Can You Use Wood Pellets In a Kamado Grill?

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By

James

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You can use wood pellets in a Kamado grill if you put them in a TubeSmoker. We recommend using ½ cups of pellets every 40-45 minutes. Add more if you want a stronger flavor, especially with steaks and burgers. You can also burn wood chunks instead of charcoal in your Joe or big green egg.  

Kamado Grills are an extension of the traditional round and kettle-shaped charcoal grills we all know. They are oval-shaped, resembling an egg or a large urn. It is known for offering seamless grilling, smoking, roasting, baking, and so on. Most outdoor cooks admire a Kamado grill for its versatility.

What You Need to Know About Wood Pellets

Wood pellets are excellent in providing an array of flavors. Yes, charcoal provides a satisfying smoky aroma, but wood pellets will allow you to experiment with a ton of flavors from mild to intense. You have to realize that the wood pellets for grilling purposes are different from those sold as fuel for home heating. Heating pellets have more exposure to chemicals from the manufacturing procedure.

It makes them ineligible for cooking purposes. Whenever you’re buying wood pellets for grilling, make sure always to check the labels and see if the brand supports outdoor cooking. It shouldn’t be for indoor pellet stoves, or your grilling experience will go downhill from there. I would personally recommend using the Pit Boss 55433 BBQ Wood Pellets.


Can You Use Wood Pellets in a Kamado Grill

I will answer that question with a hungry. Yes! You can easily use wood pellets on your Kamado grill. There are no opposing reasons concerning its use on Kamado grills that could crush your BBQ plans. And with that being said, I’ll be guiding you through the entire process of how to start using these wood pellets.

  • Light up the fire inside your Kamado griller as you usually do. You can take the easy route and use a chimney starter. But you’re free to choose whichever method eases the whole process.
  • Now you need to look out for the signature burning glow that comes off once the charcoal starts heating up. It indicates that your fire is getting hot and is ready for cooking.
  • Next, you need to utilize your favorite barbecue pellets and cover the burning coals’ surface in a blanket layering form. Avoid dumping an entire mountain of these pellets but use enough for emitting the right amount of smoke.
  • Keep waiting and once the pellets ignite, proceed to cook. You’ll start noticing an enticing smoky flavor from the ignition of the pellets.
  • Close the lid off your Kamado grill and make sure that there is proper ventilation for keeping the temperature at bay. The temperature level should be friendly towards the food that you’re cooking.
  • You can start adding extra pellets depending on your cooking time. ½ cup of these wood pellets will readily offer you smoking up to 40-45 minutes. You’ll need to add more pellets if you’re planning to cook burgers or steak. For instance, if you plan to smoke a brisket, then be prepared to reapply the pellets at repeated intervals.

Pellet Smoker Tube as an Alternative

It might just be better to utilize a pellet smoker tube depending on your Kamado grill’s design + engineering. These gadgets tend to fill up with all the barbecue wood pellets. Once you light them up, it produces smoke for 5 hours. From my own experience, a pellet smoker tube is suitable for smoking briskets. But it’ll be fitting for anything that can last for extended hours.

You may not know this, but a smoker produces smoke that is more robust and stronger. But I suggest you keep your ventilation systems open to handle this correctly. If you aren’t taking up proper measures, then there are high chances of you ending up with over-smoked and bitter food.

Benefits of Using Wood Pellets

Here, I’ll be listing some of the benefits you’ll receive using these wood pellets. They include:

  • Barbecue wood pellets are basically what we call repurposed sawdust. It’s the leftover from the wood manufacturing plants and lumberyards. So, when you’re using these pellets, you’re utilizing repurposed scrap wood. In this way, you provide support to an eco-friendly effect.
  • With the use of wood pellets, you’ll quickly obtain a ton of tasty wood-fired flavors. No taste comes close to the uniqueness, and robust flavors of properly wood smoked meals.
  • Wood pellets are available in an array of flavors. Some of my personal favorites include hickory, pecan, maple, alder, apple, alder, and oak. You can use them separately or even combine them for unique flavors.
  • Wood pellets also stand out because of their efficiency. Their contained energy can be easily turned into heat because the particles of sawdust are tightly packed. Plus, you can spend less money and burn more, which is what everybody wants to hear!
  • Also, wood pellets are neat and super easy to handle compared to charcoal. You’ll end up with minimal residues and ash, allowing for an easy clean-up.
  • Lastly, be prepared to be blown by the delicious smoky flavor. Your platter will end up being the life of the party with your guests.

There are no restrictions when it comes to using wood pellets in a Kamado grill. You can use any wood and expect your food to have bomb flavors. I would recommend you to use ½ cups of pellets every 40-45 minutes. But you can always add more if you’re interested in having a smokier flavor, especially in burgers and steak. Also, for less intensity, you can do the opposite of adding fewer pellets. Make it a priority to find the perfect amount of pellets so you don’t end up with bitter aftermath.

About The Author


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Reviewed by

James

James is a writer who is a self-confessed kitchenware and coffee nerd and a strong advocate of Sundays, good butter, and warm sourdough.