I bought a used Traeger 575 and we're still getting to know each other. I'm not getting the smoke and flavor that I get from my BGE and WSM. I'm a little disappointed but I think it might be me just figuring it out. I'll take any overall helpful hints that anyone has to offer.
As pellets burn so efficiently, it is very challenging to get smoke flavor on a pellet grill that matches a smoker utilizing charcoal and wood chunks. (I have a PBC, Chimp Pellet Grill, and Weber.)
At the end of the day, a pellet grill is a wood-fired convection oven and I find it helpful to think of it that way as it helps to set expectations. You're trading smokiness for convenience. No free lunch, as it were.
As Smoker_Boy suggested, the two primary ways to increase smoke flavor are to use a smoke tube (I've done this to decent effect) and to cook at a lower temperature. The lower temperature allows the pellets to smolder more, producing a little more smoke. I personally find that at 350 F and higher, the smoke flavor is very minimal.
With all of that said, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I sometimes want less smoke flavor, such as ground beef or fish. (Or for dishes I am cooking in the summer that are traditionally smoked so I don't have to heat up my house with my oven.)
Pellets are kiln dried. That hurts your smoke production right there. Offsets generally use seasoned wood. More moisture in the wood, produces a better smoke. Smoldering wood is incomplete combustion and generally not good smoke. But you gotta take what you can get with pellets. A smoke tube would probably be your best bet.
You just are not going to get the level of smoke you are getting from a BGE or WSM. I run a pellet cooker exclusively. The flavor profile works great for our tastes, but to compare to those others it is a bit like apples and oranges.
Agreed, you're probably never going to get the same flavor you do from burning actual CHUNKS of wood in a BGE or WSM, but using a smoke tube and running a lower temp overall isn't a bad idea. It can help, but you do have to have a realistic expectation - it's just a limitation of pellet cookers.
I am going to jump in and concur with these guys. I use a Chimp a lot and I don’t get a heavy smoke flavor. One thing I do to help is I put my food on when I turn it on to get the benefit of the smoke it generates when it starts up. I got that tip from someone here in the pit; I don’t remember who it was. I like the Chimp for the convenience; I have other cookers if I want more smoke and I have the time to fool with them.
Yoder instructions say not to put your food on until up to temperature. They don't say why but it may have something to do with the controller logic or quality of the smoke. I don't know. I do get why you would want to do this, lots of smoke at start up.
captainlee I think Grilla says the same thing. It may be a food safety thing with them thinking the food might be at unsafe temps for a time. I can't remember who mentioned adding the food at start up but it was someone I figured knew what they were talking about. I have been doing it for awhile now with no adverse effects.
I used to smoke on a WSM. Now I use a Yoder pellet smoker. The difference in smoke levels is practically palpable. The WSM gives a much stronger smoke taste than the pellet cooker. It’s just a fact of smoking.
We get enough smoke flavor for us out of the Yoder, always less with a pellet smoker. If I do want more smoke I will use a smoke tube. One of our tgiving birds will be Cajun injected then fried. I will smoke this first for about 2 hours with the smoke tube as this will require more smoke with all the flavoring.
It's hard to quantify - I did a side by side comparison of ribs done on a Yoder pellet smoker and also done on a Camp Chef Smoke Vault 24. For those unfamiliar, the Camp Chef uses propane to generate heat, but has a pan above it that you place wood chips or chunks on. Then a water pan above that.
The ribs done on the Smoke Vault DID have slightly more 'smoky' flavor than those done on the Yoder pellet smoker. However, everyone who tried them selected the ribs done on the Yoder as more 'flavorful' and more pleasant than those done on the Smoke Vault. This was in a blind taste test in everyone apart from myself. Also, this was done with S&P only ribs, to prevent other flavors from intruding and obscuring things in some way.
My theory (just a theory, of course) is that the heat (BTUs) generated from the burning of pellets, while not as strong in smoke, perhaps, as that generated in the Smoke Vault, contained other volatile compounds that imparted flavor on the meat. So, using wood to generate not just smoke, but also to cook the food, affects it in other ways as well. Similar to the difference in flavor from cooking on, say, a BGE or WSM or something using charcoal with wood chunks for smoke, to that generated in a stickburner of some kind like an offset, which generates both the BTUs and the smoke from burning actual wood.
IOW, there's more than just smoke flavor. Obviously, many folks can tell the difference between food cooked on charcoal and that cooked on an offset - or pellet. Not that charcoal is bad, at all. And specifically grilling over charcoal, or drippings into charcoal like in a drum smoker like a PBC or Super 55 or other UDS, create other flavors that affect the food, as well. (Also, some guys have taken to throwing some brisket fat or pork fat in the firebox of their offset specifically for this reason - I haven't tried this yet).
I choose which cooker I'm going to use based on many factors for that particular meal. Smoke is one - lots of other factors as well. But don't discount a pellet smoker completely... there are numerous benefits of each cooker. Convenience, depth of smoke flavor, speed of a cook, bark formation, ability to hold food for longer periods, perhaps space, etc. Lots of things.
Gotta choose what works for you! This is why I have... ummmm... lemme see... currently, 8 different outdoor cooking devices? Of course, 3 of those are offsets of varying characteristics, though. lol
I am not a pellet guy. I believe I heard here, that if you run your unit at a lowered temperature say 200 for the first hour(?) you get more of a smoke flavor. Then crank it up to whatever temp you usually cook at.
Smoke is less pronounced from a pellet grill. It is still there. A smoke tube may add more smoke flavor.
I am delighted with my Traeger Timberline 850.
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