As discussed in an earlier thread, I was doing a trial run on the Kirkland pellets. Before I begin, here’s my disclaimer:
Disclaimer:
I AM a big fan of Costco. I have been a member since 1988 when I signed up at the first Price Club in the state of Arizona. It was in the greater Phoenix area (if I remember correctly) and I would drive from Tucson to Phoenix a couple times a month to take advantage of their great prices and consistent quality. An additional mention is the following information is only my opinion. I am not an expert nor do I have any advanced degrees in “pelletology”. I know what I like and I am an expert on my opinions.
The Prep:
I began with an unopened bag. I scooped out a handful of pellets for an inspection. Overall, a large population were a little longer (about 25%) than the RT Competition Blend, Pit Boss, Traeger, and others I have tried. They were darker in color than the typical pellet and seemed a little more brittle/dryer than usual so they were easily broken with little pressure from my fingers. Their outside diameter was close to “normal”, whatever that means. I am naive enough to think even with my old school Generation-1 auger motor no problems will present themselves. Time will tell. (I read on this site and other places there have been issues with bridging or flameouts, but I don’t know if the pellets were the source of the concerns so to be on the safe side, I stayed at home for monitoring purposes.) As a preventive measure for extra long pellets I used the accelerated “negative G” impact test and dropped the bag on a concrete driveway several times. I don’t know if it broke any of the longer pellets, but it was very satisfying to see the bag take on the impromptu endurance test with not breaks, rips, or tears. Plus one in the win column, Costco. For me, there is nothing more annoying than having to wrestle torn bags of pellets because their contents exceed the bag’s carrying capacity.
The Environment;
Not unlike the start of many seafaring tales that start with “The sea she was angry that day…”. She was pitching the ships against the rocks like they were trapped between the Scylla and Corinth, yada, yada, yada… It was a fairly warm day for SoCal with temps in the low to mid-90’s. The winds were S-SW at about 5-7 mph. I was cooking on pavers and the surface temp of the area was around 115F for most of the cook. I mention this only because my pellet consumption rate was consistent with the other’s I have used leading me to believe at low temps, they are similar. Although it probably doesn’t make a difference, I have the competition cart which may shield some of the thermal energy from the bricks but once you get above 150F I would be surprised if it influences the temps as much as cold air could. During the cook I also took the temp to 260 and then 325 to see if it increased in a manner that was similar to my norm and again, I didn’t notice anything different. Another plus, Costco.
The Cook:
I started with an empty hopper (minus the prior generation’s pellets used for priming). I filled the Bull’s hopper about 1/4th full as I know from experience this was more than enough pellets to complete this simple 6-9 hour cook and wanted to approximate the burn rate for the event. The cook went well. I noticed a great deal of smoke being emitted from the Bull during startup so I actually burped it several times thinking it was excessive but when it reached “cruising altitude” of 225F, I noticed the smoke levels remained consistent which wasnt a bad thing because it reminded me of my old ‘dirty-verty’ vertical, stick burning smoker. As these pellets exceeded the normal amount of “light blue” smoke I quickly recognized just how many leak paths exist on my cooker, lol. The amount of “white” smoke reminded me of the riot mode (e.g., 180-190F smoke output) but cut down by 50%. All temps were well within expectation. The PID controller was singing like a visiting choir on 4th Sunday and the Kirkland pellets did what they were supposed to do keeping up with the harmony like a drummer at a heavy metal concert. The protein (Chuck Roast) was selected for 2 primary reasons. (1) It was cheap in case I screwed the pooch, and (2) the marbling would allow for maximum smoke absorption versus a leaner cut over the initial 4-5 hours of a cook when the meat sucks in smoke like a drunken sailor with a pocket full of money and a case of San Miguel on an R&R in the Philippines. Everything went extremely well and I can’t say I noticed anything unusual during the entire cook. Another plus in the Costco column.
Earlier I wrote about ramping up the temperatures during the cook. I did this for 2 reasons. I wanted to see how the pellets responded to the temp increases (interim stage at ~260F). Further, to wanted to see how consistent they were at higher (~325F) temps to finish off the burnt ends in their final 1.5 hours after the initial ~6 hour cook.
Summary:
For the executive summary, all went well and as expected. I feel the Kirkland pellets will pair well with a fish or pork dish. My tastebud’s (personal perspective) interpretation was there was not a clear/clean path for the flavor profile. I’ve cooked on just about every wood type and blend but using these on cheap beef with a lot of fat to render made me wonder if the wood blends were fighting for my taste buds attention. Nothing offensive or off-putting, just a little confusing for the protein I was cooking. I didn’t catch any of the fruit blends and the hickory seemed a little muted except for the distinct smell of the smoke during the cook. In the next week or two I will challenge the pellets with a couple of pork butts and a brisket to see if it was me or the pellets. For now, I give them a thumbs up for value and accolades for holding the temps and keeping the burn rate consistent with other higher quality pellets I have used, another plus for Costco!
I hope to update this post later this week as I will be doing salmon and a roasted chicken if I have time.
Thanks for your patience and please share your experiences, enquiring minds want to know what you think.
‘Zilla
