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[Hank D Thoreau]

A pellet grill was my introduction to smoking. I had done some burning of herbs, such as rosemary, or wood chips on my Weber, but for the most part, I preferred the taste of a well seasoned grill. I have been reviewing some posts regarding flavor differences between different woods. I have also reviewed articles on the subject. It seems that there is a general consensus that the woods taste pretty much the same when in pellet form. My question is whether the flavor differences that I read about are present when cooking directly with wood. There are charts (I have one on my refrigerator) that describe what foods are best with each wood. What brought this to mind is that I could not get more of the pellets I normally use due to the lockdown. I had settled on two, both GMG products: Fruitwood blend for general use, and Texas blend when I want a more smokey flavor. The difference, in this case, is the amount of smokiness. I am not sure if there is a flavor difference since more smokey tastes different than less smokey. When wood burns you create a lot of organics, such as aldehydes and ketones. These organics are where the flavor comes from. It makes sense that the organics that you get from different woods would not be the same, so it is not unreasonable to think that there would be a flavor difference.

Anyway, I have a couple of bags of GMC Fruitwood, which is cherry, pecan, beech and oak), on order along with a bag of a Traeger Signature Blend which is hickory, maple and cherry. I brought some single flavor bags of Traeger pellets: pecan, cherry and oak. I may blend them to get what I am used to using. I am wondering if anyone has a better idea.

[Bar-B-Lew]

Unless you are using 100% hickory or mesquite pellets, you are wasting your time IMO trying to determine a flavor difference in other pellets.  I primarily use cookinpellets because I lived 45 minutes from them when I lived in IL and Chris was always a nice guy when I picked up pellets.  I do find that they had less ash then others I have used.  But, I buy whatever is a good price too like closeouts at Walmart.

[lil moose]

You can use an A-Maze-N Tube    amazenproducts.com/

If I need more smoke I use one.  The wife likes a very light smoke flavor so I only use when I have guest that really like stronger smoke to their food

[bregent]

Due to the extremely high temperature in the burn pot (compared to a firebox in a stick burner) most of the subtleties of different wood species are lost.  What remains is mostly the degree of smoke flavor. That's why I only use 100% hickory.

There are some folks that claim they can taste the difference between different pellet species. Maybe. But I think it comes down to more pronounced smoke flavor rather than identifying specific characteristics of a species.

Wood in a stick burner is burning at a much lower temp, so less of the specific compounds are lost.

[Bentley]

So you think a fire burns different in an Evil Stick burner then in a pellet unit?  Would love to see the physics on that one.  So am I to assume that the fire needed to create 250° in the pellet unit equates to a different temperature in the Evil Stick burner fire?  There is a different chemical reaction in a fire that is producing a chamber temperature of 250° then a fire that is creating a chamber temperature of 500°?

[bregent]

>So am I to assume that the fire needed to create 250° in the pellet unit
>equates to a different temperature in the Evil Stick burner fire?

Absolutely. It comes down to size - the size of a pellet cooker firepot is tiny compared to a firebox on a stick burner. So the smaller mass needs to burn at a higher temp to produce the same pit temp.

[Bentley]

Fire is fire and smoke is smoke.  Pretty sure the chemical reaction of wood that creates temperature x°, Y° or z° and smoke is the same, whether it is in a small chamber or large.  If not, I would love to see the reasoning behind why it isn't.

[glitchy]

I think there’s definitely a significant smoke difference between an offset, a charcoal smoker and a pellet grill and think the hotter you are cooking the more pronounced the lack of smoke is on a pellet grill. I used to think it was primarily the fuel, but now I think it’s as much the drip pan and the fans. I think as you start getting to 300 and up the smoke is pushing out the grill so fast barely any sticks to the food.

I think this because of the SmokeFire. The food there had significantly more smokiness at all temps closer to cooking on my Summit Charcoal. I think this is because more smoke comes through the middle of the grill instead of just the outer perimeter.

I also think there is some relation to the fuel with pellets versus logs. I’m thinking that when logs are holding a 300 degree fire, parts of the log are still smoldering creating more smoke. Pellets don’t have as much nearby surface to smolder next to the fire.

I would guess if you cooked a butt on a pellet grill at 225, another on a pellet grill at 300, and a third on an evil stick burner at 275 and wrapped each one after x hours to make equal smoke exposure most blind testers could identify they were quite different and most could tell you where each came from.

[Ross77]

I'm not a scientist and this is just anecdotal but think about a bonfire.  It burns much cleaner when it's a roaring fire vs after it burns down some.  If I cook anything at temps over 250 on my RecTec I get very little smoke flavor.  I have to cook at 180 for awhile in order to get a decent amount of smoke flavor.  At lower temps the RecTec will actually pulse the fan to let the pellets smolder a little. 

As far as pellet flavor, I generally run 100% hickory.  I don't get much flavor from blends.  I've used mesquite and I don't care for it.

[bregent]

Fire is fire and smoke is smoke.  Pretty sure the chemical reaction of wood that creates temperature x°, Y° or z° and smoke is the same, whether it is in a small chamber or large.  If not, I would love to see the reasoning behind why it isn't.

There's quite a bit of scientific evidence and research papers on this. Here's one that's in sync with other's I've read: https://www.cell.com/matter/pdf/S2590-2385(19)30284-X.pdf

Here's a few quotes from that to save you some reading:

Bound inside lignin, a big-branched amorphous molecule, are the key precursors to smoke flavor, aroma, and color— guaiacol and syringol. Guaiacol is responsible for most of the smoky taste. Syringol, which your nose immediately identifies with fire and smoke, is more aromatic. Again, exact content is species dependent, but in general softwood lignins have only the guaiacyl type, whereas both types are included in hardwood lignins.

Throughout the cook, temperature control should be optimized to release these desired lignin-based molecules. A good rule of thumb is that the hotter the temperature, the more complete the combustion, which results in lighter flavors — the molecules are smaller. It is a good practice to err on the side of higher-temperature combustion—a fully agitated, well-oxygenated fire running around 800F is ideal. That being said, a fire too hot produces fewer flavor molecules, and light smoke carcinogenic molecules such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) arise. Many desirable flavor molecules are also destroyed by the heat of a more intense fire. The best smoke flavor is generated by hardwood embers that have an average temperature between 650F and 750F.

[bregent]

>I used to think it was primarily the fuel, but now I think it’s as much the drip pan and the fans.
>I think as you start getting to 300 and up the smoke is pushing out the grill so fast barely any sticks to the food.

I agree, it's a combination of all:

• Firepot burning at more intense temperature
  
• Drip pan blocking smoke
• Fan driving smoke out, and also lowering humidity

Despite all that, I love the smoke flavor from pellet grills, just sometimes wish it was a little stronger. I had high hopes for the Flavorizer design of the Weber - too bad that didn't seem to work out.

[Bentley]

Yes, like I thought, just about the exact temperature of wood pellets burning in a combustion chamber.

It is a good practice to err on the side of higher-temperature combustion—a fully agitated, well-oxygenated fire running around 800F is ideal.

[Hank D Thoreau]

When you burn wood you create water and simple and complex organic molecules. The organic molecules, things like aromatics, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, produce the flavor. As more heat is applied the organic molecules break down. Apply enough heat and you will get molecular carbon in a process called cracking. It makes since that if you are concentrating the heat in a small pot, using compressed fuel that you may break down the complex organic molecules and change the flavor. This is much like how heat from cooking breaks down fatty acids which provide flavor to many of our foods. That is why fatty acids are added back as artificial flavors. The heat (energy) explanation makes a lot of sense from a chemical perspective.

[bregent]

Yes, like I thought, just about the exact temperature of wood pellets burning in a combustion chamber.

It is a good practice to err on the side of higher-temperature combustion—a fully agitated, well-oxygenated fire running around 800F is ideal.

I actually don't know the temp in the firepot. My IR gun only goes to 850F, and it gets maxed out when I check it on my Memphis when running at it's lowest temperature with a small amount of pellets burning. I've read that the firepot in pellet grills can reach 1100F.

[Hank D Thoreau]

Yes, like I thought, just about the exact temperature of wood pellets burning in a combustion chamber.

It is a good practice to err on the side of higher-temperature combustion—a fully agitated, well-oxygenated fire running around 800F is ideal.

I actually don't know the temp in the firepot. My IR gun only goes to 850F, and it gets maxed out when I check it on my Memphis when running at it's lowest temperature with a small amount of pellets burning. I've read that the firepot in pellet grills can reach 1100F.

I have the pizza oven option on my Daniel Boone. The normal deflector pushes the heat away, while the pizza oven concentrates it under the stone. I take my oven into the 700's when setting my smoker at 300 F. That is all the heat that I am looking for since I'll burn the pizza's if I go hotter. It only takes about 2 minutes to cook them. The question is, how hot does the pot get when cooking low and slow, like 225 F?

Distillation of wood was the first experiment we did in Basic Science class in high school. We heated a Popsicle stick until it turned into a gas, a liquid and a solid. I have done countless experiments in my life as a scientist, but that simple experiment is one that I will always remember.