Ninja woodfire pellet recs

[RichardWhitmill]

My mate has got himself a Ninja Woodfire. He is loving it but was complaining when he used the smoking function it tasted of artificial smoke. He asked for advice. He didn't like my first recommendation which was to get a charcoal smoker and some good quality local hardwood!
So I'm trying to be more constructive. Not all wood pellets created equal I said and he was using the ones that came with the Ninja when he bought it.
So I'm looking for recommendations of good quality pellets and pellet brands available in the UK I can pass on. Any tips?

 

[BFletcher]

I don't have experience with various brands of pellets for my Ninja; after I used the sample bag the only other brand I've bought is Kona but I am well-pleased with them:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=kona+p...sprefix=kona+pellets,aps,208&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

 

[LMichaels]

The trick is not so much the pellets as I've not noticed much difference using Traeger, Smokehouse, or Kirkland pellets. Your friend is not waiting long enough for the "dirty" smoke to go away before putting the food in. So next time he uses it wait until the "IGN" process has fully completed. I had made this mistake myself and thought "tastes very sooty". It was just me jumping the gun so to speak.

 

[RichardWhitmill]

The trick is not so much the pellets as I've not noticed much difference using Traeger, Smokehouse, or Kirkland pellets. Your friend is not waiting long enough for the "dirty" smoke to go away before putting the food in. So next time he uses it wait until the "IGN" process has fully completed. I had made this mistake myself and thought "tastes very sooty". It was just me jumping the gun so to speak.

That's interesting. I only really do charcoal/wood and will always wait for it to burn clean. Hadn't really thought about that for a pellet smoker. I suppose a few people will be caught out by that as they're marketed as just being able to set and go. Thanks for this will pass it on.

 

[Ed P]

Different proteins take on smoke differently. Chicken takes on smoke quite a bit more readily than beef, for example. In those cases, I sometimes run through two IGN cycles before adding the protein, to make sure the pellets are well lit as well as allowing the pellets time to burn down some.