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wood cooking pellets in BGE

EggSport
EggSport Posts: 33
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Geeez ! ..... i know this has probably been beat to death, but I missed any posts and need to know how this works. A BGE, pellet pusher, and other smokers dealer I spoke with said he uses various pellets in their BGE when doing demos. I usually use decent lump laced with wood chunks but obviously do not have a wide range of different woods. Local sources have all of the Traeger woods and I just bought one bag of Alder to try with salmon, steel head trout, and other fresh/frozen fish (but these are fairly hot, short-time cooks).
My concern is more with long smokes (ribs, shoulder, brisket) since I prefer not to open the BGE at all, or very seldom. This dealer said he tosses in a handful of pellets all the way through a cook.
I will sure appreciate any experiences you Eggers have had with pellets and any tips if they can work effectively.

Regards,
Tom B
St George, UT
USA

Comments

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    i use pecan pellets for the holiday bird, slip a spatula thru the grid and drop a handful down on it to bounce the pellets toward the center. for low and slows i stick with the chunks but i have those pecan pellets leftover from along time ago, they work fine but you do need to add some during the cook. opening the grill will quickly burn them up so avoid that
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    the tinfoil canoe trick works with the tinfoil as well
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • You should use true "flavor" pellets like the BBQr's delight flavor pellets which are concentrated "flavor" as opposed to things like the Traeger or any other "fuel" pellets which are only partially "flavor" ..I hope I explained that. You can put the pellets in the cast iron box that BBQR's delight sells and just put that down in the lump ..or mix them with the lump ... then as the lump burns they smolder and burn. I use them and/or chips / chunks and all seem to work good.
    Fred A. Bernardo , owner of Tasty Licks BBQ Supply in Shillington, Pa. 
  • Hey! Great to hear from you ... I can always depend on a helpful Reply on almost any BGE topic. I will use your tip to direct pellets to the center ... which was an immediate concern since I always use a platesetter for long cooks and was concerned how to get some into the hotter area of the lump.
    Seems like some have put some pellets in a foil pouch with holes punched in it for other types of cookers. Maybe this could work (small pouch) with the BGE ... placed in lump at the start ??

    Regards,
    Tom B
  • Thanks for the emphasis on type of pellets and I will search out some possible suppliers based on the positive comments so far. Not sure who produces really high percent 'flavored' pellets right now.
    While I still have some pecan and cherry chunks from local sources, I really need Apple and Alder pellets for many regular short cooks.

    Tom B
  • re: "really high quality pellets" ..I think you'll find that most people consider the BBQR's Delight pellets made by Candy Weaver to be the best / highest quality. One thing I know for sure is that many people order them and no complaints ...I had to get them because people were demanding them.
    FB/SGP

    PS. I think I remember Dr. BBQ saying that he uses them sometimes also.
    Fred A. Bernardo , owner of Tasty Licks BBQ Supply in Shillington, Pa. 
  • Bookmarked the site and will be ordering shortly. Glad to hear Ray also endorses these pellets! He has been a great help in years past with a range of questions. I have complimented him repeatedly on his "Peachy Porkchops' (from the Bigtime BBQ Cookbook). They have become a regular item on our BGE.

    Thanks and regards,
    Tom B
  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,110
    I picked up the full set BBQR's Delight with the cast iron box and all the flavors at one of the discount stores on close out. They work great Fred. Good tip.
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
  • BBQ Delight is the best pellet imo and I used about a pallet of pellets a year. Cookshack and Fast Eddy make good pellets as well.

    Remember, even though a pellet says pecan or alder, etc it is still like 70%+ oak filler. But it is pleasant. Also remember that your meat is only going to take smoke to a certain point so there is no need to continue to pour pellets after the meat pushes past like 140.

    Finally you will probably not get as much smoke taste as if you used chunks. On my pellet cooker the smoke taste is much more relaxed then a say five chunks of wood in the egg.
  • Thanks for the additional perspective, especially given your relatively heavy pellet usage. When I called Traeger Support today, their manger responded that their pellets are 100% of the wood they state on the bag ..... that surprises me greatly having heard in the past that they use Alder heavily as a 'base' wood for their pellets. I have no way to dispute what he stated, but it sounds at odds with past practice ....

    For my modest needs, BBQr's Delight will be a fine choice.

    Tom B
  • crghc98
    crghc98 Posts: 1,006
    Not to beat a dead horse...and maybe Stike will chime in....Meat will take on the smoke flavor throughout the cook...it is the smoke ring which will stop forming around 140...