I'm a PBC user who is considering purchasing the 36" Camp Chef Woodwind Pro. A few questions for folks already using the Pro:
What brand of pellets do you use?
What type (oak, almond, pecan)?
Do you match your pellet species with the wood you use in the fire box?
Thanks in advance. I'm looking forward to folks input.
I highly recommend that you purchase a pellet grill. As far as pellets, I use either Lumberjack or Bear Mountain. Lumberjack is not as available as in the past so as of late I have been using Bear Mountain. Both brands are 100% of what's advertised, no fillers just 100% Apple, Hickory etc. I don't find there to be a very noticeable difference in varieties but I do prefer the gourmet and sweet wood blends as well as Pecan
The pellet grill does not produce a heavy smoke profile so a smoke tube can be used when you want that little extra. Favorite protein, roast whole chicken .
Where did you find that info on Bear Mountain? I thought they used 70-80% oak or alder in their single species. That’s why they carefully say 100% hardwoods instead of 100% Hickory or Apple on their bags. In the pellet industry oak and alder are ‘base’ woods and not fillers.
I had a Rec Tec for 8 years and have had my LSG pellet for 18 months. My favorite pellets are Kingsford, in the RT and the LSG they burn so clean. I recently did an overnight brisket on the LSG (15 hours) and it was amazing how little ash was left.
Honestly, I can't tell the difference between flavors of pellets. Have tried ribs two days in a row with different pellets and really couldn't tell you which ribs were cooked in cherry and which was cooked in hickory.
On a side note, the LSG pellet is a smoking machine. I still get a lot of smoke out of the stack with the controller set at 350, unheard of on my RT.
Cookers:
Oklahoma Joe Offset (older thick steel version!)
Camp Chef Woodwind
OK Joe Bronco
Weber Genesis
Ooni Karu
Weber Kettle
My goal is to eventually have at least one of every style of cooker….. I have work to do. Lol!
Thermometers:
ThermoWorks Thermapen MK4
ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE
ThermoWorks Thermopop
ThermoWorks RFX
ThermoWorks IRK-2 Infrared
Maverick XR-50
TempSpike Plus
Other Gear:
Megaforce 3000 Meat Grinder
Weston 7-pound sausage stuffer
Jerky Gun for making poppers. (Game changer!)
Amaz-N-Tube
Original SnS with drip n griddle
Weber Chimney
Fuels Used:
Splits/Chunks, whatever I can get. Usually B&B competition. Favorites are Cherry, Apple, Post Oak, and Hickory.
Pellets, Lumberjack.
Charcoal, whatever is on sale. Currently have a bunch of KBB. Will eventually try B&B. Use whatever lump is on sale in my Ooni.
Propane, Blue Rhino.
Rubs:
Usually make my own riff’s on Memphis Dust and BBBR. Also use Meathead’s commercial rubs and occasionally try something new. I like a couple from Tuffy Stone and Kinder’s. After several surgeries, I’m very sensitive to “spicy” stuff, so I need to be careful about heat levels.
I don’t have the Pro, though I think I want one. Lol. I do have a Woodwind 24 and I use Lumberjack pellets. I like them much better than the other ones I’ve tried.
CookinPellets and Lumerjack are two of the safer choices in pellets. They are the most up front about what’s in their products and the only secrets might be the mix ratios of special blends. They both offer 100% hickory pellets where most others are 70-80% oak. If you go with another brand, I’d use a special/competition blend as it will likely have less oak base wood.
I had a regular Woodwind WiFi and pretty much ran CookinPellets Hickory through it all the time. The smoke profile was light enough that hickory never overpowered anything for me. That might be different with the new Pro if you’re adding chunks/splits though.
Lumberjack uses bark in their pellets and often produces more ash than other brands. With the CampChef KickAsh system, this shouldn’t cause a problem.
I highly recommend that you purchase a pellet grill. As far as pellets, I use either Lumberjack or Bear Mountain. Lumberjack is not as available as in the past so as of late I have been using Bear Mountain. Both brands are 100% of what's advertised, no fillers just 100% Apple, Hickory etc. I don't find there to be a very noticeable difference in varieties but I do prefer the gourmet and sweet wood blends as well as Pecan
The pellet grill does not produce a heavy smoke profile so a smoke tube can be used when you want that little extra. Favorite protein, roast whole chicken .
Yes, we use either Alder or Oak as a base wood depending on the region of the country where the specific wood species are native. These base woods create a more consistent burn and smoking experience.
I personally don’t buy the consistency argument, but believe it’s to have easier access to a large supply of cheaper hardwood sawdust. I don’t think Bear Mountain, Traeger, etc. pellets are bad. I use them at times and have 6-8 bags of Bear Mountain in the garage right now.
Last edited by glitchy; February 23, 2023, 12:00 PM.
I've used Pit Boss, Grilla [Lumberjack], and Bear Mountain, and price:quality my choice is Bear Mountain. Pit Boss was cheap but too must dust. Grilla/Lumberjack was great but too pricey. Bear Mountain was a happy medium for me, seemed every bit as good as Grilla but cheaper.
Huskee a lot has to do with handling too. You’re talking compressed sawdust with no additives. So, every time that bag is tossed around, there’s going to be more dust.
glitchy Correct, yet Pit Boss seems to handled rougher than the rest. Whatever the reason, it's been much dustier for me than others I've mail ordered.
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