The Official Pellet Grill Smoker thread.

[rwalters]

Originally Posted by electron_si

The Yoder gets a little nasty to clean too when the grease mixes with the ash but it does sear pretty damn well so it’s worth it to me also

I’ve never cleaned a Yoder but I can’t imagine it being that bad. Grease mixed with ash it actually a pretty easy “slurry” to scrape up and toss. Take a pic and post it next time your Yoder is “gunked up”... I am curious to see how messy it gets.

[electron_si]

Originally Posted by rwalters

I’ve never cleaned a Yoder but I can’t imagine it being that bad. Grease mixed with ash it actually a pretty easy “slurry” to scrape up and toss. Take a pic and post it next time your Yoder is “gunked up”... I am curious to see how messy it gets.

I use a small shop vac to clean out the inside. If I haven’t been running with the fire pot cover out it’s really simple cleanup and not too messy. Once I cook without the fire pot cover grease mixes in with the pellet ash it gets sticky and lines the hose and nozzle of the vacuum. Not a huge deal but I wear gloves and still get a little greasy. Usually those greasy cooks are burgers and sometimes ribeyes. If it’s chicken or flank steak it doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue.

I stay away from using a scraper only to clean the inside because the fire pot and exterior walls are all sealed with flexible sealant. In the past I’ve accidentally peeled a little bit of it off while scraping so I went away from that method.

This is not a ding on Yoder in any way. I clean my smoker more often than most because I want it to last and delay rusting as long as I can. I did not clean my traeger nearly as much

[ulc]

Originally Posted by rwalters

Fantastic cook! Do you not think that your PB would survive a rain storm? Most pellet cookers do fine.

It rained crazy hard. I took that pic after the rain pretty much stopped. But I got completely soaked. I've read too many horror stories about PB pellet smokers jamming up after being exposed to rain. I didn't want to take a chance as I really like this pellet smoker.

Short ribs turned out really juicy and soft almost like meat jello so it was worth getting rained on.

[GatorBeerGeek]

Originally Posted by ulc

It rained crazy hard. I took that pic after the rain pretty much stopped. But I got completely soaked. I've read too many horror stories about PB pellet smokers jamming up after being exposed to rain. I didn't want to take a chance as I really like this pellet smoker.

Short ribs turned out really juicy and soft almost like meat jello so it was worth getting rained on.

How much do you charge for umbrella service? I really want to smoke a butt this weekend because they are so cheap at Kroger right now, but with the forecast here I am just going to pass to avoid dodging the rain drops for that long of a cook.

[gtsum]

Cooked up some creekstone ribeye, strip, and a Publix fillet...this was all that’s left (side note, the creekstone master choice sale of strips and rib eyes are quite good...thinner steaks, but very tasty). Fillet left, strip middle and ribeye right




Memphis Elite





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[BKING!]

So I did something different on my Mak. I took everything out except the stainless steel funnel, put on a full set of grill grates, and did some burgers. I haven’t cleaned the grill yet so can’t speak on that but the searing is just as good as my kettle with lump charcoal. I set the controller to 400 deg and everything went fine and dandy! The center of the grill grates was slightly hotter than the edges but all the burgers finished at the same time. I did the full set of grates because I wasn’t concerned with heat trapping underneath the grates affecting diffuser because no diffuser!

Also took half the time for the grill to heat up. Maybe 10 minutes???

[rwalters]

Originally Posted by BKING!

So I did something different on my Mak. I took everything out except the stainless steel funnel, put on a full set of grill grates, and did some burgers. I haven’t cleaned the grill yet so can’t speak on that but the searing is just as good as my kettle with lump charcoal. I set the controller to 400 deg and everything went fine and dandy! The center of the grill grates was slightly hotter than the edges but all the burgers finished at the same time. I did the full set of grates because I wasn’t concerned with heat trapping underneath the grates affecting diffuser because no diffuser!

Those look fantastic! Please post a couple of “cleanup” pics... would love to see what things look like after a cook like this. As far as your GG’s... are to saying that you used 4 panels covering every square inch?

[BKING!]

Originally Posted by rwalters

Those look fantastic! Please post a couple of “cleanup” pics... would love to see what things look like after a cook like this. As far as your GG’s... are to saying that you used 4 panels covering every square inch?

I used 4 grill grates. I pushed them to one side giving me 1.5 inch gap to “breathe” on one side.

[BKING!]

Here is the “damage” from four 80/20 patties.

[tom b]

BKING, I thought about doing that but I think I heard it could cause damage? Burgers look good.

[rwalters]

Originally Posted by BKING!

Here is the “damage” from four 80/20 patties.

Damage? I see no signs of damage and virtually no signs of grease. That’s a good thing :)

That said, I think I’ll stick w/ my current grilling setup of Flame Zone covers off and MAK sear grates on. Works great for my needs. But it sure is cool to see you pushing things to the limit [emoji106][emoji41]

[rwalters]

Originally Posted by tom b

BKING, I thought about doing that but I think I heard it could cause damage? Burgers look good.

With the way he’s doing it... leaving a gap to breathe... I can’t see how there would be any damage. I definitely wouldn’t set the controller higher than 450° though. I also think that 3 GG panels would be the safest... which would be the same grilling area that you get with the Yoder.

[BKING!]

Higher than 450 deg would melt the grates I think lol I measured the gap and it was actually closer to 2 inches. Highest I’ll go is probably 400 deg. It’s hotter than you think. I might go to 3 panels to be on the safe side though

[rwalters]

Originally Posted by BKING!

Higher than 450 deg would melt the grates I think lol I measured the gap and it was actually closer to 2 inches. Highest I’ll go is probably 400 deg. It’s hotter than you think. I might go to 3 panels to be on the safe side though

450° will not melt the grates... lol. Anodized aluminum has a melting point of a lil over 1100°.

[BKING!]

Originally Posted by rwalters

450° will not melt the grates... lol. Anodized aluminum has a melting point of a lil over 1100°.

Only thing is if I take to 500 deg then the 500 deg measurement is indirect. The grill grates will be much hotter than that. Probably closer to 800-900 deg with the set up I got. Grill grates says not to exceed 800 deg I believe.