"Food grade" pellets my eye!!

[radio]

I just now filled the hopper on my GMG with their "premium Gold blend" and a flash of color caught my eye. I plucked out a piece of pellet with a half inch long piece of red plastic attached to it. I will most definitely be sending a pic to Hreen Mountain!!!!!
We pay big bucks for these (compared to heating pellets) so we supposedly have cleaner, safer smoke for our food!

 

[tallbm]

Interesting. Have you looked through the rest of the bag for any other similar ones?

 

[radio]

Interesting. Have you looked through the rest of the bag for any other similar ones?

That was the last of the bag, but I did dig through the hopper looking for more but did not find any. I have an e mail in to GMG, so will see what they say about it. I was surprised to see there is no lot number or anything on the bag should a recall have to be issued

 

[SonnyE]

Maybe a FREE bag is in order?

In the 1970's a friend of mine got a can of liquid baby formula with a solder bead rattling around in it.
He wrote the company and they sent him a profuse apology, and a case of formula. (Back when a case was 24. Remember those days?)

 

[Rings Я Us]

Some house gave that out for Halloween one year.:D

 

[SonnyE]

I hope that isn't Old Joe at the plants lost denture.... :eek:

 

[radio]

Just heard back, and they indeed offered a free bag of pellets. I replied and asked if they wanted me to send the plastic to them so perhaps they could identify the source and prevent any further contamination. Interesting to see what they say.

 

[SonnyE]

Just heard back, and they indeed offered a free bag of pellets. I replied and asked if they wanted me to send the plastic to them so perhaps they could identify the source and prevent any further contamination. Interesting to see what they say.

Woo-Hoo!
Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner! :D

 

[mneeley490]

Interesting. I just bought a bag of those last weekend. I'll keep my eye out for any foreign contaminates.

 

[radio]

Interesting. I just bought a bag of those last weekend. I'll keep my eye out for any foreign contaminates.

I'm reasonably sure this was an isolated incident. They sent my pics to the plant manager and may or may not want me to send the plastic in question.
It's just interesting that you hear so many people swear pellets produced for pellet grills are so much safer and contaminate free than premium heating pellets. In 10 years and hundreds of bags of heating pellets, I have yet to see anything remotely resembling plastic as I was filling the hopper. :cool:

 

[ross77]

Just so you are aware, there is no such thing as a 'food grade' pellet standard. There is only a standard for heating pellets which requires them to be free of fillers and junk like what you found. There is no certification for food grade.

Food grade or BBQ or cooking pellets is just a marketing term. There is nothing wrong with using premium grade hardwood heating pellets. You just won't know which hardwoods make up the pellets.

 

[hondabbq]

I emailed the "governing" body in Canada regarding the use of either pellet.

Here is the emails.


Damian there are Canadian standards. The pellets used for grilling are the same as for heat except some manufacturers will use American hardwoods for supposed smokey flavour. I have tried all types and can’t tell the flavour difference apart. I use regular heating pellets in my own home grill as do my industry colleagues. They are much less expensive.

(Please excuse brevity - sent from mobile phone)


On Nov 9, 2017, at 4:43 AM, Damian Belanger <
Hi Gord,





I have been reading a lot about wood pellets lately.



I recently bought a pellet grill and am divisive about the costs of pellets for heating compared to grilling.



Is there a Canadian governing body that regulates the processes and or materials used in either product?



Is there a standard for just the heating pellets in Canada?

 

[hondabbq]

You can find the standards on page 6 of the document at this link. https://www.pellet.org/CANplus/documents/WPACST03.pdf



You can use hardwood or softwood pellets for your grill. I live in BC where our pellets are mostly made from pine, spruce, balsam, and Douglas fir. The ones I use are mostly pine. Canadian wood pellets are 100% pure wood with no additives or binders, so contamination is not a concern.



Marketers of heating pellets charge more because people use smaller quantities, the packaging is fancier, and they promote exotic woods claiming that the flavours are unique. Most people that only grill occasionally are not too concerned about the fuel cost. I leave the flavouring for you to judge. I can’t tell the difference and I have tried them all. So I use heating pellets for grilling, and so do all my pellet industry industry colleagues. In fact, we even use heating pellets when putting on barbecues at our annual conferences where we have international delegates attending from Europe and Asia.



I would prefer if you don’t quote me on this because the marketers of grilling pellets would not be very happy with me telling you this.


Yes I did quote him but I left his name out of the posts and purposely left out the name of the organization that I emailed.

 

[ross77]

I personally would not use softwoods like pine in my grill.

 

[hondabbq]

Why?

 

[hondabbq]

I personally would not use softwoods like pine in my grill.

Why?

 

[ross77]

Pine resin and you’ll get creosote when you burn it. It’s not a pleasant taste IMO. I suppose if you’re cooking at high heat it may not matter but no way would I smoke any raw meat with pine or similar woods.

Pine and other softwoods also burn hot and fast so you’ll burn through them faster than hardwoods.

Do a search on this forum. There are many threads discussing the usage of pine.


I would stick with premium hardwood pellets. I’ve tried a couple bags of premium hardwood pellets and they worked fine but I prefer the smoke flavor from 100% hickory pellets. I use Lumberjack which only contains hickory with no other filler woods.

Some might not be able to tell the difference but I’ve noticed it when using non-blended pellets vs blends.

 

[radio]

Why?

Pines and such have a gummy sap known as Rosin which is what Turpentine is made from. Softwood pellets burn much quicker and produce more ash than hardwood pellets. Softwood pellets have a somewhat acrid smell when burning which I would not want on my BBQ

 

[mneeley490]

[/U]
You can use hardwood or softwood pellets for your grill. I live in BC where our pellets are mostly made from pine, spruce, balsam, and Douglas fir. The ones I use are mostly pine. Canadian wood pellets are 100% pure wood with no additives or binders, so contamination is not a concern.

Marketers of heating pellets charge more because people use smaller quantities, the packaging is fancier, and they promote exotic woods claiming that the flavours are unique. Most people that only grill occasionally are not too concerned about the fuel cost. I leave the flavouring for you to judge. I can’t tell the difference and I have tried them all. So I use heating pellets for grilling, and so do all my pellet industry industry colleagues. In fact, we even use heating pellets when putting on barbecues at our annual conferences where we have international delegates attending from Europe and Asia.

Wow. I can, and I'm sure many other forumites here can as well, tell what wood is being used merely by the smoke scent. So if this person can't tell wood flavoring apart, let alone softwoods from hardwoods, I would not want to go to one of his bbqs.

 

[tallbm]

It was my understanding that trees like pine, cedar, and other similar softwoods have harmful tars and toxins that shouldn't be eaten.
Maybe someone can confirm this.