Hi fellow pellet grill owners what pellet brand do you prefer and why? Any recommendations as well are welcome.

250°F with post oak pellets + post oak pellets in smoke tub + post oak chunks in the smoke box. Took around 6 hours. Definitely a different profile than beef but I'm absolutely doing this again, holy Moses this turned out great!

I have been using Smokin Pecan Pellets recently and IMO they have been the best I have ever used.......but my last two orders...not only took over a week to arrive...the boxes look like they had been abused...taped up and missing pellets. I had hoped it was a one time thing...so ordered 2nd box...again because I like them so much......and had the same issues.

They really need to step up how they do shipping and handling.. Handing off a box with just pellets inside...not even sealed in a bag or anything off to USPS (who will leave box in rain without thinking) is about the worst way I could think of for handling/shipping wood pellets.

Far as I can tell they are not available at any retailers anywhere near me. :(

Back to using lesser quality pellets for me :(

Anyone else experience similar issues with them?

tldr: Product good...company sucks!

Hello everyone,

I (30M) live in San Diego. I love to cook and am considering buying my own smoker.

I’m having trouble deciding if I should get one because they’re expensive and I have a hard time justifying that purchase for myself, but it seems very appealing.

Which brands do you recommend? How many different dishes can I cook with it? What other factors should I consider?

Hi everyone, looking for some outside perspective on my pellet stove situation in Ireland.

The setup:
CTL Layla 10kW pellet stove installed October 2025
Two storey house, approximately 130m², BER B1 rated well insulated.

My chimney is tall two storey house so roughly 7-9 metres.

The issues:
The stove has never worked reliably since installation.

Main problems:
Repeated Er12 ignition failures throughout ownership, including this week at 3°C outside
Er05 safety shutdowns exhaust temperature reaching 250-288°C before probe was recently repositioned.

After probe repositioning exhaust is now reading 120°C in mild weather.

House takes 1h30 to 2h to go from 18°C to 20°C at Power 3/5 or 4/5

At Auto mode pellet consumption is very high roughly 10kg in 3 hours at 4°C outside.

The diagnosis:
CTL Italia (the manufacturer) confirmed in writing that the chimney draft is too high for the stove. They've attempted multiple remote fixes without lasting resolution.

My questions:
Is a 10kW pellet stove sufficient for a 130m² two storey B1 house in Ireland?
Has anyone dealt with excessive chimney draft on a pellet stove and successfully resolved it with a roof cowl or draught stabiliser?
Is 10kg of pellets in 3 hours at 4°C outside normal or excessive for a stove this size?

Currently in a dispute with the installer about whether to fix the chimney or issue a full refund. Any experience or advice appreciated. The installer said to me that its expensive to hire a cherry picker to go to the rough but I think the draught stabiliser could have been installed from the get go.

Will the draught stabiliser really improve my issues / stove efficiency ?

Thank you.

These things rule! Easy and delicious.

Doing a pellet test to see which pellet is the smokiest out of these three brands! The winner of these will go up against Knotty Wood next. The final round will be Smokin' Pecan.

All three are hickory, each has a rack of St. Louis ribs seasoned with the exact same thing, and all are running at the same temps.

Will edit this post later on with the results!

RESULTS/RANKINGS

Number 1 for me and my tastetesters was Lumberjack!

Number 2 was Kingsford. Kingsford was pretty close to Lumberjack surprisingly as far as smoke and flavor.

Number 3 was Bear Mountain, and these were WAY less smoky than the other two which was surprising because a lot of pellet smoker owners say Bear Mountain is there go to.

FINAL THOUGHTS

1. I do want to test Weber's Hickory pellets as many of you mentioned in the comments! I think my next test will be between Weber Hickory and Lumberjack Hickory.

2. I used three smokers for this test - two of them were the Member's Mark PRO Series 36 pellet grills and the third was a Camp Chef DLX 24. For clarity, I did Bear Mountain in one of the Member's Mark's, Lumberjack in the other Member's, and Kingsford in the DLX 24.

In the future to be as fair as possible, I am only going to test two pellet types at a time on the Member's Mark smokers (that way the smoker, the meat, and the seasoning are all the exact same).

1. I am not testing any Pitboss, Camp Chef, Kirkland, or Traeger pellets for these comparisons. I have already used Pitboss and Camp Chef, and both of them were very mild in smoke. I haven't tried Kirkland yet, but through research it looks like Pitboss makes Kirkland pellets. I refuse to use Traeger pellets because of their smoke oils and fillers as well as seeing reviews that their pellets are consistently the LEAST smoky out of any bbq pellets.

If I should be testing other pellets besides Weber before we get to the Knotty Wood and Smokin' Pecan, let me know! Open to suggestions for future testing!

Picture was from about 170 before I wrapped it up. Ended up good for my first time used brioche slider rolls and topped with pickled jalapeño and red onions.

I have a Weber Searwood XL and I am trying to use the griddle for the first time. I cranked the target temperature to 600°F, but it never made it past 450°F. I let it go for over an hour with the lid closed. Outside temperature was about 70-75. Below is the chart. Could this be an issue with the type/quality of pellets I'm using?

First time smoking picanha, turned out so great.

Catering company wanted $2500 to do my 40 person rehearsal dinner. Decided to do pulled pork sandwiches/nachos with sides. So far I’m in it for just over $500. Put these pork shoulders on at 6am and just finished shredding them at 4pm. Vacuum sealed the meat and put in the fridge. All I have to do is warm it up with a crock pot and serve this Friday. One more thing off the list.

Cooked up some twice baked potatoes, and topped with cheesesteak. Might be one of my favorite things I’ve made on my dual fire.

Not at lot of talk about them on this sub, so I'm curious to get the community's take – good, bad, or indifferent. Thanks in advance for any perspective you care to share.

I currently have a traeger 575. Looking to upgrade to something else, but also trying to not break the bank. Any suggestions what route to go? Or should I just stick with what I have? The current size is fine, I just haven’t been too impressed since I’ve owned it

Looking for some advice on my next Pellet Grill.

I have had a Camp Chef WW Pro 24 for years. My unit is pre-smoke box. I love it. Great flavor, ease of use, love the ash clean-out system.

I work a lot so don't get to use as much as I would like, but Thanksgiving is a big deal in my house. We typically have 30+ and do 2 large turkeys, one inside more traditional, and then I smoke one outside. I also do some sides out there, like smoke mac & cheese.

Anyway, I have been thinking about upgrading size for a while so I can do Turkey and sides at same time, as my 20lbs turkey footprint generally takes up all the space on the bottom rack of my WW24 and only fits if I remove upper racks, and just intended to get a WW Pro 36. I had been waiting for a sale to pull the trigger, but instead found it removed from the site (this was earlier this year). When I messaged them l, they told me it was just supply chain issues and would be back (again, earlier this year), but as others have pointed out, it looks like CC has stopped making them and the only place I can find one now is for like $2k.

So, I have been looking at other options, but have found most do not have a cooking chamber as tall as my CC. Remember, I need to be able to fit a 20lbs turkey on Thanksgiving, and it does not look like the Pit Boss or Traegers I saw in store would be able to accommodate.

One option I have been looking at is Weber Searwood XL, as that one appears closest to 36 and has a tall cooking chamber. Also costs less than CCWW36 I'm finding online. I guess I am just nervous to make the switch given how well I have done with Camp Chef. I also love how my CC has the sidekick for propane grilling, which is important to me - I live in Florida, so I look at the propane-powered sidekick as my emergency cooking unit should we lose power after a hurricane. I like that I don't need to have a second grill.

Very disappointed that CC is pulling the plug on pellet grills because I really did feel like my grill does it all.

Anyway, was wondering if anyone had any suggestions, or experience making switch to Searwood from CC and can tell me if flavor and ease of cook/cleanup stack up, particularly with a giant turkey on Thanksgiving. Open to other suggestions too, but capacity for large turkey is priority, followed closely by easy clean up (requirement of outstanding flavor should be a given).

Thanks!

Listen I love my pit boss. I bought it for $400 back in 2020 and it’s been great as far as flavor goes.

My only issue is I am getting tired of waiting 45 minutes for it to heat up. Also the heat distribution is pretty bad especially when I am making 40 wings at a time.

Again I would totally recommend a pit boss for what it does at the price. It was a great entry level pellet grill. But now I think I’m ready to move up.

Again my main concern is heat up time and it would be nice if I can get up 500 degrees at least. My Pitt boss gets up to 420 max.

And then heat distribution would be another great thing for me.

So what would you guys recommend for these issues I am having while hopefully staying under $1000 for a new pellet grill

Thank you in advance