I’m strongly thinking about a PK 100, and I was wondering about that. I’ve seen the same thing with electric smokers that are basically ovens that also generate a bit of smoke from chips or sawdust. One thing that is for certain is that, since the PK 100 does not depend on wood combustion for heat, you aren’t getting all that NO2 that you normally get from the wood combustion, and it’s that NO2 that creates the smoke ring. I’m sure you get a little, but not nearly as much as you get from a stick burner, pellet cooker, or even charcoal.
You still get plenty of the other smoke goodies from the sawdust, so that’s why the flavor and outside color still work out.