Answer to MN BBQ shack question... on "not official food grade pellets"

I am sure Candy Sue can jump in here and give you the uber detail....

But in general, there are a couple things to look for in "non-food grade pellets"
1. Some heating pellets are not 100% hardwood. fillers, other materials for BTUs, etc. and most use binders to hold them together... less stress on the pellet production equipment.

2. Ones that are 100% hardwood could still have binders. Food pellets, since they have no binders need much more pressure for the natural lignin to bind the sawdust.

3. The equipment used to produce the pellets uses lubricants that are not food grade. While there may not be alot getting into the pellets, you dont want any of those lubricants tainting your food.

If you are going to attempt to use a pellet that is not food grade, I would call the manufacturer and ask alot of questions.

Around here we have OHP pellets (ozark hardwood pellet) -- dont know if that is the same brand you are referencing or not... but I believe if it is and you call them, they will tell you that the lube in thier pelletizing equipment is not food grade.

It is hit and miss finding them... I actually havent seen them at a store in several years...but I used them post wrap, and branch creek, prewrap.. with my blend. For the last few years (2007 to now) I have been using BBQ'rs Delight, and couldn't be happier. Consistent BTUs, great color and flavor, and low ash. They are the best I have found. Being up north, the best case is to get a couple of buddies together and buy a bunch. I know guys in the NE that will just buy a whole pallet and split it. Pellets aren't cheap to ship anyway, so might as well go big, get a full freight weight, which is much cheaper per pound. Stick with food grade, and be safe.

OK, Candy, what all did I screw up?

Thanks Andy, good info.

Had me thinking. If I go down to Vernon Ca to the meat packing district to buy a hind quarter. The choice grade is $4 a pound hanging weight. The select is $3 a pound hanging weight and there is one other that is $2 a pound hanging weight but tagged "Not Graded for human consumption". They look the same. Why not save 50% on the hind quarter? All joking aside. Having something spoil a cook is no fun. Having someone get sick from a cook is hard to out live.Not that burning non food grade pellets would do that. I'm not going to take the chance.That and I love the smell of BBQ Delight pellets.

I'm with you Jim. If I can afford this pellet burning contraption, I can afford to feed it quality pellets.

Its sort of like buying a ferrari and then putting regular gas in it

Andy, you are right on point!

100% hardwood doesn't mean that it's 100% wood that you want to smoke food with. Our heating fuel, Heat Resource, is 100% hardwood but the wood is oak, gum, ash and here lately a bit of tupelo. There's no fillers in there, but I sure don't want to use it to cook! Heating fuel requirements are high BTUs with low ash. Our typical ash residue on Heat Resource is less than 1%, which is considered premium. We use no barked wood in any of our pellets.

OHP uses whole trees in their pelleting process. Many other manufacturers do too. This results in more ash because of the bark.

We'll be getting a pellet grill soon. I've seen posts about other brand pellets for $8.98 per 10 lb. bag. I've also seen several folks agree that BBQr's delight burn hotter and taste better. OK, the premium pellets are $40 for 40 lbs. delivered (shipping included). That's $1.02 more per 10 lb. or 10.2¢ per pound.

Ok... Let's assume I'd go through a whole 10 bag of pellets to cook a pork butt, or a pound of pellets to cook some steaks.

Now, here's what I have to ask myself. If the premium pellets make it taste better, then is it worth the $1.02 pellet cost savings for the Pork Butt or the 10.2¢ savings when I'm cooking premium priced steaks? It just doesn't make good dollar sense to me.

Factor in the gasoline I'd have to use to go buy the bargain pellets and I'm most likely not saving even that much. When we get our Pellet Grill I think I'll stick with the premium pellets.

Tent as long as they are branded food grade they are fine. There are many pellet choices out there...you should try them all and find your favorite I like BBQer's delight and that is why I sell them....

I'll say that when I got my grill a while back it came with 80 lbs of "%100" hardwood pellets of the heating variety. Not long after the dealer stopped selling those pellets for grills. I did allot of calling and asking questions. The pellet mfg used all hardwood, oak and maple. They milled those products for flooring, and the milling scrap was sold to the pellet mfg. The scrap included all the glues and resin used to bind the AAA finish veneer to the crappy sub base wood. Yup, the pellet mfg clalimed they used %100 hardwood, no fillers, no binders, etc, but the raw material used them all. Give me a good pellet, like BBq Delight or Cookinpelltets, don't just go by price!

Big Poppa said:

Tent as long as they are branded food grade they are fine. There are many pellet choices out there...you should try them all and find your favorite I like BBQer's delight and that is why I sell them....

Click to expand...

<in his best hair club for men voice> I'm not just the president, I'm also a member!!!

Amen.

LOL --> Andy


Once again - a really good informative thread.

It made me realize I need to be sure of availability of food grade pellets in my area. Wow, am I glad I did some checking. I can only find one outlet that sells any kind of food grade pellets. They're a Traeger dealer 10.5 miles away that sells Traeger pellets for $19.99 per 20 lb bag. Good to know in case I need to get some in a hurry.

But when I factor in the gasoline I'd use for a 21 mile round trip, not to mention my time... well you get the idea !

Yep, I'd let the UPS man buy the gas! When you factor time and other costs, home delivery cost isn't that bad.