Joe ElsonMany people don’t realize that they can use wood pellets for charcoal grills. It’s a great way to add flavour to your food. Pellets are made of compressed sawdust, so they tend to burn hotter and cleaner than charcoal briquettes.
They’re also easier to light, and you can control the amount of heat they produce by altering the airflow.
If you’re looking for a way to add some extra flavour to your food, then you should know how to use wood pellets on a charcoal grill. They’re a great way to add smoke and flavour to your food, and they tend to burn hotter and cleaner than traditional charcoal briquettes.
How to choose the best wood pellets for your charcoal grill
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. However, some tips on how to choose the best wood pellets for a charcoal grill include:
1) Choosing a high-quality, natural wood pellet:
When choosing wood pellets for your charcoal grill, it is important to select a high-quality, natural wood pellet. This will ensure that your food is cooked evenly and with great flavour.
2) Considering the flavour of the wood pellet:
Different types of wood impart different flavours into food. Be sure to consider what type of flavour you would like your food to have before purchasing any wood pellets.
3) Checking the moisture content of the pellets:
It is important to check the moisture content of the pellets before purchasing them. Too much moisture can cause the pellets to clump together and not burn evenly.
4) Lighting the pellets:
Pellets should be lit similarly to charcoal. First, start by lighting one edge of the pellet pile and then slowly work your way across. Be sure to keep a close eye on the fire, as it can easily get out of control if not monitored.
5) Drying the chip bag:
After you have finished cooking and removed your food from your grill, make sure to place all of the chip bags in a manner that will allow them to dry. This allows for easier cleanup as they can be stored together without clumping together over time.
The benefits of using wood pellets for your charcoal grill
If you’re looking for an environmentally friendly way to grill your food, wood pellets may be the perfect option. Wood pellets are made from clean wood that has been chopped up and burned in a controlled environment.
This means that wood pellets are a much cleaner option than using traditional charcoal, which is made from the ashes of plants and animals. Plus, wood pellets are a renewable resource, so you can use them over and over again without impacting the environment.
Here are some of the benefits of using wood pellets for charcoal grills.
1) Easy to store and lighter to transport
Wood pellets have a higher BTU rating, which means they can make the food you’ve been grilling much faster. Also, those that use wood chips for barbecue typically cook with chip-chopping machines or hand chops of smaller pieces of branches. So there’s less loading on your grill and more time spent cooking.
2) The fire is cleaner, cooler and safer than traditional charcoal
With traditional charcoal, there’s a risk of stumbling into an exploded fire and combustible materials when lighting your grill. Wood chips can be lit on any surface and make it much safer to cook with than coals made from the ashes of plantlife scraps.
Plus, wood chip briquettes are completely tolerant to rainwater which means that they hold up well between cooking sessions as long as you keep them dry in storage.
3) Safer for burning food and cooking
You can even cook veggies with wood chip charcoal, rather than using the coals made from plant life ashes! Wood pellets make your barbecue quicker so you’re more likely to feel like it’s a healthy snack or meal rather more often.
In addition that is much cleaner compared with traditional chopped coal pieces. One of my favourite treats is chipotle potato slaw, cooked on wood chips.
4) Made for healthier food
Vegetables and meats are much more nutritious when made on healthy coals instead of traditional charcoal which causes them to become mushy or over-cooked. When using chips, there’s slightly less nutrition in food because chip-breeze makes them virtually free of calories.
5) Easy to Clean
They are cleaner so your home is much healthier Cling chips or handles may have a sweet smell, but they leave no residuals when they’re replaced on their heating racks between meals. Never coating my pans with fat when they’re in the oven! When it comes to cleaning you must know how to clean mold off grill.
How to use wood pellets with your charcoal grill
Wood pellets provide a cleaner, more efficient way to use your charcoal grill. Here is a quick guide for its set-up:
- Start by making a small fire in the bottom of your grill with some charcoal.
- Once the coals are hot, add a layer of wood pellets on top.
- Place your food on the grill, and close the lid. The pellets will shoulder and cook your food, while the charcoal provides the heat.
- You can also use this method for pork shoulder or pork butt.
Tips for grilling with wood pellets
Here are a few tips for using wood pellets in your charcoal grill:
1. Start by lighting the pellets in a separate container and then transferring them to the smoker.
2. Close all the dampers and wait a few minutes for the smoker to come up to temperature.
3. Place the food on the grate and close the door.
4. The food will take about 1 hour per inch of thickness, so for a 3-inch pork chop, it will take about 3 hours to cook. Check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer to make sure it is cooked through.
5. Take it out from the oven and leave for 5 minutes before serving.
Conclusion
In this blog, I aimed to guide you on how to use wood pellets on a charcoal grill, as an alternative to traditional briquettes. I covered the basics of using pellets on a grill, such as the types of pellets that are available, how to choose the right size, and when to use them.
I also included a few tips on how to grill with them, such as how long to cook them, and what temperatures to aim for. Hope you found this blog helpful!
FAQ’s
Can I use pellets on a charcoal grill?
There are a lot of misconceptions about charcoal grills. People seem to think that you can only use lump charcoal, which is not the case. You can use any type of charcoal in a charcoal grill, including briquettes and pellets.
Do you need to soak wood pellets?
Wood pellets are a biofuel made from compressed wood chips or sawdust. Some people wonder if they need to soak the pellets before burning them, as this will help them to burn more efficiently. To answer this question, we need to look at the properties of wood pellets and why they are used as fuel.
Are wood pellets better than charcoal?
Wood pellets are made from compressed sawdust, making them a sustainable and eco-friendly option for barbecuing. They also produce less smoke than charcoal. So your food will taste better and you won’t be left with that nasty charcoal taste in your mouth.
Is wood pellet grilling healthy?
There are multiple types of outdoor grills to choose from, one that has been gaining traction in recent years is the wood pellet grill. Proponents of this type of grill claim that it produces a more authentic grilled flavour than other types, and is also a more environmentally friendly option.
