Wood Pellet Storage Guide
Whether you use your wood pellets for your stove or barbecuing, you want the best results. To get the best, you should start with the best wood pellets, but another essential consideration is wood pellet storage. So how do you store wood pellets? Since they’re often sold in 40-pound bags, it may seem a bit intimidating at first, but this wood pellet storage guide will help you keep your wood pellets fresh and ready to use.
HOW TO STORE WOOD PELLETS
Storing wood pellets is easy when you know the best conditions for their protection and longevity. Use a pellet storage container that seals out environmental factors like pests and water for optimal results. Here are the best practices and storage container options for storing wood pellets:
- Manage moisture: Exposure to humidity or water will ruin the quality of your wood pellets. That impacts temperature control, the amount of smoke you can get and your barbecuing experience.
- Choose your storage type: The best wood pellet storage bin is a 5-gallon bucket with an airtight lid. Transfer your new wood pellets into the bucket and seal the lid. Keeping pellet containers closed prevents airborne contaminants.
- Use a stacking strategy for bagged pellets: If you must keep your pellets in their original packaging, stack them in alternating directions. That ensures the pressure is equal on every bag and prevents moisture buildup between bags.
STORING WOOD PELLETS IN BAGS
Wood pellet bags are convenient for homeowners. Here’s how to make the most of them:
- Choose suitable bags: Opt for durable bags that ensure ventilation.
- Fill them correctly: Avoid tight compression to prevent pellet damage.
- Check the seal: Use airtight seals to keep moisture and pests at bay.
- Stack in order: Organize the bags on shelves, prioritizing using older pellets first.
STORING WOOD PELLETS IN BULK
For large-scale pellets, bulk containers or buckets might be a more efficient choice:
- Ensure proper airflow: A well-ventilated container prevents moisture buildup.
- Keep the container dry: Regular inspection ensures your pellet containers are always dry.
- Use gravity feed: Establish a system that allows easy pellet access.
- Track inventory: Assess pellet levels to ensure you always have stock.
All that advice works regardless of where or when you store your wood pellets, but for certain locations and certain times of the year, you’ll have to make some extra considerations:
STORING WOOD PELLETS INDOORS
Indoor wood pellet storage is the best method for keeping your pellets safe if your conditions are right. A shed, garage or basement is an excellent place for storage since it keeps your pellets out of the way but accessible. However, make sure those indoor spaces are suitable for storing wood pellets.
Some basements are prone to flooding or humidity, and if that’s the case with yours, you may want to find somewhere else to store your pellets. Don’t give up hope if the basement is your only option, though. You can use a dehumidifier and store the pellet containers on shelves or somewhere else off the floor.
Use other storage locations to your advantage if you have them. If you have space in your garage or shed, that could be the perfect place to keep your wood pellet containers. They could be close to your smoker or stove for convenience but also away from the elements. Still, you should keep your containers sealed even if you cover them — it’ll help keep out pests.
STORING WOOD PELLETS OUTDOORS
Environmental factors cause more potential problems when storing pellets outside, but it’s a convenient way to store your wood pellets if you don’t have room inside. You can also have easier access to your wood pellets if you use them in an outdoor stove or smoker. For outdoor wood pellet storage, be sure to keep them:
- In an airtight container
- Covered from the rain
- Off the ground
Pay attention to the weather to know if you need to bring your wood pellets in for any reason. If you don’t have the space, put your pellet storage containers on wood pallets or other elevated surfaces and cover them with tarps. Even though your pellet containers should be sealed, you don’t want to risk letting water in and ruining your pellets. Tarps will also keep your wood pellet storage containers dry, so you won’t have to dry them off before opening and retrieving the pellets.
STORING WOOD PELLETS THROUGHOUT THE SEASONS
Depending on your storage solution and the climate where you live, you may need to make slight adjustments to your storage strategy as the seasons change. Consider changes like these throughout the year to protect your wood pellets in storage:
- Spring: You’re almost done with your stove during this season, so pellet fuel storage is necessary. Since you won’t need your heating pellets until next winter, store them in an airtight container somewhere out of the way, like a garage or basement. If spring is a rainy season where you live, protect the pellets from moisture.
- Summer: If you’re using wood pellets in the summer, you’re probably cooking up some delicious smoked barbecue. Be sure to keep your pellets away from your smoker and water sources. Lawn sprinklers, hoses, pools and areas where water tends to gather could all be a threat to your wood pellets.
- Fall: You may need your heating pellets back as the weather gets colder. Put away your BBQ pellets where you stored your heating ones if that was an adequate spot, and bring your heating pellets back to an area that’s easy to access.
- Winter: With snow threatening to bring moisture to your wood pellets, storing the material inside during the winter is best. It’ll be convenient when you need to fill your pellet stove since you won’t have to walk out into the cold. But if you need to keep your pellets outside, keep them covered and off the ground. Shovel the snow away from your storage containers so that it doesn’t impact your pellets when it melts.
If you’re storing pellets in bulk for the season, you may want to cover your containers with a tarp to protect them a bit more. Just remember where you leave them since they’ll be out of sight for a whole season.
WOOD PELLET STORAGE TIPS
Now that you know how and where to keep heating and barbecue wood pellets, some extra tips will ensure everything stays safe from the elements. When storing your wood pellets either indoors or outdoors, be sure to:
- Store pellets away from heat: It’s no surprise that wood pellets are flammable — you do ignite them to use them, after all. So it makes sense that when storing wood pellets indoors or outdoors, you should keep them away from heat sources to avoid a dangerous situation. Don’t store pellets near your grill, fireplace, water heater or any other source of heat in your home, even if the pellets are in a container that you think is heatproof.
- Store new pellets away from old: If you keep your wood pellets in a bucket or other wood pellet containers, avoid topping them off with a new bag when you get one. Separate old pellets so you know to use them first instead of mixing them in with your new materials.
- Label your pellet storage container: Keep track of how long you’ve had your wood pellets by labeling your buckets with the date you bought them. If you use pellets for heating and smoking or just have a variety, you can separate them into different buckets and label them with what type of pellets are in each to stay organized.
- Handle them carefully: While wood pellets are durable, too much rough handling can make them break or flake. That creates excess dust in the bottom of your wood pellet storage container and makes some of your material unusable. Be careful when transferring pellets from storage, especially in large containers that could fall or rattle around as you move them.
- Elevate your pellets: Even if you’re storing your pellets inside, it’s still a good idea to keep them off the ground. Ground-level conditions can introduce your pellets to unwanted moisture and less-than-ideal temperatures, leading to rot and pellet breakage. Place your pellet container on a box or shelf to ensure they’re safe from harm.
- Inspect them regularly: Ensure the storage conditions remain consistent and within the desired parameters. Look for early signs of moisture or mold, which can degrade pellet quality, and identify any pest activity. Pests, especially rodents, turn to wood pellets for nesting.
CHECKING YOUR PELLETS
You should always make sure your pellets are still good before loading them into the hopper. Here are a few ways to find out whether your pellets are still good for the season:
- Feel test: Open your container and grab a handful of pellets. If they seem especially crumbly or you see a lot of sawdust in the container, they’re no longer usable.
- Shine test: Examine the surface of your pellets. Pellets that have gone bad will look dull and cracked, while a good pellet will have a smooth, shiny surface.
- Float test: Take a handful of pellets and drop them in a bowl of water. If they’re still good, they’ll sink to the bottom. Pellets that have gone bad will float. Discard any pellets you put in water instead of tossing them back in with your good ones.
- Snap test: Take a pellet and break it in two. A good pellet will break with an audible snap, while a bad pellet will crumble and produce dust.
- Smell test: Smell your pellets. A good wood pellet should smell like fresh wood — if it’s a flavored cooking pellet, you’ll also notice a hint of the flavor. If your pellets smell strange or rotten, they may not be good anymore.
- Burn test: This test is the best way to find out whether your pellets have gone bad. Find a non-flammable surface, like a ceramic plate. Place a pellet or two on your surface, light it with a match and watch it burn. If the flame is light yellow or brown, you’re in the clear. However, if you see that the flame is a dark or abnormal color, it could be contaminated. In this case, it’s best to open a new bag.
If your pellets don’t pass these tests, you should avoid using them for heating or barbecuing — but you don’t need to throw them out. You can repurpose bad wood pellets as mulch or fire starters or to clean up oil and other spills.
WHAT MAKES QUALITY HEATING PELLETS?
Wood pellets give you comfort, warmth and reliability. We at Energex emphasize the significance of heating pellet quality. Here’s what you need to know:
- Uniform size: Their diameter should be between 6 to 8 millimeters and three or four times that in length.
- Moisture content: Wood pellets should have 5% to 10% moisture content.
- Ash content: The best heating pellets have an ash content of 0.7% or less.
- Minimal dust: A clear sign of quality is the absence of excess dust in your pellet bag.
- Binding agents: Quality pellets are typically free from unnecessary additives.
Checking for the Pellet Fuels Institute (PFI) Quality Mark easily verifies pellet quality. Energex takes pride in ensuring you get top-notch products every time.
HOW LONG DO WOOD PELLETS LAST?
How long your wood pellets last depends on their initial quality and if you store them properly. With the right wood pellet storage bin, your materials won’t have an expiration date, but some pellets are better than others after a while.
The purpose of your wood pellets will determine whether you should use them over time. Heating pellets, if they’re not damaged by moisture or other elements, will still burn and sufficiently heat your home. If you’re using pellets for cooking, they’ll still burn and create smoke, but the flavor won’t be as strong as time passes.
If you’ve ever left ground coffee out or unsealed, you may have noticed the flavor wasn’t as strong in your next cup. That loss of flavor is similar to what happens if you leave flavored pellets out, and you won’t get the results you want the next time you use them. Even with proper storage in wood pellet containers, flavored materials won’t be as strong as they get older.
The exact shelf life of flavored smoker pellets depends on the brand and how you store them. If your BBQ pellets have been in storage for a while and you notice they don’t smell as strong as when you got them, they could have lost some of their flavor. You could burn a small batch as a test and check for the flavor quality before trying to use them with your food so you’re sure of whether they are still good or past their prime.
CHOOSE ENERGEX WOOD PELLETS
Need more heating or BBQ pellets? Choose Energex for your next restock and follow the storage tips above to get the best results. We’re proud to be one of the most experienced producers of wood pellets in the industry, from our quality softwood and hardwood heating pellets to our flavorful Ol’ Hick cooking pellets.
Get Energex wood pellets today, whether you need heating pellets to keep you warm or Jim Beam BBQ pellets to cook up some flavorful meals. Find Energex at a dealer near you and stock up for the seasons with the wood pellet storage tips you learned today.