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[Boatner]

I'm eagerly awaiting my first pellet grill to arrive this Wednesday. As usual, I work on research to any new "hobby".  In looking for pellets I've come across many things. One is the lawsuit against Traeger regarding oils. It seems there is a lot of drama regarding this.

Now on to my questions:

What does "blend" mean? it is neutral hardwoods mixed with the desired flavor woods like hickory, mesquite, apple, and etc?
I see sites with 100% mesquite or apple, or hickory, etc. are these more desirable? I also see "competition blend"; this is confusing to this "newbie."

Are blends inferior?

Can I safely store my pellets in a 5 gallon Lowes "general" bucket ($3.95) with a lid (from a health standpoint)? 

Since I live in South Louisiana, and plan to store the pellets in my enclosed but detached garage, should I use a desiccant to keep it dry (make a pouch in the lid for it to keep from accidentally burning it)?

How dangerous, or likely is an explosion from lighting the grill (Camp Chef SG24 wifi) or relighting?

I did search for "faq" and could not find and article or posting of such a thing on the site. If I missed it, I apologize.

-Boatner

[glitchy]

Many pellets are 70% oak or alder, 30% species listed. I use buckets with Gamma Seal lids all the time. CookinPellets and Lumberjack are a couple companies that make 100% Hickory and other 100% pellets. Nothing wrong with blends, some are quite nice and is one way to get less oak in some of the other brands.

Explosions in pellet grills are very very rare. If you do happen to have a flame out, just be careful opening the lid and probably wise to check the fire pot to make sure not overflowing with pellets before relighting the grill.

[Canadian John]

 
 Traeger's pellets are, or at least used to be, either 100% single species wood or either a blend ~ 30%/ 70%, or  flavoured. The 100% being alder, maple and oak. The alder and oak being base woods = the

 70% portion of the blend. Alder from the Western pellet manufacturing plants +  oak from the East. The 30% being apple, cherry + ?  These are more $ and less abundant. The hickory and mesquite are base

 woos,  sprayed with liquid smoke. An oil added to the ground wood prior to being forced thru the dies, for what I gather, a lubricant. No one else that I know does this.  The lignin in the wood acts as a lubricant

+ binder.
 
 Blends are not necessarily inferior. The reasons might be: cost, material availability, flavour etc.... Think coffee beans.

  5 gal buckets should make an excellent pellet storage container, IF, clean and not previously used for anything that may leave any residuals. The plastic recycling codes should help choosing the container.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes.

 Desiccant. Moisture thirsty, yes. Food safe

 Explosion lighting/relighting. Lighting, I would say not unless there was some sort foreign combustable substance present such as propane, natural gas, or gasoline.  Re lighting. I have only heard of ! case

where an overflow of pellets resulting from a no start, generated a small BOOM... If a pit fails to start, never try a restart w/o investigating out the cause. It may require opening things up for a look.

 

 

[02ebz06]

I don't think "food safe" is necessary, but Lowes sells "white" buckets with lids that are food safe.  The "blue" ones are not.
I use one for brining turkeys.

I use these for my pellets:
https://www.amazon.com/Buddeez-1704-Kingsford-Charcoal-Dispenser/dp/B002HO27WQ/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=kingsford+caddy&qid=1617634499&sr=8-9

[bregent]

There is no agency that currently regulates bbq pellets, so mfg's can put just about anything they want on the bag.

As glitchy mentioned, most are going to be about 70% filler wood (oak or alder) with the balance being the wood listed on the bag. If the bag only states that it is 100% hardwood, you can bet it's going to be a mix like that. These typically won't be labelled as a 'blend' as they only tell you the flavor wood and not the 'filler'.

Bags that have the word 'blend', usually tell you the various species of woods that are blended, and sometimes even the proportions. Similar to above, but give more info about what's in the bag.

If it is 100% flavor wood, it will say so on the bag. There are only a few mfg's that make 100% flavor wood pellets and you can be sure they will let you know by clearly indicating that.

I prefer 100% hickory, because that's the only wood that gives me the level of smoke flavor that I want. But there is nothing wrong with 100% hardwood, or blended pellets, as long as they give you the flavor you are after.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I just got an email from Traeger about a $30 pellet container they are selling.

I got my Kingsford pellet containers at Target in the Fall when they do their grilling closeout sales.  I think I paid $5 for each of them.  I have about $10 of them.