I generally don’t even bother with the pellet grills and no smoke argument anymore, but since it pertains directly to the OP, I’ll chime in. I’m a pellet lunatic and have had 11 pellet grills and there is a huge difference in smoke profiles from different pellet grills and also a noticeable difference in pellets. MAK is on the very high end for pellet grill smoke profiles and I’d put food from it up against anything cooked over clean smoke on any cooker outside of a stick burner. The only pellet grill I’ve seen with a better smoke profile is the Weber SmokeFire. Controllers, drip pans, and exhaust designs all impact smoke profile. I cooked ribs on a Traeger Silverton that tasted no different than if I would have baked them in an oven because the temps held too steady to smolder pellets at all and there was only about 3/8” gap between the drip tray and the walls of the grill keeping the smoke far from the food before it blew out the exhaust.
To the OP, see if you can find some Traeger Alder pellets, if not find some Traeger Oak or another 100% oak. There’s more 100% oak available than any other species because it’s the main ‘base’ wood used and is mild in flavor and high in BTUs. Then if that works for your wife, try pecan, maple, apple, etc. from places that do 70/30 or 80/20 blends.
