I am a big fan of a pellet grill but sometimes there is not a lot of smoke flavor in the meat.
Adding more smoke to a pellet grill is a topic that often intrigues both beginners and experienced grillers alike. Drawing from my years of experience, and my passion for home BBQ, I’ve delved deep into the art of smoking with pellet grills.
In this guide, I’ll share with you the techniques and insights I’ve gathered, both from professional settings and my personal grilling adventures.
I’ll explore practical tips and tricks to enhance the smoky flavor in your dishes, ensuring your grilling experience is as flavorful as it can be.
By the way, I did some pellet grill reviews and at this moment in time, I am pretty impressed with the Z-grills.
There are, in my opinion, two ways to add more smoke in the chamber of a pellet smoker.
Wood Chip Foil Pouch
Just like I and many others have used on a gas grill you can also use this method on a pellet grill.
The only problem is that you have to place it close to the fire chamber and that sometimes can be a problem.
This is how you make a wood pouch out of aluminum foil and how it works.
Take a generous piece of aluminum foil and place some wood chips or the same pellets you use in the hopper in it.
Fold it over without making it to snug.
You need airflow to keep the wood smoldering so you have to poke some holes in the home made aluminum smoke tube foil for this purpose.
If you cannot place it on the firebox of the pellet grill you can start the wood with a propane burner or even on the side.
After it starts you can add it to the smoke chamber and you will see more smoke coming out of the chimney.
I strongly advise using heavy-duty aluminum foil. Not just for a wood chip pouch but for everything on the grill. Here you can find my favorite heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Smoke Tubes
I have to be honest and let you know right of the get go that this is my preferred method of adding more smoke to a pellet grill.
A smoke tube is a sheet of metal with holes in it that is bent round or square. You can fill it with the same wood pellets you use in the hopper of the pellet grill.
You can light it with a small propane burner and sometimes even with a piece of newspaper.
The pellet begins to smolder and will add the extra smoke you were looking for.
My favorite brand is the Amazen smoke tubes. They come in several sizes and you can find them here on Amazon.
Besides a smoke tube you can also use a smoker box as many people use on a gas grill to give the meat they grill some smoke flavor.
Here is a picture of a smoker box from the same company.
Video On Using A Smoke Tube
Most of the time a video can do better than my writing.
You can also read my how to add more smoke flavor to a gas grill for more information.
Adding More Smoke To A Pellet Grill? – My Experience.
As you can see there are several ways to add more smoke to a pellet smoker. What method works best for you is something you have to figure out.
The cheapest way to test it is with a wood chip foil pouch of course. Aluminum foil is something most people have in their kitchen drawer.
There are many discussions going on about soaking woodchips and you can read my opinion in this article about should you soak wood chips or not?
If you, however, are planning on using one of the methods to get more smoke from a pellet grill more often I suggest having a look at a smoke tube or maybe even a smoke box.
You can read my Amazen smoke tube reviews on this page.
Both come in several sizes and will last for a long time.
Warning: Since you add an additional heat source to the pellet grills chamber it might have an effect on the temperature of the pellet grill and slow down the number of pellets it feeds to the firepot.
Eddie van Aken
Eddie van Aken has years of experience in running his full-service restaurant and with this came working with using and dealing with all types of kitchen equipment. With his experience, he can find all the pros and cons of grills and add them to the grill reviews he is doing. You can read more on the about page for Eddie van Aken
