Hey Tom, not a big fan of super smokey foods. We have a BBQ place in town (Beach Ave BBQ) and I tried their smoked meatloaf and it was fantastic. I found your review Pit Boss on sale for $135 so I bought it to make meatloaf. That little smoker PB works great. Mine holds temp and is accurate. I have done hotdogs and sausages using the sear plate, Ribs, Chicken, meatloaf all came out great. The one thing that I don't like is what I liked in buying it. Its size originally, I didn't want a full size in case I wasn't happy, but I got hooked. 2 months into smoking and I found the Z-Grills 11002B at Sam's Club for $500 and bought it. Now I am a smokin fool. Show that Pit Boss a little love.. it deserves it.
I have 2 of these. They are setup on a 2'x4' table on my porch. The first I got rolled back at WM for 197 and the second was 154. I use both of them weakly. Best grills I have ever owned.
Great video , I purchased same grill the lowes model 3 weeks ago , im not crazy about myn personally . But im still trying to get myn dialed in the temps dance on me like crazy . However i am Loving my akorn auto komado these days . Best 225 i spent !
I got the Lowe's model in September because I wanted a small grill to do small meals. I use the gravity fed for large cooks. Main difference between the Wal-Mart model and Lowes is the size of the hopper. Lowes is 5 lb. Lowes also has a handle in the side to open the seat panel. Other than those two things both models are identical. I've used it multiple times and am happy with it.
Hi Tom, appreciate your review of this portable smoker. Curious which portable smoker/table top which has both PID and the ability to sear ? Thanks for your insights.
Thanks for Watching! With a cast iron plate like I’ve shown on this one it can cast iron sear. If your talking about flame searing they all do but only the diameter of the burn pot. 4”
One of my local walmarts that still has a bunch of grills on clearance (Where I got my Masterbuilt 800 for 250) , has these at 137 so look around and you can maybe find some deals!
I used the Pitboss portable grill just 3 times since I purchased it. After the 3rd time, I noticed all the paint on the inside of the grill had begun to shrivel and come away from the unit itself. The operating temperature was never more than 225 degrees at all times and there was never a fire in the hopper, burn pot, auger, or anywhere else. What does this tell us? The paint used by the manufacture was not designed to withstand the smoker heat. This unit is made in China. When I called Pitboss directly, they told me there was nothing they could do for me because paint is not covered by their warranty. Their answer to this issue.....get ready.....I should scrape away all the pealing/shriveling paint including the auger cage and either respray with high temperature paint or just leave it as is! So, because their manufacture used the wrong paint/ materials, I am supposed to correct this, and it is not a Pittboss issue!? I spoke with a few of the Pittboss employees and they all told me the same thing.....Its my responsibility to fix this! Unbelieveable! I will never buy anything from Pittboss ever again, and would like to make everyone aware reading this, that Pitboss doesn't stand behind their product! This is a lame company with poor customer service!
Tom you mention a burn in….what does that mean. From the video it looks like you did it without cooking anything first. Also when you did , did you load the hopper with pellets or you put them in there youself. Thank in advance
Thanks for watching Eric! Every pellet grill manufacturer is different for the burn in. But generally 350 for at least 30 minutes to burn out any manufacturer oil
Hey Tom, you are mentioning most of your videos that you don’t like the open flame style pellets but can you make a video that an alternative way to get a nice crust without direct fire cook. Thank you.
Im needing to know the actual outside dimensions of this. Im a truckdriver and am looking to buy one to replace a grill i keep in the sidebox umder my bunk in on the sleeper. It has to fit through the door on the side of the sleeper. Is there any way you can tellme what they are? Thanls.
Have had two of these, first one 2022 Walmart $177 with a coupon, first one sent came damaged, took it back and they sent me a new one, came with the cover and probe. Worked very well using their brand of pellets, sold it to a friend for $150 and ordered one in may 1 2024 from Camping World for $200, has been updated both have the 7lb hopper. I got one day shipping for free. It’s now got a different handle, and I have not unboxed it yet, hoping it has the probe and cover? We will see. I use foil to keep it clean when possible.
If you purchase any pellet smoker, I advise you to never store pellets in the hopper. Moisture eventually causes the pellets to break down. This can cause tge feed auger to seize up. The motor drive can break if the auger cannot turn. It is very difficult to unjam these. The pellets are compressed sawdust, extruded at a high temp to make them hold together. I highly recommend that you watch pellet comparison videos! Do not let anyone tell you there is no difference in pellets! Some manufacturers use cheap wood and add oils to imitate actual woods. They likely don't contain much, if any, Hickory, Apple, Cherry, Mesquite, etc. Do your research. Get the real wood if you want that flavor and not some imitation oil made from who knows what.
@@chrishoyt741 It happened to me. Make sure you register with Pit Boss for the warranty! 5 years!!! I hadn't because mine was a gift. They had it registered and sent me a new Hot Rod (Igniter). Great customer service. Another tidbit:I heard that Pit Boss makes al.os all of these pellet smokers. My buddy has a Trapper Sportsman and when he called for support it went through Pit Boss. That was interesting 🤔 Lastly make sure pellets you buy are the real wood that is labeled and not swamp rot with flavor oils added (Traeger got sued over falsely saying they did not use oils in their pellets) I use Bear Mountain or Lumberjack personally...
@@manomoa Mine was in garage but in Northern Minnesota, we have very damp Fall weather and I think it was April to early May by the time we got smoker out again. The way pellets are made makes them fall apart with the slightest moisture. Just a word to the wise. It is best to store them empty. It's up to you though. The hopper has no clean out chute like larger ones. Happy Smokin' to All!!!
Gee, where have I seen this before. Other than a couple of companies, most of these portable seem to be from the same mold with various different features. I'm glad to see the temperature control is in the neighborhood on this one. You've been having some bad luck with that lately. I'm amazed at how the temperature varies so much within a small area like that, but the pucks don't lie.
If you need to know, the auger is driven by a motor and the fan is as well. You hear a bit of a jet engine rumble because the blower that keeps air moving through the pellets keeps tge flames going and moves ash out of the burn pot.
@@TomHorsmanAmateurBBQ no problem. I just recently subbed to your channel because I was looking at buying that Expert grill brand Pellet grill that walmart sells, and ran across your video. I guess they aren’t selling that anymore though because it’s not in their current line up.
Hey there bud. FedEx delivered mine today. Everything went together as expected. No frozen screws. Burn in is all done. I have one question for you. Have you found foil liners fot the grease cup/tray?
I don’t have this model specifically but I tend to make my own liners using aluminum foil. Wrap two layers and toss into the trash in after each cook. Happy smoking🎉! -Dave
Thanks for Watching! Good observation… it all boils down to good smoke vs bad…more visible smoke is usually sooty, not giving you the smoke taste that a clean, not so visible will. A little bit of white visible isn’t bad, just don’t want allot of it. Thanks again for Watching
Talking with a professional from a nationally recognized pit. He said that non PID will more mimic the flavor of offset stick smokers because of the varying temp and how that temp affects how the wood burns and what esters are released. Is he right or wrong I don’t know but I really liked your review.
Thanks for Watching! Offset owners are looking for that clean burning fire that’s why they wait until they have a clean burning fire and only use one split at a time to maintain that fire. I’ve never really compared a pellet grill to an offset, not even in the same ballpark. I have compared the Gravity style smokers to offsets
Tom, I've been using this pellet grill for a couple years. Been very happy with it. I was surprised that your temps were rocky. Mine seem very steady once it settles in.
I have two Pit boss grills ,one is actually a vertical pellet smoker and the other is a 1000 sq inch grill and the controllers are terrible I have replaced the grill controller once and the vertical twice and to be honest I had a Green Mountain grill which I sold before I bought the two Pit Boss grilles and I wish I would have kept the Green mountain and that grease run off on the grill lets to much heat through and makes it hard to control and tends to run extremely hot even tho the controller shows it's running the right temp so I went on Amazon and bought a heat defuser that sets over the fire box like most pellet grills have and now i can get it to cook at the temp I set it on within ted degrees above or below the set temp.
Between $200 to $300 yo get what you paid for. I not saying get expensive one no even expensive are bad as not expensive ones. If you really want try a pellet one then this might be a option for you 13 by 14 is 182 Sq Inches which you can do small items or small amount of food. If you do have a bigger or then this is a option again for you for one pizza or two quick items instead of waste space.
Thanks for watching “proportional interval derivative”. Means that the controller takes input from the temp probe inside the grill to adjust blower and auger speed for temp control
I purchased this unit a few months ago and used it about five times cleaning it out after each use. I just used it to cook a pork butt and after about eight hour it over heated and damaged itself. Pit Boss will not stand behind their product to replace it. The customer service agent refused to transfer me to a supervisor. This is a terrible company with terrible customer service. This is not a safe grill.