Super smoke, VST and other ways to modify smoke flavor

[Tuckmonster]

Been interested in pellet grills for a while, might get one this year finally. One of the knocks I always see is the lack of a strong smoke profile. Looks like the manufacturing community has started to recognize this as several new grills promise either stronger smoke profiles or the ability to dial-in different levels of smoke. I'm thinking of "Super Smoke" mode on Traeger, Variable Smoke Technology (VST) on the Pit Boss Pro Elite, SmokeBoost on the newer Weber Smokefire EPX6, etc.

Interested in hearing from folks who have experimented with these settings or just had the opportunity to taste food off one of these grills. Has the smoke profile issue been solved? Do you notice a difference in smoky flavor using these? Anyone have a pellet grill they feel imparts particularly good (or bad) smoke flavor? Anyone played around with different pellet brands/types and noticed a difference?

[bbqLuv]

I have a Traeger Timberline 850, works for me. I use Traeger Signature pellets from Costco, 33lbs for $20. Works fine. Friends and family love the food produced from it. Infact, I am being asked to cook for them and others. I am being called "Head Pit Master". The funny thing is I only took up BBQ as a hobby about 4 years ago, in retirement. The truth is I am far from an expert, but I am working on it.

I truly believe the pellet grill as my EZ Bake smoking oven and Amazing Ribs.com helps me grow.

Jeremy Yoder's YouTube video: Pellets Matter: 6 Pellets Compared Head-to-Head | Mad Scientist BBQ - YouTube
I like the smoke to enhance the flavor of the food and not overpower it.

Pellet burners are here to stay, well as long as you have electric power.
Product Round-up: Kamado Joe Pellet Joe - YouTube

[TripleB]

Being called a 'Head Pit Master' for producing BBQ on a pellet grill is indeed funny. Personally, I think there may be one or two people on AR that would qualify as a Pit Master. Myself and even Meathead excluded. Now I do consider myself a 'Chef Boyardee'....

[Whiskeyman53]

I have used a pellet grill for almost 5 years and being new to the pellet grill, I experimented with success and failures and spent many hours researching on Amazing Ribs as well as other sites. The pellet grill will not impart the smoke profile of a stick or charcoal burner. I have used a smoke tube and noticed an increased smoke profile. The pellet grill delivers a more subtle and lighter smoke profile but it is there. I have used many pellet brands and varieties with the most flavor coming from Lumberjack brand oak as well as their supreme blend.

The pellet grill and it's ability to smoke , roast, grill, bake and so on is unbeatable in my opinion. I often find myself preparing for a cook with plans on using one of my charcoal smokers however my lack of time and being in New England, the weather doesn't always cooperate. I find myself going with plan "B" which is to fill the hopper, push the power button and set the temperature. I think this weekend will be my favorite food in the pellet grill, roasted whole chicken.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I believe of the grills you listed, the Weber has the best smoke production. But I'm not 100% sure. There are people who will never be happy with the smoke production of a pellet grill even with things like a smoketube or the heavy D, but there are superior smoking pellet grills out there compared to the rest.

As to pellets, some smoke better than others. But it's not significant enough for me to spend more money on those except for special occasions.

My preference is cost & performance at temp range & smoke production & ash production. For me the best everyday pellets have been Smokehouse found at Sams club, 14ish bucks per 40lbs, above average smoke, do great at 180 and also get my grill to 600F, and with very minimal ash.

The best smoking pellets I've used so far were one of the Weber blends, amazing smoke production but with the cost and insane amount of ash I won't ever use them.

I also really like BBQers delight for special occasions, but no one near me carries them so my cost shipped is about $1 per pound which is cheaper than it used to be, but as much as I run my smoker I gotta be frugal somewhere.

[glitchy]

For the most part it’s more gimmick than function. The special modes are often timed instead of temperature controlled which allows for some more smoldering to occur. However, the timing is usually programmed to run a temp around 180-200° which is why I feel people think it’s great. I’ve had several pellet grills with a boost type feature and couldn’t taste a difference myself between using the special mode versus just running the grill at 200° in regular mode for the first couple hours of a cook. That doesn’t mean a boost mode might not be more effective on some grills if a company were to really invest in the logic in the controller and doing a lot of testing. The reality is most are pretty lazy and take few risks to try to make sure support calls stay low.

Pellets do make a difference. To me, CookinPellets and Lumberjack produce a lot better flavor than all the others I’ve tried. Especially when you’re using hickory pellets. Most other brands’ hickory pellets (all single species really) are 70-80% oak. If you’re going to use other brands buy their special/competition blends. When I’m not using CookinPellets, I usually use Lumberjack MHC blend.

If smoke profile is you’re biggest concern, don’t buy a Traeger, CampChef, Pit Boss, Grilla, etc. Essentially any of the cookie cutter grills with a side stack, full east to west drip tray, and standard cup style burn pot. Look for a grill that has design differences in a couple of these things. There’s a very noticeable difference between a SmokeFire or MAK versus a Traeger Pro or CampChef Woodwind. Every pellet grill is not the same. That’s not saying all the cookie cutters are bad at all, it’s just saying that smoke profile is not where they excel.

That’s the condensed version of experiences I’ve shared on several other threads, but I’m into the double digits on number of pellet grills I’ve had in the past decade and what has been my personal experiences with them. Smoke profile was not a factor in purchasing any of them until my last one. After owning a SmokeFire I really noticed how much more pronounced the smoke flavor was so I started thinking about what other grills I had owned that had (slightly, but definitely noticeable) better smoke profiles than the others. If the SmokeFire had been reliable, I would have stopped there, but it wasn’t dependable at the time. The MAK I decided on followed my theory and it and the SmokeFire are the only two I’ve had that when I open the container of leftovers the next day I sometimes get hit with a big ole whiff of wow that’s pretty dang smokey.