As you've seen, there are lots of opinions on this. I'd go with what you can get locally. Buy bags of several brands and go with the one that performs best on your cooker. Performance could be judged by temperature swings, flame-outs, pellet usage etc. Regarding taste, I don't think you'll be able to tell a difference.
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Club Member
- Sep 2015
- 8034
- Colorado
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> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Anova sous vide circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
In Northern states, Lumberjack seems to be the gold standard. Southern states, it’s reputed to be BBQ’ers Delight. Personally, I go with Grilla Grills pellets (reportedly manufactured by Lumberjack) and have had great results. Plan on paying about a dollar a pound for the good stuff. Feel free to look for bargains but it’s generally true that you get what you pay for.
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Not to belabor the point but buying Lumber Jack in bulk cuts that price down to about 43 cents a pound. That's significant savings, considering my pellet cooker burns at a 1#/hour rate, at best.
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Just sayin'. I don't buy a full ton, I generally buy about a quarter. If we can find more guys it's less than that. LJ just requires you buy a ton minimum, doesn't matter how many folks partner up to do it. Understandable if you don't have the room though. What I do is lay three bags on the floor of my garage then stack eight high or so, small foot print.
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Club Member
- Oct 2019
- 460
- LA (Lower Alabama - Gulf Coast)
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Pits/Grills:
Wood burners:LSG 20 x 42 offsetCharcoal:
LSG 24 x 48 Adjustable
Watchman
Fire pitsPK 360Kamados:
PK 300 (at camp)
Weber
Custom park grill (at camp)Big Joe IIIGas:
Big Green Egg lg
Grill Dome lg (at camp and it sucks!)Modern Home Products WNKYakatori: Konro XL
RecTeq Matador w/WOK
Blackstsones (at home & camp)
Electronics/Tools:
FireBoard - Original, II, and Spark
Fans - Pit Viper, Pit Bull, FireBoard
Temp measurement - Thermapens (all), DOT, timers, . . .
KJ rotisseries (L and XL)
Lots of cast iron, woks, etc.
GrillGrates® and SearMagic®
Sous Vide Water Immersion Oven
Kindling crackers (at home & camp), axes - Gransfor, other favs
Just like most everyone here, a lot of other stuff!
Thanks to all for the feedback and experience shared here. It has me off to a good start when I get my pellet grill in a few weeks.
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Pellets are simple, you have a select few brands with consistent quality AND low dust per lb and then you have the budget brands. I've been very happy with the budget brand pellets from Sams club, 20lbs for usually 12 bucks or less... they burn well but do prduce a bit more ash than the quality stuff. If you get a bag off the bottom of the pallet they are high dust content. What I typically do is add a 5lb bag of quality stuff to the 20lb comp blend from Sams. I get a good burn with great flavor and have to clean my grill a bit more than if I went 100% quality brand. It's totally worth the cost IMO. I do really like adding a 5lb bag of jack daniels charcoal to 1 20lb bag of budget stuff. Burns great and pretty consistent.
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Club Member
- Feb 2018
- 25
- Rockford, IL
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Weber 22" Kettle
Weber Smokey Mountain (14.5")
CampChef SmokeProSTX
I really like Lumberjack either the hickory or the Competition Blend. Up here I buy them in 20lb bags at Farm and Fleet for at most $10, and they go on sale 2-3 times a year for either BOGO or 30% off. That's when I normally stack up. I don't get a ton of ash even after long cooks with them and the smoke flavor is good.
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Administrator
- May 2014
- 18986
- Clare, Michigan area
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Follow me on Instagram, huskeesbarbecue
Smokers / Grills- Yoder loaded Wichita offset smoker
- PBC
- Grilla Silverbac pellet grill
- Slow 'N Sear Deluxe Kamado (SnSK)
- Masterbuilt Gravity 560
- Masterbuilt Digital Charcoal Cabinet
- Weber 22" Original Kettle Premium (copper)
- Weber 26" Original Kettle Premium (light blue)
- Weber Jumbo Joe Gold (18.5")
- Weber Smokey Joe Silver (14.5")
- Brinkmann cabinet charcoal smoker (repurposed)
Thermometers- SnS 500 4-probe wireless
- (3) Maverick XR-50 4-probe Wireless Thermometers
- A few straggler Maverick ET-732s
- Maverick ET-735 Bluetooth (in box)
- Smoke X4 by ThermoWorks
- Thermapen MkII, orange & purple
- ThermoPop, yellow, plus a few more in a drawer for gifts
- ThermoWorks ChefAlarm (wife's)
- Morpilot 6-probe wireless
- ThermoWorks Infrared IRK2
- ThermoWorks fridge & freezer therms as well
Accessories- Instant Pot 6qt
- Anova Bluetooth SV
- Kitchen Aide mixer & meat grinder attachment
- Kindling Cracker King (XL)
- a couple BBQ Dragons
- Weber full & half chimneys, Char-Broil Half Time chimney
- Weber grill topper
- Slow 'N Sear Original, XL, and SnS Charcoal Basket (for Jumbo Joe)
- Drip 'N Griddle Pans, 22' Easy Spin Grate, and Elevated Cooking grate, by SnSGrills
- Pittsburgh Digital Moisture Meter
Beverages- Favorite summer beers: Leinenkugels Summer & Grapefruit Shandy, Hamm's, Michelob Ultra Pure Gold
- Fav other beers: Zombie Dust (an IPA by 3 Floyd's Brewing), Austin Bros IPA, DAB, Sam Adams regular, Third Shift amber or Coors Batch 19, Stella Artois
- Fav cheap beers: Pabst, High Life, Hamm's & Stroh's
- Most favorite beer: The one in your fridge
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- Whiskey: Buffalo Trace, E.H. Taylor, Blanton's, Old Forester 1870, Elijah Craig Toasted, Basil Hayden's. Neat please.
- Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About me
Real name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:- Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
I've used Grilla's and I believe they are made by Lumber Jack (but don't quote me), and Cookin' Pellets and I really like both. Max reportedly has good things to say about Pit Boss, as does Jerod, and of course BBQ'ers Delight from our own CandySueQ. I haven't used those 2 myself though (yet).
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Club Member
- May 2020
- 1233
- Massachusetts
-
Smokers/Grills:
Camp Chef Smokepro DLX pellet grill
Weber Kettle
Dyna-Glo vertical offset smoker
Favorite whiskey:
Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon
Angels Envy Bourbon
Whistle Pig Rye
Everyday sipper:
Jim Beam Black and Wild Turkey Rye 101
Favorite beer:
Coffee Porter or Stouts
Pabst Blue Ribbon and Narragansett for grilling and lawn mowing.
I have used Bear mountain (hickory) and found them to be very good. I have experimented with several brands and found Lumberjack and Bear Mountain to be the best. Both are 100% of the advertised wood,no fillers, oils or blending with either. You can't go wrong with Bear Mountain, same price directly from the company as Amazon or any other outlet. If you are not set on Bear Mountain try Lumberjack's sweetwood blend (maple, beech and cherry).
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