All good advice but I'm really glad I got a small tabletop Pit Boss even though I'd have a hard time entertaining. It preheats in 4-5 minutes and absolutely sips pellets. Makes me use it even more because it fits my lifestyle so well. If I end up entertaining more, I'll just buy a second bigger one because they've gotten so cheap lol.
My man brought a pellet grill home and I had never used one. Oh my goodness! I will never cook on a stove again! This is the most bestest thing that has ever come in to this woman's cooking life lol
Yep, my first smoker was an 18" as well, straight away made 2 racks of ribs and realised i needed bigger as i couldn't fit any more ribs in at the same time
I have a really nice charcoal smoker, holds heat really well. I can walk away for several hours with minimal temperature drop. After watching this video, I believe a really nice smoker is better than a pellet grill with better smoke and less maintenance. I would imagine Steaks burgers and fajitas would be better on a charcoal grill with the high direct heat than a pellet grill. Just personal opinion.
One tip I would give is not to dump the whole bag in the hopper. The bottom of the bag contains allot of fine pellet dust. This can build up + absorb moisture and clog up the auger.
Ok. I just bought a Traeger and am a grill novice. Looking for a new hobby. This video was so helpful and hilarious (love the drink breaks lol). New subscriber!
1st time watching a video of yours! I've had my 1150 Pro Series for about 6 months now and some of what you explained has made me notice a few things that I need to be doing better to produce a better outcome with the food I smoke. Thanks for the advice my man!!
Ive had flame out because I didnt clean the ash pot, and I had a flare up because I didnt clean the dripping tracks. So all my issues were my own fault....
I don't know the amount, your burn off is more about time. I don't recall how long you need to run your pit to do a significant burn off for the should be in the owner's manual. If I had to guess it's going to be like an hour at super high temperatures. 1 hour shouldn't be too many pellets but you could always over fill and remove the pellets that are left over later, at least you can easily remove pallets from the 1100 Pro that I have not sure which model you picked up. I know it's not an exact answer but hopefully it helps. The owner manual should have what you're looking for..
Finally, someone who knows how to get someone to subscribe to their channel. I hate being asked to subscribe before I know if I like the video. Great video. Subscribed liked, alerted
I got the Pit boss sportsman for Christmas, just using the smoker side today for some pulled pork!!! So excited. It’s been rad switching from a Weber 24” charcoal bbq over to the grill side of this bad boy, now it’s time for smoke on!
@@1526BBQ - Well, we’ve used it twice to good effect so far. We love applewood pellets! My mother-in-law doesn’t like gas grills, so this was a good compromise. Do you happen to have any advice about how to efficiently clean a pellet grill? It’s a big one and I want to keep it clean without having to take forever. I’ve subscribed, so keep up the great work!
Saturday at noon Eastern time I am dropping a video on how I keep mine clean - maybe you could use some of those techniques on that Weber! Thanks for the sub!!
I have a Cabela's 36" which is made by the same company that makes Pit Boss. I Believe it is Dansons Inc. I totally neglect it, and it is awesome. It has a window, a pellet change out port. and a vacuum port to remove the ash from the fire box. Yes, you still need to remove everything now and then to clean the accumulation on the bottom of the unit. I went with this because it was less than the "T" brand, and it has 36" of cooking surface, and all the above mentioned upgrades. I must let you know that the viewing window is great, but you will need SOS pads, and a good degreaser to keep it clean. Thanks for the video!!! Keep them coming!
I have about the same amount of cooking space yet I can shelf up about 4 or 5 feet. In 1 inch increments. Is that big? Most of the tips are common which most people will do the first few times then they will not do it till a problem happens and they clean it and its solves it and back to taking care of it for a few smoke then back to not worrying about it again.
i'm amazed at how far babacueing has moved forward since i was a boy and that was 45 years ago. i had a simple charcoal barbacue and it made awsome food.
DONT LET YOUR PELLETS SWELL IN THE AUGUR. I have one to add which is a mistake I made which is to not let your pellets get wet and to clean out your hopper and augur after smoking. Also you should probably cover your grill or put it in the garage. Also use good pellets and store them in a sealed dry container.
If you got a cover your not gonna have issues with your pellets getting wet. I had a full hopper and it was pouring rain for a day or two and it was still go to go when it cleared up. And my smoker and grill set out in the open.
I picked up a Pit Boss 820 at Lowe's last year and I absolutely love it. I had never smoked anything in my life, but during my time stuck at home due to the pandemic I wanted to find something fun to do and that was BBQ. The hardest part for me to get over was the temperature swings. I freaked when I saw the temp go low then shoot up high then go back low again. It took me 3-4 cooks before I forced myself to trust the process and let the smoker do its thing. Now I'm doing smoked tri-tip and ribs. I'm not confident enough to do brisket yet, but I'll get there.
My buddy thinks my cheap upright propane smoker has better flavor overall than his traeger. It takes Little chunks of wood versus pellets. I just ordered a pellet burner and I'm excited for more ease of smoking
Your right about the lighter smoke flavor. Why I am going to get a smoke tube. I want a bolder smoke flavor especially for brisket. You cannot achieve billowing smoke levels like you would get from an offset or vertical smoke with a pellet. Not possible!
What exactly is a PID controller? A PID is a computer temperature controller that basically imitates the common-sense things you do when you manually control temperature, in order to nail the ideal temperature. Let's say you're manually controlling a gas knob or something. First, you start out wanting to get to the ideal cooking temperature as quickly as possible, so you turn the knob to full up. Then, as you're getting near the target temperature, you back off on the knob early, so you don't overshoot the target temperature, instead of waiting until you hit the target temp, then backing off. Finally, you tweak the knob up and down from what you remember is the average setting, until you maintain that ideal temperature. That, in essence, is what a PID does.
I am purchasing a full size pellet smoker grill by ASMOKE at home Depot. I was told that traeger pellets are crap! Here's a tip. Smoke some cream and make ice cream with it. It is divine! :-)
That's not a bad idea, thanks! I haven't done it but I've thought about maybe smoking some vanilla beans and then making vanilla ice cream out of it. Have you tried that?
@@1526BBQ no I haven't tried that yet in fact I never thought of it. LOL I have just smoked plain cream heavy cream and made ice cream with it is exceptionally delicious and one batch I added Jack Daniels to just a little bit because a lot will prevent freezing but that was better than exceptionally good.:-)
You're dead on with most of what you said. I do have to disagree with the temp swings. The lack of big temp swings is why many get away from stick burners. That and to make it easier... I have both Traeger (8yrs) and a 2yr old Pitts and Spitts. My T has about a 10°+ swing where as my higher end P&S is maybe 1 or 2. IMO the lower end unit someone has, the greater the temp swing... again, just my opinion with a good 8yrs of pellet grills. I liked your video!
I am pretty sure that the higher end models will have a much better temp swing based on a few things. Type of cabinet, Insulated or not, Smoke damper, More than one probe. Temp probe placement is key. In my smoker my temp probe is half way up my vertical smoker and another temp gauge is at the top. It will show 180f mid range and 200 at the top. I have yet to go out and watch and see how much it swings in wind or other types of weather. Type of thermostat be it pid or what ever other types will also depend on how much swing there is. An automatic damper and variable speed blower can also adjust the temps. The type of igniter is also key. My smoker starts up very very fast, with in about 1 mins and its off to the races. Pellet smokers are pretty much the exact same thing a pellet stove is. There is almost nothing different other than the settings. Slower burn rates and controllers. Higher end smokers are likely to have far better equipment and ways to choke off the smoke and keep the heat in while adding and reducing the heat. Having a second blower would be something to help force the heat out and cool down the chamber when it gets too hot.
I agree with everything, except. Yes the auger is on a timer when on the smoke setting. Thus the reason for the "P" setting. Now on any other settings it waits for the inside temp to drop 5° below set temp. Then run until set temp is reached. And that's the reason for the wild temp swings. Now a PID will run the auger when set temp has dropped 1°. It runs for a bit, checks the temp. If not reached it runs a bit more. This is also the reason it takes most PID's longer to come up to set temp from cold. PID's are much more reliable as far as flame outs go. And for baking dishes. I have both and enjoy both. I've had flame outs a few times on the non PID. Was my fault everytime. Poor quality pellets don't do well on these at low smoking temps. My PID pit purrs like a kitten. Only time it flames out is when i tell it to.
good info so far I just bought a Louisiana Pellet 700 (LGH700SL). I was looking at the Traeger Junior 300 but thought it might be a little small for us. Also no front shelf and cover included like this one and would have cost more - you pay for the name. I'm a good grill master I own a Kamado Joe classic but it's a pain for the longer slow and low cooks. So I thought let's try a pellet.
I’ll add one. For anyone who lives in high humidity areas the pellets will absorb moisture. I live in south Florida and found this out the hard way. Pellets won’t ignite they’ll just burn and create a ton of smoke
Last week I posted a video on tasting different pellets turns out my Pit Boss pellets were my least favorite so I'm switching to Lumberjack pellets. I'm curious if my Lumberjack pellets will swell up with the humidity?? Guess time will tell. Thanks for adding to the conversation!
Thanks for tips! And yes! Temperature swings don't matter! Finally somebody that says it on video. Most people are obsessed with them and say they're the devil. Going to switch from a WSM, Weber Master touch and Smokey Joe to a pellet grill. Thinking about the GMG Daniel Boone. Cheers!
I’ve developed degenerative disc disease and lifting my 22.5” WSM cooking chamber is a no go. I’m considering the move to a pellet grill or even going back to an offset. GMG, Traegar and Pit Boss are on my list of consideration. Any advice would be greatly appreciate or even some feedback on your transition.
@@daltonbreaux I went for the GMG Daniël Boone. I love it. Getting the pizza over for it this spring. Check this video. Very informative guy, good solid reviews and exactly what you're looking for. After that video, check his pellet comparison. He went from the science behind offset and has now made a dive in pellet smokers. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CmCibXcfmqY.html
@Ivar Posthumus Thank you for the info. I’m one of those guys that does a ton of research before buying anything above a couple hundred dollars. I dread buyer’s remorse.
@@daltonbreaux I'm the kind a guy that does research on anything to get the best option/quality/value for money 😅🤣. Starting with the videos of the channel I gave you is a very, very! good start.
i bought my first 18in wsm in 1981. was big enough. 1 time i needed more room so i went and bought another 18 in. now i own 4 18wsm 4 22.5wsm a master built 560. 26 weber kettles 2 yoders, a bradley smoker and now i am getting a pit boss lol so if you run out of room folks just go buy another smoker
I have a Cuisinart pellet smoker and I've used it more in the couple months I've had it than I used my propane grill I had for 2 years I haven't seen much temp swing maybe 20 degrees I don't stir my pellets and I haven't had trouble yet
Thanks for watching and commenting Adrian. Maybe the walls of the hopper on the Cuisinart are steeper, which would decrease the potential of pellet voids forming???
@@1526BBQ My experience so far has been amazing. The set up of the grill was really easier than expected and took me about 40 min. That alone was a plus. So far I have smoked one brisket. Probably the beast I have ever tasted. I know it’s best I have ever made. I have even grilled burgers and steaks. Crank the heat up for those burgers and steaks to get the beautiful grill marks. So far mesquite and hickory are the two pellets I have tried. Hard to decuywixh one is better. Bottom line is it’s a great grill. Glad I got it and glad you shared your video and tips. Big help. Thanks again.
dry brining your meat over night will give you the deep smoke rings and flavor you are looking for. I buy my pellets from rural king and one of the bags I get is charred hickory. I always mix in a bag of those as a blend. trust me you get the same smoke quality if not better
Best advice he gave you was SPACE, many for these smokers tell you they deliver 1200+ sq inch's of cooking space, BUT that's with the "upper/middle" racks in. The upper/middle racks are basically useless for anything other than warming/holding food while you can only really smoking/cook food on the bottom rack, they will often account for wasted 1/3+ of your useable REAL cooking space. Choose carefully!.
Great video. I'm just now doing the burn off on my pellet grill. Bought an Austin xl yesterday. Go big or go home ha. But definitely some good tips, thanks
I just purchased the Pit Boss 600 PS1 and my first cook was a 20 lb turkey. I would have liked a little more smoke flavor so the tube is a must but can you explain the cooling chamber as in location or where to properly place the tube please?
I think he meant cooking chamber.... With that, I would also ask - what pellet brand did you use? I found that certain brands gave more smoke flavor then others. Here the video on it ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qWizuI_DLM8.html
@@1526BBQ Unfortunately I did not know about pellet differences at the time of purchase. The guy at Lowes just handed me a bag of competition blend. I was smart enough to empty the bag into an airtight container for moisture prevention. Its a new process for me and a learning curve so I will checkout the video link provided and see if I can learn something. Thanks for the feedback and I will certainly stay tuned into your channel. Happy Holidays.
Does the aluminum foil near The Flame Broiler evaporate? I'm concerned that it will, and I think that off gas has some pretty toxic stuff. That's why I've never done it. What's your experience with it?
@@1526BBQ I haven't had any issues with it burning up , having said that I've only had pitboss a few months, also have not used over 450 f You diffently want the sear plate closed 🍻🍻
Bought a Pitt Boss 1150PS2 today . After putting it together and following the instructions to a T to do a burn off. the instructions said to "leave the lid closed".which I did. Fortunately it didn't blow up.
Great tips Tony! I think you covered some good points about a pellet smoker. And true, you won't get the same smoke flavor as you would from a WSM or offset smoker but with those you can also get too much smoke as well. To me, the pellet smokers add a good amount of smoke, without over smoking your food. Some people really like the smoke flavor and get a pellet smoker and are disappointed. How do I know if there was too much smoke? If hours later I burp and burp up smoke flavor, that's too much smoke for me. Yes it tasted great going down but the after smoke..... I like both if smoked right, but you can't beat the convenience of a pellet grill. Great review and keep them coming! Have a Great Day!!!
I ran a Weber Smokey Mountain for about 6 years, haven't touched it since I bought my pellet smoker. I think pellet smokers are easier, just my opinion. Thanks for adding yours, and for watching!
I would suggest also would be to “sift” your pellets. Just in case of foreign debris in bag of pellets. Also cleaning and vacuuming the grill out keeps ash from prior cooks blowing up and onto your meat.
Sifting is good because some pellets are stuck together and create pellets that are 2 or 3 times longer than normal and will cause a dam effect in the fire pot creating bursts of unwanted heat.
You mentioned about the size of your grill. You also forgot to mention how much space you have available to accomodate a grill. Some folks don't have a lot of room for a big grill.
I have a rt-700 from REC-TEC best pellet grill ever! My grill does not have temp swings,like you are taking about. My pellets do not hang up. Rec-tec is a much better pellet grill
I almost went with rec but went with a Treager iron wood love it works great no feed issues it temp swing. My first was pit boss telling there's a huge difference between the 2
THANK YOU!!! I’ve gotten a bunch of hate for drinking in this video. I like to drink with my buddies when we BBQ, and thought people would like to with me!
Good one dude.... I cooked on standard bbqs my whole life but recently got a pellet unit. I went through the same learning curve and learned the same things. The only thing I would add is don’t be afraid to add you old skills. Like any good tool.... it should not just be used like the manufacturer suggests. I do set it and forget it for some things but I open it and fuck with things a lot for others and just deal with the temp swings like you used to. The good thing is that the recovery is much faster and more accurate.... you don’t get up to 500 before you get back to 350. Also agree on the flavor being different but really..... who needs to SEE the smoke on their chicken? A little less is fine. All good tips. Pellet bbqs are a total cheat but their pretty cool....
Great video all around! I am a Grill Master (Self Made :)) but went a period of time not grilling! I purchased the 1100 3 weeks ago and have done about 9 cooks. I’m certainly getting acclimated to the pellet grilling phenomenon and want to enjoy each session! I cooked ribs & pork chops and they were “alright”. I know I can do much better! These tips are critical so thank you 🙏🏽 I’ve subscribed so I’ll be getting some great info along my pellet journey! I’m going to make some modifications to the searing plate, front grill flap, cover and anything else to enhance the experience. Any suggestions would be welcomed! My fam loves that dad is grilling regularly so I have to keep them happy!!! #HappyGrilling
Welcome to the club brother, and thanks for the love. The video I have on the ash pot mod is the best mod Ive made. I ended up removing the hinges from the back and used the same "tab" I put in the front in place of the hinges. A clean ash pot is critical for success. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZRXvwVVBtcU.html
Good video brotha. I liked the description of the "clean smoke" that a pellet grill offers. I had been wondering how these compare to that wood fired taste.
This is probably a stupid question, but do you end the smoke as soon as your meat reaches temp? For example: I smoked a 3lb chuck roast the other day at 225 degrees, it reached 160 degrees at like 2 hours, but the directions I was following said to smoke for 6 hours, so I did 6 hours.. and then once that time was up, I raised the grille to 275 degrees and I smoked it with it wrapped in tin foil til the meat reached 200 degrees. When I pulled it out, I let it rest for an hour, and it was hard and dry.. it was not falling apart tender like I expected it to be.. did I cook it too long? Should I have wrapped it in tin foil and brought the meat to 200 as soon as it hit 160? Instead of smoking it for the entire 6 hours even though it reached 160 at 2 hours?
You got to cook to temp, not to time. Yes, you should have wrapped when you hit internal. For my typical chuck roast its about 2 hours at 225 - but again you got to check temp.
Only while on the Smoke setting. Then you can adjust you P setting. Think P = pause, the higher your P value the longer the pause of the auger. Make sense?
#9 do not allow moisture in your grill as I went through (3) Pit Boss XL 1200 's after my pellet tubes kept getting seized up from expanding pellets. Hard as a rock and had to use a wench to pull it out, needless to say ruined the whole mechanism. These pellets are wax coated like a pill as any moisture with make dust.
Here's an early data point on pellet compatibility. I had a traeger then purchased a pit boss. I used the traeger pellets in the pit boss. The heat control was great, smoke was good, no feed issues. I followed up with put boss pellets. There was no difference though it seemed like the out boss pellets may have reached cooking temp set points quicker. But then again it was cold so maybe it was just a cold air issue.
@@1526BBQ it was not scientific but to me the smoke flavor was stronger with pit boss pellets. The meat was different between cooks though. One was beef and the other was pork. Cook time was much shorter on the beef which used pit boss but picked up more flavor. If I ran a real experiment I'd keep as many variables as I could out if it.
Most pellets, including Traeger, are mild woods (west coast producers commonly use Ash as a base wood. East coast use oak) with pecan, hickory, apple..... flavorings added. I look for pellets that are made from the actual wood. They are more difficult to find, but they are out there. Lately, I have bought pellets from Amazon. I have never done a taste test between pellets that are flavored and those that are made from the actual wood, so I can’t say one is better than the other. It is possible that the flavored woods have a stronger flavor because the flavoring has to overcome the natural flavor of the base wood.
@@oscarb9139 That is interesting about the base wood being a different species. I wonder if the base wood may be different between flavors within the same brand as well. I say this because burning mesquite in the traeger was a horrible experience. Temperature excursions were over 100 degrees from the set point. I compared that against the hickory type and saw much better heat control. Traeger has a reputation for poor heat control in the reviews I've read and my unit lived up to that reputation. The interesting observation was the difference in heat control with different flavors of pellets in the same cooker. Fwiw
@@tomolsen3420 I have two Traegers and have never had temperature problems. 95 percent of the time, it shows on temp, but occasionally floats away by maybe 20 degrees for a couple minutes, but then comes right back. Pellets shouldn’t really bother it much unless they are swollen or have some other issue that affects the shape and size of the pellets. I don’t filter mine (reference to filtering out broken and dusty pellets in another comment) and have not really had any issues. Here is a clip from another forum. www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/new-info-on-whats-in-traeger-pellets.116254/.
