NOTE: You CANNOT use wood chips in a pellet grill. Do not put wood chips in your pellet grill!
If you’ve just made the leap from a traditional grill to smoker, you’ve got a whole new world of fuel to explore. Unlike standard grills, smokers create heat and flavor with the help of wood rather than charcoal or gas. Other fuel types simply don’t do as good of a job at flavoring, and that’s the stuff we love when we’re aiming for that deep, rich, smoky flavor that makes barbecue barbecue. In other words: good wood is essential for good smoking.
But there are many ways to create that wood-smoked flavor in your pellet smoker grill. You should never put wood chips in your pellet smoker, as it will cause it to break. However, if you’re weighing what type of chips to use for your electric smoker, this guide can help. Hint: pellets are almost always the best choice.
Wood pellets are made from finely ground hardwood. Our competition-grade pellet grill pellets are made from flavor-enhancing hardwoods like mesquite, hickory, apple, cherry and pecan. Wood pellets are the only recommended fuel source for pellet grills. They are also ideal for use in an electric smoker. Because they burn slower, enhance flavor and keep the pitmaster in charge better than wood chips do, they almost always produce a superior result in an electric smoker.
Wood chips are pieces of hardwood that have been processed through a woodchipper. Unlike wood pellets, wood chips are not compressed. They tend to vary widely in shape and size compared to wood pellets and often have sharp, jagged edges. In our opinion, wood chips should mostly be reserved for the garden and not the grill.
The only time you’d want to use wood chips in a smoker is when you’re using a kamado grill, kettle grill, or electric smoker. However, lump charcoal is generally the preferred fuel for kamado grills because it burns slower and produces better quality smoke.
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In almost all smoking scenarios, wood pellets are superior to wood chips because they burn drier and slower, which means better temperature control and greater efficiency. They also produce enhanced flavor.
As you can tell, we’re not shy about our love for hardwood pellets for grills. And there are some key reasons why. Hardwood pellets have some distinct advantages over wood chips, including the following. Again, remember that you cannot use wood chips in your pellet grill. But if you are weighing the advantages for your electric smoker, consider the following.
The bottom line? We don’t recommend wood chips for any kind of smoking or grilling. Wood pellets and charcoal are superior smoke-producers, and they’re all you need for smoking meats, veggies and more that knock your guests’ socks off. Be sure to try our top-rated wood pellets to taste the difference for yourself.
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558 E. 64th Street
Holland, Michigan 49423
616.392.7410