Signs Your Pellets Have Gotten Damp

Check a handful before every fill. It takes under a minute, and it catches the pellets that cause trouble later. Pit Boss tells owners to examine and test a few pellets before loading them into the hopper¹.

The checks

Look at the surface

Traeger says to look for a nice sheen on a good pellet². Z Grills describes the same thing as shiny and crisp³. A pellet without that sheen is worth a closer look.

Snap one

This is the test both makers give. Traeger says a pellet broken in half should show a clean snap with no crumbling². Z Grills says a good pellet should crack in half, not bend and then break³.

Traeger notes that moisture can expand the wood and make it crumbly². So a pellet that crumbles when you snap it may have taken on water.

Check the bottom of the bag

Some dust is normal. Traeger says some sawdust at the bottom of the bag is normal. A lot of it, or sawdust that clumps, may mean the pellets have been compromised². Its advice in that case is to take them back to the retailer or contact the maker's customer support².

Look for swelling

Z Grills' support page shows dry pellets beside wet and swollen pellets⁴. A pellet that looks swollen like that doesn't belong in the hopper.

A short routine

1. Pour a few pellets from the top, middle and bottom of the container into your hand.
2. Look for a shiny, even surface.
3. Snap two or three. Each should break cleanly.
4. Look at the dust in the bottom. A little is fine. Clumps are not.
5. If anything fails, don't put those pellets in the hopper.

Why bother? Z Grills says damp pellets throw the temperature off and change the quality of smoke³. Traeger warns that crumbly ones can block the feed and may not light². Catching them at the bag is easier than clearing an auger.

Old pellets and new bags

Age matters for the check. Z Grills says a quick look and snap is worth doing every time, and more so if it has been a while since you last used your pellets³.

A new bag isn't exempt. Traeger notes that new bags of pellets sometimes get compromised during shipping, so poor storage isn't always the owner's fault². Check the bag when you bring it home, before it goes into a container with good pellets.

When a bag fails the check

Don't mix suspect pellets in with good ones. Set them aside. If the bag is new, the maker's customer support is the right contact². If the pellets are already in the grill, go to Damp Pellets in the Hopper. For keeping the next bag dry, see the storage advice.