Lumber Jack pellets at Dick's

[retfr8flyr]

I'm in central VA, a bulk order is what I am trying to avoid. I just don't use enough pellets for a bulk order, so a bulk order will last me for a long time. I don't want to have to store a bulk load all that time in my garage.

 

[bregent]

I'm in central VA, a bulk order is what I am trying to avoid. I just don't use enough pellets for a bulk order, so a bulk order will last me for a long time. I don't want to have to store a bulk load all that time in my garage.

Got it.

Just FYI in case you or others in this thread are not aware... a group buy individual order from them is 520lbs - which is 13 bags - and does not take up too much space. It fits on one shelf of a gorilla rack in my shed.

 

[forktender]

Dicks?

Appreciate the heads up, but I don't shop there.

Something about their take on the 2nd Amendment.

I'd gladly pay more elsewhere.

Getting off of my soapbox.

If you quit buying from places that don't support the 2nd Amendment you wouldn't have many places to buy from these days. Do you buy from Amazon? Belong to Twitter or Fakebook? Have a Gmail account or run Chrome or Firefox? Shop at Sam's Club or Costco own any Apple or Android products? Own a TV or buy anything made in China or Japan? I could go on for days the list is endless these days. I decided yrs ago to check my political views at the door when I need something why pay more for it. It's not like a few bags of pellets are going to save your guns. But to each their own check out my short list and see how big of an impact a few bags of pellets a few times a year is really going to make in relation to the other things listed above that you most likely use daily. I'm a hunter, shooter and a patriot but the way this Country has gone in the last 20+ years it is virtually not possible to live without spending money in stores that don't support the 2nd Admn. sad but true.

 

[dubob]

I would suggest we leave politics out of these discussions - know what I mean Vern? It would be better to keep it on point and friendly.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Got it.

Just FYI in case you or others in this thread are not aware... a group buy individual order from them is 520lbs - which is 13 bags - and does not take up too much space. It fits on one shelf of a gorilla rack in my shed.

They also require delivery to a loading dock, or arranging you own delivery. Just not for me and you haven't seen the lack of storage space in my garage. lol

 

[K9BIGDOG]

Cabela's pellets are made by LJ and they offer a few blends that are exclusive to Cabela's/Bass Pro. They sell the for $10/bag and a $50 order ships free.

 

[bregent]

Cabela's pellets are made by LJ and they offer a few blends that are exclusive to Cabela's/Bass Pro. They sell the for $10/bag and a $50 order ships free.

Are they still? I thought they switched to a different vendor. None of the current Cabela's pellets on their site are listed as 100% flavor wood.

 

[bill1]

Love this forum. I made a 2 hr round trip to get Bear Mountain from my nearest Tractor Supply based on advice here. I've been very pleased with cheap Pit Boss pellets, and I haven't really done enough experimentation to say for sure, but I'm liking the Bear Mountain.

The LumberJack website made it sound like they had no distributors closer than 100 miles from me so was pleased, as a result of THIS thread, to discover my local Dick's, one mile away, carries them. Oh well, here comes another round of experimentation!

And I highly support this being a politics-free zone but I'd point out that one can be pro-2nd-Amendment and still decide to not sell (or even own) firearms. Business decisions are complex, lawyers can give conflicting advice, and success can come down to choosing your strengths, specialties, and markets correctly. Similarly, a bookstore not selling Bibles is not necessarily being anti-Christian.

ADDENDUM: My local Dick's also sells my 3 favorite PitBoss varieties/blends...and they're the exact price of the Lumberjacks on a per-pound basis. Dick's isn't considered "discount" (I'll probably need to "dress up" to go there) so this price for LJ now appears even more noteworthy .

 

[bill1]

I'll quit editing my prior post and post fresh that in my last Walmart run (for 14-2 Romex) I noticed they had a 20# bag of "Great Value" pellets (or something similarly branded) for $6.88 in addition to the PitBoss I normally get for a couple bucks more. I grabbed a bag so I need to try those at some point too.

I use a big cast iron frying pan, loaded with pellets, instead of the stock heat diffuser in my pellet grill. They smoke slow, leaving behind charcoal, while the stuff fed by the auger is pretty much burned to oblivion. So there's a case to be made for using El Cheapo Pellets in the hopper and save the Primo stuff for the pans, mazes, etc.

With all the money I'm saving I should buy another smoker!

 

[Fueling Around]

Cabela's pellets are made by LJ and they offer a few blends that are exclusive to Cabela's/Bass Pro. They sell the for $10/bag and a $50 order ships free.

Are they still? I thought they switched to a different vendor. None of the current Cabela's pellets on their site are listed as 100% flavor wood.

My kid across the street uses Cabelas pellets, I'll check his latest purchase.
I have Lumber Jack, Traeger, Bear Mountain, and Smokehouse pellets in my inventory. All have very distinctive differences in appearance.

 

[forktender]

I would suggest we leave politics out of these discussions - know what I mean Vern? It would be better to keep it on point and friendly.

Whatever dude my post was a response to an early post about not shopping at Dick's because of their stance on the second Admend.

My post wasn't political it was my view of the political B.S. that someone else posted.
If you don't want to read my posts you can always use the ignore feature, it's as simple as that.
Dan

 

[bill1]

...very distinctive differences in appearance.

There's definitely something to this...
There's so many variables in cooking that it's hard to control them all, or at least for me. So I'm not ready to settle on clear pellet brand favorites yet. But I've found, generally speaking, that the lighter-colored pellets always disappoint. I won't say "the darker the better", but there is a certain color threshold they need to clear.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Well I gave up on not ordering in bulk and am going to try Cookingpellets.com. I have read nothing but good things about their pellets and they offer smaller bulk orders. The other nice thing about them is they ship with every bag individually boxed, so no loading dock required and they will be easy to stack until needed. After I get them and have given them a few cooks, I'll report back on my opinion's.

 

[bregent]

Well I gave up on not ordering in bulk and am going to try Cookingpellets.com.

I think you will be very pleased. I find their hickory indistinguishable from LJ in terms of flavor.

 

[dubob]

Test

 

[retfr8flyr]

Test

Test good!

 

[dubob]

 

[bill1]

...Walmart...20# bag of "Great Value" pellets (or something similarly branded) for $6.88...

Haven't gotten my lazy derriere to Dick's for some LumberJack yet but I opened up my bag of "Expert Grill" hickory/oak pellets from Walmart last night. Check out some of the pics in the walmart reviews, which are overwhelmingly positive. Mine really were that dark as well. And my first hour of smoke (was doing pork spare ribs last night) was great...incredible smells. But then things started smelling acrid for the remaining smoke. Ribs tasted fine, not as good as I'd hoped but not as bad as I'd feared. Here's some theories to explain the change in smell. Would love to get some feedback:

1. TMGT...too much of a good thing...I was so engrossed in taking in the great smells I basically overloaded my olfactory nerves and they started giving false readings. In other words, the only change was in my head.

2. Incompatible Partners? I use a large cast iron pan in my pellet grill in place of the factory flame/heat diverter. I fill it with chips and pellets. After about an hour it's giving me some extra smoke, more than just a smoke tube. Last night I filled it with maple chips and the Walmart hickory/oak pellets...maybe that's a blend that just doesn't work??? Are there blends that can be fine individually but are bad together?

3. Humidity issues? I'm a water pan guy but with all the air movement in a pellet machine a pan of water alone doesn't do much. So I supercharge things a bit with a 400Watt water heater element (rated 1500W at 240V) threaded into a bread loaf pan and powered from below. The ribs stayed moist up until the collagen breakdown (juicy) point, but maybe that was just too much humidity for this particular pellet?

4. Something I'm missing?

 

[bill1]

Haven't gotten my lazy derriere to Dick's for some LumberJack yet but I opened up my bag of "Expert Grill" hickory/oak pellets from Walmart last night. Check out some of the pics in the walmart reviews, which are overwhelmingly positive. Mine really were that dark as well. And my first hour of smoke (was doing pork spare ribs last night) was great...incredible smells. But then things started smelling acrid for the remaining smoke. Ribs tasted fine, not as good as I'd hoped but not as bad as I'd feared. Here's some theories to explain the change in smell. Would love to get some feedback:

1. TMGT...too much of a good thing...I was so engrossed in taking in the great smells I basically overloaded my olfactory nerves and they started giving false readings. In other words, the only change was in my head.

2. Incompatible Partners? I use a large cast iron pan in my pellet grill in place of the factory flame/heat diverter. I fill it with chips and pellets. After about an hour it's giving me some extra smoke, more than just a smoke tube. Last night I filled it with maple chips and the Walmart hickory/oak pellets...maybe that's a blend that just doesn't work??? Are there blends that can be fine individually but are bad together?

3. Humidity issues? I'm a water pan guy but with all the air movement in a pellet machine a pan of water alone doesn't do much. So I supercharge things a bit with a 400Watt water heater element (rated 1500W at 240V) threaded into a bread loaf pan and powered from below. The ribs stayed moist up until the collagen breakdown (juicy) point, but maybe that was just too much humidity for this particular pellet?

4. Something I'm missing?

A+ to those of you who went with multiple-choice #4.
But I really need to correct any negative connotation I may have left about the (Walmart-only???) Expert Grill pellets...

In doing those ribs, I'd taken the temp a little higher (setpoint 275, swings to 325) than I'd gone before with that particular water pan. What's a water pan got to do with bad smells? Well the water pan has a 400W commercial hot water heater element in it with a plastic shell (outside the water pan) on the electrical connections to strengthen the element connections and give a modicum of shock protection. Of course it would have been fine in an ambient environment as it was intended to be used. But a 325F oven interior combined with the conductive heat from the 400W element (and I was running "wide open" on the steam at the time) apparently exceeded the rating of that plastic. I noted some deformity (and a crack) in it when I removed the heat shield this weekend so almost certainly that was what was partially melting and out-gassing and fouling up the otherwise sweet pellet smell.

Removed the plastic and no problem since. Used the Expert Grill pellets on both a high temp steak (no water pan) and a 10-hour picnic shoulder with nothing but the same great smells start to finish.

So I'm really liking these 35-cents-per-pound Expert GRill pellets. I'm not the only one. I had trouble finding more...got the last two bags around at a Walmart 5 miles away from the one I normally go to.