Wood pellet grills are very interesting. The problem is that people are under misconceptions about wood pellets and wood pellet grills. Wood pellet grills are VERY efficient. The problem with the smoke flavor is that it comes out when wood is burned inefficiently. Meaning if you want to get the wood smoke flavor from pellets you need to smolder the wood pellets instead of burn it. Now here is where things can get ... interesting. It can be implied that I am saying any wood is safe to use in a pellet grill. I am not. Soft woods and many Biomass energy pellets won't burn efficiently and can add unwanted flavors into the food (at best. At worst they can make the food dangerous to eat). Wood pellets are surprisingly easy to make. All you need to do is compress the wood to the point that the Lignin in the wood acts as a binder, and then cut the pellets at the desired length.
This guy gets it. I think pellets are simply too efficient to impart a significant difference in flavor, at least nowhere near the clear differences in hardwood. Take for instance, I would never rub mesquite chunks or logs for a long cook, but it’s perfectly fine for a pellet
I definitely agree with you that Bear Mountain is a little different. From what I have read is that Traeger is flavored alderwood. The only time I've bothered to clean out my hopper was when I was doing a brisket after chickens and I had apple pellets in it, because in my observation at the bare minimum there's a difference in smoke density. Oh, and the Jack Daniels are charcoal pellets made from the barrells.
I have used a few different brands. I will say that I agree and disagree about all of them tasting the same. Overall, yes. It's just a smoky taste and if you are cooking over 250-275, unless it's in there for several hours. You are not putting that much smoke flavor on anything. Traeger pellets never seemed to put much flavor at all and were very ashy. Bear Mountain, Knotty Wood and Cookin Pellets were always solid and 100% of whatever wood the bag said. Always had good quality pellets, not too ashy and good smoke flavor. Smokin' Pecan, Pecan shell pellets are always very good and that is one that you can definitely taste the difference.
Ok let me start off by saying..Pit Boss pellets get a lot of hate on the internet. I use pit boss pellets and love them. When I use them I notice a difference in smoke smell and food flavor depending on the pellet flavor. I usually use Hickory/Oak. But when I use apple or anything else I can definitely taste the difference.
I buy what ever is on sale. Years ago I used to drive big truck I went to the exide plant in Pennsylvania. On the plant floor they had big placards that had all the rows of skids with different brands of batteries. They all came from the same factory only different labels. I know for sure that the Costco Kirkland battery is exide. And I also noticed volvo Volvo was there. And at least five or six other names.
I am new to the game and enjoying my Grilla Grills pellet grill. I got it with a special that came with 160 lbs of their pellets. The grill was right on temp the whole time I used it until I tried Bear Mtn. pellets for the first time. Those pellets were burning 60 to 80 degrees hotter then my setting no matter what I did. So flavor I have yet to determine with other pellets, but how they burn temp or ash is for sure different.
Love to listen to you, Malcom. You're such a straight shooter. I know I'd love to hang out with you (even if you didn't cook some amazing BBQ for me). 🤣
Great to hear Malcolm say that he can't taste the difference between different brands and flavors of pellets. I have been tinkering with different types of wood chips and pellets for years and I can not discern any difference. I wish I could... At this point, I can distinguish subtle differences in SMELL between hickory, mesquite and cherry but they all TASTE the same to me.
The Jack Daniels pellets are made from the burned down wood pallets they use in their 14' vats that they drip the liquor through. After so long they have to replace that charcoal in the vats so they make pellets out of that old charcoal. Its a great business plan...Nothing goes to waste over there.
What Malcom said about the labeling is spot on. I use to work for a big dairy in Louisiana it was my first real job. In the milk plant we bottled milk for 4 different companies. All we did was change the label and cap. Date and milk was exactly the same😂
I have noticed a difference between pit boss and bear mountain. Bear mountain was a decent amount better. Also, apple and hickory do have different flavors. I’m trying Cookinpellets, so we’ll see how that goes.
Biggest difference in smoke smell and flavor i have had was almond wood pellets from Knotty wood farms. They honestly are very different. Jack Daniel's taste good. And cookin pellets are phenomenal. None like knotty wood though. Actually both of tbeirs are great. Almond wood and the Plum. I used almond wood more though.
Knotty Wood Plum pellets are the TRUTH! If I can't get them, Bear Mountain makes good pellets as well. I have used Jealous Devil Jax, but I don't too much care for those much.
My first pellet cook was with jealous devil, did not care much or taste any smoke flavor with those. Cooking a brisket tonight with knotty wood almond the. Knotty wood definitely had a darker pellet which I think has more bark and hearing that bark creates more bark and smoke I hope it does better.
I can say for sure that Pitt Boss pellets are more or less flavorless. I switched to Bear Mountain and the flavor difference was definitely noticeable. Someone did a taste test between different pellets (not Jeremy Yoder, some other guy in his own back yard) and he came to the conclusion that there were two types of pellets. About half the pellet brands fell into one group where the flavor was almost indistinguishable as not smokey, and the premium group all fell into a smokier group that was also indistinguishable from each other.
Hello, I would like to create my own custom mix which I plan to use mainly for adding a smoky flavor to some of my aged whole muscle and salamis. I am thinking of using hickory, pecan, apple, and cherry pellets. I wonder if it would be a good idea to mix all four and in what proportions I should mix it. Thanks in advance for your advice.
Anything thing that doesn't say 100% of a wood is a mix. Generally that's because the flavored woods are a softer wood and burn faster and I believe not as hot...so they mix in a hardwood like oak or hickory so that the burn is a more consistent temperature.
Mad Scientist BBQ did a taste test - with diff pelets and diff manuf - and then they had people blind taste the food and pick their fav. It was amazing and funny - as the “pros” had diff opinions and decisions than the common public. A fatastic vid. This is Jeremy Yoder - his channel. It was ALL about pellets and flavor
I seen that video and it was interesting. I've owned my pellet grill about 3 years now. I totally agree with Jeremy on how the combustion of pellet grilling vs stick burner is completely different. If I reheat smoked meats at work in the microwave, my coworkers always mention what I have smells great off the stick burner. I never hear a peep when I reheat something off of my pellet smoker. That's not even mentioning the taste. Jeremy is 100% correct on the difference.
I live in Houston and there are mfers in the metropolitan area up 45 N and they will NO JOKE make their own charcoal by burning their own lands trees and replant next year or develop it. Annnnnnd this isn’t like a HUGE company or something no no no. These are legit like small family homes on 4-12 acres plots that burn down HUGE piles of mesquite in big kilns in their lawn. I’ve seen atleast 5-6 family homes collecting their mesquite and burning it to make mesquite charcoal out here IN the mf city limits and shiii xD it’s a whole joke then they wonder why our community is underserved by fire department LOL
When fly fishing they say, fish the fly you are confident using. If the branding on your pellets, grill, or rubs/sauces gives you confidence, then use that. Achieving positive results while using something you don't believe in seems unproductive.
I’ve used several different brands of pellets and I always come back to bear mountain! They seem to burn well, lower ash and good flavor!
I've been hearing and seeing in articles Bear Mountain pellets. Next bag I will give it a go
I agree.
Wood pellet grills are very interesting. The problem is that people are under misconceptions about wood pellets and wood pellet grills.
Wood pellet grills are VERY efficient. The problem with the smoke flavor is that it comes out when wood is burned inefficiently. Meaning if you want to get the wood smoke flavor from pellets you need to smolder the wood pellets instead of burn it.
Now here is where things can get ... interesting. It can be implied that I am saying any wood is safe to use in a pellet grill. I am not. Soft woods and many Biomass energy pellets won't burn efficiently and can add unwanted flavors into the food (at best. At worst they can make the food dangerous to eat).
Wood pellets are surprisingly easy to make. All you need to do is compress the wood to the point that the Lignin in the wood acts as a binder, and then cut the pellets at the desired length.
This guy gets it. I think pellets are simply too efficient to impart a significant difference in flavor, at least nowhere near the clear differences in hardwood. Take for instance, I would never rub mesquite chunks or logs for a long cook, but it’s perfectly fine for a pellet
At 14.99 for a 40lb bag of B&B competition blend is my go to and I am trying Kirkland brand from Costco 40lb for 12.99
I definitely agree with you that Bear Mountain is a little different. From what I have read is that Traeger is flavored alderwood. The only time I've bothered to clean out my hopper was when I was doing a brisket after chickens and I had apple pellets in it, because in my observation at the bare minimum there's a difference in smoke density. Oh, and the Jack Daniels are charcoal pellets made from the barrells.
Yep flavored saw dust yum.
I have used a few different brands. I will say that I agree and disagree about all of them tasting the same. Overall, yes. It's just a smoky taste and if you are cooking over 250-275, unless it's in there for several hours. You are not putting that much smoke flavor on anything. Traeger pellets never seemed to put much flavor at all and were very ashy. Bear Mountain, Knotty Wood and Cookin Pellets were always solid and 100% of whatever wood the bag said. Always had good quality pellets, not too ashy and good smoke flavor. Smokin' Pecan, Pecan shell pellets are always very good and that is one that you can definitely taste the difference.
Ok let me start off by saying..Pit Boss pellets get a lot of hate on the internet. I use pit boss pellets and love them. When I use them I notice a difference in smoke smell and food flavor depending on the pellet flavor. I usually use Hickory/Oak. But when I use apple or anything else I can definitely taste the difference.
I buy what ever is on sale. Years ago I used to drive big truck I went to the exide plant in Pennsylvania. On the plant floor they had big placards that had all the rows of skids with different brands of batteries. They all came from the same factory only different labels. I know for sure that the Costco Kirkland battery is exide. And I also noticed volvo Volvo was there. And at least five or six other names.
I empty my hopper after every cook, then I vacuum the hopper. I even clean my smoker between every cook.
I am new to the game and enjoying my Grilla Grills pellet grill. I got it with a special that came with 160 lbs of their pellets. The grill was right on temp the whole time I used it until I tried Bear Mtn. pellets for the first time. Those pellets were burning 60 to 80 degrees hotter then my setting no matter what I did. So flavor I have yet to determine with other pellets, but how they burn temp or ash is for sure different.
Can I put royal oak pellets in a smoke tube? Just got a pit boss vertical 5. Flavor? Burning?
Love to listen to you, Malcom. You're such a straight shooter. I know I'd love to hang out with you (even if you didn't cook some amazing BBQ for me). 🤣
Great to hear Malcolm say that he can't taste the difference between different brands and flavors of pellets. I have been tinkering with different types of wood chips and pellets for years and I can not discern any difference. I wish I could...
At this point, I can distinguish subtle differences in SMELL between hickory, mesquite and cherry but they all TASTE the same to me.
The Jack Daniels pellets are made from the burned down wood pallets they use in their 14' vats that they drip the liquor through. After so long they have to replace that charcoal in the vats so they make pellets out of that old charcoal. Its a great business plan...Nothing goes to waste over there.
Only ones I've changed out were Alder and it for sure made a difference
Really interesting talk. I will stop cleaning out the hopper now lol
Same here, good to know
What Malcom said about the labeling is spot on. I use to work for a big dairy in Louisiana it was my first real job. In the milk plant we bottled milk for 4 different companies. All we did was change the label and cap. Date and milk was exactly the same😂
Try the lumberjack pellets. They are one of the best that are readily available
I have noticed a difference between pit boss and bear mountain. Bear mountain was a decent amount better. Also, apple and hickory do have different flavors. I’m trying Cookinpellets, so we’ll see how that goes.
Biggest difference in smoke smell and flavor i have had was almond wood pellets from Knotty wood farms. They honestly are very different. Jack Daniel's taste good. And cookin pellets are phenomenal. None like knotty wood though. Actually both of tbeirs are great. Almond wood and the Plum. I used almond wood more though.
Knotty Wood Plum pellets are the TRUTH! If I can't get them, Bear Mountain makes good pellets as well. I have used Jealous Devil Jax, but I don't too much care for those much.
My first pellet cook was with jealous devil, did not care much or taste any smoke flavor with those. Cooking a brisket tonight with knotty wood almond the. Knotty wood definitely had a darker pellet which I think has more bark and hearing that bark creates more bark and smoke I hope it does better.
I can say for sure that Pitt Boss pellets are more or less flavorless. I switched to Bear Mountain and the flavor difference was definitely noticeable. Someone did a taste test between different pellets (not Jeremy Yoder, some other guy in his own back yard) and he came to the conclusion that there were two types of pellets. About half the pellet brands fell into one group where the flavor was almost indistinguishable as not smokey, and the premium group all fell into a smokier group that was also indistinguishable from each other.
Hello, I would like to create my own custom mix which I plan to use mainly for adding a smoky flavor to some of my aged whole muscle and salamis. I am thinking of using hickory, pecan, apple, and cherry pellets.
I wonder if it would be a good idea to mix all four and in what proportions I should mix it. Thanks in advance for your advice.
Been so curious to know about this!
Waiting on the three grill experiment....
Anything thing that doesn't say 100% of a wood is a mix. Generally that's because the flavored woods are a softer wood and burn faster and I believe not as hot...so they mix in a hardwood like oak or hickory so that the burn is a more consistent temperature.
Every time I see something like this I am grateful that I have pretty much an unlimited supply of oak and mesquite on my property.
I tried Costco's pellets and I didn't get any smoke flavor from them. I'll stick with Bear Mountain and Lumberjack.
Mad Scientist BBQ did a taste test - with diff pelets and diff manuf - and then they had people blind taste the food and pick their fav. It was amazing and funny - as the “pros” had diff opinions and decisions than the common public. A fatastic vid. This is Jeremy Yoder - his channel. It was ALL about pellets and flavor
I seen that video and it was interesting. I've owned my pellet grill about 3 years now. I totally agree with Jeremy on how the combustion of pellet grilling vs stick burner is completely different. If I reheat smoked meats at work in the microwave, my coworkers always mention what I have smells great off the stick burner. I never hear a peep when I reheat something off of my pellet smoker. That's not even mentioning the taste. Jeremy is 100% correct on the difference.
Sam's Club $14.99 for 40 lbs. work just peachy in my GMG
I can tell a difference in lumberjack pellets but that’s the only brand I can tell a difference in.
I will definitely change out pellets when I’m doing fish. Hickory is too much for fish.
I live in Houston and there are mfers in the metropolitan area up 45 N and they will NO JOKE make their own charcoal by burning their own lands trees and replant next year or develop it. Annnnnnd this isn’t like a HUGE company or something no no no. These are legit like small family homes on 4-12 acres plots that burn down HUGE piles of mesquite in big kilns in their lawn. I’ve seen atleast 5-6 family homes collecting their mesquite and burning it to make mesquite charcoal out here IN the mf city limits and shiii xD it’s a whole joke then they wonder why our community is underserved by fire department LOL
When fly fishing they say, fish the fly you are confident using. If the branding on your pellets, grill, or rubs/sauces gives you confidence, then use that. Achieving positive results while using something you don't believe in seems unproductive.
all the same to me
Burn sticks. You will never question if there is a difference between pecan, mesquite, hickory, etc. The difference is obvious.
Damn, you’re cool.
@@sham9174 damn, you're not.
Well in this video he’s talking about pellets
Jermy Yoder already did that experiment, and the winner was those sorry ass trager pellets.
I bet I’ve used over 600lbs of pellets and can’t tell a nickel’s difference
Try recteq they make a big difference
To me it doesn't really seem to matter,traeger being the worst
Flavored? You're not supposed to eat them.