smoker/grill is fantastic. I have an $1800 weber summit grill, don't use it much since getting Traeger. Can ALSO use it as a wood fired pizza oven, ready in about 5 min, works perfect.

If you go with Traeger (I don't own one), check out the Delta Perks website. I think there's a discount that may or may not be a good deal.

Now... Where's them AE results???

Had a Traeger for many years and it worked great. Finally ditched it due to the high price of pellets ($20 in my area) and it being such a pain to clean out.

Went with the Bubba Keg which isn't made anymore. Love it. Similar to Big Green Egg, but cheaper and more durable as it doesn't use ceramics to hold the heat energy. Instead, double steel walls with oven insulation between works just as well and it won't crack during transportation. In fact, it even came with a receiver hitch adapter so you can throw it behind your vehicle and hit the road. It was made to the same dimensions as the BGE so most accessories you want such as grills and heat deflectors fit great.

I think the BGE is great, but a little over hyped. My neighbor had one and I felt the side of it while he was smoking a turkey. It was way hotter than the side of mine while at smoking temperature which means it was losing energy. Not good if you want to set it up in the morning and walk away until the evening when you harvest your meat.

So what to get if the Bubba Keg is out of production? Check this out http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...rillicompan-20. Pretty much a carbon copy of my set up. A little spendy, but still cheaper than the BGE, I think. Uses lump charcoal, too, which is a fraction of pellet prices. Lump burns hotter and cleaner than traditional charcoal and it's so efficient that a bag lasts months and I grill A LOT! The red bag stuff sold at WalMart is only about $10 a bag. If you want the real wood smoke taste (highly recommended) buy a bag of wood chips (hickory, mesquite, cherry, etc.), soak a handful of them in water for a while, and then throw them on top of the hot charcoal before you put in the meat. Makes meat as good as, or better than, any of the big name famous BBQ joints around the country. Trust me. With a little practice, not having the digital thermostat of the Traeger is a moot point as it's so stable and efficient. Just don't let it get too hot after initial fire up as you'll never get it back down to smoking temp if that's what you're after. It just holds the heat too well to pull it off without snuffing it out completely.

Get out there and grill!!

Anyone been in BWI layover this week? My category bidpack suddenly has like 15% of the trips at BWI, with 30hour layovers . Not super excited about it. When you look at commutable non-redeyes, it's like 30% of the trips! Am I going to be sitting in my hotel room for 30 hours hiding, answering the phone/door "Fo' shizzle, I'll tak dat room service up in heah!" ?

Academy Sports sells pellets for 8.99 to 10.99 per 20lb bag. If you purchase a higher end grill they burn fewer pellets. I find it cheaper then gas!

BBQ > AE results

I was using my charcoal grill this past weekend and had big bag left over and was worried about putting it in the garage in case of fire. But then I realized given how much lighter fluid was required to light it, the whole house could burn to the ground and that damn bag still won't light.

I agree, and picketing is one of the more gentle forms of protest.
There are plenty of things we can do to express our displeasure.
We don't need permission from the NMB to re-introduce "labor risk" on this property.

The NMB has essentially re-written the Railway Labor Act. They've eliminated the original dispute resolution process and set themselves up as a regulator of the rates of pay and working conditions in our industry. ALPA and the airlines have gone along with that. They both find it useful.

I would argue that by doing away with RLA self help, the NMB has made themselves irrelevant. They have zero credibility. We shouldn't pay any attention to them at all. We should go around them. (legally of course)

We're committed right now though.
We'll see if the ALPA "constructive" approach finally pays off with C2015.
I hope it does. But if not....