Not enough smoke flavor using my Camp Chef pellet grill.

[forktender]

Even on the high smoke setting with a Amazing smoke tube with hickory Cook'in pellets and a full Amazing Smoke Maze using dust made from Old Cook'in pellets that got damp.
Coming from a stick burner to the pellet grill has been a disappointment as far as smoke flavor goes.
I think these forced air grills just move too much air to get a good smokey flavor. I even use homemade smoked salt and smoked paprika in my rubs.
Am I missing something or doing something wrong?
Thank you for any help you can provide me with, I'm about ready to give up on this damn convection oven and go back to the stick burner or the barrel.

Dan

 

[radio]

Even on the high smoke setting with a Amazing smoke tube with hickory Cook'in pellets and a full Amazing Smoke Maze using dust made from Old Cook'in pellets that got damp.
Coming from a stick burner to the pellet grill has been a disappointed as far as smoke flavor goes.
I think these forced air grills just move too much air to get a good smokey flavor. I even use smoked salt and smoked paprika in my rubs.
Am I missing something or doing something wrong?
Thank you for any help you can provide me with, I'm about ready to give up on this damn convection oven and go back to the stick burner or the barrel.

Dan

I'm there with you!
After several attempts to ramp up the flavor on my Green Mtn, I now start things in my stick burner, then move to the pellet grill to finish. I use heating pellets in it now as the meats are put in there foiled at the stall and smoke or ash never touches the meat, so no use burning expensive flavored pellets.

 

[forktender]

That is exactly what I plan on doing tomorrow when I cook up a Butt.
I'll toss it in the drum around 275*
For the first basket of coals which is only about 6 hours with the small basket that I have too use.
Instead of refilling the basket I will finish it off in the pellet oven.
I don't know anything about heating pellets so I'll stick with the cheapest pellets I have laying around Are you sure that it's OK to use heating pellets for cooking?
I'd air on the safe side and buy some cheap'o pellets when they go on sale at Lowe's or Home Depot.
If I figure these pellet poopers out I will post it up, please do the same.

Thanks brother.
Dan

 

[oldsmokerdude]

I have a pellet smoker myself and am going through the same process of trying to get the deep smoke flavor I'm used to. I read lots of articles, posts, etc about pellet smokers not generating enough of a smoke flavor. On the other hand, there are quite of few competition teams using pellet smokers and winning major events so it must be possible to achieve the flavor we're looking for.

For my latest trial I tried this:

1. Initial cook at about 175 for a couple hours with AMZNPS. I am using bbqers delight pellets of 100% hickory in this the AMZN.
2. Using LumberJack pellets in the pellet hopper (only because bbqer delight pellets are a bit pricey).
3. After two hours bump the temperature up to about 275 to 300 for the rest of the cook.

This has given me a lot more smoke flavor than anything else I've tried, though admittedly still not quite there. Many of the competition teams are using something called MojoBricks and I may give that a try, but I currently don't see how that would be any better than the AMZN tray I use.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[radio]

That is exactly what I plan on doing tomorrow when I cook up a Butt.
I'll toss it in the drum around 275*
For the first basket of coals which is only about 6 hours with the small basket that I have too use.
Instead of refilling the basket I will finish it off in the pellet oven.
I don't know anything about heating pellets so I'll stick with the cheapest pellets I have laying around Are you sure that it's OK to use heating pellets for cooking?
I'd air on the safe side and buy some cheap'o pellets when they go on sale at Lowe's or Home Depot.
If I figure these pellet poopers out I will post it up, please do the same.

Thanks brother.
Dan

I have heated the house with a pellet stove for the last 10 years and have narrowed it down the very best 100% hardwood pellets for best heat and little ash, so these are what I use in the GMG. I live in the heart of the Ozarks and we have several pellet mills here. This area has almost all oak timber and various charcoal manufacturers are located here also including Royal Oak and Kingsford.
I only put the meat in the pellet grill after it is tightly covered, or foiled so no smoke or ash hits the meat. I could use the oven, but in the summer time, why add heat to the house and make the air conditioner work harder?
By starting on the stick burner I get awesome flavor and smoke ring and finish in the pellet grill so I don't have to babysit the smoker except the first few hours of the cook.

Good luck on the cook and let us know the results. Don't forget the Q view!

 

[forktender]

Thanks for the intro and info.
I'm going to have to Google search those mojo bricks. I have never heard of them before.
Thanks for that. And for sure keep me posted if you find anything that helps out your cooks, I'll do the same.
Dan

 

[ross77]

If you’re using 100% hickory pellets and an additional smoking device I just think a pellet smoker isn’t for you. I’d hate to have to fire up two cookers.

Some people prefer a heavy smoke flavor. I would get heavy flavor from my Masterbuilt electric but it was acrid and I didn’t like it. Pellet smokers are definitely cleaner burning.

I’ve never used a camp chef but I get good smoke flavor from my Rec Tec using 100% hickory pellets. I get quite a bit of smoke output at temps below 250.

Does the Camp Chef pulse the fan? The Rec Tec controller will pulse at lower temps to allow the pellets to smolder.

 

[forktender]

Pretty much what I'm thinking as well. I've never heard the fan pulse even on the high smoke setting, but I normally have the tunes cranked up so I don't have to listen to the fan.

 

[tallbm]

I'm not a pellet smoker user BUT I can tell you that if you are buying just any old plain pellets from the store that you are likely not getting over 30-35% of the pellet "flavor" listed on the bag!

I bet that if you put 100% hickory in your pellet tube, and the AMNPS tray, and burn 2 rows of the AMNPS tray at one time you would probably get TOO much smoke flavor.

I buy Lumberjack pellets because they easily identify if the pellets you are buying are 100% of the wood listed or if they are blending the wood. Most other pellet brands (Traeger, Pit Boss, Camp Chef, Louisiana Grills, Pacific Pellet, etc. etc.) give you 20-35% of the pellet on the label :(((

Making sure you are using a 100% pellet in your tube and tray would be a good place to start trying to boost smoke flavor if you haven't already done this. BTW, I believe Cabela's brand pellet is just rebranded Lumberjack and is 100% of the wood listed. Also Perfect Pellet is a brand that does 100% Hickory in addition to Lumberjack.

Best of luck trying some things! :)

 

[forktender]

My go to pellets are Cook'in and Lumberjack brand which are 100% flavor wood no fillers.
I use them in the hopper and in the tube and dust made from them in the maze.
I take the dome damper off the stack when I run the tube and maze together so the cooker doesn't creosote over. I love the ease of the pellet oven but so far I'm not impressed with it as a smoker.
Don't get me wrong the food that comes off of it is good but it's lacking the old school BBQ flavor that most of us are looking to reproduce. Maybe they just aren't for me!

 

[gmc2003]

Dust will give you a cleaner, but lighter smoke. Use pellets in your tray and light both ends. When I use dust in my tray for smoking cheese it takes twice as long to get the flavor profile I'm looking for, but I can basically eat it straight from the smoker w/o the wait.

Chris

 

[bangstick]

As a Camp Chef Woodwind owner, I was always under the impression that, as a general rule, pellet smokers produce less "smoke flavor" than stick burners. That said, I've had mine just over a year and off all of the items I've smoked on my Woodwind, I can't say any of them were missing smoke flavor. Granted, I prefer the smoke to be a part of the flavor profile and not the majority of the flavor profile. Granted, everyone's tastes are different, I'm sure.

 

[megabrisket]

As a Camp Chef Woodwind owner, I was always under the impression that, as a general rule, pellet smokers produce less "smoke flavor" than stick burners. That said, I've had mine just over a year and off all of the items I've smoked on my Woodwind, I can't say any of them were missing smoke flavor. Granted, I prefer the smoke to be a part of the flavor profile and not the majority of the flavor profile. Granted, everyone's tastes are different, I'm sure.

I think that's why I'm in the market for a pellet smoker. I used to smoke on my gas grill. I set it up in sort of an offset fashion and put a smoker box full of chips or chunks over the flames on one end and meat on the other. It always produced a nice smoke flavor and smoke ring. I wanted something more set and forget so I got an MES 30 on sale for $100. I have to say nearly every cook on it has been sub-par. Most of the time the smoke is too heavy and doesn't burn clean/blue. If I do get TBS, it's only for a couple of minutes. I bought an AMNPS tray but the darn thing just won't stay going good enough, even set on the bottom with the chip loader removed. It just doesn't seem to get enough air flow. Long story short (too late for that), that's why I'm thinking a pellet smoker is right up my alley. More set it and forget than most but still and nice smoke flavor profile and smoke ring.

 

[ross77]

I had a MES 30 and hated the smoke flavor. I bought the cold smoker attachment but that made it even worse. I also read about the AMNPS tray but decided to pass as I read that people were having issues keeping it lit. I like the cleaner smoke flavor of my pellet smoker. It's got plenty of smoke for me.

 

[johnmeyer]

To me, a pellet smoker is almost exactly like those relatively new "instant pots" which combine the functions of a pressure cooker and a slow cooker into one device. Compared to a dedicated slow cooker, they lack features, size, and other functions. Compared to a pressure cooker, they are slow, don't do as good a job browning items before pressure cooking, and so on.

The pellet grill has always seemed to me to be a way to combine a traditional grill with a smoker. However, it doesn't get as hot as a traditional grill, and therefore doesn't do a very good job of searing, and when it comes to smoking, everything I've ever been served from a Trager pellet grill barely has any smoke taste.

As for adding more smoke via an AMNPS or tube, you run into the same problem that you have with a gas grill: too much air movement, which is required for the combustion. This means that you have to generate a HUGE amount of smoke to get any effect.

So, if your goal is big-time smoke, lots of bark, and real BBQ flavor, you may be SOL with a pellet grill.

 

[ross77]

Sounds like you don't own a pellet smoker and therefore don't have much experience with one. I get excellent bark on my briskets and pork shoulders. As for 'real BBQ flavor' I'm not sure what that means. For reference, I've owned a charcoal smoker and a MES. Not sure what Traeger you were served food from but there are many more choices these days. Including brands/models that can get to 500+ and offer direct flame searing.

The main downside is temps over 250. I don't get much smoke flavor at temps over 250. The pellets simply burn too efficiently at higher temps.

 

[johnmeyer]

I was served food on a Traeger during an event they hosted at the local ACE hardware store. I assumed he knew how to operate the equipment, so I based some of my statements on that experience. I then had to fix a neighbor's Traeger and to do that, had to "reverse engineer" it (i.e., figure out how it worked). I have a pretty good idea of how it works, and the main problem is exactly what you describe: the heat and smoke are NOT independent of each other. My MES, without the AMNPS or external smoking device, has the same problem, because at lower temps it doesn't produce much smoke (somewhat the opposite of the Traeger). However, the MES is easy to mod to overcome its deficiencies. By contrast, the OP did a really good job explaining the shortcomings of his pellet smoker.

I'm not trying to rag on pellet smokers because every design has its shortcomings and strengths. However, if the goal is "authentic" smoke flavor, I don't think a pellet smoker/grill would be my first choice.

 

[bangstick]

My Woodwind gets up to 500 degrees. If you're grilling and need hotter than that, well, with the Woodwind you're in luck because it has a sear box that reaches a legit 900 degrees. If you need hotter than that, well, you don't need anything hotter than that.
My woodwind puts out awesome reverse steaks and thick cut chops. Low and slow on the smoker and then finish them on the sear box (at 900 degrees) and they turn out great.
I've done pork butts on my Woodwind that have had a tremendous bark on them.
I had a BGE but it didn't do anything as good as or better than my Woodwind so I sold it.
As far as "authentic smoke flavor," everyone that has eaten anything from my Woodwind has been pleased with what I'm assuming you'd consider fake smoke flavor? I mean, burnt wood pellets put out smoke. I don't know how much more "authentic" smoke gets. I can appreciate a pellet smoker/grill not being someone's first choice but they should at least get an honest assessment of facts and not just someone's opinion.

 

[ross77]

4 of my friends bought pellet cookers after eating many meals from my pellet cooker. I must be doing something right.

As for the comment about no bark, well that is just wrong.

 

[bregent]

I'm not trying to rag on pellet smokers because every design has its shortcomings and strengths. However, if the goal is "authentic" smoke flavor, I don't think a pellet smoker/grill would be my first choice.

I guess it depends on what you define as "authentic" smoke flavor. On recent trips to Memphis and KC, I tried several popular BBQ joints and found the smoke profile to be right on par with what I get from my pellet grill. However, it is less than the smoke flavor I typically get from backyard smokers like my GOSM and WSM.