Hi, I`m rick, I`m new to all this.......

I`ve never used pellets, just now heard about them, I can`t find them sold localy, what is the difference between usin pellets or usin chunks of wood, , if this is a dumb question just let me know, I have an electric smoker that came with no instructions, I sure am havin fun learnin how to use it, Ive soaked chips an had fair success, but, I`ve only smoked meat once, one link of homemade sausage........

Hi Rick, welcome to the forum! When used in a foil pouch on a heat source like charcoal, pellets offer a convenient size and a wide variety of 'flavors'. The sponsor of this forum, BigPoppaSmokers.com, carries a wide variety of pellets from BBQ'ers delight. When used in a pellet smoker, a whole new world of cooking becomes available. Think outdoor oven/smoker!

There are folks on this forum that are quite familiar with using pellets in a foil pouch. My understanding is you don't need many pellets to create a good amount of smoke. I'm sure one of the will chime in with more specific instructions.

Welcome to the forum Rick, Tent Hunter will be along shortly to help you with your question.

Welcome aboard Rick, I'm sure others will answer, but from my Brinkmann smoker and gasser days the pellets always seemed to be a a more controlled smoke than wood chunks. I always was able to get more consistent results with them(nothing like a pellet cooker of course!) Glad to have you here, there is a great group to learn and share with here. Look forward to seeing your cooks!

Welcome. Pellets are the bomb!!

Welcome from North Carolina.

Art

Welcome Rick!

Why Pellets instead of Wood Chunks

First off, Welcome to the forum!

5+ years ago I'd run out of wood chunks & my wife brought home a bag of these BBQ'ers Delight Hickory pellets for me to try. I've been hooked ever since.

Pellets offer some benefits over wood chunks when using them in charcoal fueled cookers.

1) Economy: For most cooks, 1/3 cup of pellets in a foil pouch is all you need to get you the smoke flavor you're after. So, each 1 lb. bag gives you an average of 10 cooks at about $0.39 per cook.

Remember, when the outside of your meat hits 140° it won't absorb any more smoke, so adding more wood chunks is a waste.


2) Storage - They take up a LOT less room to store than wood chunks.


3) Control - Provided the charcoal's burning cleanly, pellets make it easy to get that coveted light blue smoke.

Charcoal cookers:
White billowing smoke = overwhelming smoke, bitter creosote taste, (yuck!)
Light blue smoke = clean, flavor enhancing, enjoyable smoke .


4) Variety of flavors - There several wood flavors to choose from, each with its own characteristics.

PLUS... pellets are also EASY to accurately mix into custom blends. Example: for ribs I like a 50/50 blend of Apple & Hickory.

Give them a try - you won't regret it

Hope this helps!

Welcome as you can see above the answers are here

Welcome Rick. If I read your question right, you've never heard of wood pellets before so you probably have never of a pellet stove or a pellet cooker for that matter. A pellet stove creates heat while a pellet cooker creates heat and smoke. This forum is mostly populated with pellet cooker owners who use food grade wood pellets to fuel their pellet cookers. A pellet cooker will accept pellets into its hopper, then using an electronic (mostly digital) controller will feed the pellets into the firepot using some sort of an auger system to maintain whatever temperature you have set the controller to keep. Through the process of burning the pellets, heat and smoke are created to cook and flavor whatever you placed in the pellet cooker. The end result as a sublime creation to feed your family and friends with an absolute minimum of effort and attention to the cooker on your part! I'm convinced that the Traeger family loved smoked meat and to sleep in in the mornings so they invented the pellet cooker because as they say, necessity is the mother of inventions.
While you can use pellets in a charcoal smoker to get smoke, they truly shine as fuel for a pellet cooker!