When purchasing wood pellets you need to know how to tell a great quality wood pellet from a bad one. Professional tools like a moisture meter will determine the major factors which impact wood pellet mill quality. If you do not have these tools, the tips below can help you judge the quality of a wood pellet:

Check the Appearance

Good-quality wood pellets possess the following aesthetic characteristics:

• Uniform length. For one wood pellet, this is a bit of difference between a 30 mm wood pellet and a 35 mm wood pellet. But, in terms of bulk or bagged wood pellets, the length significantly matters. Wood pellets with uniform lengths have consistent and stable mill performance. Check with Woodspec for great options.
• Less fines. When you take out pellets from the bag or check them out at the bottom of the bag, you may find fines. Fines exist even in the best quality pellets. They are very tiny pieces of woody material produced through as pellets are being transported.
  The industry standard for fines is less than 1%.

Smell the Pellets

Quality wood pellets must smell as fresh wood flavour which means the smell of its raw material. Pellets with a strange smell may not be made from pure raw material. In fact, they may be produced using binders or glues used to make raw material stickier.

Feel Them

A great pellet must have a smooth and shining surface without cracks when felt or touched. Pellets that are not smooth and contain a high amount of fines may have a raw material with less water or not well-conditioned.

Burn Them

This method for testing the quality of wood pellets is the ultimate one since combustion is a wood pellet’s final destination. Good-quality pellets tend to be burnt easily because they have pure sawdust. As burn the pellets, watch the flame’s colour. When the flame is brown or yellow in colour, this means you have good quality wood pellets. Bag quality pellets are orange or dark in colour. After burning, check the remaining ash. Good quality wood pellets do not leave much ash.

In case you prefer to make your own wood pellets, you will need to use a pellet mill. However, the quality of this machine is also different. Before you purchase this machine, talk to the salesperson about their product guarantee. They should know the standards of a good pellet. Otherwise, they won’t be able to provide dependable pellet mills.