Shipping of pellets is crazy expensive

[sawinredneck]

$15 bulky item charge PER bag!!!

Ouch!!! Sorry about that!

 

[bregent]

 
As a newbie smoker from SF-BA myself I am trying to figure this out as well.

I purchased 200lbs with my grill and so far I am still trying to burn through that (saved on shipping) (so far only burned through about 30lbs through 7 long cooks which I think is great)

However afterwards I will most likely look for a group buy or buy them from amazon as previously stated for ~$31 a bag and free shipping (prime).

http://www.cencalpelletoutlet.com is a place that has intruiged me due to prices, however when I tried to contact them I got no response. Not sure if this is actually a live website/product anymore but if it is, might need to be the "go-to" solution.

There are a couple vendors that sell cookinpellets locally, but at $35 + tax + gas, id rather just have them be hand delivered by amazon.

Have you checked out C&C in San Jose?

 

[westcoastbbq]

 
Have you checked out C&C in San Jose?

Yeah, I don't remember what brand they had but they did have one random bag the last time I was in there. Will check it out when I get low as the price was reasonable but not a brand I immediately recognized.

 

[bregent]

 
Yeah, I don't remember what brand they had but they did have one random bag the last time I was in there. Will check it out when I get low as the price was reasonable but not a brand I immediately recognized.

They carry Bear Mountain, which is one of the largest pellet mfgs and very high quality. http://bmfp.com/

Surprising they only had one bag. Oakland store carries Apple, Cherry, Hickory, Pecan, Oak, Alder, Mesquite and Maple in a variety of sizes. They use alder for base wood.

 

[foamheart]

Bert, howdee.... Nice to meet you. Might I ask that whe you get a spare min if you would, please click on the upper taskbar on the profile icon. Insert whatever you are comfortible with sharing, but please give us some geographic boundries that you live within. It makes a huge difference in a discussion. Were you at the North Pole our possible solutions would be different than if you were down town New York city.

I don't know I can help much more than others have said but..... know that there is no federal regulations or even guidelines as to how a pellet is made. Not all pellets are the same.

If you live in an area that just lacks a store front, maybe you could find a sponsor and stock, ship, and supply pellets within your area. It would certainly pay well enough to get free pellets for you, maybe a new smoker, heck might even put your kids thru school. If there are enough pellet burners around your area, you should think upon it.

I will say of those I have had, Todd's are as good as I have used. He also helps by providing schooling as to which pellets are easy burn and which must be mixed with others to achieve their purpose.

 

[gpb11]

 
Sigh.  I have been watching for a price drop for a couple of weeks.  It says the same for me now.  When did this happen?  Was there a post about it and a mass rush for the pellets?  How did they go out of stock so quickly?

I'm not sure.  I noticed they were out of stock late last week while still at the 27.49 price.  I imagine the price dropped over the weekend but don't know whether they'd gotten in some stock.  Maybe it's a category sale applying to summer/outdoor stuff they're clearing out?  Target does tend to be very seasonal on some things so I wouldn't be surprised if their carrying this stuff is/was temporary.

Or I could be wrong.  Will keep watching.  $22/40# ($21/40# with REDcard discount) is a good deal for by-the-bag quantities considering it's 30mi to the nearest Academy Sports.

 

[bertgamble]

I just found the closest Academy Sports, and it is only 1185 miles. I am thinking about making the trip on a long weekend. Just kidding. I appreciate the info, but I will have to find a closer supplier.

I forund a guy who is a dealer for cookingpellets, and he sells the 40 pound bags for $34. I am going ot get a few bags from him. I also ordered 2 from Amazon, but I read that they arrive with a lot of dust because of how they are shipped. I hope I am happier with the ones I pick up.

Thanks all for the info.

Bert

 

[mrad]

Bert
Where are you located ?

 

[bertgamble]

Bert
Where are you located ?

Willits Ca.  About 100 miles north of San Francisco.  Why?

 

[gunnerjohn]

If you are in Willits, you can hit the Santa Rosa Cash & Carry and pay $10.42 for 20lb. bags of Bear Mountain Pellets or $16.35 for the 33lb. bags or hickory & mesquite Bear Mountains. Still going to be cheaper driving the 1.5 hours each way than paying the shipping on a bunch of pellets from across the country. Plus its a pretty drive and you can get great meats there at a savings. Bring a big cooler. 

 

[migraine]

If you get in a pinch, there's probably a local Ace Hardware store near you that stocks Traeger pellets and they run around $20/bag.  If not, they can get them for you, most Ace stores get a delivery every week from the main warehouse.

I'm not a fan of their pellets, but something is better than nothing.

A separate pellet tray/tube can give you the flavor you want, if you have to use Traeger pellets.

If you ever get into Sacramento, there is a Cash and Carry <1 minute east of the 5 freeway. They stock all the flavors

-Brian

 

[bregent]

 
If you are in Willits, you can hit the Santa Rosa Cash & Carry and pay $10.42 for 20lb. bags of Bear Mountain Pellets or $16.35 for the 33lb. bags or hickory & mesquite Bear Mountains. Still going to be cheaper driving the 1.5 hours each way than paying the shipping on a bunch of pellets from across the country. Plus its a pretty drive and you can get great meats there at a savings. Bring a big cooler. 

Yeah, might as well pick up a brisket or two while you're there. They usually stock Angus choice for about $2.99/lb

 

[hoity toit]

If you buy direct from Traeger and buy 2 2o lb bags , shipping is only $ 8.50

I did a search and found Traeger pellets with free shipping at a place in Houston called shop.texasstarfoods.com They were pretty reasonable on price too.

HT

 

[robertwhite]

 
If you buy direct from Traeger and buy 2 2o lb bags , shipping is only $ 8.50

I did a search and found Traeger pellets with free shipping at a place in Houston called shop.texasstarfoods.com They were pretty reasonable on price too.

HT

Do yourself a favor, and don't.

Traeger uses oils to get their flavor, not actual hardwoods.

Amazon has the Cookin' Pellet's for $28.20 right now, which is the lowest it has been in well over a year (and that was by maybe .20 cents) and prior to that the lowest since 2013. Free shipping with Prime.

 

[gpb11]

Traeger pellets are just too expensive for anything but an emergency where you simply can't access anything else.   Even best case of buying from Home Depot with 5% HD card discount they're 95¢/lb.  The oil thing doesn't matter when there's known good products available delivered to your door for less money.  (Nobody's yet explained how extracting a flavor oil from one type wood then adding to a second type of wood is cheaper than just using some percentage of the first wood?  Any ideas how that could make financial sense to do?)

Anyway, so long as CookinPellets are under $38 per 40lb bag from Amazon you're getting them cheaper than Traeger pellets.  As mentioned right now they're $28.20/40lb.   Prime gives you free two-day shipping, or just order two bags to get over the $35 threshold for free shipping if you don't have Prime.

 

[bregent]

 
Traeger pellets are just too expensive for anything but an emergency where you simply can't access anything else.   Even best case of buying from Home Depot with 5% HD card discount they're 95¢/lb.  The oil thing doesn't matter when there's known good products available delivered to your door for less money.  (Nobody's yet explained how extracting a flavor oil from one type wood then adding to a second type of wood is cheaper than just using some percentage of the first wood?  Any ideas how that could make financial sense to do?)

Anyway, so long as CookinPellets are under $38 per 40lb bag from Amazon you're getting them cheaper than Traeger pellets.  As mentioned right now they're $28.20/40lb.   Prime gives you free two-day shipping, or just order two bags to get over the $35 threshold for free shipping if you don't have Prime.

I don't use Traeger pellets but, Costco always has them and I believe they are around 60c/lb.

If you read their patent application, it explains the rationale behind the process and associated reduction in transportation costs. Personally, I don't really care if they use oils extracted from real flavor woods. If the pellets impart a good flavor and are economical, then I would consider using them. 

And from what I've gathered, the wood oils are only used in their Mesquite and Hickory pellets. Alder, oak and maple are 100% flavor wood. The rest are a blend of base and flavor woods.

 

[gpb11]

I don't use Traeger pellets but, Costco always has them and I believe they are around 60c/lb.

Interesting that Costco is carrying their pellets in your area.  I've only seen Traeger pellets at Costco stores in Atlanta when a particular store was hosting a Traeger Roadshow.  I do remember the gourmet blend intrigued me since it was $20/33lb and the Costco signage claimed a 50/25/25 MHC blend.  I didn't buy anything though as I didn't expect continued availability; I'm happy to try different pellets but I need to be able to reliably source them at a decent price.  

Thanks for the pointer that there's more info in their patent application.  I'll go look that up when I have a chance.  Maybe that'll satisfy my curiosity.

It isn't the flavoring oils stuff that puts me off of Traeger but their claim that using non-Traeger pellets voids the warranty.  I view that as intentionally misleading their customers and prefer to give my business to other companies instead.

 

[hoity toit]

 
Do yourself a favor, and don't.

Traeger uses oils to get their flavor, not actual hardwoods.

Amazon has the Cookin' Pellet's for $28.20 right now, which is the lowest it has been in well over a year (and that was by maybe .20 cents) and prior to that the lowest since 2013. Free shipping with Prime.

Ive been using Traeger for years and dont have a problem with their product. You burn hickory you ARE burning hickory oil also. I see no difference..as long as the flavor is there. It is a matter of personal preference but i DO see your point. Most of the time I burn "real wood" in my stick burner anyway.,,and shovel the coals from there after the bark burns off. If I were to buy any more pellets they will be from todd at Ama-Z-n products. He has what I like to use as well.

 

[mrad]

Willits Ca.  About 100 miles north of San Francisco.  Why?

If you. We're in my area I have a dealer who sells 40 lb bags of lumberjack pellets for $15 a bag

 

[jtrainor56]

When I ordered my YS640 I passed on the comp cart and ordered a half pallet of pellets from ATBBQ, came to less than $15.00 with shipping per 20 lb bag. I have a BBQ store 15 minutes from me and he charges $20/ bag plus sales tax.