Just bought my first pellet BBQ (Camp Chef Woodwind 24) - my experience so far... meh.

[MikeGug]

I am new to pellet BBQ'ing. I was walking into a Home Depot and smelled an incredible smoke coming from a Traeger (their custom blend pellets), and the Trager rep was standing there cooking NOTHING! It smelled SO GOOD!!!! anyway... There was A LOT of smoke. It was an impressive sight and smell.

I ended up getting a Camp Chef Woodwind WiFi 24, and I got a BOGO pair of bags of Bear Mountain, Savory Smoke pellets. So far: Not nearly as much smoke with the CC as I saw at the Home Depot Trager, and frankly, I have gotten better flavor with my LP BBQ and a smoke box with mesquite chips... bummer.

To fix this, I ordered an AMZN Smoke Tube. Is this a good move? Or are Trager Custom Blend pellets better than Bear Mountain Savory? Am I missing anything? I'd hate to have a bummer $800 purchase.

So far, I have done chicken and trip tip. I've got two beautiful racks of ribs that will be BBQ'ed when I get the smoke tube.

 

[Thomas The Tank]

That is one cost to pay with a pellet smoker, since they burn so efficient there is a lack of “smoke” flavor. Being able to sleep at night during an overnight cook is priceless though.

The smoke tube will help, also running at a lower temp to start helps as well. I use a tube in my rec tec and it works great.

You can also try different pellets. I don’t know much about trager pellets. I use Lumberjack 100% hickory and mesquite blend sometimes when I am doing beef only.

 

[WaterRat]

Hard to say. Like you I have a pellet smoker (PitBoss). Yes, you will have less smoke then a stick burner. I find that I usually have enough on most of my smokes. Smoke a rack of ribs on your Camp Chef and decide where you flavor profile is. You may want to supplement with a smoke tube, or maybe you decide you like the flavor as is. It will be flavorfull and edible regardless (unless you really screw the pooch somehow). Yes, different pellets can give different results but you'll need to play with it a bit and decide what you like. We're not baking a cake, there's a lot of wiggle room to get a good product. ;) Have fun and enjoy, don't go too crazy to start and you'll always have something good to eat even if its not the 'best you've ever had'.

 

[FFchampMT]

I am new to pellet BBQ'ing. I was walking into a Home Depot and smelled an incredible smoke coming from a Traeger (their custom blend pellets), and the Trager rep was standing there cooking NOTHING! It smelled SO GOOD!!!! anyway... There was A LOT of smoke. It was an impressive sight and smell.

I've run Bear Mountain, Green Mountain Grill, Treager, Pit Boss, Cuisinart, Camp Chef, and Kingsford pellets all in the search for a better smoke profile, both with and without an added smoke tube and I can say hands down that Lumberjack has the best smoking pellets I can buy. I am particularly fond of the MHC (maple-hickory-cherry) blend.
A smoke tube does help though as long as you can get it positioned to where it's ALWAYS getting a good draft of air.

The other thing I'd caution is the rep was likely running the demo grill in smoke mode (~150 degrees), the low airflow makes the pellets put out a ton of WHITE SMOKE. One of the things you'll learn here is that TBS (thin blue smoke) is the ideal kind of smoke, it's a cleaner combustion and a better taste. Pellet grills can put thin smoke out of the stack and still be imparting flavor in to your meat.

 

[1MoreFord]

I'm fairly new to pellet grills too and chose a CampChef SG24 w/ PID controller. I, too, have been struggling to get the smoke flavor I want. The best pellet I've found for my taste is LumberJack 100% Hickory but I still have couple to try. I can get various B&B, LumberJack, and Bear Mountain pellets locally at good prices. Academy Sports carries the B&B while a local farm and ranch supply carries the other two. I've bought an Amazen tube but have yet to cook with it. As others have mentioned start your cook at low temps(~180°F & 10 smoke for me) for an hour or so and then increase temp. I generally go to 225° and 10 smoke for most of the cook. I'll raise it more if time dictates.

 

[MikeGug]

It will be flavorfull and edible regardless

Yeah. Things could be worse than having to eat a poorly-smoked rack of delicious ribs! Haha!

Thanks everyone for the input so far.