What's in the Pellet hopper?

[ScorchedPorch]

Hey folks - quick question. A bit of a weird question, but how do you know what sort of pellets you've got in the hopper? Reason I'm asking is that we just bought a small traeger for our hunting club, and I know those guys are going to be swapping pellets all the time. So when somebody wants to use it, they'll have no clue what's in there. I was thinking of a small magnetic dry erase board I can stick on the inside of the lid that we could scribble on. I could even put the pen in the tray where the probe is stored. Anyone have any better ideas? Thanks.

 

[Slimpicker]

Several buckets from home depot or something close....
Why do they want to swap pellets?? Each might think they make a big difference in the cook flavor but I've never really been able to tell. I think some like the idea and imagine they can tell but I throw hickory, mesquite, cherry, etc. ... I cannot swear to any or much difference in any flavor left on the meat.
Smoke tubes are a different story now, I use chips and pellets and always have bourbon barrel chips in my tubes and WOW, that makes a big difference.

 

[Shedd]

Yeah Slimpicker is right, I’ve tried about every brand on the market and cannot tell a difference. I also buy the best bang for my buck in the way of pounds per bag instead of name of manufacture and flavor. I use smoker tubes to add flavor. I generally use the Costco brand unless others are on a good sale.

 

[ScorchedPorch]

Question answered. Thanks everyone!

 

[RayClem]

If you are constantly using various pellets and can't remember what is in the hopper, you can always purchase "pellet magnets" such as these.

https://www.amazon.com/Pellet-Magnets-Accessory-Waterproof-Magnetic/dp/B087QP3T4G/

Personally, I rarely remove pellets from the hopper; I just dump new pellets on top, so I often have a blend of pellets. Thus, I do not care what is in the hopper.

I saw one pellet smoker video in which the owner of a bbq store was asked what pellets he used when cooking. His reply was "broken bag blend". He indicated that when a bag got ripped open in the store, they dumped it into a bin. When the were doing a cook, they scooped out whatever happened to be in the bin. While there are certain cooks that are done traditionally with specific pellets, many people cook with blends. Thus you can be as OCD or as casual as you desire.

You might want to be careful with are Mesquite pellets as they impart a rather unique flavor. They are best used with darker meats that can handle the strong flavor. They are rather strong for white fish, pork chops, or chicken breasts unless you really like the Mesquite flavor.

 

[Slimpicker]

Personally, I rarely remove pellets from the hopper; I just dump new pellets on top, so I often have a blend of pellets. Thus, I do not care what is in the hopper.

That would be me also.

 

[Slimpicker]

Reason I'm asking is that we just bought a small traeger for our hunting club

I want one so bad at our hunting camp/cabin. I usually just bring stuff I did at home and Sous Vide it while we are out killing deer, it's about as good as fresh as you can get.

 

[Parrothead1809]

Everything @Slimpicker said is spot on. I've tried quite the variety of pellets and haven't really found a remarkable difference. I'm currently working with the LumberJack Comp Blend (Maple, Hickory, Cherry) and it does a nice job. I've also got a big bag of the Costco pellets in the garage since the price was right.

I've only started exploring with my Fathers Day smoke tube. It does impart a great deal more smoke so I'm being cautious to not overwhelm the meat when cooking. Thus far I've really only done Chicken and a Pork Loin, with the tube (with a mix of wood chips and pellets); granted those are relatively short cooks. I'm really looking forward to doing a brisket in the near term and will load it up.
-PH

 

[Shedd]

I’m hoping he understood that our replies are not meant to be sarcastic or anything of that nature. Really just a straight up truthful answer. I also wanted to add if it’s a small grill then the auger isn’t holding enough pellets to worry with because they would burn up by the time the grill gets to temp so dumping the pellets and adding a different preferred choice would be no problem.

 

[ScorchedPorch]

I’m hoping he understood that our replies are not meant to be sarcastic or anything of that nature. Really just a straight up truthful answer. I also wanted to add if it’s a small grill then the auger isn’t holding enough pellets to worry with because they would burn up by the time the grill gets to temp so dumping the pellets and adding a different preferred choice would be no problem.

No problem whatsoever - I'm sure this topic (IE does the type of pellet really matter) has been cover ad nauseam. Interesting thread in itself, but I got what I needed. In short, don't fret about it. Thanks.

 

[caper_6]

Just my 2 cents, as I used to think the same way. Started buying home depot buckets for different types of pellets until I started to realize they don't make a huge difference in the taste of the cook. I only keep 2 or 3 different types on hand now.
What I do do though is stack all 3 buckets to save space in my garage and I keep the currently used pellet bucket on the top of the stack. Easy to keep track that way.
Works for me.

 

[YYCRed]

Several buckets from home depot or something close....
Why do they want to swap pellets?? Each might think they make a big difference in the cook flavor but I've never really been able to tell. I think some like the idea and imagine they can tell but I throw hickory, mesquite, cherry, etc. ... I cannot swear to any or much difference in any flavor left on the meat.
Smoke tubes are a different story now, I use chips and pellets and always have bourbon barrel chips in my tubes and WOW, that makes a big difference.

Agree with this to a point. I used to have oak, mesquite, apple, cherry. I do find a difference between oak and apple/cherry, and I wouldn't want to use oak with poultry because of it, so now I have only oak for my briskets/beef ribs and apple for pretty much everything else - with a smoke tube to add other flavours on occasion.