rwalters
Quintessential Chatty Farker
It was almost 9 years ago (Feb 2013) that I saw this information put out on a forum that I was participating on at the time. It was super helpful to me. I just happened to stumble upon it again, the other day, and thought I’d share it here…
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Pellet Cookers 101
Part One -- Should you own a pellet cooker?
I bought my first pellet cooker about six years ago. It was a disaster. It was an impulse purchase – a moderately well used Traeger Little Texas. It had the infamous “3 speed” controller on it. But, it actually had two speeds -- on and off. Looking back on it now it is a wonder I ever got past it. It was the grill from hell. I could cook better food on a bonfire. I gave it away after about three attempts to cook on it. But . . .
Something back in the back of my brain kept eating at me. I kept thinking “pellets are a great idea”. So, I did my homework and spent lots of time reading up on pellet cooking, cookers and technology. I joined a forum dedicated to pellet cooking. The rest is history. I learned the ins and outs of using a pellet cooker properly, learned what is valuable in choosing one, learned how to cook great groceries on one, and learned how to help other folks do the same. In an adventure spanning several years, I became a moderator of a major pellet cooking forum and have published quite a few articles on the topic. I don’t know it all – new things happen every day – but I know enough to help you move toward pellet cooking if you’re interested and keep you from making some of the common, expensive mistakes.
So, you’re thinking about a pellet cooker? They’re certainly worth consideration in most outdoor cooking arsenals, but they aren’t for everyone, they aren’t perfect, and they (like any other cooker your might switch to from your current fuel) deserve some modest thought and research before you write a fairly hefty check to buy one.
It is a BURNING issue . . .
The single most important thing anyone considering a pellet cooker needs to know up front is that pellet cookers do not impart a heavy smoke flavor. Thanks to electronic controllers of several varieties, even on older and less expensive cookers, pellet cookers burn relatively cleanly, producing “blue smoke” which imparts a mild smokiness under the right usage and almost no smoke flavor at higher temperatures. This quality is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing for cooks who tend to over-smoke (a real plus in competition barbeque where over-smoking is a fatal error) and a curse to those folks who seek heavy smoke flavor in the finished goods. FACT OF LIFE: If you want heavy smoke flavor you’ll either have to buy a smoke augmentation device for your pellet cooker (there are several types available) or you’ll need to stick with cooking on a device that can be tweaked to produce lots of “white smoke” which will instill heavy smoke flavor.
I firmly believe that 95% of the dissatisfaction with pellet cookers comes from folks who want heavy smoke flavor and don’t get it, then stomp off into the sunset without bothering to learn HOW to use their cooker properly.
It is a TECHNICAL issue . . .
The second most important thing for a potential pellet cooker owner to understand is that pellet cookers are based on electromechanical technology. They are not simple. Moving parts (motor driven augers and fans) are told “what to do” by an electronic controller that governs the timing and amount of pellets that get scooped out of a bin, down through a chute, into a fire ignited by an electric element at startup. Things can and do go wrong in this process. Some maintenance is required. Properly set up and maintained, however, a pellet cooker is an amazingly reliable device! Most are even relatively easy to troubleshoot and fix even if something does go wrong. Don’t buy a pellet cooker if you are averse to a little bit of normal maintaining now and then to keep it working well. It doesn’t take a lot of time or tools or skill, just common sense. The major bits are mainly just keeping the grease and ash residue emptied (how often will depend on your brand of cooker and how you use it).
It is a UNIVERSAL issue . . .
Although pellet cookers are incredibly versatile (particularly the newer and more expensive ones) they are not necessarily the BEST cooker for virtually anything you might ever want to cook. It could be said, arguably, that they come pretty close and I’ll go along for the most part. But, it’s a funny thing, most folks who own one (including me) still have one or two of their “original” cookers and still use them, at least occasionally.
My newest pellet machine will smoke food down “low” in the 200 degree range and do a great job of it. It’ll also “bake” food (including cakes and breads) in the 300-400 degree range, tightly regulating the temperature, while burning only a modest amount of pellets because it is well controlled and well insulated. And, it will fire on up to over 600 degrees, well controlled, and sear a steak like a champ, even imparting some wood flavor if I use the right kind of pellets. If I could have only one cooker this would have to be it!
So, why do I also own two charcoal cookers (a Weber Performer and a Pit Barrel Cooker) and a natural gas fueled Weber Spirit? Because I have room for them and there are times when I really want what they do. The charcoalers impart something wonderful – “charcoal” flavor. You can buy charcoal pellets but the flavor isn’t the same (in fact they produce almost no flavor at all). The Performer is a best of breed all-around charcoaler “classic” and the PBC is almost a “set it and forget it” charcoal oven. The little gasser is fast and convenient, quickly warming up and cooking burgers and dogs for the grandkids (who could care less about the flavor of anything except ketchup) and (on low) a handy holding “oven” to keep things warm.
I do about 90% of my outdoor cooking on my pellet cookers. They are the best machines for almost everything I cook. But, about 10% of the time I’m either in a great big hurry and flavor isn’t a requirement, or I crave charcoal flavor. If I didn’t have room for or the budget for my charcoalers and gasser, I’d still be quite content with my pellet machines, though. Point? Don’t give away your old cooker the day your pellet cooker arrives.
It is a QUALITY issue . . .
I’ll get into how to make a graceful transition to pellet cookery and how to get the most satisfactory results from a pellet cooker in the next article, but one more fact needs to be surfaced right now: KNOW YOUR PELLETS!
There are two kinds of pellets – cooking pellets and heating pellets. In fact, the entire concept of pellet cookery “hatched” from fuel for industrial heat for many purposes being produced from relatively inexpensive scrap wood and other materials being salvaged then ground up and compressed into easily transported “pellets” of energy. When that “salvaged” material is some hardwoods, it smells wonderful! I’m certain that the first pellet cooker prototype got cobbled together by some engineer who had been sitting around the factory sniffing too much hardwood smoke!
“Cooking” pellets are composed of either 100% of one hardwood (e.g. hickory or oak) or are often a blend of a “base” hardwood like alder or oak augmented by some percentage of a “flavor” wood (e.g. apple, mesquite, hickory, etc.).
“Heating” pellets might contain a hardwood (old oak warehouse pallet scraps, for example) but may also contain soft woods (pine, fir, balsam, that produce tars when burned) along with other related salvaged “stuff” like glues and resins, paint and varnish, binders, cardboard, and even some metal scraps. Since the “fumes” from them are intended to be vented off as a byproduct of combustion, it doesn’t matter if some fairly nasty stuff gets burned – heat is the only goal.
Think of it this way: Would you cook a steak over a fire you built by hacking apart a painted, glued, decal decorated, pine end table and a week’s worth of your junk mail? Not under normal circumstances, and not with any regularity! You are doing this if you burn heating pellets in your pellet cooker.
Presently, there are no regulations defining “cooking” or “cooking grade” pellets. Those terms are just that – terms. As the fuel grows in popularity I’m certain we’ll get some regulatory control. Now, though, as a result, you might unwittingly buy “cooking” pellets that aren’t. The best way to avoid this problem is to buy pellets from a manufacturer who has built a reputation for quality pellet production instead of just whatever you come across at the hardware store or flea market.
FACT OF LIFE: Cooking pellets aren’t cheap because of the care taken in their manufacture (wood quality and care in lubrication of dies and equipment) and the cost of good hardwood sawdust and scrap. Heating pellets are relatively cheap because just about anything that will burn can go into them and little care needs to be exercised to keep them free of oil and machinery cast-offs.
If you buy a new pellet cooker, chances are you’ll get some “free” cooking pellets to go along with it and they’ll be a good brand. Also, read the posts on this forum and others to see what pellet brands come highly recommended. I have several friends in the cooking pellet manufacturing business and they are passionate about product quality.
Next Article . . .
HOW to “convert to pellets” then maximize your satisfaction from pellet cooking.
———————————————————————————-
Pellet Cookers 101
Part One -- Should you own a pellet cooker?
I bought my first pellet cooker about six years ago. It was a disaster. It was an impulse purchase – a moderately well used Traeger Little Texas. It had the infamous “3 speed” controller on it. But, it actually had two speeds -- on and off. Looking back on it now it is a wonder I ever got past it. It was the grill from hell. I could cook better food on a bonfire. I gave it away after about three attempts to cook on it. But . . .
Something back in the back of my brain kept eating at me. I kept thinking “pellets are a great idea”. So, I did my homework and spent lots of time reading up on pellet cooking, cookers and technology. I joined a forum dedicated to pellet cooking. The rest is history. I learned the ins and outs of using a pellet cooker properly, learned what is valuable in choosing one, learned how to cook great groceries on one, and learned how to help other folks do the same. In an adventure spanning several years, I became a moderator of a major pellet cooking forum and have published quite a few articles on the topic. I don’t know it all – new things happen every day – but I know enough to help you move toward pellet cooking if you’re interested and keep you from making some of the common, expensive mistakes.
So, you’re thinking about a pellet cooker? They’re certainly worth consideration in most outdoor cooking arsenals, but they aren’t for everyone, they aren’t perfect, and they (like any other cooker your might switch to from your current fuel) deserve some modest thought and research before you write a fairly hefty check to buy one.
It is a BURNING issue . . .
The single most important thing anyone considering a pellet cooker needs to know up front is that pellet cookers do not impart a heavy smoke flavor. Thanks to electronic controllers of several varieties, even on older and less expensive cookers, pellet cookers burn relatively cleanly, producing “blue smoke” which imparts a mild smokiness under the right usage and almost no smoke flavor at higher temperatures. This quality is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing for cooks who tend to over-smoke (a real plus in competition barbeque where over-smoking is a fatal error) and a curse to those folks who seek heavy smoke flavor in the finished goods. FACT OF LIFE: If you want heavy smoke flavor you’ll either have to buy a smoke augmentation device for your pellet cooker (there are several types available) or you’ll need to stick with cooking on a device that can be tweaked to produce lots of “white smoke” which will instill heavy smoke flavor.
I firmly believe that 95% of the dissatisfaction with pellet cookers comes from folks who want heavy smoke flavor and don’t get it, then stomp off into the sunset without bothering to learn HOW to use their cooker properly.
It is a TECHNICAL issue . . .
The second most important thing for a potential pellet cooker owner to understand is that pellet cookers are based on electromechanical technology. They are not simple. Moving parts (motor driven augers and fans) are told “what to do” by an electronic controller that governs the timing and amount of pellets that get scooped out of a bin, down through a chute, into a fire ignited by an electric element at startup. Things can and do go wrong in this process. Some maintenance is required. Properly set up and maintained, however, a pellet cooker is an amazingly reliable device! Most are even relatively easy to troubleshoot and fix even if something does go wrong. Don’t buy a pellet cooker if you are averse to a little bit of normal maintaining now and then to keep it working well. It doesn’t take a lot of time or tools or skill, just common sense. The major bits are mainly just keeping the grease and ash residue emptied (how often will depend on your brand of cooker and how you use it).
It is a UNIVERSAL issue . . .
Although pellet cookers are incredibly versatile (particularly the newer and more expensive ones) they are not necessarily the BEST cooker for virtually anything you might ever want to cook. It could be said, arguably, that they come pretty close and I’ll go along for the most part. But, it’s a funny thing, most folks who own one (including me) still have one or two of their “original” cookers and still use them, at least occasionally.
My newest pellet machine will smoke food down “low” in the 200 degree range and do a great job of it. It’ll also “bake” food (including cakes and breads) in the 300-400 degree range, tightly regulating the temperature, while burning only a modest amount of pellets because it is well controlled and well insulated. And, it will fire on up to over 600 degrees, well controlled, and sear a steak like a champ, even imparting some wood flavor if I use the right kind of pellets. If I could have only one cooker this would have to be it!
So, why do I also own two charcoal cookers (a Weber Performer and a Pit Barrel Cooker) and a natural gas fueled Weber Spirit? Because I have room for them and there are times when I really want what they do. The charcoalers impart something wonderful – “charcoal” flavor. You can buy charcoal pellets but the flavor isn’t the same (in fact they produce almost no flavor at all). The Performer is a best of breed all-around charcoaler “classic” and the PBC is almost a “set it and forget it” charcoal oven. The little gasser is fast and convenient, quickly warming up and cooking burgers and dogs for the grandkids (who could care less about the flavor of anything except ketchup) and (on low) a handy holding “oven” to keep things warm.
I do about 90% of my outdoor cooking on my pellet cookers. They are the best machines for almost everything I cook. But, about 10% of the time I’m either in a great big hurry and flavor isn’t a requirement, or I crave charcoal flavor. If I didn’t have room for or the budget for my charcoalers and gasser, I’d still be quite content with my pellet machines, though. Point? Don’t give away your old cooker the day your pellet cooker arrives.
It is a QUALITY issue . . .
I’ll get into how to make a graceful transition to pellet cookery and how to get the most satisfactory results from a pellet cooker in the next article, but one more fact needs to be surfaced right now: KNOW YOUR PELLETS!
There are two kinds of pellets – cooking pellets and heating pellets. In fact, the entire concept of pellet cookery “hatched” from fuel for industrial heat for many purposes being produced from relatively inexpensive scrap wood and other materials being salvaged then ground up and compressed into easily transported “pellets” of energy. When that “salvaged” material is some hardwoods, it smells wonderful! I’m certain that the first pellet cooker prototype got cobbled together by some engineer who had been sitting around the factory sniffing too much hardwood smoke!
“Cooking” pellets are composed of either 100% of one hardwood (e.g. hickory or oak) or are often a blend of a “base” hardwood like alder or oak augmented by some percentage of a “flavor” wood (e.g. apple, mesquite, hickory, etc.).
“Heating” pellets might contain a hardwood (old oak warehouse pallet scraps, for example) but may also contain soft woods (pine, fir, balsam, that produce tars when burned) along with other related salvaged “stuff” like glues and resins, paint and varnish, binders, cardboard, and even some metal scraps. Since the “fumes” from them are intended to be vented off as a byproduct of combustion, it doesn’t matter if some fairly nasty stuff gets burned – heat is the only goal.
Think of it this way: Would you cook a steak over a fire you built by hacking apart a painted, glued, decal decorated, pine end table and a week’s worth of your junk mail? Not under normal circumstances, and not with any regularity! You are doing this if you burn heating pellets in your pellet cooker.
Presently, there are no regulations defining “cooking” or “cooking grade” pellets. Those terms are just that – terms. As the fuel grows in popularity I’m certain we’ll get some regulatory control. Now, though, as a result, you might unwittingly buy “cooking” pellets that aren’t. The best way to avoid this problem is to buy pellets from a manufacturer who has built a reputation for quality pellet production instead of just whatever you come across at the hardware store or flea market.
FACT OF LIFE: Cooking pellets aren’t cheap because of the care taken in their manufacture (wood quality and care in lubrication of dies and equipment) and the cost of good hardwood sawdust and scrap. Heating pellets are relatively cheap because just about anything that will burn can go into them and little care needs to be exercised to keep them free of oil and machinery cast-offs.
If you buy a new pellet cooker, chances are you’ll get some “free” cooking pellets to go along with it and they’ll be a good brand. Also, read the posts on this forum and others to see what pellet brands come highly recommended. I have several friends in the cooking pellet manufacturing business and they are passionate about product quality.
Next Article . . .
HOW to “convert to pellets” then maximize your satisfaction from pellet cooking.
