Those people only know about pellet smokers from others who don''t have them. You don't need so much smoke the fire spotters on Mt Evans can see it to have a good smoke flavor.
Longer time on a low smoke setting can equal a wood smoker. If you try different times and wood flavors using the high smoke setting can really kick it up in a shorter time frame. To me the trick

to smoking anything is having the patience to let it be cooked when it's ready. Not in 3 hrs because some web site says so.
Time & Temp, Time & Temp. Plus a good thermometer. Guessing
it's up to temp because it's been on the rack for 4 hrs is
I considered a pizza oven, working the grill or smoker can get me good results w/out that $$$
We use high gluten flour, like that 00, getting the yeast, water & sugar going ahead of time helps also . .