Pellet Smoker Fail

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Nazzoli

Wandering around with a bag of matchlight, looking for a match.
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Hello everyone, my name is Nick. I’m in south eastern Michigan north of Detroit.
I have been smoking on my masterbuilt electric smoker for a few years now and have become very good with it.
I just purchased a camp chef dlx and used it on Sunday. It did not go well. My ribs turned into jerky. Not sure what happened but I followed my normal method of 2-2-1 at 225. I used a mix of traeger brand pellets, apple and hickory. My initial thought is that the temperature inside the grill is not what was being shown on the digital control. So I just purchased a digital thermometer and will check that out this weekend.
Any initial thought or additional help because I am super frustrated!!!!
 
Use a good therm. next to the meat.
the ones on the pellet grills tend to "vary"
mine holds temp pretty well it just doesn't match the displayed temp.
keep trying you'll get it, its part of learning your new toy

Jeff
 
I am not familiar with that brand, but I would say you are on the right track. Did you use the same cutof rib, and same size as ones before? I got some farmers market ribs once and made them into a tough, burnt jerky slab. I believe they were too small compared to usual? That is my only 2¢
 
one other thing to consider as well..are you sure the therm on your electric was right? you may have been cooking much cooler than 225 before. just a thought. you are on the right track though, good luck!
 
Monitor your temps, I'm sure there will be a learning curve but that's part of the fun of getting a new toy.

As a side note I did a rack of ribs recently (on the Traeger pellet) that the butcher had trimmed pretty good, as in not much meat left on the bones. I saw this while prepping them but failed to cook them accordingly.
Result. . . dry chewy ribs.
 
225 on my traeger which is similar to a camp chef (temp probe wise) is about 250 on the grates.

Typically it runs about 25 degrees hotter at the grate compared to the temp probe. Once you know that its pretty easy to dial temps.

Also, with the stock Traeger controller setting at 225 typically ran my grill at around 260 on the display which was about 285 at the grates. I ditched the stock controller for an aftermarket one and haven't looked back.
 
I think my PitBoss controller is off by about 50* most of the time. Occasionally it will get closer to matching. I use a Thermoworks Smoke, and adjust the controller accordingly. I generally just set it to 275 or 300 and then let her do her thing-as someone said in another pellet thread here: don't chase the temps, and you'll be much happier.
 
Bill-Chicago said:
Fire it up again and after it comes to temp take a roll canister of just plain ordinary biscuits and place them around the grates.

In around 5-10 minutes you will now have a visual representation if there are any hotspots or if the biscuits are all browning the same.
Click to expand...

Who is this ? You a old farker now ? Guess I hijacked.....
 
jeffeg said:
Use a good therm. next to the meat.
the ones on the pellet grills tend to "vary"
mine holds temp pretty well it just doesn't match the displayed temp.
keep trying you'll get it, its part of learning your new toy

Jeff
Click to expand...

I agree with Jeff, my pellet smoker is great but you got to give yourself time its a new method of smoking. I too use an additional therm to monitor my pellet smoker. Keep at it.
 
Was it super cold out? A non insulated less expensive pellet cooker may have had trouble getting up to and maintaining a low and slow temp like 225.
 
Probe placement...

My Pit Boss probe reads 20-30F colder than the cooking surface. I set 200F and let it roll. Perfect every time.
 
I have the Camp Chef DLX & haven’t checked the actual pit temps since I bought it last year. I also did the biscuit test, probe slightly above the grate etc, what I’ve learned from the testing is to let it do what it does. I set it & forget it, then just focus on what the meat is doing. This way I don’t obsess with the temp swings even though mine seems to stay within 10 degrees of set temp, I just focus on the meat & it’s done when it’s done. I love mine & I live in the North East so I use it year round, my last smoke was two chuckies last weekend for 7.5 hours in 25 degree temps, food came out amazing.

With that being said I’d suggest that you call Camp Chef, I’ve read two different accounts on forums that they had internal temp probe problems that Camp Chef made right for the owners.
 
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