# Pellets....for smoke or heat source?



## albert rivera (May 5, 2014)

Time to get the sleeping giants to shed a little lite on the subject!

Since I do not know the difference... help me learn.

My understanding is pellet grills are versatile for any type of cooking such as burgers, steaks, veggies; is anything cooked on a pellet grill going to have a smoky taste and smell much like grilling on a HOT smoker?

The pellets added to the tray in a Smoker such as a Masterbilt Electric Smoker are the source of the smoky smell and taste and that can vary depending on pellet type. 

Why is the wood type the pellet is made from never mentioned when firing up a pellet grill?

I very often use the Amazing tube or the Amazing tray as a source of smoke on my Charbroil 4-burner Infrared gas grill; if I do not want the smoky smell or taste I simply cook solely with the gas.

Shed some light.


----------



## bbqhead (May 6, 2014)

The very same wood pellets used for smoking are the same as for grilling , as long as they are food grade pellets and not home heating pellets.    hard woods to fruit woods will make your cooking expiriance  a treat . hope this helps , if any other questions just ask , and someone on here will try to answer .


----------



## seenred (May 6, 2014)

Albert Rivera said:


> Time to get the sleeping giants to shed a little lite on the subject!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Hi Albert...



I own a pellet smoker, and agree that they are versatile.  I can both slow-smoke meats like ribs, butts and briskets at low temps, and direct grill meats like steaks and burgers at high temps.  



Much like cooking in a wood fired stick burner, when cooking on a pellet grill, the wood in the pellets provide_ both_ the fuel for the heat _and_ the smoky taste that BBQ cooks seek.  There are indeed many different "flavors", or types, of wood pellets available...most of the common types of wood you might burn in a stick burner are available in cooking pellets.  I prefer to cook with 100% hickory wood pellets...however many pellet cooks claim that they cannot distinguish one pellet flavor from another in the taste of their food.



There are also people who don't care for pellet-cooked food because they don't think it provides a strong enough smoke flavor in the food.  This is usually the case from people used to eating meat smoked in a charcoal smoker or a stick burner.  It is true that pellet pits create a more subtle smoke flavor than stick burners or charcoal smokers.  For that reason, many pellet cooks will use a smoke generator of some kind - like Todd's A-Maze-N Tube smokers, for example - as a source of extra smoke flavor.



I hope this helped any to answer your question.



Red


----------



## marauder (May 7, 2014)

pellets put off a lot of smoke  i use them in  my smoker tray  ...propane........  and grill  with a  v shaped  box that sits on the burners type thing .. cant think of the name! the electric smoker boxes are so contained that the  smoke is literally  boiling on the meat the entire time the wood chunk ,chips are  pellets are burning. that it does make a difference what type you are using .. fruitwoods wood lighter smoker  ,hardwoods more  ....  i like a 50/50 mix  on most smokes in my wood burner  apple /pecan  is my favorite! peach is my choice in the electric smoker for lighter taste!


----------



## shtrdave (May 7, 2014)

I also have a pellet cooker, but it really doesn't give that deep smoke taste of the stick burner and even my cookshack gives a more intense smoke taste. I have used smoke tubes, trays and what not but while they probably do help I am not sure of how much help they are offering in the pellet cooker. Truthfully the only time I really noticed the added flavor was when I was using herb pellets from Smokin Spice, they have Sage, Oregano, and a Mediterranean Blend. I will mix some of these in as straight they seem to over power for my taste.

As for pellets, read the write up below and make your own decision, and yes this is one person's research/opinion.
http://seriousbirder.com/blogs/what-are-food-grade-wood-pellets/

I will not use just any heating pellet in my cooker, I have done some research and found 2 brands that I can buy close to me and have used them with good results. I am in an area where it is primarily hard wood. Plus using them to heat my home in the winter means I always have a couple of 6 tons on hand.

All this said I like the food mine produces, and the GF doesn't like a heavy smoke flavor, and we have all had stuff that was just over smoked and you still taste that smoke hours later, you will not have that problem when cooking with them.


----------

