Wood Chips with Pellets, anyone tried this?

[2fatpugs]

I just saw this on youtube and I wonder if anyone else tried putting wood chips in their pellet smokers? Looks like you need to get special length chips from Lonestar Grill.

 

[mike243]

Not I , I put shag bark along with pellets in a tube instead, chips might jam my old pitboss up. 6 years old and still running strong

 

[Winterrider]

Nope, don't want to take the chance of a jam. As mike243 , have mixed in with pellets in tube.

 

[G8trwood]

Lol, I just ordered the chips to give it a shot.
will post an update when I get them. The trials and tribulations of a pellet grill.

 

[SmokinAl]

Interested to see your results. So far I’m kind of happy with the smoke profile I get with my Recteq, and I am a previous Lang owner.
Al

 

[G8trwood]

I still get very frustrated by my pellet grill even with smoke trays. Chasing the smoke.

I have to admit, that I also find a small offset frustrating as compared to a large one. Huge airflow and mass make a difference. In my younger days I had a trailer mounted offset as well as a large vertical, 72x40x24. Of course, old timers could be altering my memory on the quality of my Q ;)

Who knows, this was cheap compared to buying a vertical. I’ll post a follow up with a brisket and ribs.

 

[bill1]

Even with a screen sieve (since some long skinnies could still get through) I'd be afraid I'd get a jam feeding to the auger. Although it cuts through long pellets ok, chips aren't pressed from powder.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

No because the wood chips vary in size to much and a clog in feeding tube. Would easily break the plastic gears inside the auger motor.
I do how ever stuff my smoke tubes with pellets and chips.

 

[DougE]

Clog issues aside, they would have to be priced such that you'd get similar burn times per bag. Pellets are more dense than chips so contain more heating energy.

 

[2fatpugs]

I think the biggest difference between burning wood chips in a tube vs burn pot is the burn pot is going to burn cleaner since it's an open fire. I have tried using wood chips and pellets in a tube and I don't like the taste of smoke it gives off.

 

[bill1]

Clog issues aside, they would have to be priced such that you'd get similar burn times per bag. Pellets are more dense than chips so contain more heating energy.

Price per pound, it's hard to beat pellets for smoking wood. (I'm liking Kirtland in the 40# bag and Walmart Expert Grill Fruit in the 30# bag...both incredibly cheap.) And there's no doubt that pellets are wood, just a small version of a split. That said, fire and smoke is complex enough that there are scaling laws at play (e.g. the inner bulk of a split helps wick heat away from the surface better) that probably helps make a split and a traditional offset smoker a slightly better cooker, just like Grandpa always said.
But feeding pellets sure is easy!

edit: Expert Grill now calls them Sweet Blend instead of fruit blend. They're back in stock (after taking the Winter off) at my local Walmart for <$10 per 30#. (Seems like the only thing whose price has held steady this past year.) The cherry/apple blend is good for any fowl but esp turkey.

 

[G8trwood]

Welp, fail. Auger jammed and broke the shear bolt ( $1.99 and my labor). Ran for a bit. Looks like it jammed right at the chute entrance. One chip wedged into gap. I followed that video of equal volume. That would probably work out to 2:1 by weight of pellets to chips.

of note, the chips are definitely sized with zero shavings.

I have an 8-10 year old smoke daddy.

 

[2fatpugs]

G G8trwood Sorry about the augur, I hope it's cheap to repair. Thanks for testing it out for the community!

 

[02ebz06]

Welp, fail. Auger jammed and broke the shear bolt ( $1.99 and my labor). Ran for a bit. Looks like it jammed right at the chute entrance. One chip wedged into gap. I followed that video of equal volume. That would probably work out to 2:1 by weight of pellets to chips.

of note, the chips are definitely sized with zero shavings.

I have an 8-10 year old smoke daddy.

I believe the Smoke Daddy has a solid auger (correct me if I'm wrong), and that may be the problem.
The video I saw was for an LSG pellet smoker and their auger has an open center.
In the video he did a 26 hour cook with the 50/50 mixture.
Even with the open center auger, I don't think it is something I would try.

 

[bill1]

Welp, fail. Auger jammed and broke the shear bolt ( $1.99 and my labor). Ran for a bit. Looks like it jammed right at the chute entrance. One chip wedged into gap. I followed that video of equal volume. That would probably work out to 2:1 by weight of pellets to chips.

of note, the chips are definitely sized with zero shavings.

I have an 8-10 year old smoke daddy.

The shear bolt did its job. It broke, like a fuse, instead of important stuff. I'd say that's very good, all things considered.
And it sounds like the cause was maybe where I predicted? The downstream edge of the oblong opening in the auger where the hopper feeds to? That pipe is usually pretty sharp there. The moving auger pushing a stuck-out pellet will sheer that pellet in two no problem. And a chip that falls in, such that's its a rip-cut parallel to the chip grain, will split well too I'd think. But a chip that falls in so that its edge is getting cut cross-grain, well that will only work for a real thin chip.
So I'd say you've proven that pellet augers only work with pellets. You can't add chips to the mix. Now I use chips in a cast iron pan positioned an inch above the crucible, and like the extra smoke that adds, but I pour them in...there's no auger feeding them.

 

[G8trwood]

Agree on the sheer bolt. The Auger motor is a powerful little beast. I haven’t seen any pics of the LSG auger, but I know it is short. I looked on their site but didn’t see a pic of mechanism.

so an update. I saved the power unit / hopper from an old baby traeger that rusted out. I stuffed it in the smoke daddy and so far it has been running okay. Definitely a clunk now and then. Certainly wouldn’t leave it without alarms. But working enough to finish pork tenderloin and give me something to do. Much shorter Auger than the big Smoke daddy.

spoke too soon. Ran okay on high, jammed on smoke setting. I’m done. Fail.

 

[mike243]

Well who would have thunk it, glad is was a easy fix

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I stayed quiet to watch this one out but thought from the beginning that this was a no go.

Pellet smokers are designed for pellets, not wood chips.

I do like Ballistic videos but I stayed away from watching that one.

 

[BaldEagleOne]

Welp, fail. Auger jammed and broke the shear bolt ( $1.99 and my labor). Ran for a bit. Looks like it jammed right at the chute entrance. One chip wedged into gap. I followed that video of equal volume. That would probably work out to 2:1 by weight of pellets to chips.

of note, the chips are definitely sized with zero shavings.

I have an 8-10 year old smoke daddy.

I have a CC Woodwind. After seeing the video of mixing wood and pellets, I called CC and asked them if it could be done. They said it might work for a while but they didn't recommend it. I have trouble keeping my smoke tube and Wedgee lit even after torching them for a minute and am thinking about selling the CC for a better smoke. The Woodwind is reliable and steady on temp. Just need better smoke.

 

[2fatpugs]

I have a CC Woodwind. After seeing the video of mixing wood and pellets, I called CC and asked them if it could be done. They said it might work for a while but they didn't recommend it. I have trouble keeping my smoke tube and Wedgee lit even after torching them for a minute and am thinking about selling the CC for a better smoke. The Woodwind is reliable and steady on temp. Just need better smoke.

This is why I decide to go with the Masterbuilt 900 (Costco version). There are so many ways to add wood throughout the cook. Heck you can even burn all wood if you wanted to (It's basically a poor man's KBQ). So far I only had the chance to smoke beef ribs but they were amazing compared to my Pellet or Kamado smokers. There was slightly more smoke flavor but I was able to taste it throughout the meat.