Have you thought about doing a high temp test? To see which ones can get the hottest and maintain that temp? I have found a lot of variance in brands. Thanks for posting.
Re: high temp...I LOVE grilling fresh swordfish on my Traeger, and have finally found the best results are at highest temp I can get, ~°400, sometimes higher if I clean out the grill first...(never do 🙄)... ....@ about 6 to 7 minutes per side...I still taste smoke, but not so much that it overpowers the delicate taste of the swordfish.
A group of us did a similar test about a year ago to settle a bet with a friend that said Traeger were the best because they were so expensive. We used the same brands you did plus just a bag of heating pellets.We did 3 cooks 1 with Hickory on meatloaf, 1 with Apple and BB pork ribs and last Cherry on chicken quarters. The heating pellets were used on all 3 as well. With 6 similar smokers (Pit Boss, Camp Chef and Traeger) and 3 separate cooks our results were the same as yours with Lumberjack being the clear blind test winner amongst 10 judges in all three cooks...and the High priced Traeger dead last, even lower than heating pellets on meatloaf. Wish we would have taped it like you did Thanks for taking the time to do it.
The heating pellets were used to answer the question,"does it really matter what you use "smoke is smoke" I can assure everyone out there IT DOES MATTER!!!! Everyone who tasted the food with heating pellets agreed, not all smoke is good smoke!
😱😲...heating pellets on food ? It's NOT all about just smoke, it's about chemical binders and wax being used to bind those heating pellets, and mixes that include pines and furs to attain heat....that's why there's a class called "Food-Grade Pellets," i.e. safe to ingest....
I exclusively use lumberjack and have been very happy with them. One thing you didn't mention was the diameter of the pellets. To my knowledge only Lumberjack and Smoke Ring use a smaller diameter pellet which is less likely to cause auger jams. I'm not sure what, if any impact the diameter has on flavor.
I just saw this review, and you did it right, 1526 bbq, you did it right. A second and third round was necessary as the first taste on a taste-off is coming on a fresh mouth, which will always be impressed with a delicious taste of smoke. I'm impressed with your noticing the need for further testing to insure a fair comparison. Good work, and keep it up.
Good job man, I literally listened to this as I drove to the store to buy pellets for the weekend when I am planning on smoking baby back ribs...very informative
I always do this with chops when testing a new flavor pellet. No seasonings at all. This way you get the flavor of the smoke and then you can season as you need for future cooks. Outstanding choice of making this video!
The best pellet to use is the one you are happy with. If you get the results you want with your food then those pellets are fine. Cost is going to be a factor for some people and can’t be discounted. Availability is going to be a factor with some people. I am in Canada, i have had a pellet grill for 8 years. In the beginning finding pellets was difficult and expensive. I used what I could find and made do. I finally found a supplier that offered a “blended” pellet of Maple, Hickory, Oak and another hardwood I can’t recall. Instead of paying $20-30 for a 20lb bag I could get these for $7 / 40lb bag if ordered in bulk. People argued that they were “heating” pellets and were full of filler simply because they didn’t cost $40-50 a bag. Well nowadays pellet grills are the “in” thing and pellet suppliers are jumping on the bandwagon to get their share of the profits. That $7 bag is now $17 and because it is branded as “Competition Blend” all of a sudden they are no longer slagged off as “heating pellets”. My main point here is “cooking pellets” is a marketing ploy, Find a pellet that fits your budget and gives you the results you can enjoy. If it is a hardwood pellet without filler you can use it to cook. All this is just my opinion of course, if you want to spend more for so called better pellets enjoy.
Thank you for this. Great team work! This must have been much harder to figure out how to test, than to produce. But you guys did a great job and made it look so simple! I feel like I learned a lot. I just hope my taste buds are similar. But with the two of you in such close agreement I accept your results. Thanks again.
Too bad 90% of pellets sold are mixed wood species. Lumberjack 100% Hickory is the only pellet I've used that gives me good smoke flavor cooking at 275F. Bear Mountain is my 2nd favorite, but I have to cook at 225F to get good smoke.
They are all 100% hardwood. Nobody uses soft wood to make pellets. It just depends on how the hard woods are blended. Good Lord you think they are using pine or cedar?
@@998828k no . Do your own research. Different companies use additives in the wood to preserve the wood and prevent moisture. Those are not 100 percent hardwood. Don’t comment at me when you don’t know what you’re talking about.
@@TylerHankss 100% hardwood implies no softwoods or fillers. I have not seen a pellet brand (for pellet grills) that does not use 100% hardwood. Additives that preserve the pellets do not decrease the amount of smoke the wood produces. The smoke flavor comes from the lignins breaking down in the hardwood from the heat. Oak and alder (hardwoods), which is used in almost every inexpensive pellet brand, has a very mild smoke flavor due to both hardwoods having less lignin than hickory or mesquite woods. These brands use oak and alder and add “flavor” that changes the smoke taste to match other hardwoods. It does not increase or decrease the amount of smoke flavor the pellet produces. It just changes the flavor profile. This is why more expensive pellet brands that use woods like hickory (hardwood),for example, have a stronger smokey taste than the brands that use oak and alder blends. Maybe you should do some more research before commenting next time.
I use Lumberjack, Bear Mountain and I just bought some Weber pallets for like $4.00/bag recently. I've stayed away from the better known brand. It's nice to know that my local Walmart carries Kingsford pellets too. Great job on the comparison review!
I just bought a traeger Timberline 850. Home Depot only had traeger pellets so I got a few bags of “signature Blend”. On super smoke mode I get little to no smoke. I just cooked a poor mans burnt ends using chuck. Hardly any smoke flavor. I did a pizza last night at 400*. Excellent outcome. Fantastic actually, but zero smoke and zero smoke flavor. You’re on to something here especially for us new guys starting into pellet cooking. Keep it up. New sub 👍🏼
Any cook over 300°F the smoke flavor is going to be low. If you want a stronger smoke flavor for a high temp cook. Start your cook out at a low temp like 200-225 for 30 minutes or so to get some good smoke penetration. Then raise the heat to finish your cook.
@@larrybob8018 thank you. I did some ribs on my Trager 575 at 275 with the Traeger signature blend and i didn’t taste any smoke at all. Big difference from my green egg. Didn’t think i would notice but i did. Lol.
I just bought my first pellet grill over the weekend and was skeptical about what pellets to use. This just settle what i should get. Thank you for your time to make this extremely helpful video
I recently made the switched from PB to LJ pellets. You can really smell the difference on your clothes when you come back inside from tending the smoker.
I live pretty remote. That being said, I always order a pallet with 100 bags on it. I have been using traeger for 15 years. I have in a bind used pit boss. Maybe I just experienced bad luck. But the pit boss wouldn’t feed through my traeger smoothly and had constant plug up issues inside the auger tube. I will try to find lumberjack and give them a shot.
Just bought my first ever pellet grill yesterday and I've been researching all morning trying to learn as much as I can because I've only ever used charcoal or gas... after watching this review I'm glad I haven't bought any pellets yet because I was leaning towards trying pit boss or traeger... great video keep it up
Thank you for this. I've been a traditional grill / smoker and have been considering switching to a pellet system. I think that this just won me over. Great comparison of each.
Yeah, it was my pleasure. Pellets make a giant difference so don't do like I've done for the past year and use the cheap friends. I would try Lumberjack for sure. If you can't find that you could pick up Kingsford or Weber at Lowe's I think is where I picked them up, maybe Home Depot. Thanks for watching man.
I stopped using Traeger pellets in my Traeger smoker over a year ago.... the three that i really like are Lumberjack, Knotty wood and Cookin pellets those three are the best in my opinion
Lots of guesses lol! I’ve had my pellet smoker about 10 months and after trying many brands I’ve settled on Kingsford. Not the sexiest pick but I’ve found the different flavors to impart the best smoke and not a lot of dust.
Question which one left the less after taste. No I'm not cooking with dirty smoke ,i just seem to get more of saw dust after taste. I'm using lumber jack competition and tried hickory which was worse. thank ya a little late.
I've never tested for that. I think the temp is mostly controlled by the controller the fan and the auger. But many people have asked for temperature consistency and pellets, maybe I should do a video on it. Thanks for watching!
Up until recently I had been using Bear Mountain pecan pellets, which worked on beef, pork, chicken, and turkey, and also made nice thin blue smoke in a tube smoker. But Bear Mountain has apparently discontinued pecan! So I was forced to go looking for a replacement. GMG Fruitwood is a nice blend of cherry, pecan, and Beech for physical heat. It made more white acrid smoke in the tube smoker though. I think it would be excellent for pork, although I used it for brisket successfully. Last week I tried out some pellets made from oak Jim Beam whiskey barrels, and it turned out excellent for a 19 lb brisket in my Traeger Texas. The tube smoker flavor was not too acrid. When the hopper runs out of that, I have either Bear Mountain oak, or Knotty Wood plum wood pellets on hand. The Knotty Wood and Jim Beam pellets are available from Home Depot, with free delivery. I get the Bear Mountain stuff from Chef's Supply in San Jose. I don't use hickory any more because I find it hard to digest food with lots of hickory smoke.
I tried the Knotty Wood on a brisket recently and it was very nice. I saw a number of people online saying that they liked it best when they mixed the almond and plum 50-50, so I tried that first. I did not use a tube smoker since I saw another review where Knotty Wood pellets in a tube smoker added white smoke with negative flavoring. It turned out excellent, a very pleasant light smokiness with a hint of plum. Knotty wood is about to begin offering wine-infused almond pellets, which I am extremely interested in getting. Several years ago I tried pellets made from oak wine barrels and it was the best thing ever.
When I first got my Pit Boss pellet grill, I used PB pellets exclusively. I tried Traeger once and was pretty disappointed. I heard a bunch of people raving about Lumberjack pellets and so I found a local distributor and bought a few bags (Char-Hickory, Competition Blend, 100% Apple) I haven't even looked back at PB pellets. LJ pellets all the way!!! Great video and I loved how you did 3 different random sampling tests, instead of just one.
Yeah agreed. I will never buy Pit Boss or Traeger pellets again. I'm really thinking about throwing the ones away that I have now. Thanks for watching!
Agreed same story here I just got pit boss pellets just trying something different and they almost ruined a 50 brisket my fire would keep smothering out. I have always used lumber jack and never had an issue until I switched.
@@robertgilmore5205 The funny part is, I never had any problems with the PB pellets, so it was hard to switch to something else. The taste and flavours that came out of the LJ pellets is what won me over. However, I have noticed maybe a little bit more dust in the LJ pellet bag vs. PB pellet bag. Not a deal breaker for me.
I thought about measuring how much dust came out of each bag, but then I thought who really cares. If the pellets that make the best flavor also had a ton of dust oh, I really wouldn't care I want flavor. You're right Griffin!
I have a Pit Boss pellet grill but use Weber and Kingsford exclusively for pellets. Mainly because I can get the Weber pellets at Lowes and Kingsford at my local Walmart. I prefer the Kingsford as they have 100% Hickory and 100% Cherry which I like to mix. Most of those other brands are a blend of oak and whatever flavor woods it happens to be.
All traeger pellets are alder wood with whatever oil for flavor. I love lumberjack pellets, camp chef pellets are awesome as well but the lumberjack pecan blend is my go to and never lets me down. Knotty wood almond is also very good stuff as well.
Great idea for a video. Thanks for taking the time. I didn’t think I should use different pellets, because of course Traeger says it’s not recommended. I think they say you could jam up the auger. I’m definitely going to try now.
I've heard that too, but it doesn't really make sense. Yeah give him a try I really recommend Lumberjack Weber and Kingsford, they were so good. Thanks for watching!
Actually, it DOES makes sense....but Traeger's not telling the whole story....there's pellets out there that have unprocessed chunks of hardwood in them, and pellets that weren't cut properly, so are as much as 2" long...and some grills that have a sort of "filter/screener grill" the pellets have to drop through to get to the auger...so those 2" pellets were clogging the flow when they couldn't make it through that "grill."
Yes, #1 B & B competition blend at academy, #2 BBQERS DELIGHT, #3 Lumberjack, bbqers delight have to be ordered, can't find at stores, their out of Mississippi
I've used bear mountain for awhile and was happy for the most part. I ended up getting a gravity charcoal smoker. Seems to be the way to go if you're chasing flavor but don't have the time for an offset
I highly recommend it. Lumberjack, Weber for Kingsford for all really really good. Oh and Bear Mountain was also really good. Those four Brands were Leaps and Bounds better than Traeger and Pit boss.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve been trying different pellets for years, I was to the point of selling my Pit Boss because it never gave the smoke flavor like my stick burner. Now I’m going to give it another chance, thank you.
I had no doubts on the outcome of those results. I swithed to Lumber Jack several years ago because of their superior smoke flavor. I'd say that Lumber Jack hands down, makes the best pellets at an affordable price. If you look them up on the internet, you'll find out they are very proud of being a "round log" pellet production. In other words, they use the whole tree, bark & all. They do not use debarked wood in their pellets other than debarking the red oak base wood in their fruitwood blends so that the fruitwood flavors stand out. All of their other pellets are whole log, full bark production. It's the reason their pellets stand out in flavor. The bark is where the majority of the flavor comes from due to the high concentration of tannins & oils in the bark. I'm sure the other brands that have darker pellets are probably also using some bark in their pellets too, which is why they also stood out in flavor. Gotta give props to those companies too if they are.
@@TheWpruden That's incorrect. In their blends, the only debarked wood in their is the oak so that it doesn't overpower the flavor of the primary wood. There's some residual oakiness from the cambium layer, but not much. The primary flavor wood is left whole bark to make it the prominent flavor in the blend.
i learned this myself the hard way. On my traeger smoker, i started with traeger pellets of course, then i moved to pitboss, bbq delights, GMG, B&B as they are the brands that you can (not easily) find here in Italy. Then...a big dealer here started their own production of pellets, they are called "Devils", using only 100% hardwood, not blended, and it was a true GAME CHANGER. No turning back. Their smoke flavour blown the competition away. I am very curious of Lumberjack, but they are not imported here so i am pushing this dealer since long time to get them. We will see... Nice video anyway!
I remember when I bought my Traeger from Costco, I also picked up a bag of Traeger pellets (the orange bag), and I totally remember my first cooks (I made burgers, chicken, etc.) and thinking "Man, this isn't all that great" as it was not the smoky flavor I was imagining I'd get. It was pretty disheartening. I later read some BBQ forums online that recommended Lumber Jack pellets and was able to find a bag of their "Competition Blend" at Dick's Sporting Goods. Anyway.. my next cook was night and day and it tasted great. Even the smoke itself had an appetizing aroma lol.
Most companies say you can only use their brand of pellets in their smokers. I can't tell you what the Weber ex6 can or cannot use, my experience is with my Pit Boss 1100 Pro. With that said I've ran six different brands of pellets through my system with no issues at all.
I just watched your rotisserie mod that I've been thinking about doing for a good while , have you made a video of it in use yet ? By the way I love Lumber Jack pellets , I mix Pecan with Char Hickory 50/50 for a really great tasting smoke ! Using a Amazing Smoker Tube for an even more intense smoke taste that I see a lot of people wondering about and comparing pellet smokers to stick and charcoal smokers , I have all 3 and cure my own pecan wood for both !
Great vid! I enjoyed it very much and definitely got me thinking. Just bought some Bear Mountain today that I'm gonna use for some chicken tonight. Never really thought too much about the difference in smoke with different brands of pellets until now. I have two pellet grills, a Pit Boss Austin XL and a Cuisinart Woodcreek so I guess I'll have to do some side by sides. I'm a BBQ fanatic and try to grill 4-5 times a week. You just gave me something new to try/do out by the grill!
B and B have been some great pellets for me. Still getting a great smoke and dark bark when using the low smoke setting on my Rec Tec. Great video! Thanks for sharing.
Been using Bear Mountain on my Green Mountain since I've had it...recently I grabbed a bag of Traeger at Costco since it was convenient. For some reason the Green Mountain auger didn't like those Traeger Pellets and I was getting binding and wild heat fluctuations when I used them. After thinking my auger had broken I decided to try different Pellets (Webber) and no more binding or wild heat swings. I'm not sure if it was a fluke but I'm never using Traeger Pellets on my Green Mountain again...
Well I just reviewed all my pellet purchases over 4 years and all were Lumberjack except one Bear Mountain, so I guess I've done alright! Thank you for this experiment!
What is your recommended budget portable smoker for beginners with hold temperature well. (Budget around 200-400) can you give me list of options. Looking for reliable brand.thank you nice video.
Love my Treager grill, but lumberjack and Weber pellets do make a difference. Only buy the Treager Costco bag when on sale because it is already at a deal. Add the sale to hard to pass up with the amount you get, but only use it for quick high heat cooks. Long cooks lumberjack, unless I am short and have to get Weber at a near by Ace. Only lumberjack I can buy is hour away. Have to plan when low.
Something else you can do, that I've been trying to do lately, is use your expensive or better brand pellets early on in the cook like when you're still putting Smoke on the meat. But after a few hours, I'm definitely after you wrap if you are wrapping, you can swap out your good pellets for something cheaper. At that point you're just using it as a heat Source not really a smoke source.
Not sure if you can answer this yet but which one had the least dust/cleanup? Also the snap test would be nice to know also. Which pellet is the hardest wood?
When I first got my Treager, it came with their competition blend which I enjoyed. Lately I have been using Treager apple wood and am not in love. Based on your review I just tried Kingsford and am a convert. I have planted about 15# of Treager pellets in my garden. Should work as fertilizer.
Thanks for the Video. Glad you guys did a comparison of top brands. My wife and I just picked up our first pellet grill with the traditional Pitboss pellets for first go around . (Honestly just wanted to get the grill out the door since it was accidentally marked almost 50% off.)
I’ve tried them all . Im all in on the Basspro pellets. They provide Smoke through the entire heat range. Others drop off above 300deg. They essentially become heating pellets. Try em out.
Carlos- I’m currently using Cabelas pellets which might be the same as BPro pellets! The Cabelas puts out a lot of smoke compared to several others I’ve tried!
Great video. I just got my pit boss pellet grill and been using pit boss pellets. Haven't been real happy with the flavor. I figured I had made a mistake by getting it. I'll try these other brand of pellets. Thanks!
I can only consistently get pit boss or Traeger in my area. The Lowe’s around me has bear mountain but only one flavor which is the gourmet bbq and IMo they are weak af. I wasn’t a fan. I was able to find one bag of fruit wood lumberjack pellets just recently and it was good by very mild. I want to try other flavors of lumberjack pellets, however they are difficult to find outside online vendors.
I just got a CampChef DLX24 and went with CampChef pellets primarily because it was either those or Treager pellets at 3 bucks more a bag. I smoked a 18lb ham for Christmas as the first smoke and used their cherry pellets and you could definitely smell the sweet smell of the wood and the ham came out very, very good. I also have a CampChef vertical propane/wood smoker and will say this pellet smoker left me with basically nothing to do except drink more beer lol. Trying their Hickory this week on some ribs I think.
Thanks. Quite revealing test. I can't afford Traeger or Camp Chef and I have been using Lumberjack for a couple of years. I get them at Rural King at a very affordable price.
Just got a bag of pit boss and there's plenty of saw dust and even chunks of wood and now even my traeger don't work properly, first time it ever happens in almost 5 years
Thank you for this review! Rural King usually have Bear Mountain on sale for really cheap in June. I am going to stock up! I am curious to try Lumberjack though.
@@1526BBQ I have not had the pleasure of using lumber jack yet. I am new to the pellet game. Old stick burner for years and last year got a kamado. And now a Laredo 1000 pit boss. I have not seen lumber jack any where hereDaytona Beach, Fl. But I shop at Academy Sports mostly.
Great comparison! Can we have a follow up on the max temperature they can reach, how much ash they made, how much they cost, how prone they are to moisture?
Nice job on this. I’ve been using the pit boss brand for almost a year now as well and I’ve thought to myself before on certain cooks I wished there was a little more smoke. I use the competition blend. But also your comment that it’s a cleaner burn is a good point as well as I never thought of that. I just followed you on Instagram as well. Content is great keep it up! 👊🏼
I got the Lumber jack one off of Amazon (link in the description). Picked up some at Lowes (Kingsford I think, and Weber). Treager came from Home Depot. Bear Mountain was online too. Going forward I will always go for Lumber jack first.
Great video! I like the way you tested these. The first round of results was quite surprising. I agree with the other two rounds more. I’m a huge fan of Lumber Jack and Bear Mountain pellets. I haven’t tried the Weber and Kingsford yet. But I’m not impressed with Traeger or Pitt Boss. Especially Pitt Boss. I do love my Traeger grill though. Great test!
just a curious question could someone use like the wood stove pellets all natural no additives for your heat source the prices on the bag is lot cheaper than that market for smokers can buy smaller bags of the seasonal pellets or chips use a smoke generator or smoke tube
@@1526BBQ you do have to make sure you get the hardwood pellets you know brand names have a manufacturing they all order from just have there brand names put on the bag if someone look closely they may have same manufacturing they come from i know it's all about marketing
Yes sir! Some of the comments on this video have given me really good ideas on other pellet videos or Pellet reviews or pellet comparisons that I should be doing. The quest continues!
I've tried different brands of pellets too in the past and found that LumberJack is the best and what I've been using for many years. I agree with Traeger being last as their "Hickory" pellets are Alder wood mixed with hickory oil.
...are you SURE Traeger is still using oil, even after the class-action law suit against them exactly for that reason ? I'd expect they'd stop that practice after "getting caught"? 🤔
Traeger changed their entire line of pellets over the last year or two. Really want to still go with that statement? In doing this test, do you know how fresh the bags of pellets are? I don’t mean they just came from the store. Our local warehouse hardware/lumber store was selling bags of pellets that were two years old. Said you smelled plastic chemical orders. We’re those trays clay that were holding the pellets? Or some other material? Would hope pellet makers are not including bark. Ok on wood for bon fire, but nasty residues if cooking. Prefer clear wood. Pellet grill mfgrs will know shear force on feeder augers. Their pellets made to not exceed that value. Could mfg A pellets cause problems on mfg B grills? Lots of unknowns in this video resulting in guesses.
No, I dont know how fresh the bags of pellets were. Yes they were in plastic containers when I smelled them - but they all were and Traeger were the only ones that had the smell on them. I know I ran all 6 brands with no auger issues. I also know I will never buy Pit Boss or Traeger again unless its for a pellet review video. - Give me a break, its a UA-cam video I made in my kitchen. Im not The BBQ Pellet Association of America. Do you work for Traeger???
@@tomgates316 greater just changed their bags to say 100% hardwood flavored. So you decide if they changed the recipe for pellets they have used for 30 years.
I know lumberjack states that they use the wood bark on single flavored pellets because that’s where most of the flavor comes from. I believe many others don’t use bark.
@@1526BBQ if you look on their website they explain when they leave the bark on. They also leave the bark on the labeled blend. So if it a a Pecan blend, pecan will have bark and the mixed in woods won’t.
Just got a Traeger Pro and first rack of ribs are in the pit now.. Newbie question. Traeger says to ONLY use their pellets. Is this sales hyperbole or is there a technical reason to do so. Thanks for your reply
They can only recommend their brand of cooking pellets. They cannot force you to use their brand of fuel any more than Ford can make you buy Ford gas for your vehicle.
I was truly surprised. I didnt think it made such a big difference!!!
Have you thought about doing a high temp test? To see which ones can get the hottest and maintain that temp? I have found a lot of variance in brands. Thanks for posting.
I haven't. I dont typically go super high in temp... What are you cooking at that high?
@@1526BBQ Usually for searing. Traeger can get to 500deg. I've heard of a Weber going to 700.
Can you get to exposed fire, like on the Pit Boss?
Re: high temp...I LOVE grilling fresh swordfish on my Traeger, and have finally found the best results are at highest temp I can get, ~°400, sometimes higher if I clean out the grill first...(never do 🙄)...
....@ about 6 to 7 minutes per side...I still taste smoke, but not so much that it overpowers the delicate taste of the swordfish.
You’re not the only UA-camr that has gotten similar results. I appreciate the time and effort it took to make this video.
A group of us did a similar test about a year ago to settle a bet with a friend that said Traeger were the best because they were so expensive. We used the same brands you did plus just a bag of heating pellets.We did 3 cooks 1 with Hickory on meatloaf, 1 with Apple and BB pork ribs and last Cherry on chicken quarters. The heating pellets were used on all 3 as well. With 6 similar smokers (Pit Boss, Camp Chef and Traeger) and 3 separate cooks our results were the same as yours with Lumberjack being the clear blind test winner amongst 10 judges in all three cooks...and the High priced Traeger dead last, even lower than heating pellets on meatloaf. Wish we would have taped it like you did Thanks for taking the time to do it.
Kenny - great minds think a like. Thanks for watching!
You used heating pellets on your food? You gotta a set of balls.
What! Which ones are heating pellets??
The heating pellets were used to answer the question,"does it really matter what you use "smoke is smoke" I can assure everyone out there IT DOES MATTER!!!! Everyone who tasted the food with heating pellets agreed, not all smoke is good smoke!
😱😲...heating pellets on food ? It's NOT all about just smoke, it's about chemical binders and wax being used to bind those heating pellets, and mixes that include pines and furs to attain heat....that's why there's a class called "Food-Grade Pellets," i.e. safe to ingest....
Man this was so informative. Thanks for sharing.
I exclusively use lumberjack and have been very happy with them. One thing you didn't mention was the diameter of the pellets. To my knowledge only Lumberjack and Smoke Ring use a smaller diameter pellet which is less likely to cause auger jams. I'm not sure what, if any impact the diameter has on flavor.
Thats true. Thanks Iceberg!!
I just saw this review, and you did it right, 1526 bbq, you did it right. A second and third round was necessary as the first taste on a taste-off is coming on a fresh
mouth, which will always be impressed with a delicious taste of smoke. I'm impressed with your noticing the need for further testing to insure a fair comparison.
Good work, and keep it up.
Thanks brother!!
Good job man, I literally listened to this as I drove to the store to buy pellets for the weekend when I am planning on smoking baby back ribs...very informative
Thanks 489! I got more pellet reviews planned for the future.
I always do this with chops when testing a new flavor pellet. No seasonings at all. This way you get the flavor of the smoke and then you can season as you need for future cooks. Outstanding choice of making this video!
Thanks Riker!!
Huge thanks! Just got a pellet grill and trying to find the best pellets right now :)
Glad I could help. Thanks for watching!!
The best pellet to use is the one you are happy with. If you get the results you want with your food then those pellets are fine. Cost is going to be a factor for some people and can’t be discounted. Availability is going to be a factor with some people. I am in Canada, i have had a pellet grill for 8 years. In the beginning finding pellets was difficult and expensive. I used what I could find and made do. I finally found a supplier that offered a “blended” pellet of Maple, Hickory, Oak and another hardwood I can’t recall. Instead of paying $20-30 for a 20lb bag I could get these for $7 / 40lb bag if ordered in bulk. People argued that they were “heating” pellets and were full of filler simply because they didn’t cost $40-50 a bag. Well nowadays pellet grills are the “in” thing and pellet suppliers are jumping on the bandwagon to get their share of the profits. That $7 bag is now $17 and because it is branded as “Competition Blend” all of a sudden they are no longer slagged off as “heating pellets”. My main point here is “cooking pellets” is a marketing ploy, Find a pellet that fits your budget and gives you the results you can enjoy. If it is a hardwood pellet without filler you can use it to cook. All this is just my opinion of course, if you want to spend more for so called better pellets enjoy.
Thanks Paul
I'm 51 years old ,I've tried every pellet, traeger is the best... So far
To each his own I guess. Thanks for your input Josh
@@joshuatree9845 not everyone likes a real smoky flavor.
Thank you for this. Great team work! This must have been much harder to figure out how to test, than to produce. But you guys did a great job and made it look so simple! I feel like I learned a lot. I just hope my taste buds are similar. But with the two of you in such close agreement I accept your results. Thanks again.
Thanks George!!
Thanks for taking the time and effort of making this video man! It was very informative
My pleasure. Thanks for watching!
I’ll make it easy for you. Any pellet that’s %100 hardwood is gonna be more smoky.
Yeah, thats right
Too bad 90% of pellets sold are mixed wood species. Lumberjack 100% Hickory is the only pellet I've used that gives me good smoke flavor cooking at 275F. Bear Mountain is my 2nd favorite, but I have to cook at 225F to get good smoke.
They are all 100% hardwood. Nobody uses soft wood to make pellets. It just depends on how the hard woods are blended. Good Lord you think they are using pine or cedar?
@@998828k no . Do your own research. Different companies use additives in the wood to preserve the wood and prevent moisture. Those are not 100 percent hardwood.
Don’t comment at me when you don’t know what you’re talking about.
@@TylerHankss 100% hardwood implies no softwoods or fillers. I have not seen a pellet brand (for pellet grills) that does not use 100% hardwood. Additives that preserve the pellets do not decrease the amount of smoke the wood produces. The smoke flavor comes from the lignins breaking down in the hardwood from the heat. Oak and alder (hardwoods), which is used in almost every inexpensive pellet brand, has a very mild smoke flavor due to both hardwoods having less lignin than hickory or mesquite woods. These brands use oak and alder and add “flavor” that changes the smoke taste to match other hardwoods. It does not increase or decrease the amount of smoke flavor the pellet produces. It just changes the flavor profile. This is why more expensive pellet brands that use woods like hickory (hardwood),for example, have a stronger smokey taste than the brands that use oak and alder blends. Maybe you should do some more research before commenting next time.
I use Lumberjack, Bear Mountain and I just bought some Weber pallets for like $4.00/bag recently. I've stayed away from the better known brand. It's nice to know that my local Walmart carries Kingsford pellets too. Great job on the comparison review!
Thanks brother. Semper Fumus!
I just bought a traeger Timberline 850. Home Depot only had traeger pellets so I got a few bags of “signature Blend”. On super smoke mode I get little to no smoke. I just cooked a poor mans burnt ends using chuck. Hardly any smoke flavor. I did a pizza last night at 400*. Excellent outcome. Fantastic actually, but zero smoke and zero smoke flavor. You’re on to something here especially for us new guys starting into pellet cooking. Keep it up. New sub 👍🏼
Thanks brother
Any cook over 300°F the smoke flavor is going to be low. If you want a stronger smoke flavor for a high temp cook. Start your cook out at a low temp like 200-225 for 30 minutes or so to get some good smoke penetration. Then raise the heat to finish your cook.
@@larrybob8018 thank you. I did some ribs on my Trager 575 at 275 with the Traeger signature blend and i didn’t taste any smoke at all. Big difference from my green egg. Didn’t think i would notice but i did. Lol.
Yep.
Try different pellet brands too, see which you like.
Wow now I’m going to have to do my own test lol. Fun to watch video and informative. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
LJ are basically all I’ve used since getting into the pellet pooper game. I’ve gone through over a ton worth and never an issue.
Nice. LJ is the best.
I just bought my first pellet grill over the weekend and was skeptical about what pellets to use. This just settle what i should get. Thank you for your time to make this extremely helpful video
I recently made the switched from PB to LJ pellets. You can really smell the difference on your clothes when you come back inside from tending the smoker.
I just did a brisket with LJ. Before I put the meat on the neighbor was asking what I was cooking cause it smelled so good.
Thanks for going through all that work to help us out!
My pleasure! Thank for watching!!!
I live pretty remote. That being said, I always order a pallet with 100 bags on it. I have been using traeger for 15 years. I have in a bind used pit boss. Maybe I just experienced bad luck. But the pit boss wouldn’t feed through my traeger smoothly and had constant plug up issues inside the auger tube.
I will try to find lumberjack and give them a shot.
They were so much better for me!
Thank You
👍
Just bought my first ever pellet grill yesterday and I've been researching all morning trying to learn as much as I can because I've only ever used charcoal or gas... after watching this review I'm glad I haven't bought any pellets yet because I was leaning towards trying pit boss or traeger... great video keep it up
Thanks Grimlynz! Welcome to the club!!
Thank you for this. I've been a traditional grill / smoker and have been considering switching to a pellet system. I think that this just won me over. Great comparison of each.
Yeah, it was my pleasure. Pellets make a giant difference so don't do like I've done for the past year and use the cheap friends. I would try Lumberjack for sure. If you can't find that you could pick up Kingsford or Weber at Lowe's I think is where I picked them up, maybe Home Depot. Thanks for watching man.
@@1526BBQ we have 2 local BBQ supply houses, I'm sure one of them will have it if not I've always been happy Kingsford. Thanks for the reply.
Smoke on!!
Great video.. I'm new to the pellet game. So I'm gonna start by taking your word on the pellets and get those
👍
That was very helpful will be changing when I buy my next pellets
Thanks for watching brother!
I switched to Weber pellets a year ago due to supply issues, glad I did, they are the best. : )
They are really good!!
B & B competition blend pellets at academy are awesome, then, BBQ DELIGHT, then lumberjack
Thank you! I'll give them a try.
I stopped using Traeger pellets in my Traeger smoker over a year ago.... the three that i really like are Lumberjack, Knotty wood and Cookin pellets those three are the best in my opinion
I havent tried knotty wood.
@@1526BBQ in my opinion knotty wood give the best smoke flavor for a pellet smoker ... i like to combine the plum and almond for the best flavor
Thanks Slow!
Good to know that the lumberjack pellets i use are top notch, just sucks i have to order them in bulk online. Garage is full of them!
Bulk is a good idea! I get mine online too...
Lots of guesses lol! I’ve had my pellet smoker about 10 months and after trying many brands I’ve settled on Kingsford. Not the sexiest pick but I’ve found the different flavors to impart the best smoke and not a lot of dust.
Kingsford are really good. 👍
Question which one left the less after taste. No I'm not cooking with dirty smoke ,i just seem to get more of saw dust after taste. I'm using lumber jack competition and tried hickory which was worse. thank ya a little late.
If you're looking for less smoke taste, then Pit boss or Traeger might be the pellets for you.
Can you recommend pellets that burn at consistent temps?
I've never tested for that. I think the temp is mostly controlled by the controller the fan and the auger. But many people have asked for temperature consistency and pellets, maybe I should do a video on it. Thanks for watching!
Up until recently I had been using Bear Mountain pecan pellets, which worked on beef, pork, chicken, and turkey, and also made nice thin blue smoke in a tube smoker. But Bear Mountain has apparently discontinued pecan! So I was forced to go looking for a replacement. GMG Fruitwood is a nice blend of cherry, pecan, and Beech for physical heat. It made more white acrid smoke in the tube smoker though. I think it would be excellent for pork, although I used it for brisket successfully. Last week I tried out some pellets made from oak Jim Beam whiskey barrels, and it turned out excellent for a 19 lb brisket in my Traeger Texas. The tube smoker flavor was not too acrid. When the hopper runs out of that, I have either Bear Mountain oak, or Knotty Wood plum wood pellets on hand. The Knotty Wood and Jim Beam pellets are available from Home Depot, with free delivery. I get the Bear Mountain stuff from Chef's Supply in San Jose. I don't use hickory any more because I find it hard to digest food with lots of hickory smoke.
I'm right there with you. Love that Jim Beam whiskey pellets. I've done pork steaks and rack of pork loin. Great flavor
I got try Jim Bean...
I tried the Knotty Wood on a brisket recently and it was very nice. I saw a number of people online saying that they liked it best when they mixed the almond and plum 50-50, so I tried that first. I did not use a tube smoker since I saw another review where Knotty Wood pellets in a tube smoker added white smoke with negative flavoring. It turned out excellent, a very pleasant light smokiness with a hint of plum. Knotty wood is about to begin offering wine-infused almond pellets, which I am extremely interested in getting. Several years ago I tried pellets made from oak wine barrels and it was the best thing ever.
Very interesting, wine infused wood pellets... Thanks John!!
When I first got my Pit Boss pellet grill, I used PB pellets exclusively. I tried Traeger once and was pretty disappointed. I heard a bunch of people raving about Lumberjack pellets and so I found a local distributor and bought a few bags (Char-Hickory, Competition Blend, 100% Apple) I haven't even looked back at PB pellets. LJ pellets all the way!!! Great video and I loved how you did 3 different random sampling tests, instead of just one.
Yeah agreed. I will never buy Pit Boss or Traeger pellets again. I'm really thinking about throwing the ones away that I have now. Thanks for watching!
Agreed same story here I just got pit boss pellets just trying something different and they almost ruined a 50 brisket my fire would keep smothering out. I have always used lumber jack and never had an issue until I switched.
@@robertgilmore5205 The funny part is, I never had any problems with the PB pellets, so it was hard to switch to something else. The taste and flavours that came out of the LJ pellets is what won me over. However, I have noticed maybe a little bit more dust in the LJ pellet bag vs. PB pellet bag. Not a deal breaker for me.
I thought about measuring how much dust came out of each bag, but then I thought who really cares. If the pellets that make the best flavor also had a ton of dust oh, I really wouldn't care I want flavor. You're right Griffin!
LJ is the way to go!
I have a pit boss being delivered today. Can't wait.
Nice! Get some good pellets!!!
I have a Pit Boss pellet grill but use Weber and Kingsford exclusively for pellets. Mainly because I can get the Weber pellets at Lowes and Kingsford at my local Walmart. I prefer the Kingsford as they have 100% Hickory and 100% Cherry which I like to mix. Most of those other brands are a blend of oak and whatever flavor woods it happens to be.
Yep
I been using pitboss completion blend and my smoked butts come out amazing with flavor. I’m give lumberjack a try once I run out see if it’s true
All traeger pellets are alder wood with whatever oil for flavor. I love lumberjack pellets, camp chef pellets are awesome as well but the lumberjack pecan blend is my go to and never lets me down. Knotty wood almond is also very good stuff as well.
I can't wait to try all the lumber Jack flavors!
Great idea for a video. Thanks for taking the time. I didn’t think I should use different pellets, because of course Traeger says it’s not recommended. I think they say you could jam up the auger. I’m definitely going to try now.
I've heard that too, but it doesn't really make sense. Yeah give him a try I really recommend Lumberjack Weber and Kingsford, they were so good. Thanks for watching!
Actually, it DOES makes sense....but Traeger's not telling the whole story....there's pellets out there that have unprocessed chunks of hardwood in them, and pellets that weren't cut properly, so are as much as 2" long...and some grills that have a sort of "filter/screener grill" the pellets have to drop through to get to the auger...so those 2" pellets were clogging the flow when they couldn't make it through that "grill."
10-4. Do you know what brand of grill has the filter"grill"?
Be interested in seeing your opinion on BBQer's Delight pellets
I'll add them to the list - thanks!
Yes, #1 B & B competition blend at academy, #2 BBQERS DELIGHT, #3 Lumberjack, bbqers delight have to be ordered, can't find at stores, their out of Mississippi
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I've used bear mountain for awhile and was happy for the most part. I ended up getting a gravity charcoal smoker. Seems to be the way to go if you're chasing flavor but don't have the time for an offset
Man I want one of those so bad! Did you get the kind that has a digital controller?
@@1526BBQ yep, I decided on a char griller 980, was tough to get one. Ended up having to drive 2hrs to get it. It's an awesome unit
I need to get one
I’ve had my Traeger for 10 years, used only Traeger pellets. Guess I’m going to have to expand if I can find Lumber Jack or Webber.
I highly recommend it. Lumberjack, Weber for Kingsford for all really really good. Oh and Bear Mountain was also really good. Those four Brands were Leaps and Bounds better than Traeger and Pit boss.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve been trying different pellets for years, I was to the point of selling my Pit Boss because it never gave the smoke flavor like my stick burner. Now I’m going to give it another chance, thank you.
Thanks for watching brother. Good luck!
Get a smoke tube
I don't think you needed if you use the right pellets.
How did it turn out
Yeah - we want to know...
Runnin my pit boss for the first time as I speak so far so good!!
Congrats!
I had no doubts on the outcome of those results. I swithed to Lumber Jack several years ago because of their superior smoke flavor. I'd say that Lumber Jack hands down, makes the best pellets at an affordable price. If you look them up on the internet, you'll find out they are very proud of being a "round log" pellet production. In other words, they use the whole tree, bark & all. They do not use debarked wood in their pellets other than debarking the red oak base wood in their fruitwood blends so that the fruitwood flavors stand out. All of their other pellets are whole log, full bark production. It's the reason their pellets stand out in flavor. The bark is where the majority of the flavor comes from due to the high concentration of tannins & oils in the bark. I'm sure the other brands that have darker pellets are probably also using some bark in their pellets too, which is why they also stood out in flavor. Gotta give props to those companies too if they are.
Great insight. Thanks Fire Turtle!!
No it's their 100% flavor brands that have the bark. The non 100% flavors have no bark and are 60% oak.
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@@TheWpruden That's incorrect. In their blends, the only debarked wood in their is the oak so that it doesn't overpower the flavor of the primary wood. There's some residual oakiness from the cambium layer, but not much. The primary flavor wood is left whole bark to make it the prominent flavor in the blend.
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i learned this myself the hard way. On my traeger smoker, i started with traeger pellets of course, then i moved to pitboss, bbq delights, GMG, B&B as they are the brands that you can (not easily) find here in Italy.
Then...a big dealer here started their own production of pellets, they are called "Devils", using only 100% hardwood, not blended, and it was a true GAME CHANGER. No turning back. Their smoke flavour blown the competition away. I am very curious of Lumberjack, but they are not imported here so i am pushing this dealer since long time to get them. We will see...
Nice video anyway!
Thank you Francesco!!
Good video. I just got a Pit Boss 1150 for Father’s Day. Could you do a video on the best competition blend in the future?
Thank you. Yeah I will, thanks for the idea!!
I got a 20lb bag of bear mountain gourmet BBQ pellets for $7.99 at Win Co..... Very impressed. Awesome taste on ribs
Super great vid Brother ,thanks for the tip . I love Hickory with heavy smoke.
No problem brother. Smoke on!
I remember when I bought my Traeger from Costco, I also picked up a bag of Traeger pellets (the orange bag), and I totally remember my first cooks (I made burgers, chicken, etc.) and thinking "Man, this isn't all that great" as it was not the smoky flavor I was imagining I'd get. It was pretty disheartening. I later read some BBQ forums online that recommended Lumber Jack pellets and was able to find a bag of their "Competition Blend" at Dick's Sporting Goods. Anyway.. my next cook was night and day and it tasted great. Even the smoke itself had an appetizing aroma lol.
They make such a big difference! Thanks for watching!!
I would have loved to have seen the smoke ring for each one before you tasted. Great vid though, thank you! As a beginner this is very helpful.
i have a weber ex6. besides weber, what other pellets can i use??
Most companies say you can only use their brand of pellets in their smokers. I can't tell you what the Weber ex6 can or cannot use, my experience is with my Pit Boss 1100 Pro. With that said I've ran six different brands of pellets through my system with no issues at all.
Excellent video. Very informative. Im looking to buy pellets for the first time and wondered if there was an actual difference...now I know.
Definitely a difference. Thanks for watching!!
I just watched your rotisserie mod that I've been thinking about doing for a good while , have you made a video of it in use yet ?
By the way I love Lumber Jack pellets , I mix Pecan with Char Hickory 50/50 for a really great tasting smoke ! Using a Amazing Smoker Tube for an even more intense smoke taste that I see a lot of people wondering about and comparing pellet smokers to stick and charcoal smokers , I have all 3 and cure my own pecan wood for both !
Here it is, the motor failed on me...
ua-cam.com/video/MDMczzbNzv4/v-deo.html
Great vid! I enjoyed it very much and definitely got me thinking. Just bought some Bear Mountain today that I'm gonna use for some chicken tonight. Never really thought too much about the difference in smoke with different brands of pellets until now. I have two pellet grills, a Pit Boss Austin XL and a Cuisinart Woodcreek so I guess I'll have to do some side by sides. I'm a BBQ fanatic and try to grill 4-5 times a week. You just gave me something new to try/do out by the grill!
That’s an excellently programmed test.
B and B have been some great pellets for me. Still getting a great smoke and dark bark when using the low smoke setting on my Rec Tec. Great video! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!!!
B&B delight and lumber Jack are my favorites.
I got to try B&B
Been using Bear Mountain on my Green Mountain since I've had it...recently I grabbed a bag of Traeger at Costco since it was convenient. For some reason the Green Mountain auger didn't like those Traeger Pellets and I was getting binding and wild heat fluctuations when I used them. After thinking my auger had broken I decided to try different Pellets (Webber) and no more binding or wild heat swings. I'm not sure if it was a fluke but I'm never using Traeger Pellets on my Green Mountain again...
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I had binding on my GMG auger from gmg pellets, had to switch to traeger, works now. The gmg were hard as a rock .
Good thing you figured it out.
Well I just reviewed all my pellet purchases over 4 years and all were Lumberjack except one Bear Mountain, so I guess I've done alright! Thank you for this experiment!
Yes you have! Thank you!!
What is your recommended budget portable smoker for beginners with hold temperature well. (Budget around 200-400) can you give me list of options. Looking for reliable brand.thank you nice video.
What were the other flavors of bbq pellets in this video? Have you tried 100% oak from lumber jack or bear mountain? Thanks for the video!
They were all hickory, and no I have not yet tried the oak ones from lumber or bear. Thanks for watching!
Love my Treager grill, but lumberjack and Weber pellets do make a difference. Only buy the Treager Costco bag when on sale because it is already at a deal. Add the sale to hard to pass up with the amount you get, but only use it for quick high heat cooks. Long cooks lumberjack, unless I am short and have to get Weber at a near by Ace. Only lumberjack I can buy is hour away. Have to plan when low.
Something else you can do, that I've been trying to do lately, is use your expensive or better brand pellets early on in the cook like when you're still putting Smoke on the meat. But after a few hours, I'm definitely after you wrap if you are wrapping, you can swap out your good pellets for something cheaper. At that point you're just using it as a heat Source not really a smoke source.
Not sure if you can answer this yet but which one had the least dust/cleanup? Also the snap test would be nice to know also. Which pellet is the hardest wood?
Sorry Chad - I didnt test those things. I plan on doing more pellet reviews and will try to add these types of test. Thanks for watching!
When I first got my Treager, it came with their competition blend which I enjoyed. Lately I have been using Treager apple wood and am not in love. Based on your review I just tried Kingsford and am a convert. I have planted about 15# of Treager pellets in my garden. Should work as fertilizer.
Glad I could help!
Thanks for the Video. Glad you guys did a comparison of top brands. My wife and I just picked up our first pellet grill with the traditional Pitboss pellets for first go around . (Honestly just wanted to get the grill out the door since it was accidentally marked almost 50% off.)
Nice steal!
@@1526BBQ or “Nice Steel!”
😁😂😄😁😂😄
Lol thank you Gents
🔥🔥🔥
Great information thanks for the input
Thank you! Thanks for watching!
Thanks, that was very insightful.
And I was wondering if you have ever tried the Western brand of smoking wood chips??
The color difference is caused by the material used to lubricant the die and also moisture
Good to know. Thanks!
I’ve tried them all . Im all in on the Basspro pellets. They provide Smoke through the entire heat range. Others drop off above 300deg. They essentially become heating pellets. Try em out.
I will, thanks Carlos!
Carlos- I’m currently using Cabelas pellets which might be the same as BPro pellets! The Cabelas puts out a lot of smoke compared to several others I’ve tried!
@@robertthibodeaux4435 Absolutely I like the bourbon brown sugar and the straight hickory but they do a really good job in the upper heat range
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😁
Great video. I just got my pit boss pellet grill and been using pit boss pellets. Haven't been real happy with the flavor. I figured I had made a mistake by getting it. I'll try these other brand of pellets. Thanks!
Big differenece
Try pitboss mesquite pellets I find they produce good smoke
I'll so a whole mesquite round. Thanks!
You might try the pitboss fruitwood pellets. These are my go-to
I will. Thanks Chester!
I just bought a new pit a Vermont Castings and I use their brand name pellets
Thanks for the test I need to try lumberjack. I am not impressed with kingsford hickory
I did lile Kingsford, but LJ was the best. Let me know what you think when you try them. Thanks for watching!!
I can only consistently get pit boss or Traeger in my area. The Lowe’s around me has bear mountain but only one flavor which is the gourmet bbq and IMo they are weak af. I wasn’t a fan. I was able to find one bag of fruit wood lumberjack pellets just recently and it was good by very mild. I want to try other flavors of lumberjack pellets, however they are difficult to find outside online vendors.
I just got a CampChef DLX24 and went with CampChef pellets primarily because it was either those or Treager pellets at 3 bucks more a bag. I smoked a 18lb ham for Christmas as the first smoke and used their cherry pellets and you could definitely smell the sweet smell of the wood and the ham came out very, very good. I also have a CampChef vertical propane/wood smoker and will say this pellet smoker left me with basically nothing to do except drink more beer lol. Trying their Hickory this week on some ribs I think.
I here good things about campchef pellets. Let us known how the hickory one do ya.
Thanks. Quite revealing test. I can't afford Traeger or Camp Chef and I have been using Lumberjack for a couple of years. I get them at Rural King at a very affordable price.
I wish there was a Rural King near me. Thanks for watching!
I love this video! Have you tried the “100% hardwood, 100% of the time” Camp Chef pellets? Just curious on your thoughts
I have not tried Camp Chef, but hear great things
Great video man, you're awesome!
Jason, you're awesome. Thanks brother!!
Just got a bag of pit boss and there's plenty of saw dust and even chunks of wood and now even my traeger don't work properly, first time it ever happens in almost 5 years
That sucks!
@@1526BBQ went to HD and got the traeger brand because are the only ones I can find around and I am back on grilling!!!
You got to try some of the other brands pellets I tested in this video - so much better. Thanks for watching brother!
Thank you for this review! Rural King usually have Bear Mountain on sale for really cheap in June. I am going to stock up!
I am curious to try Lumberjack though.
Thanks for watching!!
I use B&B competition blend and pretty happy. This is a good comparison of the pellets.
Thanks! I havent heard of B&B, how do they compare to Lumber jack?
@@1526BBQ I have not had the pleasure of using lumber jack yet. I am new to the pellet game. Old stick burner for years and last year got a kamado. And now a Laredo 1000 pit boss. I have not seen lumber jack any where hereDaytona Beach, Fl. But I shop at Academy Sports mostly.
@@1526BBQ Academy Sports is where I get the pellets made by b&b
Ill see if I can find them online. Thanks!
I put a link in the description - I buy them on amazon.
Great comparison! Can we have a follow up on the max temperature they can reach, how much ash they made, how much they cost, how prone they are to moisture?
Working on some follow ups. Will switch up some of the brands, but more to come. Thank you!
Nice job on this. I’ve been using the pit boss brand for almost a year now as well and I’ve thought to myself before on certain cooks I wished there was a little more smoke. I use the competition blend. But also your comment that it’s a cleaner burn is a good point as well as I never thought of that. I just followed you on Instagram as well. Content is great keep it up! 👊🏼
Where do you purchase your pellets from? I’ve been going to Lowe’s for mine...
Thanks Joe!
I got the Lumber jack one off of Amazon (link in the description). Picked up some at Lowes (Kingsford I think, and Weber). Treager came from Home Depot. Bear Mountain was online too.
Going forward I will always go for Lumber jack first.
@@1526BBQ Thanks so much 🙏
Np
Great video! I like the way you tested these. The first round of results was quite surprising. I agree with the other two rounds more. I’m a huge fan of Lumber Jack and Bear Mountain pellets. I haven’t tried the Weber and Kingsford yet. But I’m not impressed with Traeger or Pitt Boss. Especially Pitt Boss. I do love my Traeger grill though. Great test!
Thanks man! Yeah I love my Pit Boss Grill, but I will not be using Pit Boss pellets.
Thank you had the last two and you are right🎓
👍👍😀
I’ve been using lumberjack for years, but have recently switched to Jax.
just a curious question could someone use like the wood stove pellets all natural no additives for your heat source the prices on the bag is lot cheaper than that market for smokers can buy smaller bags of the seasonal pellets or chips use a smoke generator or smoke tube
Not sure.....
@@1526BBQ you do have to make sure you get the hardwood pellets you know brand names have a manufacturing they all order from just have there brand names put on the bag if someone look closely they may have same manufacturing they come from i know it's all about marketing
👁 C
Great Job, going to try Lumberjack
Thanks brother.... Secret time: the G in Tony G is for Gutierrez.....
Thank you for your unending quest for the best flavor!
Yes sir! Some of the comments on this video have given me really good ideas on other pellet videos or Pellet reviews or pellet comparisons that I should be doing. The quest continues!
Now can u run ur experiment using another flavor wood. Just to see if the same brand results are the same. And possible another food type
Two great ideas. Thanks Eugene!
Nice job guys, This clearly was a lot of time and work (but tasty) but gave us great information. Thanks!!
Thank you! Glad it added value to you. Im going to do some more comparisons in the future.
I've tried different brands of pellets too in the past and found that LumberJack is the best and what I've been using for many years. I agree with Traeger being last as their "Hickory" pellets are Alder wood mixed with hickory oil.
I had no idea! Thanks for the watch Jim, and thanks for adding the conversation.
...are you SURE Traeger is still using oil, even after the class-action law suit against them exactly for that reason ? I'd expect they'd stop that practice after "getting caught"? 🤔
Traeger changed their entire line of pellets over the last year or two. Really want to still go with that statement?
In doing this test, do you know how fresh the bags of pellets are? I don’t mean they just came from the store. Our local warehouse hardware/lumber store was selling bags of pellets that were two years old.
Said you smelled plastic chemical orders. We’re those trays clay that were holding the pellets? Or some other material?
Would hope pellet makers are not including bark. Ok on wood for bon fire, but nasty residues if cooking. Prefer clear wood.
Pellet grill mfgrs will know shear force on feeder augers. Their pellets made to not exceed that value. Could mfg A pellets cause problems on mfg B grills?
Lots of unknowns in this video resulting in guesses.
No, I dont know how fresh the bags of pellets were.
Yes they were in plastic containers when I smelled them - but they all were and Traeger were the only ones that had the smell on them.
I know I ran all 6 brands with no auger issues.
I also know I will never buy Pit Boss or Traeger again unless its for a pellet review video.
- Give me a break, its a UA-cam video I made in my kitchen. Im not The BBQ Pellet Association of America.
Do you work for Traeger???
@@tomgates316 greater just changed their bags to say 100% hardwood flavored. So you decide if they changed the recipe for pellets they have used for 30 years.
Hmm I’ve had a pit boss for a few months and only used pit boss pellets & noticed the lack of smoke flavor. Where can you find Lumberjack brand?
I only use Camp Chef competition blend ,
I havent tried those....
Fantastic work. Thank you for taking the time to cook and review these pellets.
I have always used lumberjack in my pit boss! Great info!
Thanks for watching Jamie!
I know lumberjack states that they use the wood bark on single flavored pellets because that’s where most of the flavor comes from. I believe many others don’t use bark.
I hadn't heard that, but I suspected so. I know when I used to smoke on my Weber Smokey Mountain the wood chunks I would throw in some times had bark.
@@1526BBQ if you look on their website they explain when they leave the bark on. They also leave the bark on the labeled blend. So if it a a Pecan blend, pecan will have bark and the mixed in woods won’t.
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Wonder what’s the best pellet when you want to grill and sear.
Wanna see how much different flavor and heat you get.
I bet you wouldn't get too much flavor either way. Smoke flavor needs time to penetrate.... But if you test it out please let us know.
@@1526BBQ that’s the case people should surplus in the worst cheapest possible brand of pellets.
But nobody has tried to test this yet.
True true
Thanks for the hard work
Thanks man, I appreciate that a lot!
Several of my friends telling me they only use knotty wood bbq pellets. I have not tried them yet for I can get the B&B locally.
Knotty wood - never heard of them. Thanks Dewayne!
Just got a Traeger Pro and first rack of ribs are in the pit now.. Newbie question. Traeger says to ONLY use their pellets. Is this sales hyperbole or is there a technical reason to do so. Thanks for your reply
I cant see with 100% facts. I can say this Pit Boss says the same thing, only use PB pellets, but I've used many different brands with no issues.
@@1526BBQ thanks!!
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They can only recommend their brand of cooking pellets. They cannot force you to use their brand of fuel any more than Ford can make you buy Ford gas for your vehicle.
I love Lumberjack competition blend. Smoke everything with them including desserts!
They are so good!