From experience, it is OK to use hardwood smoking pellets in your electric smoker.
BUT at most, only use 5-10 at a time.
AND only add new pellets every 45-60 minutes OR when they stop generating smoke.
Are You Sure it’s OK? What Do Brands Say?
To make this abundantly clear – Masterbuilt does not approve of using wood pellets in their smokers.
I own their older 40 inch model and the newer 30 inch model and to quote their manual from Amazon:
- “Do not use wood pellets”
- “Fuels such as charcoal briquettes or heat pellets, are not to be used in electric smoker.”
Even though they say you can’t, you can – only they don’t approve of their use.
The Biggest Thing People Get Wrong is They Use Too Many Pellets
Masterbuilt notes for wood chips:
“Never add more than 1/2 cup (1 filled chip loader) at a time.
Additional chips should not be added until any previously added chips have ceased generating smoke.”
Even Masterbuilt’s instructions for 1/2 cup of wood chips at a time I wouldn’t follow.
At most, you only need 5 or so wood chips.
Pellets are even smaller and you can fit far more in the tray.
What can and will happen in both scenarios is a blowback or “backdraft.”
Electric smokers have plastic gaskets around the door that create ultra-tight seals.
When too much smoke accumulates it removes oxygen from the chamber, new Oxygen then can rapidly enter the system via the exhaust damper and cause the sudden, violent exfiltration of smoke.
Here’s an example by firefighters as this same thing happens with houses that are burning down:
Now imagine that in your electric smoker.
My recommendation is at most 5-10 pellets.
I would recommend starting with 5 first and seeing what sort of smoke that nets you as all pellet brands are different (composition of their pellets).
Even with an electric smoker, your goal is thin blue smoke – not tons of white/dirty smoke.
Another issue with adding too many pellets is that they could catch on fire since their energy density is greater than wood chips.
