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Pellets are fast becoming a preferred fuel for smokers and grills, thanks in part to their cost-efficiency. What’s more, it’s easier to control grilling temperatures on pellet grills, and they offer more versatility for enhancing the flavor and succulence of your foods.
But that’s not all. Pellet smokers also are the topic of some of the best recipe books that detail how to grill the most flavorful foods and the perfect ways to handle different cuts of meat.
They also offer step-by-step guides with handy hints and tips on how to make the most of your pellet grill or smoker.
With internet accessibility, everyone can write a cookbook. So, finding a reliable one for your pellet grill or smoker can be a challenge. To help you out, we spent time researching and developing a list of the top 5 pellet recipes books in the market.
In A Rush? Check Out Our Top Pick
If you don’t have the time or inclination to read our reviews thoroughly, go with our top overall pick,
Why Buy this?
After intensive research, The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook by Peter Jautaikis stood out as our favorite. This book contains detailed recipes, outstanding tips, techniques, and tricks that you can apply to get the best results from your pellet grill or smoker.
- A product of a BBQ expert
- Contains detailed information about how to prepare delicious, smoked foods
- Includes tips for choosing the best smoky pellet flavors, which is especially useful if you’re a first-timer at pellet grilling or smoking
- Comes with a package of advanced smoke-grill techniques, including slow-roast and cold-smoke techniques
- We LOVE that each recipe has well-listed step-by-step instructions and high-quality, color images
Check out this video: Rib Eye Steaks on a Pellet Grill
How to Pick the Perfect Pellet Recipe Books for YOU
Searching the internet for an average pellet recipe book online isn’t a hard tackle; you can get hordes of them with a simple click of your mouse. But tracking down the best pellet recipe book is a bit more challenging. Most books dubbed as such contain a lot of useless information that won’t help you perfect your grill-master skills. A lot of them also contain fluff and non-practical approaches.
Nevertheless, with a little research – and knowing what to look for – you can easily pick the wheat from the chaff.
Read on for a list of critical features to watch for when you’re looking for the perfect pellet recipe book:
The Author
Before choosing a recipe book, it is vital to consider its author or authors.
Do they have actionable experience in barbecue, smoking, grilling, or other culinary activities? How much pertinent knowledge and expertise do they have?
With the advent of the internet, virtually anyone can write a book. You could simply spend some time on the search engines and develop multiple pellet recipes. But personal experience and knowledge in the culinary sector are what makes authors and their books stand out.
The more experienced an author, the better the pellet recipes they will produce. As such, consider the author’s culinary path and knowledge in food grilling before buying a book just for its tantalizing photos of your favorite meats.
Remember, authors with culinary experience will share tips and secrets that are hard to find in any old recipe book. So, pay close attention to the author’s bio before choosing one of their books.
Recipes, Techniques, and Tips Included
The heart of a cookbook is its recipes, for sure. So, it’s essential to consider them before choosing one. Many writers provide how-to guides in place of recipes. While this might be nice, our goal is to help you find step-by-step instructions for grilling or smoking your meals using a pellet grill.
A good recipe cookbook should provide you with tips and the techniques for setting up your pellet grill, too. It should contain easy-to-understand recipes and instructions. And make sure the cookbook includes recipes for a vast array of meats, seafood, and veggies.
In short, always choose recipe books that offer more than just cooking instructions. Consider ones that combine different recipes, tricks, techniques, and helpful tips that will help you improve your pellet grilling game and harness your culinary prowess!
Depth of Content
You’ll find a lot of cookbooks on offer, some with well over 1,000 pages!
While you might think such books are the best value, sometimes a short one may trump a long one just by the depth of content it contains. Some cookbooks contain fluff and useless information.
When you’re choosing a pellet recipe book, we recommend that you consider one ranging between 100 and 300 pages. Recipe books in this range have all you will need to prepare perfect pellet culinary treats.
Formats Available
Like other cookbooks, pellet recipe books come in four formats: hardcover, paperback, audiobook, and Kindle.
Hardcover books have a quality, sturdy texture, which makes them durable. But they’re expensive, so you have to dig deeper into your pocket to get one.
Paperback books are more affordable, and they’re easier to handle and read while preparing your ingredients. But they are not durable, as they generally get made with low-quality paper.
If you love electronic formats, you can consider Kindle or audiobook options. Kindle books come in the form of e-books, and they’re generally cheaper. Audiobooks come as audio recordings. These two options space-conscious and durable choices because you store them in electronic files.
At the same time, however, they rely on technology, so you need a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer to use them. With all the choices, choose the format that fits best with your passions and lifestyle.
Price
All pellet recipe books do NOT cost the same. Set your budget and find the perfect recipe book and format that matches it.
Again, different formats have different prices for the same content. So, when your perusing books with the best pellet recipes, even if a hardcover book is more expensive, you might be able to get an electronic version for a lower price. Or if your preferred format is not affordable, consider the other options on offer.
Quality of the Book
The next thing to look for in a recipe book is the paper and content quality and presentation. How a book reads will determine your ability to absorb it.
A book with easy-to-read instructions and meaningful photographs will be inspiring and pique your imagination better than the rest. Choose pellet recipe books with colored images and well-formatted content. In this case, judging the book on its cover is a must-do.
Top 5 Best Pellet Recipes Books Reviews
Are you struggling with your barbeque preparations?
Whether your food keeps coming out overcooked or tasteless, or you just want to learn more ways to use your pellet grill, The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook will do the trick!
This book by Peter Jautaikis features excellent recipes, tips, and techniques for smoking or grilling your meals using wood pellets. It includes all the secrets for selecting the right pellets to give different types of meat the best flavors.
This book is not just a recipe book, though.
In addition to presenting detailed recipes, it offers tips about the components of your pellet grill or smoker, and about how to choose the best fuel for it. What’s more, it presents useful information about using a smoker or grill to cook different types of foods, including precise temperatures and cooking times.
The book features high-quality images and photos under each section and recipe. It is a comprehensive cookbook that will transform your roasting, smoking, and overall pellet-grilling experiences.
This book also is suitable for newbies and smoker-veterans alike. Whatever your level of prowess, you’ll pick up new ideas that will change the way you smoke and grill your foods on your pellet grill or smoker.
The best recipe book needs to have the best Pellet Grill and Smoker. If your also debating what grill and smoker to buy then read this.
Key Features:
- Number of pages: 196
- Author: Peter Jautaikis
- Format: hardcover, audiobook, and Kindle
PROS
- Easy-to-follow and -read recipes
- High-quality images with each recipe step
- Provides practical information, tips, and tricks
CONS
- Recipes are applicable for home use rather than for professional cooking
While you might love trying new and different recipes, a tight budget can be a setback. But this isn’t the case with pellet recipes.
The Ultimate Wood Pellet Grill Smoker Cookbook by Bill West is an affordable pellet and smoker recipe book that contains everything you need to become a pro at pellet smoking. It’s an affordable masterpiece that will transform your pellet game.
As a top-ranking BBQ enthusiast, Bill West shares the secrets he uses to give every pellet-smoked meat a unique flavor and that quintessential smoky succulence.
West has been a judge on many cooking and grilling competitions, and he understands what delicious grilled meat really is. As such, the tips and recipes in this cookbook are indispensable.
The book also features a fantastic package of recipes to educate you with some tremendous pellet-smoking and –grilling techniques.
All told, the Ultimate Wood Pellet Grill Smoker Cookbook comprises 110 comprehensive step-by-step recipes, plus guides, handy charts, and high-quality images for easy reading. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pitmaster, you’ll find this recipe book useful. It is affordable and available in Kindle and paperback formats.
Key Features:
- Number of pages: 220
- Author: Bill West
- Format: Paperback and Kindle
PROS
- 110 quality pellet recipes included
- Affordable
- Detailed pellet-grilling and -smoking tips and techniques from a competition judge
CONS
- Some recipes are very long and can be a bit challenging to follow
Do you dream of preparing tasty, tempting, talk-of-the-block meals on your outdoor cooker?
If so, equipping yourself with The Complete Wood Pellet Barbeque Cookbook will catapult you a giant step toward realizing your dream. This cookbook enhances your knowledge of using wood pellets for smoking and grilling.
The author is Bob Devon, who is highly experienced in both culinary knowledge and wine. In this recipe book, he takes you through the process of preparing food with wood-pellet grills, explaining how to use your pellet grill as a grill, oven, smoker, or barbecue to cook any type of food you can imagine.
Devon also provides well-elaborated recipes aimed at transforming your ordinary food into a culinary delight. These recipes show you how to make and enjoy every dish from crispy pizzas to slow-cooked meals and fall-off-the-bone meats.
You’ll find some of the best pellet recipes to maximize the abilities of your outdoor cooker – including burgers, steaks, hot dogs, sausages, pork, and poultry, bread, pizza, vegetables, seafood, desserts, and more! You’ll even find recipes for a variety of barbeque rubs, sauces, and marinades to add that luscious, deep, smoky flavor to any meat.
The Complete Wood Pellet Barbeque Cookbook serves up a new way of preparing your favorite dishes in your wood-pellet grill. It is available in Kindle, paperback, and other bound formats.
Key Features:
- Number of pages: 192
- Author: Bob Devon
- Format: Paperback, Kindle, and bound
PROS
- Highly celebrated pit-master author
- Comes with a lot of useful references
- Well-detailed pellet recipes
- Superb information about various pellet cooking techniques on far more than meats
CONS
- It could do with more photos
If you’re looking for versatile recipes, the Wood Pellet Smoker Grill Cookbook by Aron Smith is a perfect choice. This cookbook features excellent tips and recipes to solve cooking conundrums and fails.
In this cookbook, Smith discloses all the secrets you’ll need to turn your bland grilled meals into the mouthwatering works of art. It contains practical ways of grilling your food for a tasty, even cook – so say goodbye to overcooked and undercooked meat!
The book also comes with handy recipes for preparing rubs and sauces for your pellet-grill creations. The recipes contain all the information you need to give your productions the flavor kick and succulence you want.
It has recipes for different types of meats and vegetables. So, whether you’re an omnivore, carnivore, or vegan, you’ll get accurate information about how to use the best pellet-grilling techniques to prepare your best dishes ever.
What’s more, these recipes are fit for both professional and home uses. Notably, the writer has a degree in food science, too, so you can be sure that the information he shares will up your grilling game.
Key Features:
- Number of pages: 146
- Author: Aron Smith
- Format: Paperback and Kindle
PROS
- Useful pellet-smoking tips for carnivores and vegans alike
- Easy-to-understand recipes from a food-science graduate
- Beautiful, high-quality photos
CONS
- The book uses black-and-white photography, which is less enticing
Sometimes, reading a recipe book and applying the concepts therein can be a challenge, especially if you’re not a seasoned cook.
But if you’re searching for a cookbook that is easy to read, the Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook by Roger Murphy is for you! (Don’t confuse this with our overall best recipe book of the same title, but by Peter Jautaikis)
This cookbook features a wide range of recipes for your wood-pellet grill. It includes a comprehensive guide about how to use pellet grills or smokers to produce all types of foods – including different varieties of meats, seafood, and veggies.
The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook offers mouthwatering, quintessential smoky recipes, such as Texan-style smoked beef brisket, marinated goat chops, and pork loin with balsamic blackberry sauce. You’ll also get unique seafood recipes, including one for smoked Acadian redfish fillets.
Every recipe in this page-turner has photos of the finished dishes to give you an idea of what results you can expect. You’ll also get temperature charts and graphs to help you monitor your grilling processes.
All told, the book delivers big on recipes and handy tips and tricks for making your grilling job easier and more professional. It is available in Kindle and paperback formats.
Key Features:
- Number of pages: 140
- Author: Roger Murphy
- Format: Paperback and Kindle
PROS
- Every recipe has detailed instructions and photos of the completed dishes
- Easy to read, understand, and follow
- Professionally composed, with quality pictures
CONS
- No detailed information about the author
Final Verdict: Best Pellet Recipes Books For Your Money
We hope this varied list of cookbooks gets you to grilling with your pellet cooker and puts you on the road to becoming a seasoned pit-master.
Our picks for the best pellet recipes contain a vast array of recipes and techniques that will improve your smoking and grilling skills.
We ranked the Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook by Roger Murphy as the easiest to read, while The Complete Wood Pellet Barbeque Cookbook by Bob Devon scooped the best-value trophy.
Our top pick – also called The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook, but by Peter Jautaikis – scored best overall. It is easy to read and provides high-quality content and images.
It also delivers helpful tips and pellet-grilling techniques – all at an affordable price. So, you’ll get value for your money and start to transform your culinary experience.
Happy grilling!
