box store pellets

[Hectilles]

I bought a few bags of pellets at Lowes about a month ago because they were $10 for a 20 lb bag and they weren't too bad. They had some dust in the bottom of the bags but they cooked well and our food tasted great. But when I went back two weeks later they had raised the price to $17 a bag.


This weekend I'm going to be around a KMART and they have these pellets in stock for $13.50 per bag and I was wondering if anyone has had the chance to try them yet?


I've only had my grill for a few months now and I've tried 3 different types of pellets. I really cannot tell the difference in taste with the food but can really smell the difference when cooking. So in my mind it really is more about price than brand do to the fact that the people I have been cooking for haven't been able to tell the difference in brands.

Am I crazy or has anyone else found the same thing? My wife swore she could tell the difference because the smell was completely different but after cooking and tasting side by side she agreed (shocker) that it really was the smell and not the actual taste.

I have used 100% fruit wood in my smoker tube with cold smokes and can tell the difference in that but not in anything I have loaded in the Rec Tec for big cooks. And with the price of the 100% pellets I'm not going to be filling the hopper anytime soon. 

I would love to hear your opinions on this.

Thanks,

[TMB]

Well, I did use Traeger pellets but then found B&B pellets at Academy Sports for $9.99 a bag (20 lbs).
They were not pecan so hard to say because B&B does not sell pecan in Academy Sport


But now the boss gave me 5 bags of BBQ's DeLight I'll see how much difference there is if any.       

[deestafford]

Academy has the least expensive ones I've found and they have resulted in good food for me.  Dee

[veryolddog]

I concur with Dee, I purchase all of my pellets at Academy Sports for $9.99 per 20 lb. bag. I usually purchase 5 bags at a time. It is my understanding that B & B Charcoal purchases these pellets from BBQ Delight. These pellets are a mixture of oak and something like mesquite, hickory, or apple. I have not seen anything else in the store. Personally, all that I can discern from the flavor is smoke. I cannot sense hickory, apple or mesquite. I personally have not yet bitten a piece of hickory wood, or mesquite wood to understand what it tastes like.   

Regards,

Ed

[Hectilles]

Okay, thank you everyone for the feed back. I contacted B and B to see if anyone in my area sells them retail. It looks like according to their store locator the closest would be Springfield and that's a little to far for me to make a trip for pellets. But I occasionally find my way to that area to fish so I may have to plan a dual trip.

Thanks again,

[TentHunteR]

I really cannot tell the difference in taste with the food but can really smell the difference when cooking.

Ahh you have hit on a good point. Remember a lot of what we taste comes from what we smell, so a lot of the difference in taste from one wood smoke to another comes from the smell of the smoke.

[muebe]

At higher temps the wood will mainly burn and produce very little smoke thus less flavor. At 180F to 200F is where you will really get the best flavor from pellets burned in the pellet grill.

[pmillen]

On another forum I confessed that I can't differentiate between wood flavors on finished product.  (I suspect that I would be able to identify mesquite but I don't cook with it.)

The moderator referred me to a blind taste test conducted with experienced BBQers, some who are successful competitors, who had poor results.  As a result, since wood flavor is inconsequential, I'm reducing the wood flavors I stockpile.  YMMV.

Sidebar:  I can smell the difference in the smoke but at the table I don't taste a difference.

Sidebar:  I try to avoid the smoke from the pit as much as possible.  I think that smoke exposure desensitizes me to the smoke taste when the meal is served.  Others say they taste an adequate smoke flavor while I sometimes can't.  I taste it just fine the next day.  I don't think it gets stronger in the refrigerator as some do, I think that desensitization ends.

[smokeasaurus]

I cant tell the difference in taste either. I just use a blended pellet and toss some in to the tube smoker for extra smoke.

[DK117]

Cash & Carry, $9.51 for a 20lb bag of Bear Moutain pellets.  I only use hickory at this point.  I've tried a variety of pellets and this is the one that meets my price point and quality. 

As to the smoke off the pellet grill.  Well thats about the best smelling thing I can think of.  I'm surrounding myself with that and an adult beverage while the Traeger does it's work.

DK117

[BMC.ret]

I am with Smoke on this, I use the cheapest  I can find in the hopper(Lil Devil @$9.95 for 25# bag) and the so called "good stuff" in the smoker tube for additional smoke. Milt's apricot rosemary garlic and CookinPellets 100% hickory are the only pellets I can differentiate the smell and taste of the smoke so far.

[DK117]

BMC, I found the lil Devil pellets all dust.  Maybe I got a bad batch.  But we had a Bi Mart sale at $5 a 20lb bag.  I really thought I was getting a deal.  Me and a host of other guys on another forum converged and bought about 5 bags each and took out an entire pallet in a weekend.  General consensus was that lil Devil was an inferior product. 

DK117

[BMC.ret]

Your batch may have been manhandled, I haven't found more dust and ash content than the rest I have used. I don't have any problem getting and maintaining temps which I guess is all I am looking for. Like most I can't tell the difference in the smoke smell so I am not in the quest for the perfect pellet but there are a couple I buy just for the smoker tube and additional smoke.

[teesquare]

On another forum I confessed that I can't differentiate between wood flavors on finished product.  (I suspect that I would be able to identify mesquite but I don't cook with it.)

The moderator referred me to a blind taste test conducted with experienced BBQers, some who are successful competitors, who had poor results.  As a result, since wood flavor is inconsequential, I'm reducing the wood flavors I stockpile.  YMMV.

Sidebar:  I can smell the difference in the smoke but at the table I don't taste a difference.

Sidebar:  I try to avoid the smoke from the pit as much as possible.  I think that smoke exposure desensitizes me to the smoke taste when the meal is served.  Others say they taste an adequate smoke flavor while I sometimes can't.  I taste it just fine the next day.  I don't think it gets stronger in the refrigerator as some do, I think that desensitization ends.

You bring up some interesting points.....

And - I think we have to also add that the sense of smell in humans is highly variable. I know those that have virtually no sense of smell - and others that have one that is incredibly sensitive.
In other words - when it comes to wood flavor/aromas..."your milage may vary" really means something