It’s tough to beat an afternoon outside spent on the grill. If your favorite pastime happens to be smoking or cooking meats, your friends and family are probably grateful to sample your work. Of course, if you consider yourself something of a grillmaster, you take a certain amount of pride in the meals you prepare. This can mean shopping around for the best, high-quality cuts of meat, using a grill you can trust, and cooking with top-grade wood pellets. As you probably already know, grilling with wood pellets comes with some useful advantages, but as they come in different varieties, you may want to know which pellets pair best with certain types of meat. Finding the best pellets for ribs, for example, may require a bit of research. Fortunately, at Knotty Wood Barbecue Company, we have got you covered. Read on to learn more.

There is a simplicity to grilling that can explain some of its appeal. When you get down to it, you are simply cooking meat or vegetables over an open flame. By that frame of thinking, it may seem like it would be hard to mess up cooking something on the grill. Like any food preparation task, though, grilling calls for a bit of technique and practice. Trial and error can be an essential part of mastering any recipe, and grilling is really no exception here. You should not be afraid to experiment with different types of wood pellets when cooking or smoking ribs (or anything else, for that matter). It may be useful to know, however, what different types of pellets can do to the flavor profile of your food.

The Best Pellets for Ribs: Know Your Options

Before you throw a rack of ribs on the grill, you should determine which wood pellets are going to produce the most succulent end result. You can go with hickory wood pellets, which will create a hearty, smoky flavor. Hickory is pretty close to what you can think of as a “traditional” barbecue taste. Applewood can create for a sweeter tasting meat, due to its fruitiness. Applewood is typically not too overpowering, either. Cherrywood can give you a similar sweetness, and it will also give your ribs a reddish hue. 

Pecan wood can give you a flavor similar to hickory, but it’s slightly sweeter and imparts a light, nutty taste. If you are looking for something sweeter, you can always go with a maple wood pellet. Mesquite wood can be bold, so you may want to pair it with beef ribs instead of pork, as it may overwhelm pork’s natural flavor. Oak is also fairly reliable as a more neutral option, plus it is very dense so it burns evenly.

Check Out Our Grill Pellets

Take a few minutes to explore our selection of wood pellets for grilling or smoking meats and vegetables. We have unique, artisanal options that are sure to kick your next barbecue up a notch.