One hopper fill is plenty! Smoking on the Ninja Woodfire.

(updated 01/14/25) One of the most frequent questions asked by new Ninja Woodfire users is: "Do I need to refill the pellet hopper during longer cooks?" The simple answer is - NO. You CAN. And some people do. And if you like to, that's just fine! I'm not here to tell you what to do. But in my experience, the gains are minimal, don't measurably improve the quality of the end product, and if you start with an entirely new hopper (versus adding small amounts incrementally), you may notice some "dirty smoke" bitterness. Many people–especially those who come to the Woodfire with a traditional smoking background–just assume that they need to keep a steady stream of smoke going throughout the cook. But the Woodfire doesn't cook the same way a traditional smoker does. It doesn't use the pellets for heat, just for color and flavor. Whether it's a wood-burning (or what they call a "stick burner") smoker, a full-size pellet smoker, or a charcoal smoker, these all use the wood product as the HEAT SOURCE for cooking the food. So naturally, they all need to keep the wood product going the entire cook. And here's why you don't... The Woodfire isn't, by definition, a "smoker." It's an electric convection oven that uses pellets for smoke flavor and color. Very similar to "cold smoking" or how a smoke tube works. The smoke effect on the Woodfire happens early and INTENSELY. At the much lower temperature (+/- 50%) the Woodfire burns the pellets, compared to a traditional pellet smoker, Woodfire users experience MUCH more of the wood's unique flavor compounds than do users of full-size pellet smokers (and even wood-buring smokers) Even with a 20-30 minute wait for the "dirty smoke" to clean up (see article here "Why does my smoked food taste bitter?"), the duration of a single Woodfire pellet hopper fill is more than adequate to deliver flavor, color, and bark to satisfy most users. The images shown on this page were all Ninja Woodfire cooks, using just a single hopper fill, with a 15-30 minute clean up wait. I don't know anyone who'd accuse any of these to be lacking in smoke effect.

SIDE NOTE 1: Many people are under the misconception that meat will only "take on smoke" to a certain temperature. That's partially true. But what that's referring to is SMOKE RING development, which stops at an internal temperature of approximately 160F. This is when the myoglobin in the meat can no longer retain oxygen. Generally-speaking, meat will take on smoke color and flavor for as long as it's exposed to smoke. This is why an unwrapped brisket will typically have a more pronounced smoke presence than a wrapped one will. BUT, it becomes an issue of diminishing returns. The amount of additional smoke presence gained once a food item is sufficiently barked will vary by a number of factors, including: total cook time, what kind of cooker, as well as what kind of wood material you're burning. SIDE NOTE 1b: People tend to comment about the lack of smoke ring in the pictures here, and from the Woodfire in general. That is true, but that has little to do with refilling the hopper or not.

Electric smokers don't tend to produce smoke rings. This is because the cooking heat comes from an electric element rather than burning wood. So, there is comparatively no nitric oxide (the component responsible for the smoke ring) being produced during the cook. And considering how quickly the Woodfire cooks, when ring development stops (as mentioned above) your chances of seeing a robust-looking smoke ring are nearly zero.

Even if you hammer a Woodfire cook with multiple hopper refills, you're only going to see a slight ring. And if you have to keep running back to the cooker every 45 minutes, you're defeating much of the intended value of using an electric smoker like this in the first place. On top of all of this, as most people are aware, a smoke ring is simply a visual artifact and has no impact on the flavor or texture of the end product. SIDE NOTE 2: Another widespread misconception is that larger or thicker cuts of meat need more smoke to "penetrate" the meat. Generally speaking, whether it's 20 minutes or 20 hours, smoke does not get deeply into the meat. The smoke effect (especially on the woodfire, but it applies to all meat smoking) is primarily an exterior effect.