[philfree]

Originally Posted by tooge

Pros do that with gas fired logs then just run gas huh? Yeah, NO! See, by pros you mean guys that make money doing it generally. Competition guys will be disqualified if you use gas for anything other than starting your fire. If you let the logs burn and keep propane on, you are disqualified. Also, people don't wrap to stop getting smoke generally. They wrap to speed up the cook time. Yes, it is because of steaming, and for that reason I never wrap anything. I've been a competition bbq guy for over 20 years. Charcoal is what most of the guys end up cooking the comp meat with, and now pellets have been on the scene for about 10 years in comps and they do VERY well, even with old school guys. The big rigs with logs on them during the cook are all for show and generally for feeding the party that shows up. The real pit pros cook the logs off on another unit or barrel then transfer the hot coals to the smoker. Otherwise you will get too much smoke and not the right kind. Or, they use natural charcoal, which is made of wood and gives the same effect and then they just add a couple of small blocks of wood for flavor.
I've got a Weber Smokey Mountain, which is what most of the comp guys cook their turn in food on unless they are using a pellet grill. I've also used a side by side (horizontal) stick burner, and now I have a Grilla OG pellet grill. I did a large cook last weekend, and the wings were the best I've ever made, and my wife and several others said the same about the ribs, and I did them all on the pellet grill with Hickory pellets.
Also, yes, the pellet grill heats pellets (compressed wood if you use the right kind) for heat and smoke. I have news for you, that's the same way a stick burner works. It burns wood for heat and smoke.
So, to sum up, get off the high horse. Some of us "pitmaster" are using pellets and getting great results. I was a purist for years until I tried a pellet grill and realized that I can come home from work and use it just like a charcoal grill with the same taste but the ease of gas.

I've recently moved and have not moved my stick burner yet. I miss it greatly but hopefully this week I'll get it moved to the new pad. As far as the bolded part of the quoted post if you preheat your sticks you can avoid getting smoggy or dirty smoke every time you add a log to the fire. It's a must to control your smoke.