Pellet Grill Smoker
 

Plans are to retire in a couple of years. We are having the what to leave and what to bring to The Villages. We have a pellet grill smoker that we occasionally use for things like beef or pork tenderloins. The thing is - sometimes I'll put large pork butt on it and smoke it for 12 hours (1a to 1p) . We live in a rural area now and that applewood smoke and pork smell will get your attention in the wee hours of the morning. Are smoker grills frowned upon in The Villages? Do you know of people using them? Can I use it in my driveway instead of backyard? I have thought about contacting a villages Smoker Grill Club but I didn't think it appropriate due to we don't currently live there yet. Thank's in advance for any insight.

Absolutely contact the club, I would not put on the driveway for 12 hours over night, we have wild animals around here and IHMO you might find your smoker broken and on it side in the morning, at least the birdcage would have some screening, but this will not stop larger animals. You might want to adjust your cooking schedule, but let's see what the club suggests.

Thank you.

It's pretty clear the previous poster doesn't have a smoker. You can operate them in your front or backyard anytime of the day. Animals will not bother anything that is smoking at smoking temps, even at 180.

Most meat smokers are generous people. A gift of some smoked foods will be welcomed by the neighbors.

There is local farm supply store, Rural King, that sells 100% flavor wood pellets quite reasonably. Smoking food is widely accepted here, although not a religion as it is in some states.

I have a Kamado type grill/smoker I regularly smoke a butt overnight with no problems.
It is always wise to invite close neighbors for a pulled pork BBQ!:)
Other than Butts and brisket, most of my smoking is shorter length 3-5 hours.

Love my Trager no negative feed back from the neighbors

Sorry for my ignorance about smokers, thank you for the first hand experience.

I smoke a brisket once in a while for 8-10 hrs on the patio off the lanai. I've asked the neighbors if it bothers them, and they either didn't know I was doing it, liked the smell, or offered to help me eat it, so it's all good. Have a big corned beef in the freezer that I'll be turning into pastrami this weekend......nothing like homemade pastrami!

Sorry if this came across as an attack, it wasn't. Smoke, to animals, represent danger perhaps even more so than heat. The pellet smokers have a stable base which isn't prone to tip over.

The electric smokers which are more like a small fridge would be easier to tip. Some of those are insulated as well, not so for a pellet smoker.

One thing not to do is use a smoker during love bug season. It was the largest concentration of lovebugs I've ever seen. The lanai, birdcage, and side of house were covered. They would land on the hood and fall off from the heat. Once I turned the heat up to brown the meat I was cooking (spatchcocked chicken), they left. They are attracted to the smoke, not the heat

I was just logging in to ask the very same question as yours! Thanks for beating me to it! Saved me some typing.:mademyday:

ABSOLUTELY TRUE! Whenever I smoke during lovebug season it's like a plague! I put out a 5gal white bucket half-filled with water and some citrus soap and it attracts a LOT of them but still like a half-plague! I have to take a leaf blower and blow the layer of bodies off the patio! This season wasn't as bad as the previous 2 which was hell.

I didn't (although not surprised) know there was such a club. However PERSONALLY while you can use it wherever you want really wouldn't suggest putting it on your driveway just for the aesthetics. You might earn a visit from the mysterious "2 ladies in a golf cart with clip board." :D They are the Villages equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster complete with shadowy pictures. Everyone KNOWS SOMEONE who saw them.

Bring it, lots of smokers in The Villages , I have a green egg use it all the time.

Yes, bring it! I use my Traeger at least 5 times a week on my unscreened patio outside my lanai. Sometimes for short -1 -2 hrs or brisket all night, seems to attract more hungry neighbors than love bugs! From bacon in morning to meat at night and yes a few invites during the year to my great neighbors and all is well. Bring some recipes to share also!

When you do a brisket are you doing a small one? I occasionally see 2-3 pounders in the grocery but I'm curious where I can get larger 4-15lb briskets around TV. I have a meat market up north that can get anything. I also don't have a smoker down here, but I will soon enough.

Definitely bring it. We brought ours and use it almost daily. Rural king is a great place to buy the pellets. Largest assortment we’ve seen locally. Also publix & SAMs can get larger cuts of meat if needed.

The BBQ/smoker club covers who has the best cuts as an agenda item, they try to arrange group discounts.

I have seen the briskets that size at Costco. It is a drive that I do once a month or so.

You can get larger cuts of meat at Wildwood meat market on 301 Near the City Hall.

smoker
 

Personally I am not a BBQ fan. I like steak but I wouldn't want to smell it for hours on end. And would definitely NOT want a neighbor who grills like that. If anyone wants to know what it would smell like take a ride over to Oakwood Express and park in the back lot. Whiff away!

Bring it...smoke it! I use mine frequently

Love smoked meat

I have only done the full packer ones with the point and flat, out it on at 11:00pm and done about 4-5 next afternoon. Sams, sometimes the local grocery store or online

I discovered the love bug issue when smoking as well - but my Camp Chef is inside the birdcage, so it didn’t impact the cook. Once I was done, they left.

We have been meaning to check out the Villages' Smoking club, but to date have been unable to do! But we have had a RecTec smoker for the past 3 years and use it every 2-3 months or so for butts, ribs, brisket and other meats. Just finished off a TriTip (poor man's brisket) that we got at Sams' Club and in 2 hours it's just as good (In our humble opinion) as a 12-14 hr brisket. Bring down your smoker and enjoy! My neighbors know when we're smoking because the environs around our place are heavenly scented with apple, hickory, pecan and other woods. No complaints to date, especially when you take them bits of the treasured meats. Love it!!!!!

Just a little request. If an animal does happen to knock over your Big Green Egg kindly let me know. I'll be packing and moving as quickly as possible! That would have to be a really big animal!:ohdear:

It's really nothinga all like Oakwood. They are burning hundreds of times more wood than a backyard BBQ would. It's like comparing a house burning down to a campfire. Also pellet grills generate a lot less and much more controlled smoke than a stick burner (which is both bad and good depending on what you like).

What time will it be ready? Lol

Love smoked meat, too.
 

I love smoked meat and fish. After surviving cancer, I was strongly advised by my oncologist to avoid smoke of any kind as if my life depended on it. Even candles which my wife loved had to go. My bbq hasn't been used in several years, I am sad to say. I avoid campfires in campgrounds like the plague. And the way so many of the houses here sit lanai to lanai it would be a real test of tolerance to have a smoker wafting from one home into anothers for hours on end. Once I used to love it, but now it can be a severe health hazard to others. My advice is to check with your neighbors before firing up the smoker.
Just another point of view.

Myself and several neighbors have smokers and no one has complained. I’ll do my butts overnight for 12+ hrs with no complaints or problems. I do this on a patio off of my lanai.

I smoke ribs for 6 hours and beef brisket for much longer. I have had no complaints. On the contrary, I have seen lots of smiles. Your land, your choice is my motto.

Laryb, we're all coming for pastrami!! YUMM!! I hear a lot about the 2 ladies on the golf cart. Are they just cranky busy bodies who have nothing to do and get joy in banging people out or are they legit Village personal ?

Perfect, thank you!

Thanks for everyone who had suggestions, I appreciate it!

Actually they are the 2 ladies who have made The Villages have the highest STD rate in the free world (TRUE, I read it on the internet! Romance and STD’s: Inside Florida’s wild retirees getaway). They don't care about infractions, they carry the clipboard to keep track of their conquests.

They are like the Loch Ness monster. Everyone KNOWS SOMEONE who has seen them and there are even shadowy pictures of them doing their deed late at night along the quiet streets here in The Villages. :a20:

Unless you are smoking a couple hundred pounds if mest I don't see a problem not in your driveway who does that lol

I was told that having a BBQ or smoker inside your lanai or birdcage is not good. Don't know. Would like to hear some opinions.