Pellet comparison

[AHoneyman]

You might also want to check the so called "farm" stores, Tractor Supply, Atwoods, etc. The name depends upon your regional location. Various pellet manufacturers drop big loads at these stores with reasonable prices. More so than BBQ stores. Just make sure that you are getting food grade and not heating grade pellets.

 

[AHoneyman]

Folks, because of the great progress made in the software and the amount of ash produced by the recent bags of LJ that I have used lately, I am going to try PB pellets again. Maybe with the updates, they might work now. Doing a 18 hour run and getting over an inch of ash with LJ does not do a lot for me.

 

[JpsBBQ]

My experience is the Traeger pellets burn the cleanest and produce the least ash. They are the most expensive as well. They also produce less smoke flavor than the Weber pellets. If you value the heavier smoke flavor on certain or all of your cooks, I recommend the Weber pellets. In my experience, you get what you pay for.

 

[Boilerbdub]

Count me in for lumberjack and Weber pellets. Both are consistent and clean.

 

[AHoneyman]

My experience is the Traeger pellets burn the cleanest and produce the least ash. They are the most expensive as well.

It is my understanding that there was a class action suit against Traeger for the use of flavoring oils rather than the actual wood. The case was dismissed because the court felt that there was not an injured class. Do other producers use a similar process?

 

[JpsBBQ]

I don’t really know, but I’d be surprised if that wasn’t the case for some of the others. That particular issue doesn’t concern me in the least. If the pellets perform well and match your flavor profiles, then I say use them. I don’t always want a lot of smoke and other times I do. The pellets are a key ingredient in your cook.

 

[MikeM]

Do you know of an online retailer the sells them? No Weber pellets here locally yet. I found a couple of listings for lumberjack on Amazon but they were through 3rd party and I have not been impressed in the past with not buying from Amazon directly. Being in Utah everything here is Treager or Camp chef.

Dickson sporting goods sells lumberjack pellets

 

[MikeM]

I don’t really know, but I’d be surprised if that wasn’t the case for some of the others. That particular issue doesn’t concern me in the least. If the pellets perform well and match your flavor profiles, then I say use them. I don’t always want a lot of smoke and other times I do. The pellets are a key ingredient in your cook.

Dick's sporting goods

 

[AHoneyman]

Folks, after I decided that the smaller diameter pellets such as LJ were the way to go, I had to retry the PB pellets due to price and availability. While the larger PB pellets work better in the SF with all of the updates, I still get minor feeding problems with them. After a long run, one side of the hopper will be empty while the other is just starting to flow. Not a problem on short runs but overnight cooks get iffy. Also, I wish the LJ did not produce all of the ash that I got the last few bags.

 

[abmet]

Good info, thanks for sharing.

 

[AHoneyman]

Well, guys, I found a new fatty pellet. Was going through Sam's and they had Smokehouse pellets, a mix of cherry, oak, hickory, and maple. Fourteen bucks for 40 pounds. But it is the fattest pellet that I have measured - 0.270 inches in diameter. So if I go with the premise that larger pellets feed worse in the SF, it may have problems. But I am going to try them. Inquiring minds want to know. Happy Fourth of July and great grilling/smoking/BBQing.

 

[AHoneyman]

And another - Scheel's Pork Comp. - 0.260 to 0.270 inches diameter.

 

[JpsBBQ]

I’ve used Traeger and camp chef. Both are larger diameter. I’m not sure they are less of a problem. Time will tell. The thin ones are long and skinny and might be more apt to cause ”bridging” and thus “cavitation” I’m going to keep an eye out. I haven’t had issues with any since I removed the safety wire.

 

[TxJedi]

Well, guys, I found a new fatty pellet. Was going through Sam's and they had Smokehouse pellets, a mix of cherry, oak, hickory, and maple. Fourteen bucks for 40 pounds. But it is the fattest pellet that I have measured - 0.270 inches in diameter. So if I go with the premise that larger pellets feed worse in the SF, it may have problems. But I am going to try them. Inquiring minds want to know. Happy Fourth of July and great grilling/smoking/BBQing.

Any update on these pellets? I was wanting to try them.

 

[AHoneyman]

No, my auger was making a little noise so I did a clean out and put back in a load of LJ. Even though I try and use other pellets, I still think that the smaller diameter pellets similar to Webers flow better. I have not found the right balance of cost and function (flow, smoke).