Light Pellets/Dark Pellets

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Kindle

Member
Jan 23, 2013
33
Central Pennsylvania
I have burned 6 different brands of pellets this winter and have noticed that some manufacturers pellets are light and some manufacturers pellets are dark. I have even seen light pellets in one bag and dark pellets in a different bag from the same manufacturer. Why are some pellets light and some dark ? Is it the wood type that is used ?
 
softwoods are generlaly lighter, hardwoods darker too.
 
Any bark in the pellets will also darken them up.
 
The light colored ones are for burning at night, and the dark ones are for daytime. They show up better that way, so you can see how full yer hopper is ......
 
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The light colored ones are for burning at night, and the dark ones are for daytime. They show up better that way, so you can see how full yer hopper is ......

That makes sense ! It should have been obvious .
 
Lots of variations. Even batch to batch from different manufacturers.

My Presto Logs are as dark as Coal, almost ;) But they are by far the darkest pellet I have seen.

Then, Pine bedding pellets are at the other spectrum. They are almost white.

So it's all in the Fiber, it's quality, and additives (bark, dirt, sand, etc) and the die speed, temp, and if any lube is used.
 
Thank you for the responses. Very informative.
 
Here are a few specimens ;)

2012-12-23_15-18-49_462.jpg
 
let's raid dexter's stash, i'll lead the charge;)
 
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That sample on the top left looks like a bag of pretzel sticks !
 
yea, those long ones would mean a real low fire on a lower setting for me...hear the auger grind!
 
On our tour of vermont pellet factory, the mill was sut down for maintinance i presume...we were there when he fired it up. The pellets were quite dark from sitting in the hot die. they seemed to lighten up as it ran. anyone else on the tour remember?
 
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