Traeger brand barbecue pellets are no larger than the
eraser on the end of a pencil. People who see them for the first time
think they look like rabbit food, but there is nothing small about the
heat energy in a barbecue pellet. Over 8500 BTU's per pound! Wood pellets
are not new, they have been around for a long time used in industrial,
commercial, and residential heating appliances and applications. There
are over 100 fully operational pellet mills in the United States. Traeger
Industries was the first company to use them for cooking. Only the finest
hardwood raw materials are sourced from all over the country. The pure,
raw material (sawdust) is then pulverized with hammer mills and dried.
The dried material is then processed under heat and pressure. Lignin,
which is the natural glue which holds plant fiber together, softens
above 100 degrees Celsius, permitting the material to change shape.
The hot lignin then acts like a glue to bond the pellet together. Pelleting
employs a hard steel die which rotates against rollers forcing the material
through the die with pressures of over 10,000 PSI. As the pellet is
forced through the die it is sheared off at the specified length, cooled,
screened, and bagged into 10 or 40 lb bags.
General specifications for barbecue pellets are: 100% hardwood, 1" long
or less in length, 1/4" diameter, less than 2% ash content, less than
2% fines, 10% moisture content, 8500 BTU's per lb, and about 40 lbs
per cubic ft. density.
Hickory and Mesquite pellets are the most popular, however many of our
customers are now using fruit woods for specialty smoking and gourmet
cooking.
Order Pellets Today
No one supplies finer quality hardwood barbecue pellets than Traeger.
Remember, if it doesn't say Traeger on the bag, you don't know what's
inside.