Bought a smoke cage to add to my Maverick 2000. I started with a full cage of Post Oak chunks, then added 2 chunks every 45 minutes. This brisket is amazing with better bark and smoke flavor that is exactly like an offset. Get one, it really makes a huge difference!

Nice video as usual. This idea is known as "pellet-assist" and has been around for a number of years. You can find a few of these types of builds on various BBQ forums and some YT videos. I fabricated two of them over the past 5 years and tried wood burning over top of firepot as well as to side of firepot. I've found the key is to let the chunk burn naturally without too much forced air from the pellet fan. There is no need to keep adding wood chunks the entire cook. As many have shown, there are diminishing returns after 4-5 hours once the meats heats up. With ribs, I only add chunks until I wrap around the 3 hour point. Keep up the great work!

I think this is a great option for extra smoke flavor however, if you need to add wood chunks every 20-30 minutes, it defeats the convenience of a pellet smoker. I have a Pitts & Spitts offset smoker and only have to add a split every 45 minutes to an hour so in this case, the offset is more convenient 😂 If they come up with an automated chute, that would be a game changer.

Try Smoke Trails BBQ Brisket Rub on your next brisket! You can get it here: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBY1DB1F

Natural organic Canadian snow, "Mmmm, tastes like maple syrup and hockey!" That was great! If it isn't there already, it's just a matter of time before Aaron Franklin has a picture of you on his wall!

What do you guys think of the Smoke Cage? You can get one here: bit.ly/3WZCbtx

Missed a great opportunity to add a discount code for Pitts & Spitts. If they sponsor the video, they should include a code at the end. Great job on the brisket.

I have the camp chef woodwind pro. Coming from strict offset cooking I love being able to add hardwood. Seems a bit easier adding wood to the camp chef than the p & s. 🤷‍♂️

I have the Maverick 1250 and picked up this smoke cage several months back. I find that it does make a noticeable difference in the test of the food. I have an older (2018) Maverick and I have to completely remove the large bottom rack in order to "safely" add wood chucks to the chute. I could spend more $$ and get the modular rack system they have out now and get more usable space for my cooks. The system I found that works best for me is to load up the basket with whatever type of wood, and add several chunks every 30-40 mins for the first two or three hours. I find that after 3 hour mark, the food is not getting more smoke flavor, and I'm adding more time to the total cook because I keep having to open up the lid. You also have to use a good brand of pellets in your hooper. The combination will give you great results! I did see LSG pellet grill and noticed they now have a large cabinet style one as well. It's just as expensive if not more than the off set ones, but I guess if you are looking for convenience, that's the way to go. I be interested to see a comparison video b/t Pitts and Spitts and LSG pellet grills. The LSG also sell their proprietary wood chips to be used exclusively for their pellet grills. Everything I've seen on the net about the LSG is above par and highly rated. In the end, how much of a difference does it make all depends on the end user. Thank you and great video!

I just did my first cook tonight on my all stainless Maverick 2000 with the smoke cage,,,, All I can say is WOW! I used Lumberjack 100% hickory and 100% cherry pellets mixed. I loaded the smoke cage with Pecan and Cherry chunks from Fruita wood in Colorado. I cooked 2 slabs of spare ribs, and they may have been the best ribs I've ever smoked. I added a couple of chunks every 30--45 min. I had consistent blue smoke the entire cook. Temps were consistently 249-251 (set to 250). The ribs had a bright red smoke ring and were extremely smoky. The cook smelled like an offset and the results were as good, probably better than my go to BBQ spot that uses large lang smokers. I wish I could post a pic.....

I have Oklahoma joe pallet grill and I just added DIY cold smoke maker that uses pallets and the cost is under $25. Will upload video in week or so. It uses very little pallets to make a lot of smoke and it hangs out side of the pallet grill.

brisket looked great! good for ppl who want to transition to offset smokers from a pellet. i’d personally cut and seperate the brisket closer to the flat though.

The Maverick 1250 is on my shortlist for purchase; I am eager to try it out with the Smoke Cage. One thought on adding chunks every 30 - 45 minutes: Meat only effectively absorbs smoke flavor until around 140 degrees. After that, its ability to absorb smoke degrades and disappears completely at 158 or so. So I would stop feeding the Smoke Cage after I see an internal temperature of 140 and let what's left just burn through. After that, the chunks just make your backyard smell good and tempt the neighbors! On my BGEs, I usually get up to 140 in less that 3 hours, so the chunk-tending duties should be minor.

I’ve been going back and forth trying to get clean smoke out of my electric non pellet vertical smoker for the last 3 years. Pellets seem to be cleaner than chunks but as soon as they turn black they start to produce a bitter taste the same as the chunks. I have a cage like tub for the chunks above the burner so what i am thinking is trying to ignite the chunks on the non burner/water pan side similar to the P&S cage and add a chunk every 40 minutes while the burner side is empty but still on to maintain heat. This way will be more like an offset to produce clean smoke and won’t produce the smolder smoke that is bitter. Thanks for all your videos and this new idea!

If you are going to feed it wood chunk every 20-30 minutes, might well buy the KBQ and be guaranteed to burn a clean fire.

To me this looks like more work than my offset. Additionally, I am never left searching for that little bit of extra to emulate my offset. In the end all that matters is the success of your cook.

I was thoroughly impressed with this new smoke system. I called my pellet grill manufacturer and told them I was building a small fire on top of the heat deflector and they told me to get that ffire out of there...

I use a a-mazing smoking tube or tray with my pellet smoker , works great with great smoke taste

So I own a P&S 1250 with the smoke cage., a Stumps Gravity Feed GF 223, and a PBC cooker. Each have their strengths. However I would argue that despite having to add chunks every 39 min to the P&S, the consistency and ease of the fire management cannot be beat.

Just my opinion here, most ppl who use a pellet smoker are or have gone through several different brands of pellets. The reason that happens is because they are looking for SMOKE flavor. Alternatively, one really only needs to add chunks for what the first 2 hours or so of the cook. 20-30 mins I think is an estimate, I would like to believe that if you added 2 chucks or maybe 3 you could reduce the amount of times you need to add wood. I don't know I haven't used one. I think the concept is awesome, it potentially ends the need to search and buy different pellets trying to get that smoke flavor. I owned an offset and now have a pellet smoker, a vertical smoker, and an orion smoker. I like my pellet smoker but miss the smoke flavor of an offset. I'll get one of these, I don't mind adding 2 or 3 pieces of wood for the first few hrs. I think it's worth it, and hey if I don't like it... well there's always ebay 😉. Great video, and I agree Franklin probably wants your head after your video on what is possibly his secret. Then again he's probably laughing at both you and Jeremy. Keep the content rolling.

Hey there bro I cook on offsett for many years .. Follow you from the Netherlands and learn a lot from you I thank you for that... I have one tip it works for me en it gives more burning time with the same amount of wood and temp control what creates more sophisticated smoke taste .. Close the space between the burning chamber and smoker with an extended box from thick metal with holes on it from really small holes to bigger holes to the back ... this create better airflow tru the smoker and blocks the radiant heat .. Another tip is putting dry beef boullion powder in your rub gives you maybe that taste what you looking for...

Well I guess the real question is was it less work? It looked like you were tending it like an offset smoker so it kind of defeats the point of a pellet smoker. Now if it was automatically refilled with wood chunks that would be awesome, but most likely that would be extremely expensive.

I see the argument that this defeats the purpose of a pellet smoker because it adds extra work… my thought is that it compromises the purpose of a pellet smoker by adding a variable that it’s computer can’t directly control. It reacts to the variable of extra heat by burning fewer pellets but can’t keep the user from adding too much wood and drastically spiking the temperature. That said, I can see myself, a long time offset user, switching to this set up… even though I am wanting something easier to use, I’m not ready to give up, adding wood by hand. Great video thank you!

My 1st thoughts. I can see how that would totally work in terms of offset flavor. I mean. you're burning a legit fire in there. 2nd thoughts. If I got to feed that thing every 20 min, I'd just get/use an offset. 3rd thoughts. If I wanted/had room for one smoker and leaning toward pellet for convivence... this solution makes P&S my choice over other high end pellet pooper brands. final thought: You enjoy the process of feeding the fire in the afternoon/evening... then go to bed & let the pellets take over all night without having to worry about it. Wake up in the morning with a better Brisket than you'd have on something else (having put the first 5-6hours of actual fire/smoke on it.)

This isn't bad. I am designing a newer type of hybrid with a hopper going into a offset firebox with a cage on top of the burn pot. Should be done by late spring. Will do a video once its done. Doing it with a 3/8 thick steel. However what I have found with pellet matching the flavor revolves around the air and the way it moves. My GMG required me to get an above level grate for brisket to go as that is where the air goes downward after hitting the top and the downdraft addresses the temp. Is it the end? Hardly! There is still something about running an offset where you don't need to plug anything in or address parts going out over time.

This is in response to compete with the Camp Chef Woodwind Pro, which I happen to own. The CCWP has the wood box as a slide out in the front of the grill. You don’t have to open the cooker to add wood.

This is great, and I like the direction that this is heading. Great demonstration. I reckon there will be more advances coming up in the field of pellet smokers.

Been doing something like this for a while on my Yoder smoker. Found a rack I can put wood on and use it.

Woodwind Pro smoke box is a much better system. And correct me if in wrong but the drip tray directs grease and dripping to this smoke cage feed chute? I think it's good people are starting to innovate, but this retrofit can stay on the shelf. Also, not questioning P&S quality, just this product is a non-starter

The main advantage I see for this pellet smoker is that the amount of wood used is less on the pellet? Seems like it would be.

I think I'll just stick to using smoke tubes w/ my 1250. They're cheap, easy to light, and use the fuel (pellets) I already have. I recently doubled up on the smoke tubes while cooking a tri-tip and the result was terrific.

Smoke trails bbq I did your 4hr 2hr 10hr brisket method on the pitboss pellet grille it came out perfect.

Ha! You’re tending a fire just like an offset

Great Video and review. All I can think about is a MAJOR benefit you could have mentioned... This is a game changer for those of us (including you) that need to pay $1000-1500 for a cord of good firewood. It's not realistic in our world up here to run an offset all the time, just due to the cost. If this gets you there with $10 worth of wood, it's a winner.

ok but once you add the wood to me it stops being just a pellet smoker and so it can not be compared to pellet smokers. i will not sell my offset ever

As someone who owns an offset, a KBQ C60 (box style smoker? Idk what to call it), and I have a woodwind pro arriving tomorrow (I refused to do pellets for a LONG time, but alas they are so easy), I find each type of smoker has it's place. My offset is huge, and works great for big parties, otherwise I find myself burning a ton of fuel just to cook a single thing. The KBQ C60 was supposed to be my single item smoker, but the fire is such a pain to manage, and doesn't allow the AFK aspect like a pellet grill does. I like the C60 for somethings, but it isn't as easy to manage as an offset or anywhere close to a pellet grill for ease of use. Too bad this video didn't come out before the weekend, would have made me think twice about my pellet grill purchase. Though after watching your video and others on the woodwind pro, I'm looking forward to checking it out. I bought the woodwind pro because I liked the idea behind sticking a wood chunk in there and getting some actual wood smoke while getting the AFK aspects of pellets. If I want to use wood chunks I can walk over and stick one in every 20-30 minutes. If I don't, I don't have to. Plus, if my wife wants to make ribs or something she can easily do so. She doesn't want to deal with fire management, which I totally understand. I love watching your channel grow. Keep up the awesome work!

LOOOOL the wood cutting scene. I am impressed with the results of that smoke cage.

Thank you I was wondering how that smoke cage was gonna work looks great

I've listened to your time 7 hours and then 15 in your smoke box, so a 12 hour offset seems the right choice but it all depends on the cost of your pellet box and electric smoker versus the offset.

Yeah I’m still sticking to my offset lol that was a nice looking finished brisket though

Need to do a head-to-head comparison between this and the Camp Chef Pro. ...but based on your comments on both of your independent video reviews of both pellet smokers, the P&S + Smoke Cage wins hands down...

Been doing it like this for 3 years now, I still love my stick burner too.

Half of the fun of smoking meat is hanging out side, managing your fire, smoking a cigar, drinking a beer or maybe sipping whiskey. Being outside and tending a fire. I’m old school offset all the way. Had a Shirley reverse flow that was also awesome. No hate towards the pellet guys. Awesome cooks there also.

I'd be interested in seeing this go head to head with a LoneStarGrillz Pellet Smoker. Mainly because I've heard that thing is a beast in terms of smoke flavor for a Pellet Smoker, and that's while being set it and forget it. If you have to add wood chunks to this every 20 minutes, that's more inconvenient than an offset, and sounds like it would cost a fortune in wood for every cook you do as well.

4:40 mark tells ya everything you need to know. Lol

You have gotten even better since I started watching your channel. You're approaching Bret Hart Canadian status. 😆

That's a game changer for sure for a pellet smoker. Have you ever wrapped your brisket in saran wrap once it has finished and then butcher paper? I did this with a turkey breast after smoking it for deli meat and it was smokier than normal. This was done on a kamado by the way.

So pellet grill for smoking = NO! Pitts & Spitts pellet grill with a SMOKE CAGE = YES!!!! Great video thanks!!!

OK, I'm going to say I'm not a hater. I have respect for your channel. With that said this is in my opinion a rather stupid question. For folks who don't want to put in the time they of course will like pellet smokers. For folks who love the process they are going to love offsets. Offsets will be around as long as they are legal. I believe the popularity depends on who is using them. Plus it's important to not forget the many versions of vertical smokers. I have two offsets, two webber smoky mountain smokers( they are vertical smokers) Kamado smokers are actually vertical smokers. And for my catering I have a Lonstargrillz large IVS ( I can do 16 briskets at one time and is just as much a "ser it and forget it " smoker as any pellet cooker) So I'm saying these will be folks who have their favorites but the end of offsets? Oh that's just crazy talk. Have a great day and I hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings. 🌤😀🔥🍻👍

Won’t be long before they perfect this technology

Great video! I wonder how long you can go between adding chunks. If you have to run out for an hour and come home, will the fire in the cage be out to where you can't add more. While the quality is no where near the same, the design of the smoke box on the camp chef woodwind pro is more practical

How did the pellet smoker handle the temperature? I guess the smoke chunks also produced heat, so the pellet grill doesn’t need as much pellets. I wonder if the pellet grill is "smart" enough to realise that.

What happens to the ashes where the woodchucks are burning ? I heard you say you had a cook time of 7 hours so I was just curious where all these ashes were going...

It would’ve been nice to do a side by side taste test with an offset brisket

Would this mean an end to off set smokers the answer is a hard no

Is the smoke flavor a clean smoke flavor or a dirty smoke flavor. I read that the smoldering wood insert for the new Camp Chef Woodwind has a dirty smoke flavor.

Wow looks amazing, great job. 🍻🤝

My initial thought is that it defeats the purpose of using a pellet smoker for its "set it and forget it" feature. It still seems a lot easier than controlling the temperature of an offset, but I think id still stick to an offset if I'm already tending to the smoker every 20 minutes.

We even got organic fresh water on Vancouver Island this year⛄

Next time add some brisket trimmings to the extra wood fire box.

It would be cool to have a little door on the side so you could put the wood down the chute that way instead of opening the door.

lone star grillz has wood chips to mix with your pellets...works great!

So you're basically turning a pellet pooper into an offset by adding real wood. I have a Lang offset reverse flow,I sold my Pitts and Spitts because it was way bigger than the Wife and I needed as we got older,and the Lange makes some fantastic BBQ. I also have have a MAK 2 Star General pellet pooper that actually makes some pretty good BBQ with very little effort. The smoke quality from a pellet pooper is seriously lacking,same as using kiln dried wood in an offset. The wood is to dry and you lose flavor same as with the pellet pooper. If you dont have the skills to use an offset and you're not big in to smoked meats it's a great almost foolproof option. My problem is I'm getting too old for those 16 to 20 hour brisket smokes and I found that using the offset for around 6 to 8 hours and transferring it to the pellet pooper is the perfect combo. You get the smoke with the offset and the precision of the pellet pooper to finish.

Let Jesus take the wheel 😂😅

If you have to add wood every 20 mins WHY not just use a offset. It takes the ONE thing that pellet ovens do better and throws it out

Apologies if you have covered the topic, but I read the secret to Texas brisket is smoking with post oak splits.

Hmmm, this is interesting for sure! It does seem like you're going to the same effort or more than an offset. It sure it great to have the option though and great to hear how it improves the taste.

Do you think this device is superior to a smoke tube or a wood chip box? They all seem to work on the same principle.

I’d take a Lone Star Grillz pellet smoker over any other brand, any day of the week.

Interesting, it's like a hybrid cooker. It would be really cool if there was a side door with chute. That way you wouldn't have to open cooking chamber every 20 mins and lose heat. Smoke on...

With the smoke box sitting right next to the fire pot, is there a chance it gets hot enough to start burning unlit chunks of wood? Or does P&S intend for you to keep a lit pile in the box through the entire cook? Coming from a WSM, using that many chunks every cook will add up!

The end to offset smokers? I don't think they'll ever be fully replaced because they have their purpose in the bbq world. I personally love my Grilla Grills pellet smoker but if I had the space I would definitely cook on an offset smoker for sure. That said, this Maverick smoker by P&S is gonna be added to my Christmas list. I really like the features and that cage for the wood chunks.

So you set the temp to 250°F and add wood chunks every 20mins. How does that affect the temperature? Does it raise it and by how much? Why did you pull the brisket at 190°F and not higher?

P & S are on the right track......but to have to open the cook chamber to reload.....👎 You drop your temp when opening ......then when the wood ignites🔥......temps will spike. And then what's the point of having a few chunks of wood burning at complete combustion for a short time, because they will burn quick. You already have complete combustion with the Pellets. What's needed for these Sawdust Burners is more Smoldering Wood. 👍 Best of Luck! Metal On! \🔥/

Great concept. I wonder if it’s proprietary to P&S pellets or effective with other fire pot centred pellet grills. (My GMG has a centred 🔥pot) Also…don’t get side tracked & forget the smoke box fire. Sucks if it goes out & you gotta remove your cook & grates to reignite one 😳

This system or the woodwind pro? I know build quality is better with the maverick, but specifically the wood burning feature.

This is great, thanks for the video! I'd like to see another brisket competition with this method and see how it does with the judges. And then highlights of the other teams being jealous of your team putting minimum effort into cooking while watching tv and playing board games the whole time :) game changer!

I watched one of your videos that you said you wanted to do healthier bbq and live longer, something like that, just wanted to say I’m all here for healthy bbq. Most channels just indulge in bbq but I want to enjoy bbq and be as healthy as I can, including being concerned of carcinogens. Can you confirm if burning any wood releases aldehydes which are carcinogenic?

if burning wood chunks is cutting it, why not just put a propane burner in the fire box of an offset use a smoke cage in it? the problem that pitts and spitts is gonna find is that a mesh box with wood chunks is easy to diy and use. hopefully the accessibility will keep the orders going there way.

Could you do a video comparing a pellet grill to an electric grill? It would seem that aside from the P&P wood shoot you used here, an electric (using wood) would give more soke flavor versus straight pellets.

*Yo, been watching for a while, this vid made me sub!* Question: you from Canadia? 😃

I have that same exact smoker. I’ll definitely have to pick one up. Smoke on, Brother!

How does this compare to the woodwind pro? I assume the build quality is much better on the pitts and spitts but in terms of ease of use and the final flavour, which one do you prefer?

That's exactly what I was trying to do

Nice summary

I'd like to see you use the Pecan Pellets and also using the smoke box or you could let us know how it turned out. Your vids are great by the way

This is pretty cool, very tempting, but I'll definitely pass on adding chunks every 20 minutes. If this is on par with an offset, then I'm assuming it's above a Kamado style grill as well..?

BBQ ingenuity! You gotta luv it!

Not the end, just because some of us don’t want to have to purchase processed pellets when we have vast supplies of seasoned apple and cherry logs

Just did my first smoke on my Yoder 640. I previously had a Pitt and Spitts 1200. the Yoder blows it away in every category. Very satisfied.

I'd love to see you use this with a 45 minute interval for additions, or something less intense. If 6 additions gets enough flavor, that'd be really compelling.

This seems to be of limited value - I mean, it's nice that you can just push a button to control the temps...but if you're already tending to the thing every 20-30 minutes, one could argue that this is actually LESS convenient than a standard offset. Personally I've found the gravity series type smokers to be a nice mix of convenience and smoke flavor - I do use more wood chunk than MB recommends, but to date I've not had an issue at all.

have you updated to the new smoke algorithm and the lower 160 temp might be a good way to let meat rest?

I 100 percent disagree on using water tray or ha ingredients to put brisket on top shelf. I been brisket cooking on pellet grill for 4 years and never had any burning my brisket issues. For thing I run much lower temps for the first 6 hours, the smoking time. If I was at all worried about heat straight to meat due to heat source is right below it. Simple fix for that, fat cap down.

Do you prefer your electric smoker or oven for resting? Also what model electric smoker is that?

Man you get a lot bigger briskets there then here in Aussie. Nice thick flats

That’s some free range snow.

I like your videos, as far as this pellet smoker that I have to keep adding wood to that costs $2000, no. That defeats the convenience of a pellet smoker and for that money and having to add wood thru out the cook I'll just buy an offset.

What do you think about the color of the smoke? Generally I look for a clean smoke coming out the stack, white smoke tends to be not as clean and the more clear it is the happier I am... I'm super interested in their brand and equipment! Thanks for the review and sharing

I've b÷n using a little wire mesh boss and place on my lower rack, then break up a few pieces of briquettes and able to set small chunks of wood on it. Easy to re add chips, etc and doesnt really add much temp. Seems just as easy or easier. Btw, what pellets do you like?