Wood chips vs Pellets

[vsgill]

All, I just got my MES340G and last week smoked for my first time. I used Hickory wood chips and I think they actually gave plenty of smoke. When I got my smoker I also ordered a pellet tray. My question is does the pellet tray to better in general for smoking or does it just last longer thaN the chips so you don’t have to keep putting more chips in? Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

All, I just got my MES340G and last week smoked for my first time. I used Hickory wood chips and I think they actually gave plenty of smoke. When I got my smoker I also ordered a pellet tray. My question is does the pellet tray to better in general for smoking or does it just last longer thaN the chips so you don’t have to keep putting more chips in? Thanks in advance for any replies!

I have not used a pellet tray in my smoker. With that said, there are definite advantages to using a pellet tray for cold smoking and for long smoke times. I have read here in the forums that most users are able to get 12 hours or more out of a single filling on their trays. That is a big plus if you want to do overnight smokes and do not want to wake up and refill the chip tray every couple of hours.

 

[Brad4x4]

I just did my first smoking in my MES 40 yesterday and used the A MAZE N tray and got 12.5 hours off 1 full tray. If its not giving off enough smoke for you then you can burn the pellets from both ends of the tray for double the smoke and get about 6 hours out of it before needing to refill the tray again. This is what I plan on doing for my next smoke is burning both ends at the same time. I've only used the wood chips in my MES once and that was to pre-season it out of he box but I didn't pay attention to how much smoke it put out vs the pellet tray.
Pellet tray i'm sold on. Don't have to re-fill it anywhere near as many times as the wood chip feeder. Pellets are cheaper. 40 lbs bag of Pit Boss competition mix at some stores is $16 - $18 a bag. 40 lbs bag will last you SEVERAL smoking's.
The wood chip feeder on the MES smokers i've heard a lot you have to constantly re-fill every 40 mins to an hour during smoking. basically baby sit it.

 

[SmokinAl]

Yep the Amazen tray is the way to go!
https://www.amazenproducts.com/Default.asp
Al

 

[vsgill]

All, thanks for your input but the question I was tying to get at is do you think the smoke quality of the chips is as good as the pellets. I know the pellets will last way longer.

 

[normanaj]

All, thanks for your input but the question I was tying to get at is do you think the smoke quality of the chips is as good as the pellets. I know the pellets will last way longer.

It can depend on the brand of pellet(s).But for the most part the smoke quality of pellets is outstanding imo.

 

[Lonzinomaker]

2nd what normanaj says. Most pellets for pellet grills are a blend, some flavor wood with a lot of neutral flavor wood. Some pellets even use flavored oils (like Traeger?). I use pellets made with 100% flavor wood like the 100% apple wood pellets from Lumberjack.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

All, thanks for your input but the question I was tying to get at is do you think the smoke quality of the chips is as good as the pellets. I know the pellets will last way longer.

You should try the pellet tray during your next smoke. Compare that versus you last smoke with chips and then go with the method that provides the best results for you. It may take a few smokes before you come to any conclusions.