Wood pellet Aroma

[iron stove]

One thing that I noticed last year was that certain pellets have a noticable Aroma, especially when heated in the hopper. This was especially true with the Oakies that I burned, much less with the Rocky Mountains.Some NEWEP's Hardwoods had a sweet wood smell. Has anybody else noticed this ?

 

[defield]

Okanagans smell nice even in their bags, stacked in the basement.

LGs not as much scent, but clean smelling.

Ranger

 

[hossthehermit]

One thing that I noticed last year was that certain pellets have a noticable Aroma, especially when heated in the hopper. This was especially true with the Oakies that I burned, much less with the Rocky Mountains.Some NEWEP's Hardwoods had a sweet wood smell. Has anybody else noticed this ?

I noticed Corinth pellets smelled like garbage. Couple other people I work with noticed the same thing.

 

[iron stove]

Thanks for all the replies. Like I said, not bad mouthing anybodies pellets, just that some were more aromatic. Ill be continuing my quest for hot burning pellets this year.

 

[Havlat24]

One thing that I noticed last year was that certain pellets have a noticable Aroma, especially when heated in the hopper. This was especially true with the Oakies that I burned, much less with the Rocky Mountains.Some NEWEP's Hardwoods had a sweet wood smell. Has anybody else noticed this ?

I noticed Corinth pellets smelled like garbage. Couple other people I work with noticed the same thing.

This is a subject that seems to come up about twice a year. You should be able to open a bag of pellets, hardwood, softwood or a blend; it makes no difference and be able to get a good “woodsy smell” from it. That would indicate the product is probably 100% wood and nothing added. If it smells like any sort of chemical or other smell, there “might” be additives for binding or some sort of product that isn’t all wood thrown in for good measure. This can certainly happen if the raw material is recycled in some way (read, shredded used pallets, recycled lumber, yard waste etc) that could/would produce a smell other than fresh cut wood.

As far as the smell itself, well that is certainly a personal preference. Some people love the smell of our pellets and others think they smell too much like Xmas trees in the basement. I have dealers tell me every day how great they smell and customers love it.

Every so often, somebody thinks it smells like cat piss. Since I am no expert on that, I will take their word on that. Currently sitting in my 3rd bay of my garage I have 34 bags of Okies and 8 bales of our horse bedding for samples and with the summer temps here in Phoenix heating it up to 120+ in there some days, I can honestly say it smells wonderful, without it being overwhelming. Very crisp, clean and outdoorsy. Like taking a walk in the woods. But that may be just me. I can’t stand the smell of lilac and other people have it all thru their homes. Make me gag, but like I said, that might just be me.

Pellets brands are just like Baskin Robbins, 31 flavors so you have something for everyone.

Pine smells like cat piss sometimes.... every once and a while when you stand next to the lathe at our mill peeling pine you get that smell.

 

[smwilliamson]

One thing that I noticed last year was that certain pellets have a noticable Aroma, especially when heated in the hopper. This was especially true with the Oakies that I burned, much less with the Rocky Mountains.Some NEWEP's Hardwoods had a sweet wood smell. Has anybody else noticed this ?

I noticed Corinth pellets smelled like garbage. Couple other people I work with noticed the same thing.

This is a subject that seems to come up about twice a year. You should be able to open a bag of pellets, hardwood, softwood or a blend; it makes no difference and be able to get a good “woodsy smell” from it. That would indicate the product is probably 100% wood and nothing added. If it smells like any sort of chemical or other smell, there “might” be additives for binding or some sort of product that isn’t all wood thrown in for good measure. This can certainly happen if the raw material is recycled in some way (read, shredded used pallets, recycled lumber, yard waste etc) that could/would produce a smell other than fresh cut wood.

As far as the smell itself, well that is certainly a personal preference. Some people love the smell of our pellets and others think they smell too much like Xmas trees in the basement. I have dealers tell me every day how great they smell and customers love it.

Every so often, somebody thinks it smells like cat piss. Since I am no expert on that, I will take their word on that. Currently sitting in my 3rd bay of my garage I have 34 bags of Okies and 8 bales of our horse bedding for samples and with the summer temps here in Phoenix heating it up to 120+ in there some days, I can honestly say it smells wonderful, without it being overwhelming. Very crisp, clean and outdoorsy. Like taking a walk in the woods. But that may be just me. I can’t stand the smell of lilac and other people have it all thru their homes. Make me gag, but like I said, that might just be me.

Pellets brands are just like Baskin Robbins, 31 flavors so you have something for everyone.

Personally, I can't stand the smell of cat piss. Just my 2 cents.

 

[nosaudioil]

I'm sorry, we just don't let the cat pee on the pellets!

 

[begreen]

Pine smells like cat piss sometimes.... every once and a while when you stand next to the lathe at our mill peeling pine you get that smell.

The aroma was my only real complaint about Lignetics from Idaho, which I guess were ponderosa pine, but not sure. It was sure nice when we switched over to pellets made from doug fir. They smelled great.

 

[vvvv]

I'm sorry, we just don't let the cat pee on the pellets!

I certainly don't recommend that....but then again there are a lot of people who continue to use pellets each season that burn like crap, so who knows (did I actually say that out loud?).... ;-)

I heard it & sounds like u disagree with PFI evaluations. Care to elaborate?

 

[vvvv]

Pine smells like cat piss sometimes.... every once and a while when you stand next to the lathe at our mill peeling pine you get that smell.

The aroma was my only real complaint about Lignetics from Idaho, which I guess were ponderosa pine, but not sure. It was sure nice when we switched over to pellets made from doug fir. They smelled great.

Douglas fir pellets are the BEST pellet made ...period...they are also some of the most expensive, which only goes to show you, you get what you pay for..

seems u chose to ignore my question, conveniently? then make such an absolute statement!

 

[vvvv]

The PFI standards are a great guide, but the parameters are still big enough to drive a pellet truck thru, so you get this HUGE discrepancy as to what is really a “premium” pellet and what isn’t." please elaborate on this also. Also PFI has a new category for "super premium" pellet based mostly on water content I think. Are the Oakies super premiums? I'm sure you'll defer to jakeman for superceeding PFI mostly to justify your "u get what u pay for" credo,conveniently, because Oakies cost more.

 

[jtakeman]

I'm sorry, we just don't let the cat pee on the pellets!

I certainly don't recommend that....but then again there are a lot of people who continue to use pellets each season that burn like crap, so who knows (did I actually say that out loud?).... ;-)

Well I have had some really bad pellets that my cat's wouldn't even pee on. And they pee in dirt. The pellets had such a bad chemical smell, My wife made me store them outside. I forgot about them and the weather got to em. Off to the compost pile they went!

I never got a batch of softwoods that had the cat pee smell. But my neighbor did. They were pretty strong but once in the hopper it was less noticable. Next batch of the same brand smelled like a xmas tree. I wonder if the dealer would give me a strange look if I ask to smell the pellets before I loaded them into the p/u.

 

[jtakeman]

The PFI standards are a great guide, but the parameters are still big enough to drive a pellet truck thru, so you get this HUGE discrepancy as to what is really a “premium” pellet and what isn’t." please elaborate on this also. Also PFI has a new category for "super premium" pellet based mostly on water content I think. Are the Oakies super premiums? I'm sure you'll defer to jakeman for superceeding PFI mostly to justify your "u get what u pay for" credo,conveniently, because Oakies cost more.

Yes our pellets are all "Super Premium" I think you mean J Takeman. No I say that because it is a true statement about just about everything in life. Food, clothes, shoes, furniture, cars, wine, houses and yes even pellets. Okies usually sell for more money that is correct, but not always. I have absolutely no control over what a dealer marks these up for their profit, so depending on what their market will bear, the price could be the same as others, sometimes more and I know there are places where they are less than similar competition, but that is determined by each individual dealer. We don't set prices for them that is their call.... But just as most things we buy each day, we (buying public) determine if there is enough added value to pay that extra price for said product and then make the decision to spend that or not. We feel we have a product that is at the top of this food chain and most others would agree, so it usually will carry that extra cost...just as Cubex, Barefoot and Turman's do...for good reason....most people find them to be totally worth the small extra cost per day to use these better pellets...but like I have said many times, everybody will judge this against their own personal needs and circumstances.

PFI might be EPA standards here if uncle sam has his way. Along with the super premium and premium standards will be the appropriate uncle sam attachment!

Don't know how I was drug into this one???? What I do now!!

 

[iron stove]

Speeking of Douglas fir wood pellets, are they available in the Northeast, andif so, what Brand ?

 

[Pellet-King]

Worst smelling pellets i had maybe 10 yrs ago made by Stow Chow out of North Adams Mass, i emailed them they said they got sawdust from pacific northwest?, shorlty after they closed business.
Smelled like puke, pungent acid smell.
Other day got a few bags of okies stacked and went over and gave them a sniff......ahhhhhh!

 

[iron stove]

Speeking of Douglas fir wood pellets, are they available in the Northeast, andif so, what Brand ?

There may be other places, but Robbins Gardens in Oxford MA has some Blazers for $6.75 per bag or $322. per ton........ouch.....

Wow, I think thats the highest pellet price ive EVER SEEN . Ill have to e-mail the manufacturer. I always loved the smell of wet Doug fir 2X4's

 

[iron stove]

Evil shipping rates. I think ive heard of clean fire being sold here in CT. Have to see if anybody posts about it. I dont mind paying for a great pellet. Last year I traveled a bit to get 2 tons of Rocky mountains. Very nice, not the hottest, but good with a very light ash .

 

[jtakeman]

Pine smells like cat piss sometimes.... every once and a while when you stand next to the lathe at our mill peeling pine you get that smell.

The aroma was my only real complaint about Lignetics from Idaho, which I guess were ponderosa pine, but not sure. It was sure nice when we switched over to pellets made from doug fir. They smelled great.

Our lignitics out this way have a funny smell to them. And there the hardwood type. The rumor is and additive to help bind them together. I burned some Lignetics softwoods a few years back and they too had the same bad smell to them.

2 of the best smelling were Anderson Douglas fir and a Ponderosa pine(I can't remember the brand name, But a member gio might???) Both these pellets came from out west, I got them at a local Agway that trucked them in during a pellet shortage in the early part of 2000. The Douglas fir were also the best burning pellets I have ever burned, But we don't see them anymore around here nowadays. Just too pricey to ship them here.

I would love to see one of the local New England mills start producing a 100% Douglas fir pellet. Vermont wood pellet co would be a good candidate for that!

 

[iron stove]

I might be wrong, but I dont think there are many, if any, douglas fir stands in New englan, so there is no supply of chips or waste.

 

[jtakeman]

I might be wrong, but I dont think there are many, if any, douglas fir stands in New englan, so there is no supply of chips or waste.

From the wiki site:

Douglas-fir is one of the most commonly marketed Christmas tree species in the United States

They could be grown on tree farms specific for the pellet production purpose. But yes a wild Douglas fir is rare in new england!

 

[HEMI]

I had some hammers that smelled like gear oil