The Official Pellet Grill Smoker thread.

[BKING!]

I have read so many rave reviews about the Mak, and have no doubt that it is an amazing cooker. But having never tried any food from one, and most people have not tried multiple high end pellet cookers, so it is hard to get a baseline, to compare from. Only conclusion is, that I probably made the right decision for me.

I literally can not tell the difference between food smoked on my weber, and my Yoder. Now when grilling, you get some charcoal flavr, but there really isn't much diffence there either, because on when doing high heat on the Yoder, you get the fat hitting the hot diffuser plate. How were you running your vent on the Weber?

For low and slow I opened the intake 1 hole in width and kept the top vent 50% open. I think the smoke flavor INTENSITY is pretty much the same on both but it seems it’s harder to “oversmoke” on the Mak if that makes sense. To put into simpler terms...
too much campfire flavor =bad
too much wood flavor= ok

With that said I’ve always preferred high airflow cookers like stickburners for flavor

 

[Joshw]

For low and slow I opened the intake 1 hole in width and kept the top vent 50% open. I think the smoke flavor is pretty much the same on both but it seems it’s harder to “oversmoke” on the Mak if that makes sense

Try leaving your top vent wide open, and controlling your heat with the bottom vent, and the amount of charcoal you light. That will reduce your smoke flavor.
Also keep your top vent on the opposite side of your coals, that way the smoke travels over your food.

 

[BKING!]

Try leaving your top vent wide open, and controlling your heat with the bottom vent, and the amount of charcoal you light. That will reduce your smoke flavor.
Also keep your top vent on the opposite side of your coals, that way the smoke travels over your food.

I might not have been burning a clean fire then.

 

[Joshw]

Not an expert, but I don't think it is about a clean fire, but how long the smoke hangs around. You get a cleaner taste, when you have better exhaust. That's why it is almost impossible to over smoke on a pellet grill, and why I think a lot of people complain about smoke flavor on them.

 

[BKING!]

Not an expert, but I don't think it is about a clean fire, but how long the smoke hangs around. You get a cleaner taste, when you have better exhaust. That's why it is almost impossible to over smoke on a pellet grill, and why I think a lot of people complain about smoke flavor on them.

That’s an interesting theory that many people share and it makes sense. Either that or draft is directly correlated with how hot the fire is. Either way I need more exhaust.

 

[Czarbecue]

It’s on.

 

[Joshw]

LOL, that is a good pic. Thing looks like a kids toy, compared to that beast.

 

[BKING!]

LOL, that is a good pic. Thing looks like a kids toy, compared to that beast.

Exactly what I was thinking lol

 

[Czarbecue]

Only the shiners were probe tender after 8 hours @ 225.

 

[BKING!]

Only the shiners were probe tender after 8 hours @ 225.

What do you think of the end product? Also what did you use for your rub? It looks good!

 

[Czarbecue]

What do you think of the end product? Also what did you use for your rub? It looks good!

Thanks! I use SPLOG.

2 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp lemon pepper
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder

Effectively a 3:1 ratio of pepper to salt. It wasn’t as smokey like the stick burner but the wife enjoyed it. The 5 pound hopper is a joke. I got an alert that the temp dipped below 175 and sure enough I ran out of pellets some time around 4am. This was after refilling at 145am and heading to bed. I’m sure the 25 degree chill affected consumption but this is not a set it and forget it unit.

 

[gtsum]

It’s on.

What a great pic!


Memphis Elite





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Czarbecue]

The 5 pound hopper is a joke. I got an alert that the temp dipped below 175 and sure enough I ran out of pellets some time around 4am. This was after refilling at 145am and heading to bed. I’m sure the 25 degree chill affected consumption but this is not a set it and forget it unit.

Never mind. It appears the hopper threw up on itself.

 

[BKING!]

Never mind. It appears the hopper threw up on itself.

That’s seriously dangerous. That’s how pellet explosions happen. Did it overfill during the cook or after? If during I wouldn’t use it again till you talk to pitboss.

 

[SeanBBQ]

Cook going on now. Ys640. Warmed up at 350 for 40 minutes or so then down to 225. Put meat on. Using fireboard and have two pit temp probes in. Both top rack. One on hopper side and the other on the stack side. Stack is straight up and damper is 4 inches pushed in. I'm seeing 50 degree temp difference left to right. Even if I pull damper all the way out, give it 2 hours or so and check again, temp difference is the same but the median shifts. Fans are blowing just fine. Any thoughts?

Now I can work with this and isnt an issue at all. This is my second cook on it and just getting a feel for hot spots and placements so all good. But if I could even this out a bit more why not go for it.

Thanks all for the input.

 

[Joshw]

When you put your probe in, make sure that it is not hanging over the diffuser plate. At the end of plate, temps will be a little higher. Also make sure your plate is centered. If you put the probe right next to the stack, it is going to read higher, because that is where all the heat is moving too.

You might try moving your baffle in, in small increments, to see if that helps, but honestly, I haven't put a pit thermo in my Yoder since the 3rd cook. Just trust the controller, and cook to temp, or tenderness. You will make life much easier on yourself, and realize, that there is no need to sweat the small stuff.

 

[gtsum]

This^^^

When I had my yoder I used my tappaque and measured temps in four places...I was pretty happy when they were all within 10-15 degrees....but as the cooks progressed, I saw much larger swings left to right and top to bottom....and sometimes big swings in a single location....I stopped worrying about it and let the cooker do its thing and the results were always excellent.

The yoder isn’t a cooker that will keep a tight 2-3 degree temp range throughout...its not made that way....but how it’s designed and built = very good end results.


Memphis Elite





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Czarbecue]

That’s seriously dangerous. That’s how pellet explosions happen. Did it overfill during the cook or after? If during I wouldn’t use it again till you talk to pitboss.

It was during. Maybe so many pellets came out that it smothered the fire? I certainly did not run out of pellets.

 

[RCAlan]

Thanks! I use SPLOG.

2 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp lemon pepper
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder

Effectively a 3:1 ratio of pepper to salt. It wasn’t as smokey like the stick burner but the wife enjoyed it. The 5 pound hopper is a joke. I got an alert that the temp dipped below 175 and sure enough I ran out of pellets some time around 4am. This was after refilling at 145am and heading to bed. I’m sure the 25 degree chill affected consumption but this is not a set it and forget it unit.

With all Pellet Grills there’s a learning curve... With the Pit Boss grills, You have to every time you plan on using it, you have to preheat it for at least 20-30 mins at 350* degrees until the grills temp is stable. You also must use and understand the P-Settings correctly and they are applied during the startup/preheating. If You just plugged it in and set the temp.. ie.. Set it and forget it, You’ll have overfilled burn pots and possibly a flameout fire... If You plan on cooking in freezing temps, I would use P-setting P2-P3 at start up... If the temps are like 0-10* degrees out, I would use P-setting P1 or P0. Factory default is P4... Also, I wouldn’t use the Smoke mode during freezing temps, just set the grills temp to 200-225* degrees if you want to add some smoke to your meat. Your grill will put out plunty of Smoke while set between 200-250* degrees... Once you’ve preheated your grill correctly with the right P-Settings, then You’ll be able to set your desired temp and forget it... But You have to learn your grill first.. Ie... That learning curve... Each Brand of Pellet Grill is different. Pit Boss Grills can put out some fantastic bbq, You just to learn the In’s and Out’s to your grill.. Again, always preheat your Pit Boss grill first using to correct P-setting and always keep the burn pot clean from ash with a shop-vac after every cook and you won’t suffer anymore flameouts.. I hope the tips help and Good luck.

PB Austin XL in SoCal and Always... Semper Fi

 

[BKING!]

It was during. Maybe so many pellets came out that it smothered the fire? I certainly did not run out of pellets.

You just run the risk of their being a huge explosion if it overfills like that. Give a large smoldering pile of pellets oxygen then bam!