Bullseye Clinkers!!

[Robhimself79]

So I have had a Bullseye for the better part of a year but I was unable to use it because we lived in an apartment with restrictions on grilling on the patio. We recently purchased a house and the first thing I did was moved the Bullseye over. In anticipation I purchased some Knotty Wood Plum pellets based on some youtube reviews. They started fine but I thought something was wrong with my Bullseye because if I wanted to use it at a low temp, it wouldn't hold at all, yet high temps were fine. I tried cleaning out the fire pot and discovered the dreaded clinkers had all but buried my ignitor. After discovering this I saw that this is a problem due to the pellets being produced with the bark from the tree.. I will never use these pellets ever again.. I just purchased some Bear Mountain pellets and I hope that will be the last time I have this type of issue.

 

[C. Keeper]

So I have had a Bullseye for the better part of a year but I was unable to use it because we lived in an apartment with restrictions on grilling on the patio. We recently purchased a house and the first thing I did was moved the Bullseye over. In anticipation I purchased some Knotty Wood Plum pellets based on some youtube reviews. They started fine but I thought something was wrong with my Bullseye because if I wanted to use it at a low temp, it wouldn't hold at all, yet high temps were fine. I tried cleaning out the fire pot and discovered the dreaded clinkers had all but buried my ignitor. After discovering this I saw that this is a problem due to the pellets being produced with the bark from the tree.. I will never use these pellets ever again.. I just purchased some Bear Mountain pellets and I hope that will be the last time I have this type of issue.

What's a klinker?

 

[Robhimself79]

Here's a picture.. They are unburnt material that is left in the fire pot. If I put the bullseye into riot mode they burn off but anything under 450 degrees and they get left behind and eventually cause a flame out. They look and feel like big chunks of rust.

 

[C. Keeper]

Here's a picture.. They are unburnt material that is left in the fire pot. If I put the bullseye into riot mode they burn off but anything under 450 degrees and they get left behind and eventually cause a flame out. They look and feel like big chunks of rust.
View attachment 15898

Not what I thought, thanks for the picture.

In my world, that looks normal to me. I thought a "klinker" was unburned pellets.

 

[kstone113]

Wow - thanks for the pics.

 

[ol' stonebreaker]

I'm guessing the clinkers are formed from dirt in the pellet mix, whether accidental or intentional I don't know.

 

[Robhimself79]

I'm guessing the clinkers are formed from dirt in the pellet mix, whether accidental or intentional I don't know.

Supposedly a byproduct of the trees bark in the mix.

 

[mikeporter616]

Tree bark normally has a fair amount of dirt and dust in it.

 

[Pops]

I only use the RT Ultimate Blend pellets, no problems ever, none, nill.

 

[Pacman]

I too have seen the clinkers with Knotty Wood. I've never had a flame out, but the issue is real with these barky/dirty pellets. These are not my "go to" pellet, but I do sort of like the smoke profile though just to do something different. I will say that my gripe with Knotty Wood is less about clinkers and more about the huge amount of ash they produce compared to other brands.

More and more though, I am leaning towards a one brand - one type of pellet and rely on my smoke tube for "variety."

 

[sdynak]

Here's a picture.. They are unburnt material that is left in the fire pot. If I put the bullseye into riot mode they burn off but anything under 450 degrees and they get left behind and eventually cause a flame out. They look and feel like big chunks of rust.
View attachment 15898

So if I may ask.. how much pellets did you consume to get all this lava?

 

[Pacman]

So if I may ask.. how much pellets did you consume to get all this lava?

I was able to build a 1/8" to 1/4" crust in the bottom of my fire pot after a 12 hour cook. I could see that a couple of cooks would soon plug the air holes and igniter.

 

[Robhimself79]

So if I may ask.. how much pellets did you consume to get all this lava?

That was maybe 5lbs.. I don't remember how much I was throwing in but that was mostly at 225-250. I did a burn on riot mode last night and there was nothing but ash.

 

[sdynak]

That was maybe 5lbs.. I don't remember how much I was throwing in but that was mostly at 225-250. I did a burn on riot mode last night and there was nothing but ash.

Wow.. that is some serious trash for 5 lbs. I have never used Knotty brand but I'll be sure to stay clear from them.

 

[Robhimself79]

Wow.. that is some serious trash for 5 lbs. I have never used Knotty brand but I'll be sure to stay clear from them.

I will most likely just use what I have in a smoke tube but its definitely not going in the hopper again.

 

[C. Keeper]

I will most likely just use what I have in a smoke tube but its definitely not going in the hopper again.

I also prefer the smoke tube, good choice

 

[kstone113]

I too have seen the clinkers with Knotty Wood. I've never had a flame out, but the issue is real with these barky/dirty pellets. These are not my "go to" pellet, but I do sort of like the smoke profile though just to do something different. I will say that my gripe with Knotty Wood is less about clinkers and more about the huge amount of ash they produce compared to other brands.

More and more though, I am leaning towards a one brand - one type of pellet and rely on my smoke tube for "variety."

I do the same thing for the most part. I do buy 100% hickory and 100% cherry and try to use those in my Bull but what I do is smokes is use Royal Oak Charcoal pellets with whatever wood chip mixed into the tube and I get great smoke flavor from that. So if pork, I will use the 100% cherry pellets and also cherry wood chips mixed in with those charcoal pellets.

 

[Robhimself79]

Happy to report that I ran it for a few hours at 225 yesterday with just some leftover kingsford pellets and no issues at all. This was 100% the fault of the Pellets I was using.

 

[Badrus]

So I have had a Bullseye for the better part of a year but I was unable to use it because we lived in an apartment with restrictions on grilling on the patio. We recently purchased a house and the first thing I did was moved the Bullseye over. In anticipation I purchased some Knotty Wood Plum pellets based on some youtube reviews. They started fine but I thought something was wrong with my Bullseye because if I wanted to use it at a low temp, it wouldn't hold at all, yet high temps were fine. I tried cleaning out the fire pot and discovered the dreaded clinkers had all but buried my ignitor. After discovering this I saw that this is a problem due to the pellets being produced with the bark from the tree.. I will never use these pellets ever again.. I just purchased some Bear Mountain pellets and I hope that will be the last time I have this type of issue.

Yup, same happened to me on both the 380 and 700. Tried both just to make sure it was the pellets and also found the Knotty almond and plum both had this result.

 

[Bull Buchanan]

So I have had a Bullseye for the better part of a year but I was unable to use it because we lived in an apartment with restrictions on grilling on the patio. We recently purchased a house and the first thing I did was moved the Bullseye over. In anticipation I purchased some Knotty Wood Plum pellets based on some youtube reviews. They started fine but I thought something was wrong with my Bullseye because if I wanted to use it at a low temp, it wouldn't hold at all, yet high temps were fine. I tried cleaning out the fire pot and discovered the dreaded clinkers had all but buried my ignitor. After discovering this I saw that this is a problem due to the pellets being produced with the bark from the tree.. I will never use these pellets ever again.. I just purchased some Bear Mountain pellets and I hope that will be the last time I have this type of issue.

I've gone through two bags of Bear Mountain and I've been thoroughly unimpressed. Very subtle flavor and pretty big temp swings. Much better results with B&B and even the Costco Kirkland Blend.