Does pellet type/flavor really matter?

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I'm just a newbie to this pellet grill craze, so you may want to take this with a grain of salt. I asked some questions about smoke tubes on 4 different smoking meat forums and from the answers and my own research decided on this product from Amazon Prime for $14.95 + tax. Here is a link to the Pellet Smoker Tube, 12'' Stainless Steel – Click HERE. I especially like the hexagon shape as opposed to round to prevent movement once placed in position.

There are 55 reviews for this product, and none are below 4 stars. I have never used it yet because I just got it last week. But I will be using it mostly for smoking fish when I do – salmon & trout.

 
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So my last couple burns I cleared out the pellet boss comp blend and did straight bbq delight. Significantly less ash for the two cooks I did. It’s not scientific and they weren’t the same, just what observed from similar cooks.
 
One thing I've noticed that I think makes a difference is the make up of the pellets. Some are 100% "hardwood" and others are 100% "flavor" wood, which can be a little confusing.

100% "hardwood" usually means the wood in the pellet is all hardwood. Usually it is a large percentage of a base wood such as alder which is virtually flavorless with some smaller percentage of the flavor wood such as cherry, hickory, etc... added in.

100% "flavor" wood means if it's cherry, its made from 100% cherry with no base wood. Then to make matters more confusing some makers include the bark of the flavor wood tree and others do not (it's still 100% flavor wood, but again the bark is more like filler for some woods, where with others it is a good thing).

I find a huge difference in the 100% flavor wood pellets and have been using Lumberjack with good results. Their blends are still 100% flavor wood. Some woods are hard to keep lit in 100% wood, so those work better in blends, but a blend of all flavor woods (ie, competition blend, superior blend, etc...) works great.
 
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I bought the lumberjack Char Hickory today at dicks and the Traeger completion blend or whatever its called at Costco. Anxious to see if any difference. Couldn’t find hickory.
 
the char hickory is great, I been mixing it with some others 50/50
 
I get a smoke ring with any of them , I don't have a real long cook using them yet but I may put something on tonight and will pay close attention the next time I smoke something. Trying to decide what to cook for tomorrow as the family's having a Easter dinner ,
 
I never miss a pellet thread! My current choice is CookingPellets Perfect Mix & Hickory (My 2 "Go To" pellets.) The Apple Mash hasn't really impressed me but I like the Black Cherry and I'm trying the Sweet Maple for the first time this weekend. I too want to use 100% no filler pellets so I plan to try the Lumberjack brand next. I'm curious about their Pecan and other pellets they sell.

I love the smell of the Perfect Mix when cooking with it.
 
I'm not a pellet smoker owner so I cannot speak from direct experience. I have however read a TON of posts from the pellet smoker guys. It seems that when they really really want good and distinguishable smoke flavor they load up a AMNPS Tube with the pellet they want the flavor from.

Armed with this info if I owned a pellet smoker I would burn the cheapest pellet I could find (probably Pit Boss pellets) for heat and then use an AMNPS Tube with the BEST wood pellets I could find (for me 100% woods that Lumberjack offers).

Now, I am an electric smoker guy who uses pellets in my AMNPS tray for my smoke and I CAN tell you that there is ABSOLUTELY a difference in flavors from different wood pellets.
The Pit Boss Competition Blend (PBCB) is mild in flavor but the flavor is good. I usually burn two rows at once OR I mix 50% PBCB and 50% pure hickory pellets and I get great flavor.

With Lumberjack 100% pellets I get great flavor no matter what. I'm blown away at how amazing the 100% Mesquite pellets are with anything beef related.
I also run their 100% pellets in the following woods and the flavors are also great:
  • Maple - for my ground Venison Pastrami
  • Apple - sausage, bacon, and other stuff. I also a love blending it with Hickory for sausage and bacon. My favorite blend for bacon is 70% Apple, 30% Hickory
  • Cherry - rarely run it by itself I usually blend it with something else
  • Pecan - I use it mostly on turkeys
  • Mesquite - anything/everything beef related - it can't be beat. It also is amazing on chicken and turkey
As you can see with the 100% Lumberjack pellets of each of the flavors above I can blend to any ratios I like. My Hickory is Pefect Pellet brand which is also 100%. I would try 100% Hickory from Lumberjack but I have yet to run out of my 40 pounds of PP hickory.

Anyhow I hope this gives you some good insight. I'll stop rambling now :)


I agree with everything Tall said above.
However I use Hickory Pellets in my AMNPS from Todd @ Amazing Smoker for about 95% of all of my Smokes.

Bear
 
Not a pellet grill owner and doubt I will ever be but I can tell you with 100% certainty I can distinguish the pellet type in my MES AMNPS setup so I am firmly in the heck yeah it does matter camp. I've tried lots and run oak on pretty much all hot smokes like ribs and butt. I use a blend of cob, oak, and PM blend on cured stuff.
 
I never miss a pellet thread! My current choice is CookingPellets Perfect Mix & Hickory (My 2 "Go To" pellets.) The Apple Mash hasn't really impressed me but I like the Black Cherry and I'm trying the Sweet Maple for the first time this weekend. I too want to use 100% no filler pellets so I plan to try the Lumberjack brand next. I'm curious about their Pecan and other pellets they sell.

I love the smell of the Perfect Mix when cooking with it.

I'm with you on the Perfect Mix.

Definitely give a bag of Lumberjack a shot. But I'm thinking that you are going to end up going back to the CookinPellets perfect mix like I have after trying Lumberjack. If you're going to buy some Lumberjack, then I'd recommend buying one bag of it at a time.

I bought a couple of bags of Lumberjack 100% Hickory, and a bag of Char Hickory and it leaves too much ash for me. Ash that over a long cook could get on food. I have also now found that it doesn't offer much in the way of taste over the CookinPellets Perfect mix.

It does have the advantage of price over the Perfect Mix though as it can be had for cheaper, and local retailers carry it.

I ended up mixing the last bag of the Lumberjack 100% hickory with 3 left over bags of Rec Tec Ultimate blend which is said to be 1/3 red Oak, 1/3 White oak, and 1/3 hickory.

I'll be sticking with Perfect Mix in the hopper, and A-Maze-N hickory or Pecan in the smoke tube for awhile.

But good luck in your planned trial of Lumberjack.
 
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Great point, should mention not looking to add a tube, just wondering if any value in spending my time or money on different pellets in general.
Pellet smokers were designed to burn pellets with a certain BTU's per pound. This is why you see a lot of oak blended into the pellets. Oak is a dense wood with a high BTU rating.
Pellet smokers do not run very well on most pure flavoring pellets. Best to use those in an AMNPS or AMNTS to get the smoke you want.
 
I been using apple mash from CookinPellets in my AMNPS. Its not bad not much of a huge flavor though. I would like to try some others in my AMNPS. Right now i been using pit boss in my hopper. From what i read is the hopper is really just for fuel and keep the fire burning. It is very clean burn. The AMNPS is really where you get the flavor from. Whats everyone favorite pellets for there AMNPS. I want to try some other ones. I usually like sweet like apple or cherry.
 
Try the apple mash in the amnps in order to get the full flavor of it, no high heat there
 
My 2 cents from multiple cooks is that the pit boss comp pellets, while really cheap at 14 bucks for 40 pounds, really produce a noticeable increase in ash deposits throughout the smoker which obviously get on the food as well.

I’m inclined at this point to get bbq delight quality or higher....trying the lumberjack char hickory this afternoon on Tri Tip
 
My 2 cents from multiple cooks is that the pit boss comp pellets, while really cheap at 14 bucks for 40 pounds, really produce a noticeable increase in ash deposits throughout the smoker which obviously get on the food as well.

I’m inclined at this point to get bbq delight quality or higher....trying the lumberjack char hickory this afternoon on Tri Tip
Yea, I am going to try some other competition blends. I might try some lumberjack next.
 
I been using apple mash from CookinPellets in my AMNPS. Its not bad not much of a huge flavor though. I would like to try some others in my AMNPS. Right now i been using pit boss in my hopper. From what i read is the hopper is really just for fuel and keep the fire burning. It is very clean burn. The AMNPS is really where you get the flavor from. Whats everyone favorite pellets for there AMNPS. I want to try some other ones. I usually like sweet like apple or cherry.


About 95% of my Smokes get Hickory from Todd @ Amazing Smoker.

Bear
 
Everyone has different taste preferences. My wife likes less intense smoke and I like more.

I’ve tried a variety of brands and woods in my pellet smoker. I probably couldn’t tell you what pellet was used to smoke a piece of meat but I can tell the intensity of the smoke flavor.

I’ve settled on Lumberjack 100% hickory for most of my cooks. Good flavor and intensity. I’ve tried a few comp blends: LJ, Pit Boss, Traeger and Bear Mountain. Just not enough flavor for me.

I haven’t had any ash issues on the food with any of the brands.

I always ask my wife how the flavor is without telling her what pellets I used. The 3 consistent responses: Comp Blend- “very light/no smoke”. 100% Hickory- “good smoke”. Mesquite blend- “too bitter”.

One other thing I noticed. If I have a lot of smoke on my clothes/skin it’s harder for me to notice it in the food. Yesterday I smoked a brisket and while it was resting I took a shower and the flavor seemed more intense. Not scientific but just an observation. :)
 
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