Combustion temp affects smoke?

[pokey]

I've been happily using a Traeger pellet smoker for years, but now that it's rusting, I've been thinking about going electric maybe an MES 140D. I had read somewhere that when wood is burned to generate heat, as opposed to smoldering to produce smoke, the chemicals emitted are different. The article went so far as to claim that you won't get a smoke ring from smoldered wood. Not that the ring matters, but I found myself wondering if there is a chemical difference, might there be other differences, like taste? Thoughts

I apologize if this has already been addressed and I just missed it.

Thanks

 

[BKING!]

I've been happily using a Traeger pellet smoker for years, but now that it's rusting, I've been thinking about going electric maybe an MES 140D. I had read somewhere that when wood is burned to generate heat, as opposed to smoldering to produce smoke, the chemicals emitted are different. The article went so far as to claim that you won't get a smoke ring from smoldered wood. Not that the ring matters, but I found myself wondering if there is a chemical difference, might there be other differences, like taste? Thoughts

I apologize if this has already been addressed and I just missed it.

Thanks

Short answer...Yes there is a difference between smoldering and burning wood when it comes to smoke ring and flavor. This is why you always hear people say burn a small hot fire as opposed to a large cooler one when operating offsets.

 

[BKING!]

You also won’t get a smoke ring in an electric. Doesn’t mean electric is bad. But I believe wood for heat and smoke (charcoal, pellet, wood splits) give a slightly better product in appearance and flavor.

 

[SmokinAl]

You just can't beat the flavor of an all wood fire.
Al

 

[pokey]

You just can't beat the flavor of an all wood fire.
Al

I've always felt that way about the pellet smoker. The heat and the smoke both come from burning wood. The precise heat control has an appeal, but not at the cost of flavor.

Thanks all.

 

[SmokinAl]

I've always felt that way about the pellet smoker. The heat and the smoke both come from burning wood. The precise heat control has an appeal, but not at the cost of flavor.

Thanks all.

I don't know anything about pellet smokers, but doesn't the heat come from a heating element that burns the pellets.
Cause most of the complaints about pellet smokers seem to be that they don't put out much smoke & most guys use an Amazen pellet tube to get consistent smoke at 225 or higher.
Al

 

[mike243]

Al the igniter only lites the fire then quits,the wood burns at a very efficient rate that creates very little smoke and makes the most BTU'S from the wood, they make wood stoves that comply with federal regs but are not demanding folks use them but some day soon that will change,the lower temps let the pellets smolder more rather than fan forced combustion,when the fan goes on its like the old coal fired furnaces with a stoker control that feeds the coal and a fan to make it burn hot.worked on a lot of the coal furnaces back in the 70's but not sure you can get the stoker grade coal here any more

 

[johnmeyer]

I had to reverse engineer (i.e., figure out how it worked) a Traeger in order to troubleshoot what turned out to be an inherent design problem. As a result of that experience, here is my conclusion.

The pellets are heated by a small, very hot electric probe that is inserted into the pot where the pellets get pumped. This probe heats them until they either smoulder or burn. That probe is a little like a big soldering iron tip. It gets red hot, but since it is so small, there is no way that the heat from this could bring the temperature of the entire enclosure up to what is needed for cooking or smoking.

This pic shows the pot. The thing sticking out at the left bottom of the picture is the connection for the "soldering tip" heater. The thing you see on the outside doesn't get hot; only the tip inside the pot gets hot.

So, I'm 99% certain that the bulk of the heat in Traeger and similar pellet smokers comes from the combustion of the pellets themselves.

 

[BKING!]

The igniter rod is on only during the start up phase. From there it is off. More pellets feed in by an auger to sustain fire size and a combustion fan keeps the fire burning hot and at your desired temp kind of like a bbq guru functions. I used to own a green mountain big pig trailer. That thing was pretty cool.

 

[pokey]

I haven't felt shorted in the smoke department. The results have had a good smokey flavor and I do get a smoke ring, so I suppose I'm getting the benefits of hotter combustion. The digital controller maintains a steady enough temperature, although the definition of "good enough" is subjective. More smoke comes out of the vent when the controller decides to feed more pellets to raise the temperature. It wanes between those pulses.

Maybe I'll just wire brush the rust off and paint rather than replace.

Thanks for the input.

 

[pops6927]

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/smoke-ring-formation