Okanagan Black Hills

[Andy P.]

Stopped at the feed store the other day to grab dog food and they had gotten a few tons of these in stock. She said they had been burning them and were pleasantly surprised so I figured Id try 10 bags. At first glance, on the clear side of the bag it looks like there is tons of sawdust/fines sticking to the bag. I said to myself "this is going to be an ugly 10 bag burn and I stacked them on top of whats left of my Turman and Vermont stash". If it gets really bad I will have to dig out the good stuff but I figured I would at least give them a go. I have to tell you though, they arent bad at all. When you pour the bag into the hopper youre expecting either a cloud of dust or tons of sawdust at the end of the pour; neither of those things happen. I dont know where all that stuff thats stuck on the inside of the bag goes but my feeling is that it looks MUCH worse than it actually is. The kicker is these suckers burn pretty darned hot. They arent as clean as Vermonts or Turmans but nothing Ive burned is even close to as clean as them. So anyhow, for the price (280ish/ton) and if you didnt have access to freak of nature clean/hot Vermonts, I wouldnt be afraid to buy tonnage of these things. Certainly a better choice that alot of the middle of the road softies (LG,MWP,Trebio).

 

[CT Pellet]

Black Hills come in clear bags, and you can actually see the pellets even before you open up a bag. Turman, Trebio, and Okanagan are some others that come in clear bags. (And there are some other brands as well- just can't think of them off the top of my head.) The nice thing about the transparency, is just that- the transparency. You actually SEE what you are getting. The down side is that even though all pellets- and I mean ALL pellets, have fines, the only ones that you see prior to opening are in the pellets that come in clear bags. I am willing to bet that what looks like a "lot" of fines to you in the Black Hills pellets, is in part, based upon the fact that your "first impression" included seeing the fines. So many times I have had people say to me about clear bagged pellets, "dam- look at the dust." Now, I don't want to sound like I know what you like better than you do....but I have sold over 2.3 million bags of pellets and I have seen a lot, I mean A LOT, of different bags, and quite often what appears to be a lot of fines to a customer, really is minimal compared to "acceptable industry standard." Coupled with the fact that once you started burning them, you find that they burn great, even compared to industry giants like Vermont and Turman. And you like them! Just for ha-has....sift out a bag of Back Hills and then sift out a bag of pellets in a solid bag and compare the fines and report back your findings.

 

[Branson4720]

Stopped at the feed store the other day to grab dog food and they had gotten a few tons of these in stock. She said they had been burning them and were pleasantly surprised so I figured Id try 10 bags. At first glance, on the clear side of the bag it looks like there is tons of sawdust/fines sticking to the bag. I said to myself "this is going to be an ugly 10 bag burn and I stacked them on top of whats left of my Turman and Vermont stash". If it gets really bad I will have to dig out the good stuff but I figured I would at least give them a go. I have to tell you though, they arent bad at all. When you pour the bag into the hopper youre expecting either a cloud of dust or tons of sawdust at the end of the pour; neither of those things happen. I dont know where all that stuff thats stuck on the inside of the bag goes but my feeling is that it looks MUCH worse than it actually is. The kicker is these suckers burn pretty darned hot. They arent as clean as Vermonts or Turmans but nothing Ive burned is even close to as clean as them. So anyhow, for the price (280ish/ton) and if you didnt have access to freak of nature clean/hot Vermonts, I wouldnt be afraid to buy tonnage of these things. Certainly a better choice that alot of the middle of the road softies (LG,MWP,Trebio).

You're 100% correct on that one......The fines look much worse than they really are, and yes, they burn VERY hot!