I'd never want to give it up as an option -- the ease of use is sometimes critical. I do like having something else to play around with when I have time. Complaints might include:
- Boring (again, at 2:00AM that's what I'm looking for)
- More chance to have something fail (electric etc.) though other hands off cookers can have problems as well
- Lighter smoke profile.
- Long (though easy) cooktimes. With charcoal/wood you can cook 275-300 and still get great results. With a pellet you can, but the smoke profile will be very light. It works a lot better at a low temp. That means you're cooking for 12 hours not 7. The timing might or might not be convenient.
- basic cleanup is super easy. If you want to really do a heavy cleaning, pressure washer etc., it's a problem because of the electronics.
- While there are lots of options for normal backyard quantities choices are more limited (and expensive) if you need more room. FEC and some others are options but I'd say it's easier with other types of cookers.
- Boring (again, at 2:00AM that's what I'm looking for)
- More chance to have something fail (electric etc.) though other hands off cookers can have problems as well
- Lighter smoke profile.
- Long (though easy) cooktimes. With charcoal/wood you can cook 275-300 and still get great results. With a pellet you can, but the smoke profile will be very light. It works a lot better at a low temp. That means you're cooking for 12 hours not 7. The timing might or might not be convenient.
- basic cleanup is super easy. If you want to really do a heavy cleaning, pressure washer etc., it's a problem because of the electronics.
- While there are lots of options for normal backyard quantities choices are more limited (and expensive) if you need more room. FEC and some others are options but I'd say it's easier with other types of cookers.