Pellets, Pellets, Pellets

[mooncusser2k]

Part of my reason for getting the Bucket Head was to have a separate vac for the grill. We have a larger shop vac but it's picked up some nasty stuff over the years. Not what I want to use for removing pellets that'll be used later. Plus it's relatively inexpensive and lightweight.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I found a thread over on the smokingmeatforum about Pit Boss pellets. The guys said that Pit Boss told them their apple pellets are about 40% apple wood type and the rest is hickory.

 

[RHEINLEIN]

I'm about 12 hours of run time on my RT-700 Platinum Package with 400lbs of Ultimate Blend stacked in my garage. I'm already regretting having got the package instead of picking what I wanted. The spices and other accessories were probably a good thing as it pushed me to try new stuff, like the Grill Mats and Grill Grates, and spices/sauce. But the flat griddle thing just isn't me. I had a flat griddle for my komados for maybe 7-8 years until I finally gave it to a friend that recently got a komado.
But, really what's a regret is the 400lb commitment of Ultimate Blend pellets. They're not bad, just light on flavor.

I've been reading as much as I can find on pellets and still have questions. I do see that there's significant following of the Lumberjack pellets. I was wondering about Pit Boss pellets. They seem to be in retailers near me (Southern Cal).

Another question was regarding what is stated as discontinued Lumberjack "mesquite flavored" pellets on Amazon. Given the Traeger pellet deception scandal, should I avoid these "discontinued", "flavored" pellets?

Please share any relevant pellet information and experiences.

I too bought 200 lbs of the same rec tec pellets.
No auger issues (which I’ve had with other brands), Tex’s burn hot and consistent with clean flavor.
The difficulty with buying more due to shipping.
So I grabbed a bag of the recommended Lumberjack pellets, yet to try.
We have a nearby Farm & Fleet store that sells all LJ pellets @ $8.99 / 20 lbs.
They look extremely clean and intact.
I’ll try them soon.
I purchased 100% Hickory.
Interestingly they sold some that we hickory / mesquite and 40% charcoal ?
I feared auger jams, anyone tried these ?

 

[spartanhuntr]

I am a rookie on this stuff. I guess my biggest follow up question is about quality of pellets? I respect and agree taste is different for all and so experiments are a good idea. So, i would like to try the lumberjack and others (have used exclusively RecTec pellets since i bought my 700) but was curious whether there are some that we should stay away from?

For example...would love to hear positive feedback on the LJ that has the Charcoal. That sounds real good for reverse sear of steaks (my favorite thing to cook). But, every time i walk by the aisle at ACO or Home Depot or Menards i am tempted to grab a bag of their pellets to try but i have heard about poor quality retail stuff and so i have stayed away.

Can you all help with views on auger issues, smoke issues, quality, etc. Is it LJ and RecTec and stay away from all others? is it only stay away from Trager pellets? Any help here would be great. thanks.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

I am a rookie on this stuff. I guess my biggest follow up question is about quality of pellets? I respect and agree taste is different for all and so experiments are a good idea. So, i would like to try the lumberjack and others (have used exclusively RecTec pellets since i bought my 700) but was curious whether there are some that we should stay away from?

For example...would love to hear positive feedback on the LJ that has the Charcoal. That sounds real good for reverse sear of steaks (my favorite thing to cook). But, every time i walk by the aisle at ACO or Home Depot or Menards i am tempted to grab a bag of their pellets to try but i have heard about poor quality retail stuff and so i have stayed away.

Can you all help with views on auger issues, smoke issues, quality, etc. Is it LJ and RecTec and stay away from all others? is it only stay away from Trager pellets? Any help here would be great. thanks.

Not sure if it is help to you, I can state what I've used and why (6months in on RT 700).
Came from a stick burner and water pan, now pellets and No pan. (Although a catch pan is nice to set things in at times)
Used the RecTec pellets until gone never liked the flavor.(don't hate it) tried Camp chef and also felt they were "ok" Switched to Lumberjack brand and noticed better pellets and flavor, less ash.
Did alot of research on pellets and have a post here you can look up titled "pellets 101" for some good basic info. I use 100% all wood, all one flavor and it seems to be alot better for my taste.(ape,cherry, hickory) I liked the stick burner taste better, so I added a Smoke tube to increase the output especially at higher temps. And also installed the gasket on the lid. I'm sure it helps some, but more so for me keeps the smoker ALOT cleaner. I've found these pellet burners give the appearance of dried on the outside, but are usually pretty juicy on the inside. I really like it now that Ive got through the "learning curve"... Learned something I wasn't doing properly with the app just the other day.
Everything I've just said is my personal opinion, and may or may not be to your liking.
I'm in NW Ohio,(+500 sea level) my auger is at factory settings, and I've calibrated all three probes several times just to be anal about it. And still use a handheld instant back up. Goodluck post your cooks !

 

[spartanhuntr]

I have spent an hour reading posts here and sounds like there is a lot of support for LJ pellets. Quality (auger, ash, etc.) and the flavor. I think i will place an order. I purchased 5 air tight five gallon pails for pellets. I initially filled them with the RecTec blends i had. Now i am out of those. So ready for new pellets.

Not to create confusion on my posts but i did post on another thread comments about a Prime Rib that didn't seem to be as good and now thinking back i wonder if i did switch between the Ultimate blend and the RecTecs other blend that came in my package (I think Perfect). I bet that also contributed to my 2018 prime rib being better than my 2019.

Thanks.

 

[spartanhuntr]

One additional question on that post is if i am correct in the overall support for LJ pellets. There are no dealers close to me. Anyone have experience ordering from Amazon?

My experience in pellets or food plot seed or things like that is very poor on Amazon. 50% of the time the bags are open and the boxes flimsy. Or, they leave the box outside in the rain because it is heavy versus putting on porch.

Anyone find it was packaged well? Ok to order that way?

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I haven't ordered pellets from amazon, but yesterday a shipment of Pit Boss pellets came from Walmart online. One box was nearly open on the bottom. FYI, Pit Boss uses a "base wood" with their single labeled wood. So, it's a blend. Disappointing after I received the PB mesquite pellets, I smelled them. Didn't have that strong mesquite smell, so I lit some and the smoke didn't smell like a piece of mesquite wood I lit. Very disappointing for my uses.

More research turned up Smokin Brothers pellets, which state they are 100% of the labeled wood with no base woods, fillers, or binders. https://smokinbrothers.com/products/pure-wood-pellets/

 

[BDuffel]

My pellet history

I used various horizontal offset stick burners for 20 years. Switched to a Humphrey's Pint insulated charcoal smoker for about 5 years. Sold it to a restaurant owner and bought a RT-700 Bull back in the summer and I am much happier. I DO NOT MISS STICKBURNERS OR CABINET SMOKERS.

I used the RT pellets to start. Bought a few bags of BBQ'ers Delight pellets. Both were OK.

Ordered about 400 lbs of various Lumber Jack pellets and that's all I buy now. Their blends are as good as or better than the others. I buy their Supreme and Competition blend pellets for a base pellet.

I buy their Char Hickory if I want to amp up the charcoal/smoke flavor on shorter cooks. The Char Hickory is some great stuff. Love to use it to reverse sear 2-1/2" to 3" tomahawk ribeyes then sear on the Weber.

Then I buy a lot of their 100% Hickory, 100% Pecan, 100% Cherry and 100% Apple pellets. They are FANTASTIC. I usually run my base type pellets all the time for long cooks and pull them back to the sides and rear of the hopper then load 10-20 pounds of the 100% pellets I want for the type of meat I'll be cooking. I usually mix the 100% pellets- ie: pecan cherry, pecan hickory, apple cherry, etc. That gives me the profile I want for the meat I'm cooking. 100% Pecan or pecan and cherry mixed for ribs. Pecan and hickory mixed for butts and whole shoulders. By the time the 100% pellets are used up I am just finishing off the cook so I don't care about the flavor at that point. If there are some left over I mix them in with the base blends. I use a Buckethead vacuum some and keep open bags in Homer buckets. I have one bucket marked for "mixed" pellets that I just toss in with the base pellets or use if I want to cook some burgers, dogs or chicken.

EXTREMELY happy with the 700 and the Lumber Jack pellets as described above. Will never go back to charcoal for smoking now. And my toughest critics (about 20 of our closest friends) either can't tell the difference or are happy that things have actually improved a little. They should know because I cook a lot of briskets, butts, ham and ribs for them. We have them over all the time and they use me to supply them cooked meats for holidays and parties, etc.

YMMV

 

[BDuffel]

Also have caught some great deals from Dick's sporting goods on the L J pellets with free shipping. Only downside is they ship one or two bags per box so I wind up with 3-6 boxes for 5 or 6 bags of pellets.

BBQPelletsonline.com has some good deals and the Rural King reccomendations are good also.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

One additional question on that post is if i am correct in the overall support for LJ pellets. There are no dealers close to me. Anyone have experience ordering from Amazon?

I have. We haven't had a problem. bag is flat Inside a cardboard box. Have order through them twice so far, no issues

 

[Birrer]

I personally like B&B pellets. Good price, good flavor and very efficient as far as the burn goes. Can easily go 27 + hours on 40#'s. (LJ pellets were not as efficient) I use their competition blend for everyday cooking. Also have Post Oak, Apple, Pecan and Hickory. I've used all of them and have never been disappointed. Cooking with pellets will never be the same as cooking with a stick burner as far as smoke flavor goes. I will say though, these last few briskets I've done with Post Oak pellets definitely hold their own

 

[Bytor]

So, I'm half way thru my second bag of RT UB that came with my Trailblazer. I've been a stick smoker for 15+ years now, but have to say the smokiness and flavor of these has been quite nice. My family and neighbors think the same..... I just bought 40# of LJ bag of their maple, cherry and hickory blend. I thought it would be a nice try for something different. It seems to have good reviews for both the blend/ash and the company.

Typically, I use white oak, from my back yard, and add apple or cherry wood chunks from what I can find locally. I think my next try is to get some smaller bags of individual types to try out and see what I like. I have noticed that from a general perspective around my yard while smoking, that the pellets seem to be more aromatic than regular pieces of wood.

 

[Bytor]

As a side note, I was at the Academy looking at their smokers and pellet choices. Based off of what I saw.

1. I'm glad I went with RecTec
2. Their pellets, from B&B
are all flavored hardwood, I believe oak.

 

[mtoddsolomon]

My buddies and I from work split a pallet of lumberjack pellets from Lumberjack and paid less than $15 for a 40# bag. We got to choose what all woods and blends we wanted. hardest part is finding where I'm going to put 15 bags of pellets.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

... I have noticed that from a general perspective around my yard while smoking, that the pellets seem to be more aromatic than regular pieces of wood.

I think our pellet smokers consistently (and effortlessly) produce a nice blue, low soot, smoke, from a high temperature burn, regardless of the pellet wood selection. That's a big difference IMO.

 

[spartanhuntr]

Couple of updates and refreshed question...

I did do the amazon thing for LJ pellets and they came packaged neatly, tightly and in perfect box sizes. RecTec does the same... good packaging. So that is good. Thanks all for recommendation.

I got the Hickory - Charcoal Blend. Tried it. Very mild. Maybe too mild. One cook is not a representative sample so not giving up on it... but was hoping for more flavors of both. More hickory (although a mild wood) and certainly was hoping for a Charcoal aroma... didn't get that.

Leads to big question...

Anyone try the Charcoal only pellets? I think they are PitBoss Charcoal Wood Pellets? Flavor? Ash? Mess up auger? I have watched some Youtube reviews which are all ok... but just curios if users are happy? The videos seem very personal... one guy says wow.. great they are so charcoally they leave black residue on my hands.. the next guy says they are great because they don't leave a residue on my hands. Ha.

Anyone here use them? Pitboss Charcoal anyone?