How Broil King Pellet Grills Work

In a world where gas and charcoal BBQs have dominated the market for over 50 years, it might seem like there’s not much demand or even a necessity for any other grill types. Gas barbeques are quick and easily controlled, and charcoal barbeques allow you to build and shape any size fire to direct the heat.

But what if we were to tell you that there is a grill that’s even easier than charcoal and gas, and allows for beautifully smoked and infused foods over a period of hours, all controlled from your phone? Well, say hello to our Broil King Pellet Grills!

We’ll take you through everything you need to know about these revolutionary devices that will deliver beautiful results, without the need to stand by your barbeque for hours. What else could you want? Let’s get started.

What are pellets?

We’ll start from the beginning! Broil King pellets are made from wood shavings that have been compressed under pressure to form a small tablet shape. Due to their uniform size, their shape allows them to provide consistent grilling conditions. Broil King pellets, unlike others, are made from 100% wood, without other chemical substances and binders. There are lots of different types of pellets that each offer different flavour profiles, such as hickory, maple, oak and cherry, and much more.

Starting up the pellet grill

To get started, we pour the pellets into the pellet tank, located on the right hand side of the grill. To make the process easier, try our Pellet Scoop that has graduated measurements to precisely measure out half a pound, 1 pound and 1.5 pounds of pellets. Then, once you’ve added your pellets, select your desired temperature by using the control panel. You can choose smoking (107℃), baking (175℃) and grilling (315℃).

Once you’ve chosen the temperature, the auger will start spinning and feeding pellets into the firebox. At the same time, the filament begins to heat up in the hearth, and when it meets the pellets, it ignites them. And of course, because there’s no fire without air, the fan quickly spins to supply oxygen, starting the combustion process. We liken this to waving a charcoal grill to help it ignite, it’s a very similar process!

The pellets that have been poured into the furnace by the screw feeder ignite with the help of a filament and a small fan. This then creates a small fire in the hearth at the bottom of the grill – and then this is where the magic of the Broil King pellet grill begins!

Controlling the grill

Inside the grill there are 3 probes – 2 of them are used to measure the temperature inside the meat, and the other is used to measure inside the grill chamber. This advanced thermometer takes a measurement every 20 seconds and feeds information back into the control panel. By doing this, the grill can determine how many pellets to add to the furnace and at what speed to turn the fan.

In a home oven, we can set the temperature 220℃ for example, but we don’t know what the true temperature is inside the oven. Deviations from the set temperature can be surprisingly large, up to 20℃! However, in Broil King pellet grills, you can always see the temperature inside, guaranteeing deliciously cooked food every time.

Innovative BBQ solution

Despite only becoming mainstream in the last few years, the pellet method is a technique as old as time! In old locomotive trains, there would be a pitmaster whose job it was to accurately calculate how much and when to add more wood to the smoker, to power the train. This highly skilled job required close attention due to the difference in log sizes, as well as their density and humidity levels, all of which affects the temperature of the smoker. It also meant that the pitmaster couldn’t go to sleep, because the smoker had to always be monitored!

The Broil King pellet grills solves all of these problems, accurately maintaining the temperature for as long as you need, without the need to babysit your grill. Smoke low and long overnight and the Broil King will still manage the cooking for you.

The plug-in grill that isn’t electric

Broil King pellet grills require mains electricity, so they must be plugged in, however, the electricity isn’t needed to generate heat, it is simply to power the computer, fan and the filament.

One bag of pellets produces roughly half an ash container in the ash management system, pictured below.

All of the fat that drips out during grilling or smoking is also drained into a profiled gutters that direct the flow of fat away from the grill and into a designated fat container.

And there you have it – everything you need to know about Broil King Pellet Grills! Now check out our full range of pellet grills, as well as our fantastic selection of pellet accessories, and start smoking, searing and roasting with Broil King Spain and Portugal!