No smoke ring, zip, nadda Pellet Smoker

[Coreymacc]

Quick back story, I have about 20 briskets under my belt, i have a solid procedure. I usually use Traeger pellets ,being where I am they are the easiest to get. They always gave me about a ¼" of smoke ring. I was in Costco the other day and bought a brisket, and found Kirkland smoker pellets basically ½ price of the traeger ones. Life is good. I did the brisket last night, it came out perfect, but the first slice , no smoke ring, i asked my guests, they said great, really tender , no smoke flavor. I agree, there was nothing, no smoke flavor, no smoke ring. It was smoking for 16hrs, how is that possible? There was smoke pouring out the stack. The heat control was good all the mechanics of the cook went perfectly but no ring and no smoke taste.

Anybody else try Costco Kirkland pellets and did this happen? Im amazed how there was no smoke flavor or ring, zero. Anyways Im rambling. Opinions please

Corey

 

[Sammie The Bull]

Smoke rings don`t mean anything. If its tender, and tasted good, that`s 99% of the battle.

Can`t respond about the pellets, i`ve never heard of them before.

 

[Coreymacc]

Smoke rings don`t mean anything. If its tender, and tasted good, that`s 99% of the battle.

Can`t respond about the pellets, i`ve never heard of them before.

The lack of smoke ring was interesting. Regardless if you think it means anything, im more curious about the complete lack of smoke flavor, temp was 250f, smoke was rolling. Its more of WTF thing.

Corey

 

[in. pred]

maybe the cow was a non smoker.

gota be a nitric oxide or carbon monoxide deficiency. maybe those pellets were formulated for less NO CO? did they come from cali? lol

havent been a fan of pellets for smoke myself. they just dont seem to have the potency.

 

[Sammie The Bull]

The lack of smoke ring was interesting. Regardless if you think it means anything, im more curious about the complete lack of smoke flavor, temp was 250f, smoke was rolling. Its more of WTF thing.

Corey

Its likely the pellets you used. Pellets are not known for GOOD amount of smoke flavoring to begin with. Try some other pellets. You might have bought a bag of garbage "mobile home" scrap pellets. I`ve also seen meat take on the smoke ring, and the next day, same kind of meat from a different lot, not take on a smoke ring hardly at all. All meats can be a guessing game, too.

Don`t sweat it. Do your next cook and see what happens. Take notes on what didn`t work, and learn from it. I`ve been smokin beef, pork, poultry, meat well into 50yrs, i`ve seen a thing or two.

 

[Parshooter]

I saw those pellets at Costco last week. Passed. I'll stick with Pit Boss pellets. Have had good results with them. Thanks for taking one for the team.

 

[Sammie The Bull]

I saw those pellets at Costco last week. Passed. I'll stick with Pit Boss pellets. Have had good results with them. Thanks for taking one for the team.

Pit Boss pellets is what i settled on as well. I get good smoke, no auger jams, consistent temps.

 

[Up_In_Smoke]

Smoke rings don`t mean anything. If its tender, and tasted good, that`s 99% of the battle.

Can`t respond about the pellets, i`ve never heard of them before.

Let's see:

No smoke ring and no smoke taste.
Yeah, doesn't mean anything.

Sarcasm.

 

[normanaj]

Here is a thread about Kirkland pellets from 2022. At the time it was indicated they were made by Pitboss.

Kirkland Wood Pellets

Bought a bag of these from my local Costco today. Couldn't find any info on the package about who might be making them.

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Running low smoke as long as you can will help but quality of pellets do mater. I put my brisket on before bed on low smoke and about ready to wrap in morning.

 

[okie sawbones]

Consistently, review articles list these three pellets as the best:

Bear Mountain
Lumberjack
CookinPellets

YMMV, but these are my go to pellets. I always use a smoke tube, with a 50/50 mix of pellets and Lone Star wood chips.

Friends and family say is plenty of smoke taste in the finished product, and that is good enough for me. That is who I am trying to please. I don't go for the least price in pellets, but for quality.

 

[jcam222]

Given no other variables as you described one would have to think it's the pellets. Agree that smoke ring adds nothing to taste but people do tend to eat with their eyes so it's a psychological factor as is any visual presentation factor. The kicker and important part was no smoke taste. I'd just return to the pellets you know work for you.

 

[Coreymacc]

Anybody want 80lbs of pellets? . All the other briskets I have done have had excellent smoke taste ,the ring I agree makes no flavor, but I use it like the rings of a tree, tells me how my smoke went, more of a guage. I use the pellet smoker because its a set it and forget it, have too much to do around the acreage to sit for 16hrs and tend a fire. Looks like im heading back to town to buy better quality pellets.

Corey

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Consistently, review articles list these three pellets as the best:

Bear Mountain
Lumberjack
CookinPellets

YMMV, but these are my go to pellets. I always use a smoke tube, with a 50/50 mix of pellets and Lone Star wood chips.

Friends and family say is plenty of smoke taste in the finished product, and that is good enough for me. That is who I am trying to please. I don't go for the least price in pellets, but for quality.


View attachment 721671

Looks like you premix chips and pellets. I put a little of each in at a time but for some reason never though of premixing. I will do that next time. Those chips are nice and small. Where do you get them?

 

[Parshooter]

I always use a smoke tube, with a 50/50 mix of pellets and Lone Star wood chips.




View attachment 721671

Interesting. Have you ever had the wood chips catch fire ? Looks like you don't soak them.

 

[02ebz06]

Looks like you premix chips and pellets. I put a little of each in at a time but for some reason never though of premixing. I will do that next time. Those chips are nice and small. Where do you get them?

Lone Star Grills sells the small chips. They can be used in combination with pellets in "their" smokers.
They make no claim they will work in other smokers. CYA ...

I have thought about trying a box of them, just haven't pulled the trigger.

 

[chopsaw]

Anybody want 80lbs of pellets?

Don't give up on them . I have several different brands of pellets . If I see some marked down I buy them .
I'll use the better pellets to start off , and add the others on top of those to finish out the cook .
Your problem might not even be the pellets .
Could be ambient temps spiking the temp in the smoker . Causing the fan to run more and less pellets used .

 

[Coreymacc]

Don't give up on them . I have several different brands of pellets . If I see some marked down I buy them .
I'll use the better pellets to start off , and add the others on top of those to finish out the cook .
Your problem might not even be the pellets .
Could be ambient temps spiking the temp in the smoker . Causing the fan to run more and less pellets used .

Thanks for the reply, the thing that's pointing to the pellets is, having changed nothing in my procedure but the pellets, and this is about 20 briskets now, that's why I think its the pellets. The ambient temps during the day were steady also. Im going to nerd out today and burn good pellets and the costco pellets in my smoke tubes to see if I noticed a difference. Plus, i noticed my smoker auger grinding and struggling more with the Costco pellets. Worst case I will mix them to use them up.

Corey

 

[chopsaw]

struggling more with the Costco pellets.

I did read some reviews that said they jammed up the auger . Don't know what brand of grill it was .

 

[SmokinEdge]

If I had to guess, and it’s just a guess,,,,,,. Those pellets are probably made from hardwoods that are kiln dried and sourced from something like a factory making cabinets/trim or furniture. Kiln dried wood is excellent for manufacturing but not good for a cooking wood. I think a lot of heating pellets are sourced from kiln dried wood, this makes them burn cleaner and hotter, this is exactly how Costco describes those Kirkland pellets as burning “cleaner“ and “hotter” than other pellets, which is great for heat but not the best choice for cooking.

Also I’m going to guess they probably are not as dense of a pellet coming from kiln dried wood, being less available lignin to stick the pellet together. Again it’s just a guess, but those will be good for the heat portion of cooking but should be mixed somehow with other pellets for flavor cooking. Best of luck, but I wouldn’t toss them.

You could start a cook with other pellets for the first 5-6 hours then top off the bin with Kirkland just to finish the cook. Still cheap and useful. Just my thoughts.