Comparisons · Two kinds of barbecue
Electric outdoor grill with wood-pellet smoke box or Three-burner hooded gas grill
Two cookers that light at the turn of a switch, differing in ceiling temperature, in whether they smoke, and in where they may legally and safely be used.
What each one is
Electric outdoor grill with wood-pellet smoke box
A mains-powered outdoor grill whose heat comes from an electric element and whose smoke comes from wood pellets burned in a separate compartment. The clearest physical demonstration that energy source and smoke source are different questions — and the clearest refutation, from the maker itself, of the idea that an appliance with no combustion heating is therefore safe indoors.
Three-burner hooded gas grill
Individually controllable burners make two-zone cooking a matter of turning one off, which is the thing gas does better than anything else. It contributes no smoke of its own, so any smoke has to be added deliberately.
Where they overlap
- Both do direct heat — designed for this.
What actually differs
| Aspect | Electric outdoor grill with wood-pellet smoke box | Three-burner hooded gas grill |
|---|---|---|
| Shape and how it works | Electric outdoor grill | Hooded gas grill |
| What heats it The energy source sets the ceiling temperature and how quickly the cooker answers a change. | Electricity | LPG (bottled gas) |
| What smokes it Separate from the heat, and deliberately so: one cooker in this catalogue draws its heat from the mains and its smoke from wood pellets. | Wood-pellet smoke box | Wood chips |
| Cooking surface | 35–45 cm | 60–75 cm |
| Indirect heat | Designed for this | Possible with the right setup — Light the outer burners only and place the food over the unlit one, hood down. |
| Two-zone fire | Not modelled for this cooker | Designed for this |
| Smoking | Possible with the right setup — The smoke box must be filled with food-grade wood pellets using the supplied scoop; the manufacturer forbids charcoal, hardwood, heating pellets or liquid fuel in it. | Needs an accessory — Gas produces no smoke of its own; a smoker box supplies it. |
| Low and slow | Designed for this | Not modelled for this cooker |
| Foods the difference reaches These are the foods whose cooking profiles call for a heat configuration these two cookers support differently. For anything not on the list, the choice between them does not change how it is cooked. | whole chicken, chicken thigh, bone-in, chicken thigh, boneless, chicken breast, boneless, chicken breast, bone-in, chicken wings, chicken drumsticks, beef burger, rib eye steak, picanha, whole, pork chop, pork shoulder, pork spareribs, baby back ribs, pork tenderloin, brisket, lamb leg steak, lamb loin chop, lamb burger, salmon fillet, sausage, whole trout, whole mackerel, whole sea bass, cod fillet, pizza, whole side of salmon | |
Which one, for what
Conditions rather than a verdict. Each line below is a thing one of them can do that the other cannot, or does without arrangement where the other needs it — taken from the what each cooker is documented as doing, rather than from a preference.
Electric outdoor grill with wood-pellet smoke box, if:
- You want indirect heat without arranging the fire for it every time.
- You want to cook with low and slow, which the other cannot do.
Three-burner hooded gas grill, if:
- You want to cook with two-zone fire, which the other cannot do.