Pellet Smoker - Why less smoke?

[GrapeRadio]

It seems to me that there’s a general consensus, that pellet smokers produce less intense, smoky foods. What is the technical explanation for this result? My guess is it’s due to pellet smokers working too efficiently. The burning of the pallets too clean. Another theory is that somethings lost in translation. In the production of the pellets that perhaps something is lost? Something is stripped from the wood to make the pellets. An essential part that adds to the smokiness.

 

[16Adams]

I'm no expert however I'm on my second pellet cooker and upwards of 35 other types thru the last 15 years. If I cook a couple a week's on my pellet cooker then cook in the drum it is night and day bolder, much bolder smoke from drum, charcoal chunks etc. Same in reverse if I use my others then go to pellets it's lighter. The ol senses need a minute week to adjust.

Then pellets, while I am pleased with most every pellets I've tried some do produce more smoke and smoke flavors.

On charcoal chunks I usually let my protein chill on the counter top for about an hour or so . With pellets I like to go ahead and get in the pellet cooker up high away from fire pot on smoke or 200 for a couple hours, while protein is refrigerator cold.

I don't use a smoke nor chip tube

My first pellet cooker taught me that there is a slight decrease in smoke flavor for a large increase in convenience.

Pellet cookers are great for what they do, but expecting them to perform like other smokers, may leave you disappointed, at first.

Your taste buds will adjust

 

[PitRow]

It's always been my assumption that the forced air in the pellet system makes them burn more efficiently, with very little smouldering material to make smoke.



FWIW my aunt used to own a company that made basically giant pellets, like presto logs, and really all they are is saw dust that's been compressed to a high degree. The heat produced during the compression causes the natural lignen in the wood fibers to bind everything together. So I don't think the lack of smoke is from the pellet itself, but more from how it's being burned. If you were to disable the fan on the pellet grill you'd probably get a lot more smoke, but you'd lose the ability to control the heat.

 

[Hinds15]

Pellet manufacturers are wising up. Being able to run a mixture of wood chips with pellets or burn chunks above the fire pot are great ways I've seen to get more smoke. People need to get away from the perfect set temp (not wanting fluctuations). I'd gladly trade some temp variations for better smoke profile from a pellet.

 

[Callahan-que]

A pellet grill has a very small burn pot in which a very small amount of pellets are burning combined with a fan to produce alot of heat. You don't have alot burning therefore you have alot of heat and less smoke.

 

[larry4406]

I’m a total neophyte at this so take all with a grain of salt.

I have a Recteq RT1250 pellet smoker. I use a very large cast iron water pan on the bottom rack and cook using the upper rack only. There is only maybe 1” from the drip tray to the bottom rack so I can’t see much smoke enveloping the meat on the lower rack.

I run mine at 180F for several hours first to maximize the smoke. This can be upwards of 11-12 hours should I run it over night for brisket or pork butt.

I also run a smoke tube placed on the lower rack opposite the stack. This will burn 1-2 hours or so for added smoke at start of cook.

I also cook fat side up on the top rack on the belief that the water pan below shields the meat from radiant heat so I have a top side cooker.

I typically place refrigerator meat straight into the smoker vs letting it come up to room temperature first.

It works for me. I don’t have much offset experience although I do have a New Braunfels that’s probably 25-30 years old.

Wife and kids complain that at times it’s too smokey but seems just right to me.

Flame suit on.

 

[4ever3]

You can pry my pellet grills from my cold dead hands…

 

[BackYardRob]

This site was founded on the live fire smoking folks, and has been generous enough to include the gadgets that have and continue to come out to get more laymen out in the yard. For that, I applaud them. This is a line I dare not approach, except to say that I enjoy pellet smoking, and I get enough smoke for me and my friends and family. For the hard cores, I sincerely salute you for your dedication to the ages old art! However you do it, cook on and enjoy!!

 

[Dweverett]

I don’t know that I’m right but a pellet grill seems to take what we look for in a well run offset and take it to the extreme. On an offset you want a small, hot fire using well seasoned wood. Many people will tell you not to go all the way to kiln dried though as it’s too dry and will burn too fast and not really put out enough smoke flavor.

Pellets are incredibly dry — at least as much as a kiln dried log I would think — and we create a very small, very hot fire by using a fan to maximize the airflow. It’s completely the right idea — it just over shoots the optimal level of efficiency.

 

[Itsdone]

Pellet manufacturers are wising up. Being able to run a mixture of wood chips with pellets or burn chunks above the fire pot are great ways I've seen to get more smoke. People need to get away from the perfect set temp (not wanting fluctuations). I'd gladly trade some temp variations for better smoke profile from a pellet.

Pit Boss smokers even at temps of 250-275 produce short bursts of smoke every 15 minutes or so for like 5 minutes, then back to clean burn, rinse and repeat.

 

[Headgear]

I went through this same scenario about 8 years ago. I had a Stump gravity cooker and wanted something even more set and forget so I could go out at 4:00 AM, throw a brisket on, hit a switch, and go have a shower and have a coffee. Then go out and mow fields or something. So I searched hard for a pellet smoker that would actually produce a good smoke flavor that I still could afford/stay married, lol. And isn't that always the, "you get what you paid for", dividing line? What I learned was all pellet smokers are not the same. Like everything else, there are very high-end pellet units for mostly commercial and competition use, a mid-range, and the big box store grade. They can all be engineered a little differently and have different effects and outcomes.

I was willing to spend 2 or 3 grand at the time. From doing exactly what you are doing I asked and searched for answers. On this site and from whoever was responding at the time, the consensus was, at that price range that MAC Grills had a good line of reliable grills that actually put a reasonable amount of smoke flavor on the meat. There were others too but most that guys really raved about were beyond my "cry once" limit. So I bought MAC's One Star General, and I do like it. Being a pellet smoker, it was pretty darn good.

My brother-in-law is a good Q'er too. He has some RecTec model and has to use the smoke tube and swears it puts a good smoke on the meat too. But my wife and I can not find much of a trace of it. Don't get me wrong, he is a very good cook and makes food that is as good as I can make and many times, much better. But the smoke is a very distant profile, if is there at all. But he got the best he could for the money and so did I.

The long and short of it is that there are a lot of different units out there that have different capabilities and price ranges. There are those that really do produce more of a smoke. But there are also diminishing returns. What was right for me at the time was to investigate the heck out of it, settle within my desired price limit, and then go on to find out if there are some pellets that are better than others. It never ends but that is what makes it fun, right??? Good luck and I hope you find what is best for you, whether you end up buying a pellet smoker or not.

 

[yesitsmario]

Using good pellets will make a difference. I get plenty of smoke flavor from Lumberjack 100% Hickory. I've also heard good things about Smokin Pecan shell pellets.

 

[Bury Me In Smoke]

I went through this same scenario about 8 years ago. I had a Stump gravity cooker and wanted something even more set and forget so I could go out at 4:00 AM, throw a brisket on, hit a switch, and go have a shower and have a coffee. Then go out and mow fields or something. So I searched hard for a pellet smoker that would actually produce a good smoke flavor that I still could afford/stay married, lol. And isn't that always the, "you get what you paid for", dividing line? What I learned was all pellet smokers are not the same. Like everything else, there are very high-end pellet units for mostly commercial and competition use, a mid-range, and the big box store grade. They can all be engineered a little differently and have different effects and outcomes.

I was willing to spend 2 or 3 grand at the time. From doing exactly what you are doing I asked and searched for answers. On this site and from whoever was responding at the time, the consensus was, at that price range that MAC Grills had a good line of reliable grills that actually put a reasonable amount of smoke flavor on the meat. There were others too but most that guys really raved about were beyond my "cry once" limit. So I bought MAC's One Star General, and I do like it. Being a pellet smoker, it was pretty darn good.

My brother-in-law is a good Q'er too. He has some RecTec model and has to use the smoke tube and swears it puts a good smoke on the meat too. But my wife and I can not find much of a trace of it. Don't get me wrong, he is a very good cook and makes food that is as good as I can make and many times, much better. But the smoke is a very distant profile, if is there at all. But he got the best he could for the money and so did I.

The long and short of it is that there are a lot of different units out there that have different capabilities and price ranges. There are those that really do produce more of a smoke. But there are also diminishing returns. What was right for me at the time was to investigate the heck out of it, settle within my desired price limit, and then go on to find out if there are some pellets that are better than others. It never ends but that is what makes it fun, right??? Good luck and I hope you find what is best for you, whether you end up buying a pellet smoker or not.

I bought a Mak 1 Star General this spring based on a ton of research and couldn't be happier with it. I have a lot of chores to do on the weekends so I don't have time to babysit a true smoker. I find the Mak gives me plenty of smoke flavor, just the right amount to be honest.

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

pellet smokers produce less intense, smoky foods. What is the technical explanation for this result?

A friend of mine is a dedicated pellet guy. We've done comps together and his Yoder 640 puts out some awesome smoked meat. But he noticed a smokier taste from my stick burner.

So, one day he was talking to the guy who makes the Yoder smokers (pellet and wood). Asked him that same question. The guys response was simple and straight to the point. he said "think about the amount of wood that a stickburner is actually burning compared to the amount that you burn in your pellet grill".

 

[Callahan-que]

A friend of mine is a dedicated pellet guy. We've done comps together and his Yoder 640 puts out some awesome smoked meat. But he noticed a smokier taste from my stick burner.

So, one day he was talking to the guy who makes the Yoder smokers (pellet and wood). Asked him that same question. The guys response was simple and straight to the point. he said "think about the amount of wood that a stickburner is actually burning compared to the amount that you burn in your pellet grill".

Exactly!

 

[mike243]

Pellets have been heated and you loose some flavor, i run a tube with hickory shag bark and it helps a lot

 

[Shadowdog500]

They say you get used to the pellet cooker smoke profile, but I never did and wound up going back to my WSM and Webber kettle. Pellet tubes help some, but the smoke profile never seems good to me and the smoke coming out of the chimney smells like burning lumber. The nearest I came to good smoke flavor was using a heavy D mod from smoke daddy that holds two wood splits next to the burn pot. It worked but I still went back to charcoal and wood chunks.

The other thing I did was to go back to basics with my WSM, from the days before it even had a thermometer on the dome or fancy temperature controllers. I use the minion method with water and beer an the pan and limit the number of starting coals so it parks itself in the 200° to 250° f range all day long with the vents wide open. It works great and I don’t have to monitor it that much.

 

[SmokyDick]

I tried going back to the kettle + minion and it just tastes so off to me now, to the point where I can't stand it anymore.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I tried going back to the kettle + minion and it just tastes so off to me now, to the point where I can't stand it anymore.

I use the snake method in a kettle. Not sure how you would do the minion method in a 22” kettle? It is mostly used in the WSM. Ive been using kingsford charcoal for decades and in the last few years I had a few bags that put a funky taste on the food. I’ve tried several other brands and settled on royal oak lump for grilling an jealous devil max briquettes for smoking.

 

[4ever3]

I tried going back to the kettle + minion and it just tastes so off to me now, to the point where I can't stand it anymore.

My experience is the same.

After cooking on Mable and leaving Waylon set for months I decided to smoke a pork but and a couple racks of ribs on Waylon, ya know “old school!” So everything was cooked and everyone sat down to eat. First bite taken was by my brutally honest kid “Dad, what did you do to the meat?”

A text book cook and all the food had a stale charcoally (is that even a word) ash taste. Smoked food has gone and will remain on Mable. Well except for the rib barrel I’m working on, but if it’s charcoally ash? I’ll throw it in the recycle dumpster.