7 Pellet Grill Secrets Every Beginner Should Know!
What I Wish I'd Known Sooner
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Introduction
Seven Things You Need to Know About Your Pellet Grill
What's up BBQ fans! Whether you're researching a new pellet grill, just got one, or have been cooking on one for a while, today I'm sharing seven things you need to know. I've had my Yoder YS640s for about five and a half years, and these are the lessons that matter most. Let's get into it.
1. Pellet Quality Matters
Pellets are your fuel, and they're also your flavor. They provide most of your smoke, and on a grill like the Yoder, which can hit 600°F for searing, you need good pellets to get there.
I've tried nine, ten, eleven different brands. My rule of thumb: don't buy pellets from the brand of pellet grill you own. Traeger, Pit Boss and Camp Chef all sell pellets. It's smart business, because pellets are recurring revenue, but in my experience most of them aren't very good quality.
My go-to is Bear Mountain, like the Bear Mountain Oak I'm running now. I've done extensive testing and had great luck with them. I like the flavor, and they handle high heat. With the Yoder Wood Fired Oven attachment, I get over 700°F for Neapolitan-style pizza.
2. Keep Your Pellets Dry
Pellets are tightly compressed wood. Get them wet and they expand into mush, then dry rock-hard. I made the mistake of getting water in my hopper once, and it took a screwdriver and a lot of effort to break them up and get them out.
Keep the cover on whenever you're not using the grill. With the cover on, I don't mind leaving pellets in the hopper. I took a month off through a lot of rain and had no problems.
Store bags inside, like in the garage, and seal open bags tight. A cabinet or bench works too.
3. Keep Your Firebox Clean
You'll hear that pellet grills need vacuuming, and they do make ash. But you don't have to vacuum the whole thing every time. What you need is a clean firebox.
On the Yoder, I pull the firebox tray and dump the ash before every cook. I vacuum the rest maybe once a month, or every time I use the wood-fired oven, because I don't want ash floating around the pizza.
Pro tip: if you're getting flameouts, it's almost always a dirty firebox.
4. A Smoke Tube Helps, But Don't Overdo It
A pellet grill makes the most smoke at 160 to 225°F. At 250°F it's not too bad, but past that, the fire burns so clean that smoke drops off. When I have time, I start low.
A smoke tube is about $20. Fill it with pellets or chips, light it with a torch, let it burn, and set it off to the side. The grill's fans keep it burning clean and add extra smoke on longer cooks.
My rule of thumb: a smoke tube for up to half the cook.
Ribs, about 4 hours: 2 hours of tube smoke
Pork butt, about 9 hours: one full tube, about 4 to 5 hours
Brisket, 12 to 14 hours: two tubes back to back, 8 to 9 hours of smoke
Never run two at once, and don't run one the whole cook. Smoke should complement the meat like a seasoning. A lot of people who say they don't like smoked food were served bitter smoke from a dirty fire or something smoked to death.
5. All Smokers Are Different
I watch a ton of YouTube. My wife calls it food porn. It's a great way to learn, but I also cook on an offset and a kamado, and they all cook differently.
An offset loves to run at 275°F, so it cooks quicker.
A pellet grill takes longer. I only go up to 275°F near the end, and I often start lower or run at 225°F the whole cook. It takes longer, but the smoke is worth it.
A kamado cooks faster, with 360-degree heat hitting the meat.
Study other videos, but learn to adjust. Don't copy an offset's times on a pellet grill.
6. Tenderness Is King
You'll hear "wrap at 165°F" and "brisket's done at 203°F." Those numbers are a reference, not rules. There are no hard rules in barbecue. That's the beauty of it.
Get a good instant-read thermometer. Mine is an older ThermoWorks MK4. The temperature is useful, but the tip matters most. A properly done brisket or pork shoulder feels like warm peanut butter with no resistance, except maybe a little at the bark. Probe all over. Every piece of meat, every smoker and every batch of pellets is different, so forget the clock and learn to feel your meat.
7. Practice Makes Perfect
Social media shows perfect cooks. I show my mistakes. I don't practice my cooks before filming, and if something goes wrong, I share it. Failure is life's greatest teacher, as long as you apply the lesson.
I'd been smoking meat for about 20 years when I started the channel, and I thought my brisket was pretty good. Five years and over 500 cooks on the Yoder later, it's night and day. The average backyard cook might get in 20 or 30 cooks a year, so be patient and keep cooking.
Final Thoughts
Use good pellets, keep them dry, clean your firebox before every cook, use a smoke tube for up to half the cook, adjust for your smoker, cook to tenderness and keep practicing.
If you want to fast-track your pellet grill game, check out my Pellet Grill Mastery Bundle: a 44-page digital download with over 200 images covering my best tips on nine of the most common barbecue cooks. Yoder owners can add the wood-fired oven guide for pizza.
Thanks For Watching
Whether you're a seasoned pitmaster or a novice, these tips will enhance your cooking skills and leave your family and friends raving about your delicious, smoky creations. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more step-by-step videos, and let's together become the barbecue heroes we were meant to be!
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