UK smoking pellets review for Traeger pellet grills

While waiting for my new Traeger pellet grill ...

... down the rabbit hole I go on pellets for pellet grills! I'm deep into Youtube and various forums (plus speaking to UK pellet importers) to find out how to get the best possible smoke flavours from a pellet grill.

Does the wood pellets make much difference in a pellet grill like a Traeger, especially with the limited selection of pellets available in the UK? SmokingBBQBadboy is going to find out!

Exciting times here in Bournemouth as I await the arrival of my new Traeger Pro D2 575 pellet grill to introduce a new dynamic to my mix of Weber kettle BBQ, large offset smoker & Big Green Egg kamado style smoker! I've spent the past 2 years working on perfecting my brisket cooking by combining offset smokers and Kamado / Egg style BBQs, seems like there could be a new tool to push the BBQing / smoking game even further!

 

Whilst waiting on delivery of the Traeger pellet grill (and whilst recovering from an eye operation that I won't torture you with photos of), I've been learning as much as I can about the various brands of pellets for pellet grills and what makes some good and some not so good.

Readily available pellets in UK for the pellets taste test are:

• Lumberjack Competition Blend
• Lumberjack Hickory
• Lumberjack Fruitwood
• Cookshack Oak
• Traeger Pecan
• Smokinpellets Perfect Blend
• Smokinpellets Oak
• Weber Oak
• Weber Apple
• Bear Mountain Hickory

Having spoken to a few experts in local UK BBQ scene & suppliers of UK pellets for Traeger / pellets grills, the overview seems to be as follows:

Oil additives / binders vs pure wood pellets

Some brands will add flavoured oils and binders to a base wood that is used as a fuel. This results in less flavour from the wood, so try to stick to pellets where the description is "100%" of the wood type you are looking for. Basically, binders bad.

Wood blends vs single wood pellets

Blends of woods in pellet mixes provides a wider variety of flavours more from the burning process than the actual woods themselves AND provides a more consistent temperature when mixed. You can create your own blends to maximise flavours & burn times.

Maximising smoking through pellet burn temperatures

Due to the efficient nature pellet grills (more efficient than an offset smoker = mean less smoke unfortunately), running a pellet grill at a lower temperature (say, under 200f) will produce more smoke than a pellet grill driven at a higher temperature, where the burn pot can be over 750f, which results in the heat killing off the flavours of the wood itself.

Getting maximum efficiency from pellets

Different woods burn faster and slower - with hardwoods performing best in terms of burning duration - with some woods like Maple burning faster. A pellet blend can bring the best of all worlds by offering different burn rates, which also means different temperatures in the burn pot offering the widest range of flavours in the smoke being generated.

I have seen a difference of burn times of 6 - 20 hrs for a 20lbs / 9kg bag - which will come down to burn temperature and the wood types.

Importance of storing pellets correctly

The manufacturers go to effort to ensure the correct moisture level in pellets, so keeping pellets stored in airtight containers helps to avoid degradation of the pellets which can then affect the burn process.

Actual pellet grill pellet taste test

My Traeger Pellet Grill arrives next week, so I will be doing first sets of tests using beef brisket / pork spare ribs. I may create an additional page but I will do a detail video of course along with a few blind taste testers.