Smoking Pellets Question

All pellets are not created equally. The bag will state 100% hardwood, but there actually 60% filler woods like alder or oak, and 40% flavor wood. Technically, they are 100% hardwood, but a little deceiving.

Cooking pellets and lumberjack (I'm sure there's more) offer 100% flavor wood pellets. If the bag says hickory, it 100% hickory. Definitely makes a difference in smoke flavor.

I use about a 1/2 ton of pellets a yr, and I've tried many brands. I really like CP, and lumberjack.

bbqers delight lots of choices

I’ve tried 10 ways to Sunday to post a pic on this site and can’t get it to show.

Thanks everyone! SuperDave, I couldn't pull up that Maze test link but I'll do a search and see if I can't find it somewhere.

If you have a Cash & Carry handy buy their pellets. Been using them for years with my smoke tube, no problems. Pretty cheap at 10 bucks a bag

Halmfamily wrote:
I have a Trager and get my pellets at Wal-Mart, brand is B&B. They have worked great and have good flavor.

Hard to compare pellets used in a fan driven smoker with a heat source and a passive smoke tube.

I have a Trager and get my pellets at Wal-Mart, brand is B&B. They have worked great and have good flavor.

Maze Test

This is a test that I performed with pellets vs. sawdust. The pellets went out before burning very far. The sawdust burned all the way across and lasted about 1 1/2 hours.

I have a lot more success with sawdust than pellets but others report the opposite of what I experience. When I try to do a pellet & sawdust combo, I put a hand full of pellets in a ziplock baggie and smack it several times with a mallet to break them up a bit. I use Green Mountain pellets and much prefer them to Traeger pellets. The first thing that I recommend that you do when you get your items is to do a dry test to see if it will stay lit. Use a small plumbers propane torch to light your fuel. I keep the torch on it for a good minute or more and then lightly blow on it like a punk until you see a solid cherry glow.