Cooking and smoking with an electric smoker is fast, easy, and appropriate. Many electric smoker users have a basic question: Can pellets be used with an electric smoker? The answer is yes! Most pellets can be used in electric offset smokers. The purpose of using these wood pellets is to give your food a smoky taste, just as electric offset smokers retain the smoky taste of meat. If you don’t like the smoky taste, you can make your food without using these wooden pellets. By reading this article, you will learn everything about can you use wood pellets in an electric smoker?
What Is An Electric Offset Smoker?
Electric offset smokers work on electricity. They maintain the temperature of the food like an oven, making it a reliable means of cooking. There is no need to adjust the valve on the propane gas container or to stock and manage the charcoal during cooking. As a beginner, an electric offset smoker is the best cooking option for you as it is easy to use without any hassle. You can check out this guide to pick up the best suitable offset smoker for beginners in 2022.
You can cook a variety of BBQ meats using an electric offset smoker. Most electric smokers include a smoking chamber, a water tray, a heating element, and sometimes a tray of wood chips. You can use the hot air generated in the electric offset smoker by means of an electric element to cook your food like an oven. When cooking, you may need to add wooden pellets or wood to a wooden chip tray. It will heat up to produce smoke and cook your meat.
Elements Of An Electric Smoker
Electric smokers are consistent source of cooking. You can control and maintain all its functions using just a few buttons and make sure it is plugged into the power source. Electric Smoker will be a great option as it offers uninterrupted barbeque compared to other methods. Furthermore, it does not require valve adjustments or severe management like charcoal smokers. However, it has some limitations, such as constant power supply and reduced portability. You can get high BBQ temperatures faster because smoking speeds up heat supply through electricity.
There are many elements of an electric smoker that you must understand in order to use it properly and make your food delicious.
- Heat rods
Electric offset smoker heat rods are located under the smoker. During the heating process, one or more electric rods are used to allow the smoker to boil the meat.
- Wood chip tray
This is where you put the wood pellets or wood chips. The wood chips burn slowly, giving the BBQ a smoky flavor that improves the taste of the food.
- Water pan
Electric smokers use a water pan that is placed over a wooden chip tray and filled with cold water. This cools down the temperature and evaporates, allowing the convection to cook efficiently.
- Grill racks
There are several types of electric cooker grill racks. These are usually stainless steel, which prevents rust. You can place barbecue food on them or cast iron skillets for roasting meat.
- Dampers and vents
Dampers and vents control and regulate offset smokers’ temperatures by controlling the entry and exit of oxygen.
How Does The Electric Smoker Work?
- You can plug the best electric offset smoker into the power source and make sure it has a constant power supply while cooking. Electricity heats the elements that give proper temperature control in electric offset smokers.
- As the temperature rises, all the elements of the electric offset smoker become hot. In addition, the grilling generates heat and smoke, which adds flavor to the meat.
- The heat and smoke from the grill will help you warm the food on the cast iron grill rack, as long as the temperature remains at a specific level.
- The electric elements may be suitable for wood chips because they are less dense and easier to heat.
What Are Wood Pellets?
You can use wood pellets to create the desired heat and smoke. You can usually control the temperature of the grill/smoker by dialing or touching a touchpad. The pellets are fed slowly to an electric heating element through an auger that automatically turns them into heat and smoke for cooking your food. In the case of rising temperatures, the auger stops feeding pellets. While in the case of dropping temperatures, the auger feeds more pellets and the backup unit maintains a constant temperature.
You need to use a wood pellets of any brand of your choice that you want to use and that is suitable for electric offset smoker grills. Off-brand varieties of woof pellets are available, but make sure they are the right size for your grill otherwise they can jam in a hopper or auger.
Wood Chips
Wood chips are made from the same type of wood as wood pellets, and they are reasonably priced. They differ only in form and consistency. Wood chips are about two inches long. The main purpose of using these wood chips is to create a smoky taste.
For electric smokers, the use of wood chips is preferred because they give your food a smoky taste. Wood chips have the ability to burn longer than wood pellets. The electric smoker takes a longer time and cooks your food slowly at lower temperatures. Using wood chips, smoking will last longer. Wood chips come in a variety of flavors, such as hickory, maple, and oak, to enhance the flavor of the food you’re smoking.
Pellets vs. Wood Chips
There are two main choices of wood for cooking in an electric smoker. One is wood pellets and the other is wood chips. Both are made of hardwood and are used as smoking tools in electric offset smokers. Both are easily accessible at a low cost. They usually add a natural smoky flavor to your food. Both fuel sources have differences in their shapes, prices, tastes, and ease of use. Wood pellets are popular for low-temperature cooking and require more time to cook. Wood chips, on the other hand, are preferred for food cooked at a higher temperature.
Comparison:
| Wood Pellets | Wood Chips |
| They burn slowly. | They burn faster than pellets. |
| They can burn hotter than wood chips. | Suitable for hot and cold burning. |
| Available in various varieties like oak and hickory. | They are made of different types of wood. |
| Wood pellets give your meat or food a deep smoky taste. | Wood chips are flavorful. |
| They burn very clean because they do not have bark or other wood. | Cut into small pieces. |
Can You Use Wood Pellets In An Electric Offset Smoker?
Wooden pellets can be used for electric offset smoking. All you have to do is find the best brands of wood pellets for your cooking process. These pellets give your food a deep smoky taste, such as cooking with charcoal offset smokers. The pellets are thick, which makes them suitable for cooking over slow to medium heat. Wood pellets are perfect for smoking meat. They last longer, get hotter and smoke more evenly than wood chips, so you can get the most out of your smoked meat.
They will produce smoke suitable for barbecue at low temperature and it takes a long time to cook properly. You can taste the BBQ to your liking and also how much smoky flavors you need. Smoking charcoal can make it difficult to control the taste. You can also use wood chips instead of wood pellets in an electric smoker. Wood chips are like pellets. The only difference is that the wood chips are less dense and offer you to control the smoke inside the smoker. Compared to pellets, wood chips store more energy, which heats up electric smokers and produces more smoke for a variety of flavors.
High temperatures may be needed to burn wood pellets efficiently and completely. Therefore, you should choose flavors of wood pellets that blend well with naturally cooked food. Most electric smokers use wood chips. But if you only have wooden pellets around you, you can also use pellets. You can use wood pellets instead of wood chips. However, they may not emit as much smoke as wood chips will.
Tips For Using Wood Pellets In An Electric Offset Smoker
Here are some key points to keep in mind before you start cooking your food.
- You should try to use wood pellets as these are common pieces of wood.
- When cooking, always use a small number of pellets instead of filling the tray completely with wooden pellets at once.
- These wooden pellets burn very fast, so do not leave the pellets unattended.
- They add a deep smoky flavor to your food in just a few minutes. So you should try to put the pellets in a little while as they create the taste to your choice.
- Place wooden pellets in a tin foil pack and make some holes to control the smoke.
- You should try to keep your pellets in a dry place. If they are wet, they will turn to mush.
- Always try to use a smoker tray instead of a smoker tube or a smoker maze.
How To Improve The Performance Of Wood Pellets In Electric Smoker?
- If you do not want to add flavor to your food, you should try to add a small number of pellets.
- As pellets burn at higher temperatures, they produce more heat and smoke.
- The pellets can turn into mush when soaked since they are compressed sawdust. But wood chips will be safe when soaked if you smoke your meat with them.
- You can also use a pellet tube to light wood pellets.
- The addition of wood pellets to an electric offset smoker depends on many factors, such as weather conditions, the intensity of the desired smoky taste, and temperature settings.
- Always choose the right taste for your food.
- The best way to smoke beef with electric offset smokers is to wrap the pellets in parchment paper or tinfoil and poke holes in them. This will help control the amount of fumes released during electric smoking.
- Smoker tubes or smoker’s maze can also be used instead of trays for effective results.
Conclusion
Wood pellets, wood chips, and pieces of wood are not too different. This article gives you all the details of this question Can You Use Wood Pellets In An Electric Smoker? Yes, you can easily use wooden pellets for electric offset smokers. It is up to you to choose the best smoking tool (wooden pellets, chips, or pieces) to cook your meat and flavor your food. For example, you can add smoky flavors to barbecue with wood pellets because most electric smokers are hybrids and have systems that have pellets trays to improve the taste of food.
Apart from that, if you want to know about the best way to clean an offset smoker, then please visit our Blog.
