Red, White, and “Blue Smoke”

What is blue smoke and why you want it 

When it comes to barbecue, not much can beat a cut of meat smoked to perfection on your Pit Boss wood pellet grill.  

We like to think of smoke as another type of seasoning for food. So, more doesn’t always mean better. In fact, if you get too much, it will overpower your dish.  

Getting not only the right amount of smoke, but also the right type, used to be a tricky task, requiring a lot of trial and error. However, Pit Boss wood pellet grills coupled with the right fuel allow you to dial in to just the right temperature and produce that thin blue smoke for optimal wood-fired flavor.  

What is blue smoke?  

Blue smoke is what you want to achieve for the most flavorful cooks.  

Thin, blue smoke is nearly invisible, appearing as a subtle shimmer coming off the top of the grill. This indicates a clean burning fire.  

The harder you have to look to spot smoke, the better.  

When you first fire up your pellet grill, you’ll see a bit of rolling white smoke as it gets going, which should dissipate once it reaches temperature. At this point, your grill should start producing that clean, blue smoke. 

Why do you want blue smoke?  

Blue smoke adds the most (and best) flavor to your food. Since it is the product of a clean burning fire, you will get delicious wood-fired flavor. 

The goal is to compliment the flavor of the meat or dish, not overpower it. 

What you don’t want is billowing white smoke coming from your grill or smoker. This happens if you use wood pellets with bark or added flavor oils, which will infuse a bitter flavor into your food and litter your grill and food with ash.  

How to achieve blue smoke 

The easiest way to achieve blue smoke is to use a pellet grill. That’s because these units eliminate the extra work of adjusting airflow and monitoring a fire while you cook. 

With a Pit Boss, you simply adjust your grill to the “smoke” setting, which will have you cooking at the optimal temperature for consistent smoke. To properly smoke on your pellet grill, you don’t want to go beyond 250°F. 

In fact, between 180 to 230°F is the sweet spot for your grill to add pellets to the fire pot slow enough to maintain your desired temperature while putting off consistent smoke.  

You also should fuel your grill the right way – with Pit Boss hardwood pellets.  

Our pellets are made from the highest quality food grade hardwood and NEVER contain artificial flavors, spray scents, glues, oil, or chemicals. Locally sourced hardwood is pressurized at extreme heat to create compact pellets held together with the wood’s natural lignin.  

With Pit Boss pellets you get a hotter, cleaner burn every time you fire up your grill, resulting in flavorful “blue” smoke and minimal ash. This infuses your food with natural, wood-fired flavor, without making a mess of your grill.