Excessive Smoke Level

[Javaaman]

New to this forum but not forums in general. Tried searching but coming up empty. Bought a GMG (and GMG pellets) and tried it this past weekend. Not sure if it's the pellets or me but I thought the grill produced excessive smoke. Is there a pellet that will produce less smoke? I realize I now own a "smoker" as opposed to a "grill" so therefore some smoke probably would be present. Just think in my case it was excessive.
Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[BandCollector]

I am not familiar with the GMG Pellet Grill but I have a Camp Chef Woodwind.

Pellet smokers take some time to get used to. They don't follow the general rule of conventional smokers and are more of a convection grill.

Sometimes when mine first starts up an excessive amount of smoke develops but then after a few minutes it settles down. If yours is bellowing smoke perhaps it may be the brand of pellets you are using. Give the Customer Service folks a call and run your issue past them. Perhaps there may be something wrong with the heating element as well.

 

[Javaaman]

Thanks for your feedback. I am going to reach out to Green Mountain customer service and see what their thoughts are.
Also going to do some research on a cleaner burning pellet - Googled "low smoke wood pellets" and Camp Chef popped up first.

 

[ross77]

What temp were you running? There will be a good amount of smoke at startup and lower temps. Once you get past 300 most of the smoke will be gone.

Was there a lot of pellet dust in your pellets? This can happen when the bag gets handled too much and the pellets break up.

I can’t say I’ve heard of low smoke pellets.

 

[Javaaman]

Cranked it up to 350* to burn off any "manufacturing" residue. Did get a bit better at the higher temp but it was still puffing out from under the lid.
Didn't notice any "dust". "Low smoke pellets" would be great - if they really exist.
Thanks for your feedback.

 

[ross77]

Can you post a picture?


I use Lumberjack pellets.

 

[bregent]

Hard to say without seeing images, but you may have a fan or airflow problem. Changing pellets is likely NOT the answer. Most folks think they don't get enough smoke from PID controlled pellet grills. Do you hear the fans running? I believe the GMG's have 2 fans.

 

[Javaaman]

I did hear the fan kick in (not sure about two) - my "gut" tells me changing the pellets won't change much. Going to check again later and will report back. Will post a picture if excessive.
Thanks again to all for thoughts and advice.