Holy shit Pena. Wow
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If nothing else good happens to this team the rest of the season, it was great sweeping Arlington with their season on the line. And I vote King for closer until Hader gets back.
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The Astros brought their 
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ASTROS WIN 5-2
West:
HOU —
SEA -0.5
TEX -5.0
2 seed:
DET —
HOU -1.5 (DET holds tiebreaker)
WC:
NYY +2.0
BOS —
SEA —
CLE -2.5
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Stakes couldn’t be higher with Seattle, as the series will also determine the tiebreaker between the two teams.
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Other than sweeping the Dodgers in Los Angeles, this was the best series the Astros have played in a long time.
They picked a good time to do it.
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This next series would be an outSTANding occasion for an appearance of Good Framber.
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Stop. Please.
Missed this earlier.
As with most things/hobbies you can certainly spend as much as you’d like and barring some exceptions, you’ll get what you pay for in quality/longevity. I find the RecTeq smokers to be a great deal for the money. Of course the main RecTeq I use is about 12 years old and from the time that I believe they were made in the US. I have two others from them that are quite a bit newer. I’ve had zero issues with them but I still just know my old rig too well to stop using it primarily. I’ve always lusted after a Yoder (those things carry a wallet with them that says “badass motherfucker” but the RecTeq has given me zero reason to make the switch.
Of course, as much as I like my pellet smokers, when I’m serious about what I’m cooking and want to be involved more with the process throughout the cook, I use my offset. I prefer what comes out of that 10 times out of 10 over what I get from my pellet rigs. I see the RecTeq as my daily driver and my offset akin to a classic ‘Vette that I drive when I want to really experience driving.
I smoke year round rain snow or shine and sometimes multiple times a week, the pellet smoker is essential for my meat addiction. The RecTeq is easier to use than my oven and I’ve stopped even slightly worrying that it will malfunction during a cook while I’m sleeping. It has been extremely reliable and consistent.
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Not sure why I’m singled out, I guess because I’m not particularly bad at math. But… using the old “if the season ended today” scenario, yes, the Astros would be in first place because they’ve played more games and have one more win, thus a higher winning percentage. Well, unless the Mariners win today (Thursday), then the Mariners would win the division by having the tiebreaker advantage. The Astros “control their own destiny”, however, so they need to beat up on the Mariners this weekend.
My first recommendation is also to beat the shit out of the Mariners. On the subject of pellet smokers…I like mine for a number of reasons, most notably the convenience. I have a pretty high-end, fancy Memphis Grill smoker, and I love it. It’s easy to use, easy to clean, and it does a really good job at most things. It’s not an offset, but then it’s “set and forget” too. I don’t have to babysit a 16-hour cook. The temperature always stays within 1 degree, and it produces a good amount of smoke flavor, depending on the brand of pellets used. Which does bring up one of the cons… it’s persnickety about the pellets. Cheap pellets don’t burn efficiently, and the design of the burn box is such that if the pellets don’t ash completely, they pile up and then back up into the chute and then it gets whacked. This is not a problem if you’re only cooking say a turkey, but for long cooks it will be an issue. The other pro I really like about it is in addition to being a smoker it’s a direct flame grill. It gets hot. And when I say hot, I mean 800 degrees hot. Some pellet grills/smokers only get to like 450, which is enough to melt your butter, but not grill your steak. If you only want to cook at lower temperatures that’s not a concern, but it’s nice to have a pellet smoker that’s an actual real grill too.
As for brands other than Memphis Grill (all stainless steel, made in the good ol’ US ofA)…the afore mentioned RecTeq always get good reviews, as does Yoder. If I was going for a mid-range price, I’d probably go with a Yoder, but that’s just me. More budget friendly options are Pit Boss, Green Mountain, and the ubiquitous Traeger. I’ve heard good things about all of those, though don’t expect them to last decades like the higher end models.
For most occasional backyard BBQers, and any of those brands will work, and the pellet makes more difference than the pit. Everyone’s mileage varies, however.
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And so the pellet recommendations/warnings are…
Don’t buy cheap shit. The one’s I’ve used, can’t remember the maker, are labeled “competition grade”
I left behind a very (too) nice pellet grill/smoker (Twin Eagles) and need a new meat cooker.
I’m sold on the style for the reasons Hudson laid out.
I need ease and versatility. An offset would be great but I don’t see any time soon where I’d be able to baby sit a cook with regularity.
I’ve actually had really good luck with Traeger pellets. They always burn cleanly and completely, which is the key. Bear Mountain seems to work fine. A lot of people like Lumberjack pellets, but they suck ass for my smoker. That may just be my smoker. I would steer clear of the generic stuff from HEB or Kroger or the like. I’ve also used Smokin Pecan, which are compressed pecan shells, not wood. They are really good, but also expensive. It may just be trial and error depending on the design of your smoker. Just a watch point when you first get it.
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Compressed pecan shells sound to me like they’d have a pretty bitter quality to them. Interesting, will have to try.
They’re not at all, at least not to me. They’re quite good. But they sell them like they’re made of gold.
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That was the brand recommended to me when I got my original one.
They were great, then the store that carried them stopped doing so.
I used the pecan 95% of the time.
Just looked at their website and those look legit (outer shells only), and not horribly expensive (20lbs for $33+shipping). Would use for special occasion pork loins and butts especially.
I think the bitterness I was thinking of comes from shelling pecans in the yard and occasionally leaving in a piece of the “interior shell” that divides the 2 halves. A little piece of that will screw up your enjoyment of that pecan.
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They’re not crazy, crazy expensive (I’ve been known to be a touch hyperbolic on the rare occasion), but they’re more than other brands. 20 lbs of Traeger are usually $20 and Bear Mountain around $12-15 for 20 lbs. You can sometimes find 40 lb bags for even more of a bargain, and they’re available local (I usually get them at Academy), so no shipping. So yeah, I’m with you…for special occasions. I wouldn’t want to use them for a 16-20 hour cook. But they do burn really well for me.
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