Pacific Pellet “Gourmet BBQ Pellets” Review

Pacific Pellet of Redmond, OR has a new line of Hardwood BBQ pellets for use with all types of grills.  Wood Pellet BBQ Grills, Charcoal Grills, Gas/Electric Grills, and Pellet/Gas/Electric Smokers.  Pacific Pellet’s line of Hardwood BBQ pellets are called “Gourmet BBQ Pellets”.  The flavors are Smoked Hickory, Rancher’s Mesquite, Northwest Apple, Country Cherry, Mountain Maple, and Pacific Alder.

The initial test was performed on the MAK 2 Star General Wood Pellet BBQ Smoker-Grill using Hickory Gourmet BBQ Pellets and 2 Apricot & Sausage Stuffed Pork Chops.

The Gourmet BBQ Pellets are manufactured with 100% Select Hardwoods and NO Binders or Oil Additives.  Smoked Hickory, Rancher’s Mesquite, Northwest Apple, Country Cherry, and Mountain Maple Hardwoods are mixed with a blend of Pacific Alder.  The Gourmet BBQ Pellets are a blend of 30% flavored hardwood with 70% Alder base wood.  The Gourmet BBQ Pacific Alder however is 100% Alder.

 

Vacuumed the MAK 2 Star General Smoker-Grill to ensure a fair appraisal of the fly-ash in the body.

The MAK 2 Star General firepot was also vacuumed.  It’s a common practice of mine to clean my MAK 2 Star Grill after every cook.  This has given me great insight to the amount of ash produced by different pellet flavors and manufacturers.

There was no discernible sawdust when filling the pellet hopper nor at the bottom of the 20 lb bag.  I found the pellet to be uniformly sized.

From ignition to a stable 225ºF  took approximately 15 minutes.  This fell withing the range of 15-30 minutes for other brands of pellets.  The test consisted of 15 minutes preheat, 3 hours at 225ºF, and 20 minutes MAK cool down procedures.

My initial observation was how pleasant and aromatic the Gourmet BBQ Pellet Hickory was.  My observance was verified when my neighbor, who owns a Traeger Pellet Grill, peeked over the fence to learn what smelled so good!

To date I have never had any issues from flame outs with my MAK 2 Star and the Gourmet BBQ Hickory Pellets didn’t change that record.  I was impressed to see how easily my MAK 2 Star was able to maintain a temperature of ±5ºF relative to the 225ºF SETPOINT.  All MAK Grills are equipped with the Vesta Award Winning Pellet Boss Control and I have the luxury of using the Remote Boss allowing me the ability to completely monitor and adjust my MAK grill from inside my home.

My MAK 2 Star General Pellet Grill provides me a copious amount of smoke from a SETPOINT of SMOKE to 250ºF and the Gourmet BBQ Pellets didn’t disappoint me in that respect.  My MAK 2 Grill performed flawlessly using these pellets.

The photo below shows the pellet usage to be minimal for this test considering the 3 hour and 40 minute duration of this cook at 225ºF.  I would not have expected to burn much more than this at this temperature.

Emptied the MAK 2 Star pellet hopper into a MAK Pellet Bucket and it clearly shows how few Gourmet BBQ Pellets were used during this cook from the original 20 lb bag.  Very efficient burning pellets.

As you can see from this photo there was almost NO ASH in the body of the MAK 2 Star Grill.

A closer look at the firepot also shows very little ash.

I emptied the firepot and measure just a touch over 2 tablespoons of ash.  All in all I am very impressed with my initial test of Pacific Pellets “Gourmet BBQ Pellets”.  In the past I have had major ash issues with certain pellets at the lower temperatures.  Since I prefer the Low-and-Slow method one of the important factors for me is the ash issue and Gourmet BBQ Pellets have passed with flying colors.

It’s often said on Forums that ” … no pictures means it didn’t happen … “.  Just click on the  2 Apricot & Sausage Stuffed Pork Chops to see the details.

My next test will be of the Northwest Apple Gourmet BBQ Pellets with a small bone-in Turkey Breast at a SETPOINT of SMOKE for 2 hours and then finishing at 350ºF.  It doesn’t get any better than Smoked Turkey.

7 Responses

  1. […] Pacific Pellet “Gourmet BBQ Pellets” Review […]

  2. Pat
    | Reply

    I want to make sure I understand what you are saying. Please express your statement “30% flavored hardwood” in some other manner, if you would. I get that this product is 70% alder but I’m not sure I know what you mean by the statement above. Is that 30% the actual wood that appears on the label, as in apple or maple or whatever? Or is that something else? Again, what’s throwing me is your phrase “flavored hardwood”.

    • smokerpete
      | Reply

      When I said “flavored hardwood” it means Hickory, Apple, Cheery, Maple Mesquite or Alder real hardwood and not wood flavored. Bottom line … 30% Hickory and 70% Alder, etc. See http://www.pacificpelletbbq.com/pellets/FAQ.html for details and questions.

    • Pat
      | Reply

      How’s the btu performance? Since i learned about the oil additives ive switched to bear mountain, but my lil tex will struggle to reach 325 using those – frustrating for baking. Thnaks.

      • smokerpete
        | Reply

        I’ve never had any issues reaching higher temperatures when using Gourmet BBQ Pellets. But then the issue is not necessarily the pellets but the pellet smoker/grill being used. My MAK 2 Star, Green Mountain Davy Crockett, and/or Traeger PTG have no issues achieving higher temps. The Traeger Lil Texas should be able to reach higher temps. What are the ambient conditions? Wind and cold temps will affect your performance.

  3. Gary
    | Reply

    Thanks for the review. I recently picked up this line of pellets. I am selling the Gourmet pellets only as they have informed me they have a base wood of Oak, with Pecan and Cherry to finish out the blend. I have found them to work well also.
    Gary

  4. Gary Vander Giessen
    | Reply

    I only use the Gourmet Blend which is 70 % Oak 15% Cherry and 15% Pecan’ Very little ash and more BTU`s per lb. In my MAK 2 Star I am getting 26 hrs on a 20 lb bag as compared to 20 with an Alder based pellet. MOST IMPRESSIVE!

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