Pellets for a Traeger
- Thread starter Travelair
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TentHunter
Moderator
Some of the 100% flavorwood pellets have a reputation for producing a lot of ash. In fact here is a quote directly from the manufacturer's website you mention: "[FONT="Trebuchet MS", Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=2][COLOR=black][FONT="Trebuchet MS", Arial, Helvetica][COLOR=black][COLOR=#000000]You will need to check your burn pot more often and remove ash more frequently because some flavors cause additional ash then a blended pellet."[/COLOR][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/I]
[I]
(note the grammar error "then" instead of "than" in their quote - sorry one of my pet peeves
)[/I].
What about long cooks? I don't like the thought of having to worry about too much ash building up and possibly choking out my fire.
BBQ'rs Delight pellets are a blend of 2/3 oak and 1/3 Flavorwood. This seems to be a great ratio as it produces good BTU's, very low ash, yet has enough flavorwood to give me the flavor I want. It also mimics what I use(d) in stick burners, which is oak based charcoal plus the flavorwood for the smoke.
[URL="https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/"]BigPoppaSmokers[/URL] sells BBQ'rs Delight pellets at a great price and include free shipping.
[I]
(note the grammar error "then" instead of "than" in their quote - sorry one of my pet peeves
)[/I]. What about long cooks? I don't like the thought of having to worry about too much ash building up and possibly choking out my fire.
BBQ'rs Delight pellets are a blend of 2/3 oak and 1/3 Flavorwood. This seems to be a great ratio as it produces good BTU's, very low ash, yet has enough flavorwood to give me the flavor I want. It also mimics what I use(d) in stick burners, which is oak based charcoal plus the flavorwood for the smoke.
[URL="https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/"]BigPoppaSmokers[/URL] sells BBQ'rs Delight pellets at a great price and include free shipping.
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jimsbarbecue
Moderator
I have used most of the brands of pellets including traeger. The blends are best overall. I am partial to the BBQ delights because they work the best for me and I like that the filler wood is oak. Doesn't hurt that BP and Candy Sue are good people.
scooter
Moderator
My understanding is that Traeger has two plants producing pellets. One in the western US and the other in the eastern US. The western plant uses alder as its base wood (like practically every other western US pellet plant) and the eastern plant uses oak as its base wood. If you buy your pellets from an eastern US distributor, most likely the flavor you'll get from those oak based Traeger pellets will give you a more robust flavor than the alder based Traeger pellets.
firehouse_bbq
New member
Just an fyi, I have been told by a very reliable source that the "flavor" in Traeger pellets is from oil. The pellets are 100% hardwood, either oak or alder, but the flavor is from oil. I use BD in competition, and use Lumberjack for most everything else.
scooter
Moderator
I heard that same rumor. They got it from a Traeger patent on the process of infusing flavored oil into their pellets. I think people just assumed they were putting wood flavored oil into their wood pellets which to me seems silly. Traeger used to produce, and maybe still does, a garlic flavored wood pellet and an onion flavored wood pellet. It's my opinion that they infused those garlic and onion flavored pellets with garlic flavored oil and onion flavored oil which is what I feel they filed that patent for. Just my opinion but it makes sense to me. Traeger pellets are a large percentage filler wood (alder or oak) and a small percentage flavorwood (oak, hickory, mesquite etc). 60/40 is the percentage if I recall correctly.
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TentHunter
Moderator
Scooter, thanks for the info. There is a lot of rumor about this. The following is directly from Traeger's Patent:
This embodiment utilizes soybean oil as a lubricant, but other lubricants, especially other edible lubricants, may be used. In other embodiments, a wood oil may be used in the composition in conjunction with the grape vine to add additional flavoring. For example, hickory wood oil will provide a hickory wood flavor when cooking as compared to a mesquite wood oil which will provide a mesquite wood flavor when cooking. Any wood oil containing a desired flavor is within the scope of this invention, and particularly: apple, alder, cherry, hazelnut, hickory, maple, mesquite, oak, and pecan wood oils.
Here's a direct link to the Patent filed at the USPTO:
United States Patent: 7959692
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Again, good info Scooter! According to an email replay, they do have two plants (East & West) producing their pellets. As far as which filler wood (Oak or Alder) they use, well I'll let you guys be the judges of the reply I got from Traeger yesterday.
Clifford,
Our pellets, manufactured at both locations, are made entirely from the wood listed on the bag. We do not use any filler woods in our pellets.
Thanks,
Andrew Koster
Traeger Service Department
Really??? I find that curious because the patent says this, "Alder and oak wood are the preferred base wood materials to form the small wood particles 21, however, other wood types may also be used if readily available." The local Traeger dealer couldn't tell me when I called and asked, and Traeger told another forum's moderator that their products are a proprietary blend that they do not disclose. So which is it?
Just my opinion, but I don't think Traeger is being straight up with customers about their pellet products, which is why I think there's so much rumor and speculation.
Candy Sue is straight up about what's in BBQ'rs Delight pellets and that means a lot to me as a customer!
I've been using BBqrsdelight for couple years, and love it! Can really taste the diff between Traeger (and have heard similar rumors re: Traeger so I stay away from their pellets). I also buy from cookinpellets.com. Their pellets are 100% flavor wood with a stronger flavor than bbqrsdelight. Their "perfect mix" has been a favorite of mine. They sell 100% hickory (which I love) but only when the can get it. They're out of stock now but when/if they get more I'll buy several 40# bags.
RickB
New member
I use only oak for high temp grilling. Same as you for most everything else. Oak,cherry and apple. The one exception is pork butts. Use hickory for those.
Patent clarification
I haven't used any pellets yet, including the Traeger, as I am just now doing research to purchase a pellet smoker. What a great jump start to come across this thread!
But I wanted to comment that filing/owning a patent, like the one mentioned for infusing oil in pellets by Traeger, doesn't automatically draw a connection to a product in the marketplace by the same company.
In every industry there are thousands of patents filed for technology that may or may not ever make it to the marketplace. It simply is a reflection of intellectual property that the company wants to protect.
There, now that I got that off my brain, I can carry on down the happy bbq trail. Cheers!
I haven't used any pellets yet, including the Traeger, as I am just now doing research to purchase a pellet smoker. What a great jump start to come across this thread!
But I wanted to comment that filing/owning a patent, like the one mentioned for infusing oil in pellets by Traeger, doesn't automatically draw a connection to a product in the marketplace by the same company.
In every industry there are thousands of patents filed for technology that may or may not ever make it to the marketplace. It simply is a reflection of intellectual property that the company wants to protect.
There, now that I got that off my brain, I can carry on down the happy bbq trail. Cheers!
So Cal Smoker
New member
Welcome to the forum Whiz and thanks for the clarification. Hope you stick around and share with us your research and final decision.
Hi All,
I've ordered a Traeger Jr Elite and am excited to try my hand at pellet smoking. I found this thread looking for pellet options. I have a few questions:
1) I take it from the thread I can use any brand pellet in my new smoker, and I like what I'm hearing about BBQrs Delight folks. So, is there anything I need to look for or be concerned with? Are there certain woods that create too much ash that might damage my Traeger?
2) Can someone recommend a good multi-purpose pellet type for a newbie like me? Or maybe one or two that I should experiment with, first?
3) Is there a difference in pellets purchased for the fuel source (like Traeger grills) and ones that are used in those AMAZEN trays?
4) (Maybe related to the above question)...I'm really intrigued by the Jack Daniel's pellets on BBQrs website, but they contain charcoal. Can I use that in a Traeger? Are there downsides to using it (different temp? different ash level?)?
I've ordered a Traeger Jr Elite and am excited to try my hand at pellet smoking. I found this thread looking for pellet options. I have a few questions:
1) I take it from the thread I can use any brand pellet in my new smoker, and I like what I'm hearing about BBQrs Delight folks. So, is there anything I need to look for or be concerned with? Are there certain woods that create too much ash that might damage my Traeger?
2) Can someone recommend a good multi-purpose pellet type for a newbie like me? Or maybe one or two that I should experiment with, first?
3) Is there a difference in pellets purchased for the fuel source (like Traeger grills) and ones that are used in those AMAZEN trays?
4) (Maybe related to the above question)...I'm really intrigued by the Jack Daniel's pellets on BBQrs website, but they contain charcoal. Can I use that in a Traeger? Are there downsides to using it (different temp? different ash level?)?