My first time using a pellet smoker

[fxsales1959]

can't say on reqtec, but if you are going in for the long haul I'd invst in a multiple probe thermometer like an `` @Inkbirdbbq and put probe on grate. most pellet smokers are notorius for inaccurate built in probes. your first cook looks great

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Ribs look great. Welcome.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Have any of you guys tried those Royal Oak charcoal pellets yet? I`m thinking about trying those out. I will likely blend then with regular pellets first just to get a little sample of what they`re like.

I have a couple different times. Not that impressive, I actually think they give less smoke.

 

[Sammie The Bull]

I have a couple different times. Not that impressive, I actually think they give less smoke.

Did it do anything for taste?
May be worth mixing some with the wood pellets if it changes the taste, toward that char flavor (?)

 

[Sammie The Bull]

can't say on reqtec, but if you are going in for the long haul I'd invst in a multiple probe thermometer like an `` @Inkbirdbbq and put probe on grate. most pellet smokers are notorius for inaccurate built in probes. your first cook looks great

Actually, i did do that. The probes were reading 5 degrees hotter than they were suppose to. I went into the settings of the Recteq and you can adjust the parameters of the probes to read the proper temperature. It has been corrected.

There is actually a procedure right on Recteq`s website.

https://support.recteq.com/hc/en-us/articles/4417644736923-Meat-Probe-Calibration

 

[SmokinEdge]

Did it do anything for taste?
May be worth mixing some with the wood pellets if it changes the taste, toward that char flavor (?)

No flavor change that I have tasted if anything more mild. The problem with these pellet machines is that the fire is always being forged with forced air. This makes them burn clean and efficient but makes it difficult to really taste the fuel. In a stick burner you manage the coal bed to control or maintain temperature, in a pellet machine there really is no coal bed just an active air fed fire, more fuel =hotter temp, less fuel=lower temp but the fire is always air fed and burning clean.

Many years ago I had a Green Mountain grill. I’ve never seen another pellet machine operate the same as that one. It would actively forge the fire until the temp was reached then it would “huff” the air to the fire kind of a bellowed effect with fan kicking on/off until temp dropped below set then steady fan kicked in and more pellets added to the fire. It was excellent, I wish they all operated the same way.

 

[Sammie The Bull]

No flavor change that I have tasted if anything more mild. The problem with these pellet machines is that the fire is always being forged with forced air. This makes them burn clean and efficient but makes it difficult to really taste the fuel. In a stick burner you manage the coal bed to control or maintain temperature, in a pellet machine there really is no coal bed just an active air fed fire, more fuel =hotter temp, less fuel=lower temp but the fire is always air fed and burning clean.

Many years ago I had a Green Mountain grill. I’ve never seen another pellet machine operate the same as that one. It would actively forge the fire until the temp was reached then it would “huff” the air to the fire kind of a bellowed effect with fan kicking on/off until temp dropped below set then steady fan kicked in and more pellets added to the fire. It was excellent, I wish they all operated the same way.

That makes sense SE. I`ll not bother with the charcoal pellets.

Green Mountain might have a patent on that operating system. But it sure sounds like a great way to run a pellet smoker!!! That`s the first i`ve heard of such a system, but i`m sort of new to the pellet scene, but certainly not new to smoking meats. If it works that well, i agree, all of them should run like that, or at least, similar. My buddie in Idaho has a Green Mountain pellet smoker, he loves it. He`s had it for quite awhile now.

 

[SmokinEdge]

The only GM grill I have ran was that one. Never been around another and not sure if they still work the same or not. I’m running a Yoder ys640 now. I’ve never been on a RecTeq so I really only know what I read about them here which is all very positive,
but that brings me to a question for you Rec-Teq operators, how does your “LO” or smoke setting work exactly, I mean in a mechanical sense?

 

[Sammie The Bull]

The only GM grill I have ran was that one. Never been around another and not sure if they still work the same or not. I’m running a Yoder ys640 now. I’ve never been on a RecTeq so I really only know what I read about them here which is all very positive,
but that brings me to a question for you Rec-Teq operators, how does your “LO” or smoke setting work exactly, I mean in a mechanical sense?

On the Recteq "LO", it cycles the fan on & off much like what you described about the Green Mountain. It works fantastic on mine! It generates ALOT of smoke. From what i`ve measured for temps, its running at around 180 degrees when on the "LO" setting. It only does this on the "LO" setting though. One click above the "LO" setting, the fan runs constant.

 

[Aekif]

No flavor change that I have tasted if anything more mild. The problem with these pellet machines is that the fire is always being forged with forced air. This makes them burn clean and efficient but makes it difficult to really taste the fuel. In a stick burner you manage the coal bed to control or maintain temperature, in a pellet machine there really is no coal bed just an active air fed fire, more fuel =hotter temp, less fuel=lower temp but the fire is always air fed and burning clean.

Many years ago I had a Green Mountain grill. I’ve never seen another pellet machine operate the same as that one. It would actively forge the fire until the temp was reached then it would “huff” the air to the fire kind of a bellowed effect with fan kicking on/off until temp dropped below set then steady fan kicked in and more pellets added to the fire. It was excellent, I wish they all operated the same way.

The part about the GMG actually sounds like what my pellet grill does in "Smoke" mode. If I use it instead of "Cook" mode, it'll basically snuff out its own fire every 10 mins or so and pump out smoke for a little bit before kicking the fan and everything back on.

I resorted to a pellet tube recently and it really was a game changer for amount of smoke on the meat.

 

[Sammie The Bull]

The part about the GMG actually sounds like what my pellet grill does in "Smoke" mode. If I use it instead of "Cook" mode, it'll basically snuff out its own fire every 10 mins or so and pump out smoke for a little bit before kicking the fan and everything back on.

I resorted to a pellet tube recently and it really was a game changer for amount of smoke on the meat.

Can you post what your pellet tube is? And what do you burn in it?

 

[Aekif]

Can you post what your pellet tube is? And what do you burn in it?

Sure. It's a metal tube with holes in it. I just take a fistful of pellets and put them in there, light one end, blow it out, and then put it on the grate.

 

[BigW.]

Can you post what your pellet tube is? And what do you burn in it?

A-MAZE-N pellet tubes is the name brand. But there are tons of knock offs. You burn pellets in them for extra smoke. There is also a tray that can be used with pellets or dust (pellets turned into saw dust) These cost in the $25-$30 range. I use a tube with pellets for smoking pork butts/brisket etc. The tray full of sawdust is for cold smoking cheese when it is cooler outside.

 

[SmokinEdge]

A-MAZE-N pellet tubes is the name brand. But there are tons of knock offs. You burn pellets in them for extra smoke. There is also a tray that can be used with pellets or dust (pellets turned into saw dust) These cost in the $25-$30 range. I use a tube with pellets for smoking pork butts/brisket etc. The tray full of sawdust is for cold smoking cheese when it is cooler outside.

I also mix wood chips in with the pellets, makes good smoke. And some real wood flavor

 

[chopsaw]

Have any of you guys tried those Royal Oak charcoal pellets yet?

I've used the charcoal pellets from Pit Boss , and the char hickory from Lumberjack .
I bought the Pit Boss on close out , and used them mostly for heat . I thought they kicked out more visible smoke , but more ash too . The char hickory were ok .
Get a bag of the Royal oak and see what you think .
I use mostly B&B and Lumberjack . If I see a sale on bear mountain I'll buy some .

 

[Aekif]

I've used the charcoal pellets from Pit Boss , and the char hickory from Lumberjack .
I bought the Pit Boss on close out , and used them mostly for heat . I thought they kicked out more visible smoke , but more ash too . The char hickory were ok .
Get a bag of the Royal oak and see what you think .
I use mostly B&B and Lumberjack . If I see a sale on bear mountain I'll buy some .

I was a big bear mountain guy. I'll be honest though, I've switched to the walmart "Expert Griller" pellets. They're like $6/20lbs and free shipping from walmart. I can't really tell the difference in any of them, and it saves me a good chunk of change.

 

[Sammie The Bull]

I was a big bear mountain guy. I'll be honest though, I've switched to the walmart "Expert Griller" pellets. They're like $6/20lbs and free shipping from walmart. I can't really tell the difference in any of them, and it saves me a good chunk of change.

I saw those at walmart the other day. I wonder what the chemicals are that they put in them. I`ve heard people say the "T" brand has chemicals in them and the main reason a few folks refuse to burn them. I also heard a rumor awhile back that the "T" brand got into trouble with what they were making their pellets out of. Now i dont want people here to take what i said as 100% truth`s, because i don`t know the truth`s of those rumors. So take it with a grain of salt. I`m only repeating what i`ve heard many say about the "T" brand. That`s why i ask questions in here, because i dont, know. I just want 100% GOOD hardwood pellets that aren`t ground up pressed mobile home scrap.

 

[Aekif]

I saw those at walmart the other day. I wonder what the chemicals are that they put in them. I`ve heard people say the "T" brand has chemicals in them and the main reason a few folks refuse to burn them. I also heard a rumor awhile back that the "T" brand got into trouble with what they were making their pellets out of. Now i dont want people here to take what i said as 100% truth`s, because i don`t know the truth`s of those rumors. So take it with a grain of salt. I`m only repeating what i`ve heard many say about the "T" brand. That`s why i ask questions in here, because i dont, know. I just want 100% GOOD hardwood pellets that aren`t ground up pressed mobile home scrap.

Eh, I'm sure they're all loaded with god knows what. Other than the more "artisanal" brands like knotty wood, I'm pretty sure there's only 2-3 companies making all the big brand name pellets. All I know is it cut my bill down a lot and they taste the same to me. lol

 

[DougE]

Many years ago I had a Green Mountain grill. I’ve never seen another pellet machine operate the same as that one. It would actively forge the fire until the temp was reached then it would “huff” the air to the fire kind of a bellowed effect with fan kicking on/off until temp dropped below set then steady fan kicked in and more pellets added to the fire.

The Camp Chef outfits continually swing about 10 to 20 degrees above and below the set point.

When it gets to the high end of the swing, the auger does a big pellet dump, which smothers the fire. The temp then goes below the set point. As the fire in the pot is trying to recover, it generates smoke. Seems to work fairly decent.

 

[Texascat]

I enjoy BBQ cooked on the offset but until I bought my pellet smoker I only got to cook a few times a year because of the time commitment it takes. My favorite is brisket so the time commitment just didn't allow me to cook as often as I'd like.

I bought a pellet smoker specifically to try overnight brisket and since then I've never looked back. I actually wound up selling my other smoker because it never got used.

I may eventually try one of those smoke tubes but I'm pretty happy with what I'm turning out and I'm getting to cook much more often.