# Has anyone ever used Cheat River Hardwood pellets for cooking?



## Chuck Wrost (Feb 27, 2020)

I went to my local Lowe's Hardware store today to clear them out on some bags of Royal Oak (15.4lb.) bags of charcoal.  Shoot they were on clearance for a buck 99.  While I was there, there was a pellet of these wood pellets "Cheat River Hardwood Pellet Fuel".  On the bag is said perfect for pellet grills.  Does anyone know what type these pellets are make out of?  I picked up a 40lb bag on clearance for under 5 bucks.  I e-mailed the company to see if they can tell me what wood they use.  I'm hoping it's at least oak.

Thanks,
Chuck.


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## RCAlan (Feb 27, 2020)

Never heard of them...  Give it a shot and post back what you think.

Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods...  in SoCal and Always...  Semper Fi


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## JWFokker (Feb 28, 2020)

Generally well reviewed on pellet heat forums. No telling what blend of woods you're getting unfortunately, but that's the case with most major pellet brands anyway. If they smell better than Pit Boss I think they're a good deal.


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## Chuck Wrost (Feb 28, 2020)

Which Pit Boss pellets have you had problems with?  I'm thinking you may be reffering to their comp blend.  If so I agree,  As far as the Hickory pellets, I've used those mostly on chicken with good results.  I have never used any of their others though.


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## JWFokker (Feb 29, 2020)

I don't have a problem with Pit Boss pellets. They're the cheapest and just as good as any of the other mystery blends sold by Traeger, Camp Chef, Memphis, etc. Very few brands of pellets are what is printed on the bag. If it's a blend, the cheaper the better.


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## Hinkle (Mar 4, 2020)

I use these pellets to heat my house with and have also gave some to my brother to use in his Traeger. Both smell wonderful and gave a great taste to the meat. The bag says they’re save to cook with, and the fact we’re all still alive is enough to swing me from a stick burner to a pellet burner, so if anyone has a good recommendation for a decent 40” I’m listening.


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## Hinkle (Mar 22, 2020)

I purchased a Rec Tec recently and just did a 7 hour smoke with these pellets, smoking some spare ribs at 225. They came out good but the smoke flavor wasn’t as good as smoking with something like cherry in a stick burner. There are a very variables that could be thrown into the mix that could have impacted the taste, new grill and running a generator too close while mid smoke. I will use them again but they may be better suited for cooking at higher temps rather than extended smoking for smoke flavor.


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## JWFokker (Mar 25, 2020)

You should try running under 200F for the first two hours and maybe add a pellet tube if you need more smoke flavor. At 225F smoke density is already dropping off with pellet burners.


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## Hinkle (Mar 25, 2020)

So I'm new to the pellet smoker and it falls in line with this thread. I've been an off set smoker until now, never wrapped as the extra time wasn't an issue to me. Is there a cut off period with pellet smokers that you HAVE TO wrap? Watched a video where they smoke a pork butt on a pellet smoker and the guy mentions you can pick up bitter flavors after 160-170. Started searching and found a few sites that mention it, but most refer back to that video. Never experienced this with the off set, maybe by luck but always ran the chimney wide open for that reason.  I searched this site but only found threads about creosote and off sets. 
Sorry to divert from the original question, but this could also be why I didn't find the smoke flavor as good as an off set for this brand of pellet. I've got half a ton in the basement left over from this winter that I would like to use for cooking this summer. 

video I'm referring too.


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## JWFokker (Mar 27, 2020)

That's not true. You wrap at 160-170F because the meat will stall when cooking at 225F. And I frequently skip wrapping on the pellet burner. Just go 275-300F and finish no wrap.


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## Hinkle (Apr 3, 2020)

Back on track, cooked some ribeyes with these pellets tonight. set at 475 but temp read at 400-450 during cook from opening the lid. Steaks were only 3/4" thick, 4 minutes a side with a quick twist then 2 more minutes for grill marks on each side. I don't have the sear kit. Let them sit for 10 minutes while we bulldozed through some twice cooked potatoes. I haven't read this forums rules yet but *insert inappropriate joke* them SOBs were good. 
I think these pellets may fall into a category that they could be recommended for certain types of meat. Pork; maybe not. Beef; Montgomery Gentry "hell yeah". 

Side note, we've done a variety of potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, sliced mushrooms, onions whole and sliced, canned baked beans, and they have all been excellent.


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## coolericsir (Apr 6, 2020)

Chuck Wrost said:


> I went to my local Lowe's Hardware store today to clear them out on some bags of Royal Oak (15.4lb.) bags of charcoal.  Shoot they were on clearance for a buck 99.  While I was there, there was a pellet of these wood pellets "Cheat River Hardwood Pellet Fuel".  On the bag is said perfect for pellet grills.  Does anyone know what type these pellets are make out of?  I picked up a 40lb bag on clearance for under 5 bucks.  I e-mailed the company to see if they can tell me what wood they use.  I'm hoping it's at least oak.
> 
> Thanks,
> Chuck.


Chuck


Chuck Wrost said:


> I went to my local Lowe's Hardware store today to clear them out on some bags of Royal Oak (15.4lb.) bags of charcoal.  Shoot they were on clearance for a buck 99.  While I was there, there was a pellet of these wood pellets "Cheat River Hardwood Pellet Fuel".  On the bag is said perfect for pellet grills.  Does anyone know what type these pellets are make out of?  I picked up a 40lb bag on clearance for under 5 bucks.  I e-mailed the company to see if they can tell me what wood they use.  I'm hoping it's at least oak.
> 
> Thanks,
> Chuck.


I use them often with great results. They’re a hardwood blend that’s never gonna be perfectly consistent in ratios, percentages or possibly even types of wood. No blend is gonna be regardless of who makes it.  You didn’t buy them on clearance, they’re always that cheap there as they primarily sell them as a heating fuel.  I buy a few different brands of pellets marketed as a heating fuel that are 100% hardwood. I’ve contacted the manufacturers of each and they all told me the same thing. They use their own pellets in their grills and so do their employees.  Not sure where you live, but if you can find the Hamer brand; they’re a great one. Real close to pure oak if not 100%.  $5/40#


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