Nearly everything in life comes with advantages, disadvantages, risks and rewards. This is true with pellets smokers too. However, like every other thing, you have to consider if you can live with the risks for the service and convenience that a tool like a pellet smoker grill brings with it.
This article will explore some of the dangers inherent to wood pellet cooking so you can decide for yourself if owning such an item is worth it. Fire and potentially toxic fumes are the primary risks we’ll look at.
How Do Wood Pellets Come to Be?
To understand if this piece of equipment is safe for use or not, it is important to look at it from every angle. One of such angles is how they have come to be in the first place.
As you must know, wood pellets are used for many different operations, and that can be a huge factor in what production process they are made from. For the majority of wood pellets used in grills, though, sawdust is compacted into the wood pellets.
The production process is explained as follows:
- Milling – The mass of wood to be used for producing the pellets are passed through a hammer mill. The mill hits and compacts the wood material into a dough-like substance which is sent out for further processing.
- Pressing – The dough-like mass can be made to flow easier than normal, solid wood. That makes it possible to force it through a press with holes about 6 – 8 mm in diameter. This process puts the wood under so much pressure, its temperature is also increased.
- Cohesion – As the temperature rises, the lignin starts becoming a plastic. The process creates a natural glue within the fibers of the wood, holding the pellets together once the wood starts cooling.
- Screening – Before packaging and shipment, the pellets are separated from sawdust that might still be hanging on to them. From there, they go out to stores where you can then get them.
The process above ensures a high-density wood pellet formation with as little moisture as possible. All of that contributes to better burning rates of the wood to supply sufficient heat to your cooking processes.
Can Wood Pellets Be Toxic?
The answer is yes.
When pellets are made the way we have mentioned above, and just that way, you should have nothing to fear in terms of toxicity. That is what the big brands like Traeger, Pit Boss and Lumber Jack, to mention but a few, do.
In fact, they ensure any and all flavors you get from their pellets are achieved with the natural composition of the wood material they are using.
Going over to the cheap manufacturers, though, we cannot say the same thing. These people will cut corners by introducing filler materials to make up the bulk of the wooed pellets rather than using pure wood.
Some of them will go the extra mile of adding chemicals so as to produce the artificial flavors. These materials, on burning, will get into your food and can be very toxic to your health. It is, thus, recommended that you stay away from the poor manufacturers and stick with trusted brands.
Other Wood Pellet Smoker Concerns
Besides the toxicity that can arise due to the pellet manufacturing process, there are a couple of things you should know and prepare against. The major concerns are:
- Fire Hazards – To be fair, this is not an issue with wood pellets alone. Anything that can burn at all will present a fire hazard of its own.
That said, wood pellets won’t start a fire on their own. When they are kept too close to sources of ignition, though, that might just be courting trouble. Know that these pellets are made to be highly flammable and would catch fire at the introduction of a spark.
It is, thus, recommended that you store them away from your main living area. A cool, dry, place never hurts anyone.
- Emissions – Even when they are not in use, wood pellets emit harmful carbon monoxide gases which is harmful to health. Another concern here is that the emissions are not detectable except with the use of special equipment.
The good news is, there is a very low chance of your exposure to this risk. For signinificant carbon monoxide missions to occur, you have to store a lot of wood pellets. Like, an awful lot. Since many wood pellet grill users don’t store that much around, you have less to worry about.
However, you will be safer with the assumption that your wood pellets in storage are constantly emitting CO.
- Air Pollution – Any form of burning will lead to the production of carbon monoxide which is known to cause depletion in the ozone layer. Fortunately, top manufacturers (such as those mentioned above) have developed their wood pellets to support clean combustion.
How to Operate Your Wood Pellet Grill Safely
To stay within the safe operating spectrum of your wood pellet grill is not rocket science. With a combination of these steps below, you can enjoy smoking your meat without hassles for a very long time:
- Choice of wood pellets – It has already been said that cheap is not always great.
Most of these nameless brands selling knockoffs to you want to make a profit too, and they are doing it at the expense of your health. Even when you think you are getting a good deal, your health is paying more price for it. Trust us when we say it is better to buy the marginally costlier options from reputable brands and enjoy your meat with peace of mind instead.
- Proper storage – If you have a shed away from the house, that will be the proper place to store the wood pellets. Ensure this shed is not where some serious technical work is done so that there won’t be fear of ignition of any kind.
Likewise, storing wood pellets away from the home will reduce the effect of CO emission on you and your family. As a rule, only buy as much as you need so you don’t end up having too much of it around
- Grilling practices – Keep your meat away from the open flames when grilling. A good wood pellet grill will take care of this for you by itself. Otherwise, you risk the release of carcinogenic materials into the meat – and it accumulates to increase risk of cancer over time.
Manage the Risks & Enjoy the Rewards
At the end of the day, the joy of settling down to a well-grilled piece of meat beats the extra effort you put into ensuring the safety of the overall process. Now, you get to eat what you love without the fear of what it might do to your health.
Wood pellet grills and smokers are no riskier than any other form of cooking around today. Although it might come with its own challenges, but what doesn’t? That makes it the job of a responsible user – as we are sure our community is – to ensure best practices before, during and after the grilling operations.
If there is any safety measure you take for your grill that we didn’t mention here, you’re welcome to share with us all in the comments.
