Bull Need more smoke

[Chaff67]

Hi everyone, and thank you in advance for any help offered. I just bought my RT700 a week ago and I'm new to pellet grills. I've grilled several meals so far and I'm loving this thing the more I use it. Sunday I'm trying ribs for the first time. Last night I reverse seared a couple steaks (they turned out fantastic) and I had the temperature set at 225 degrees for the first part of the cook. At 225 I expected to see a good amount of smoke, but did not see much at all. I picked up pellets the day the grill arrived. They are Traeger signature blend . Is the lack of smoke due to the pellets I'm using, a setting on the grill or something else?

 

[Pacman]

I have had very good success at getting decent smoke at 225. On shorter cooks like steaks I will sometimes drop my temp to 180 - 200 for slightly more smoke, but in general the pellets will be the biggest factor in your smoke level at temps below 250.

There are a zillion threads about comparing pellets here. I don't claim to have the ultimate opinion on which is the best. With that said, I don't recall anyone being super excited about any of the Traeger pellet blends as at least at one point they were using flavored oils on their pellets versus the various hardwood varieties.

 

[Waterboy]

Pellet grills won’t put out the smoke flavor of a stick burner or charcoal smoker like a drum or kettle with wood chunks.
You can enhance what they do as @Pacman said by going a little lower on the temperature for the first part of the cook. Your pellets will play a big roll and you can also add a smoke tube for additional smoke.
Many here use Bear Mountain, Lumberjack, Pitt Boss, Kirkland pellets. You have to remember what one person thinks is enough smoke is not enough for the next person so just because someone says “this is all the smoke you need” doesn’t mean it is all YOU need.

 

[Dr.Floyd]

Lower temperatures and try putting some wood chips directly on the heat deflector. I use some cherry or apple chips for pork and chicken and post oak or hickory for beef.

 

[Jim6820]

And, the wood variety used in the pellets can also make a difference. Mesquite and Hickory are probably the boldest with oak, apple and cherry being milder. “Blends” (mixes of various woods) provide the least flavor profile IMO. Every pitmaster has their favorite and the argument about who’s right is endless.

If you want a stronger smoke profile, try straight Hickory. Mesquite can be a little bitter with some meats, so use it with care. And, as has been said, go with the well-known brands like Bear Mountain, Lumberjack, Pitt Boss, Cookin’ Pellets, etc. I’ve found that the grill brand (Traeger, Recteq, etc.) pellets lack the flavor profile I prefer.

You’ll have to try some different brands to find what you really like.

 

[lowcountrygamecock]

100% Mesquite has the best smoke flavor of any pellets we’ve tried. We like heavy smoke and buy cabelas brand mesquite from bass pro. $10 for a 20lb bag.

 

[Dr.Floyd]

A clean burning fire will produce a smoke that is either a light thin blue or even totally clear. If you were going off how the smoke looked, then that could be deceiving. Thick white smoke will not give your food a desirable smoky flavor. Instead, it'll make your food taste burnt and bitter.

 

[kstone113]

Start cooks for the first few hours at 180(low or extreme smoke mode) is one way.

Using a smoke tube with wood chips mixed in is the cheapest way to add smoke in my opinion and does a great job.

Get a cold smoker attachment like the SmokeDaddy magnum PIG however this requires drilling a hole into your grill. I have this but honestly haven't used it this summer yet. I prefer the smoke tube b/c it is easier however does take up space in the grill somewhat so a cold smoker does eliminate that issue.

Add pellets/wood chips to the deflector but this doesn't last too long.

For the RecTeq Bull at least, I've seen people put an aluminum meat loaf style pan in front of the firepot with wood chips.

I've tried just about it all since getting my Bull b/c I was in your boat of wanting more smoke. One thing you have to remember is as your grill gets more seasoned, less smoke will stick to the walls of the grill and more to your food. The "smoke" from pellets is lighter in nature as others spoke on however the more you smoke/cook with your grill, you will notice overtime a difference from when you first got your grill.

But I always go back to the cheapest way which is with a smoke tube. When I first got my Bull, I tried a smoke tube and didn't notice any difference so that's why I went with the cold smoker route. Later, I noticed some folks add in wood chips mixed in with pellets to their smoke tubes and this does make a difference. I also use(just for the smoke tube) the Royal Oak charcoal pellets which I believe makes a difference also.