I think the most frustrating thing is accidentally leaving the smoker uncovered and having the rain swell all the pellets in the hopper and turn the pellets in the auger into concrete. Keep your smoker DRY ! 😅
Agree. Learned the hard way. Stripped the auger motor. Amazon had a replacement for under $30. Keep your smoker dry and it will last a long time. Another thing to consider is to place disposable aluminum trays under the grate foe easy clean up.
I live in south central Kentucky and I have series five Pit Boss, always covered, and found that leaving pellets in the hopper for any length of time just humidity will ruin your pellets and make you remove your auger to fix the clog. If you don’t plan on using your pellet smoker for any length of time, empty the hopper and purge the auger. Better to be safe than sorry! I learned from experience!
Owned my pellet smoker for a year now. Never really knew what the stack cap did. Figured it released heat. So when I cranked it up past 300 I would open it up. Now I know I was on the right track.
Thanks for the no nonsense, straight to the point info given in a calm method. Easy to watch, easy to listen to! Greetings from the other side of the world (Holland)!
I'm new to the pellet people and haven't heard about any of the maintenance stuff you just informed me about. Now I know! Thank you, my wife would be pissed if I blow something up again!! ;)
Just watched this video today even though it's over a year old. Great tips. One thing that wasn't mentioned. It's a great idea to keep your internal temperature probe clean. Not the probe you plug in to test food temps but the probe that sits inside your cooking chamber that sends the temperature to your PID controller. Wipe/Clean it off after each cook so you don't get a build up on it. A carbon/smoke buildup can/will negatively effect your PID controller's ability to regulate the cooking temperature inside the cook chamber accurately.
@@GrillSergeant I've just subscribed to the channel and will be checking out your other videos! Keep up the great work brother. I got a recteq rt700 a few months back and LOVE it. Very interested in any pellet reviews that you may have or will be doing in the future. Would love to see what pellets actually taste more like a stick burner.
I just invested in the Pit Boss 5 Series last night and watched this video and I wanted to say thank you so much for this valuable information! This is beyond what experience alone would have taught me. Thank you for making this video from your new friend in Texas! Liked and subscribed. -Paul
This can be useful to newer people in the pellet world. After owning a pellet grill for 7 years, I would like to add that the cap (cover) over the smoke stack should not be moved depending on how you are cooking. It should be set as high as possible as its only purpose is to keep the rain out. You set it too low, you risk choking out your fire. If you take it off completely, your cook is identical to if you have it on.
Great info... one thing to add about safety, is to leave the door open during the start of each cook. This lets the cool smoke escape while the fire box is getting hot. Once the flame has been established ( usually 2-3 minutes ) close the door and let the cooking begin. Just as you said that trapped cool smoke is unburned fuel and can ignite. Simple precautions and you’ll never have an issue.
That is the reason why on that Pit Boss vertical smoker, the manual says open the door when starting your smoker. To keep those gasses from being trapped and blow up.
@@GrillSergeant well, I'm not doing anything super inspiring, but my thought was since I've literally never smoked before I would just go extremely basic on my first try using very few spices just to see what the meat tastes like on it's own after a smoke. So I've got St Louis ribs and beef back ribs on at the same time with just a simple salt and pepper seasoning, which was applied to then yesterday. I'm not going to add any sauce at any point so that when finished I can taste what flavors are created just from the cook alone. Then next round I will follow more of a true recipe where additional flavored are applied. It's kind of boring I guess, but I also think starting with an understanding of the basics in any method of cooking usually pays off so here we are. In my mind it's akin to why you should learn how to make a simple marinara sauce before you take on some of the more complicated Italian sauces. By the way, I spent many hours over many weeks reading reviews and watching videos on what to get, and your videos on the Brunswick platinum helped me decide on that. Also learned from the videos and the Facebook group, which I joined that I had a far greater chance at getting an undamaged unit if I picked it up myself at a Walmart, so I even up driving a pretty far distance to a store that had stock, and sure enough it came out of the box in perfect shape
I recently purchased a PitBoss Pro vertical smoker. I've used it probably 6 or 7 times. I miss the bark I used to get from my wood chip electric smoker and my old charcoal fired smoker. Are there any tips or tricks to achieve that with the pellet smoker, or is it just something this particular smoker is not able to achieve? Thanks for any advice!
@@matsou29 Check out my latest Brisket video and see if you like that bark. If you are spritzing you want to make sure the bark is set before you spritz.
Hey before you do do a little home work theres so.e fellas out there in Missouri building some great smokers they are smoking brothers I've owned one for 8 or 9 years now no issues keeps steady temp even in freezing temps of KY and the hot temps of FL Little pricey but I've had mine for coming up on 9 or 10 years
Great tips. Just bought the pit boss 4 series. Started the burn off process. Only concern as I sit here watching it. Is there was a 40-60 degree difference between the MP temp and the digital ACT temp. After almost an hour I still have 30 degree difference.
I would also strongly recommend learning the hot start procedure for your smoker (if it has one). This will eliminate having to cleanout the and spray down the burn pot.
We just got the Pit Boss Platinum. We followed your instructions for burn off. I will be watching all your videos. They are so helpful.Thank you for sharing them, And thank all your watchers for there info also. Big Help on the do's and don'ts.
Great video on safety and General usage advice! Growing up with a wood stove I've just viewed that smokestack setting more as a dampener but not once have I consider the hopper to be a danger. Thanks for posting this video!
Going to buy my very first smoker. It is a z grill barrel smoker. I'm buying it used for a great price. He wants a bigger model...its just my wife and myself. Looking forward to great tips from your channel!
I’ll add my 2cents. If you were to lose power. You can start it again and then go into shut down mode or fan mode. This will burn off remaining pellets and you can then start over
I had a problem with my Louisiana Grill vertical pellet smoker to where the pellets were getting into the fan area from the burn box, because the holes were cut too big on the manufacturing. I went to Home Depot and bought some tight screen mesh, cut out the auger hole to size and placed the screen around the burn box while it was empty, only to find it worked perfectly there after! Hope this helps other people! Of course you will need to clean out the fan area for the fan to work again, but that's life!
I just bought the pit boss Brunswick after watching a few of your videos. I wanted to thank you, as I've found your videos to be extremely helpful since I am totally new to this. You get right to the point and are very thorough when explaining things. Awesome content! Keep up the great job! Subbed and once again, thank you so much!
I’m coming from an Akorn Kamado grill and just got our first pellet smoker, a pit boss Laredo, 1000 from Walmart special at half price! Your channel is great. I’m subscribing right now. One thing, though, your explanation of the smoke stack cal being up or down was a bit more complicated than it should be. It’s just like our Kamado grills. The more airflow, the hotter the grill will get. By opening up the smoke cap, you’re allowing more airflow to come through , and be drawn through the burn chamber, consuming more pellets, which means higher temperatures.
used a barrel smoker for a while now. usually i do pretty descent with it. but im ready to set it and forget it. just purchased the pit boss pro series 850 .. cant wait for consistency and not having to baby a fire for the temp. just doin my due diligence on making it an easy switch over ... never had the time to do briskets either .. way cheaper to mess up a butt (no pun intended) great vid!
Awesome! Congrats on the new Pit Boss. I have an updated video you might find very helpful. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1USRYb6emn4.html&t
I'm looking at the Pitt Boss smoker and propane grill combo... I like devices that can be use for more than one thing, and the size isn't a limit, I won't be cooking for large groups. Thanks for the content, I've picked up a few things I'll definitely put into practice!
I was drooling over this at Lowes this weekend. After watching this I think I will just stick with my tried-and -true Bradley. Yes, the pucks are getting more expensive but it isn't nearly as finicky as pellets.
Good info - I didn't know you could adjust the smoke stack - and yes I didn't read the freaking manual. Also cleaning off the temp sensor with Easy Off will prevent some frustration.
I have had my Pitboss Pellet Grill/Smoker for the Entire summer and just smoked the Turkey for Thanksgiving and browsed across this video WOW GREAT information I have never had the power go out while smoking/grilling YET but there is always a 1st time for everything and now I am prepared I have had the anti-gravity feeding system cause running out of pellets even though there were plenty of pellets in the hopper (made some little boat oars to fit in the grated safety guard and now I just check to ensure the pellets are feeding and not just forming a funnel. I have been lucky (I GUESS) no error codes yet nor any explosions either and the vent well lets just say I used the "lets see if this is better" method as I never understood the vent stack ... needless to say I learned A LOT from this video so THANKS from a lucky guy that is known best as the 2 to 3 grill/smoking sessions per week. I did know about cleaning the grill from the grates to the burn pot I try to do this after every session but always after the 3rd session. Grilling/Smoking practically non stop I was only taking over night brakes during vacation and the 4th of July... BOTTOM LINE = GREAT INFORMATIVE VIDEO ... I hope every pellet grill or smoker owner sees this sooner than later ... sharing a link on fb.
Thanks for tips. A thought. Before vacuuming the fire pot after a power outage check if there's even any pellets in there. You're saying it may be full but there may be hardly any.
I have a really nice charcoal smoker, holds heat very well. Was thinking about purchasing a pellet grill but after watching several videos, I’m convinced my charcoal smoker is the best choice. No moving parts so virtually no maintenance ( explosions) and very easy to clean. If smoking for 4-8 hours I just open the door in the front and add a few pieces of charcoal or more wood chips for more smoke. Steaks Burgers and Fajitas are fantastic over the super hot direct heat. Nice that low and slow smoking and direct heat grilling both turn out fantastic results. Am I wrong that a nice smoker is more versatile and less maintenance than an expensive Pellet grill? Also if the power goes out, no generator required to finish the Ribs .
Hi from New Zealand - I just unpacked my new GMG Daniel Boone Pellet Smoker. Looking forward to burning it in and then beginning to smoke to my heartys content (and stomach lol). Thanks for the beginners tips.
I have a barrel-style pellet smoker. I had the power trip once and I didn't think to clean out the firebox. When I turned it back on I noticed a TON more smoke so I opened the lid and left it open for a little while until it seemed like the fire/smoke was back under control. But it was weird. I didn't realize that the burn pot was probably overloaded.
Yeah, I bought my first pellet smoker (the pit boss in this video actually) and I don't really like it. it's practical but it doesn't provide any smoke flavor. The tubes for extra pelles are a pain in the ass to keep going too. Can't wait to go back to wood and charcoal
Different tools for different situations... I’m not driving a corvette on the rubicon trail but I’m not taking the Jeep to the drag strip either. Pellet smokers have a place and I enjoy mine, but it doesn’t replace a good stickburner. But there are times where I get to smoke on the pellet smoker/grill where it would have never been feasible to smoke with a stickburner. I like options...
I just purchased a combination pellet smoker and grill. I love to do this stuff and I used to do it all the time but I didn't use pellets. I have smoked cream and made ice cream out of it and it's divine! :-)
I had that same exact PitBoss..... I was so excited to plop down nearly $400 and set it and forget it! First up brisket. Jerky on the bottom and dang near raw on the top. Water pan full, drained of grease, which was substantial after a few hours and refilled with fresh water. Next up, pork butt. Same thing. Country style ribs, regular ribs, chicken, a turkey breast roast. All the same. I was so thankful when I unloaded that POS with a new 40lb bag of PitBoss Competion pellets for $100 to my neighbor. We moved the next month.
Thankfully I had enough sense to avoid those things. The only error code I've seen on mine is an empty hopper because... well, sometimes I go to "burn off" to make cleanup easier, then eat too much and forget, lol.
Awesome! Here is something easy to try out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PK7nom-ad14.html This will help you when you want to try out smoking a full brisket.
I appreciated your video. Just bought my first smoker, a Traeger . I'm pretty sure I would have made one or more of the mistakes you listed if I didn't watch your video. Thank you.
Camp Chef solved the issue with a dirty fire box and power trips in one patent. The bottom of the fire box slides out by pulling a lever. This makes for easy cleanup as the spent ashes fall into a metal cup below. In the event of a power trip, you can do the same thing and dump the existing pellets to prevent an explosion.
Great info that I never would have thought of. I have been smoking with an offset smoker for many years but thinking of getting one of these as an easy option, particularly because the wind where I live (NW islands of Scotland) is frequently out of control which often makes controlling temps in the offset smoker difficult and limits the days I can do it. Plus, in my old age, I have to admit the idea of setting and forgetting for a long smoke sounds kind of appealing. Cheating a bit but appealing. My only concern is it won’t provide as good of a smoke flavor.
Ive always had a problem getting a good crust on ribs or anything else. Turns out my water pan was the problem. Living in the south with all this humidity requires less or no water. That fixxed my crust issues.
Just got the Platinum Pit Boss and your videos are very helpful. BTW we got this at Walmart for 250, they’re discounting all the big garden area items for Christmas
Power Trips....I have a Pit Boss/Barrel Smoker on a GFCI breaker, I've had it for over two years now, "Power trips" were an issue at first until I looked into it, seems when the burn pot has a lot of ash, which collects moisture, thus becomes conductive, it trips the GFCI, so I had a duh-huh moment, I generally clean mine everytime I cook and haven't had an issue since.
Hey Andrew! Great video! You know my story on my Pitt Loss. I thought I was done with PK’s but my GMG is rocking and I do follow all the same steps. I even clean my grills after every cook as well as the inside. 😎
30 seconds in... man, you're gonna have to earn my like. 5 mins in. Take my like, subscribe and have a comment to boot for the algo! Great video thanks for the great info! I'm doing a lot of research on a smoker and this is brilliant.
Awesome Nate! Thank you! I just dropped a vertical smoker vs horizontal smoker comparison video, might want to check that out if you are still deciding on what pellet smoker to get. 🍻
@@GrillSergeant Checking it out now. Also still trying to understand if I want to get a pellet smoker vs a charcoal one... SO MANY OPTIONS! I already have a great gas bbq~! We had some smoked ham from the butchers here and it was fantastic. I want to get into the smoking meats game and am now researching!
You don't look like the kind of guy who would be making this type of video. You give off a Green Day, Soundgarden, Blink 182, Linkin Park, Puddle of Mudd fan vibe who would be making videos documenting the back stories and the rise to fame of late 90s/2000's rock and alternative bands. Damn I know profiling is a terrible thing to do but do you ever do something you shouldn't do? Well it happened to me. Lol. That being said... thanks for the tips. Just smoked my first Boston Butts for 9 hours and was looking for shut down instructions for my vertical Pit Boss smoker... because fan was still blowing after I powered it off via the button. I just shut the door and figure the fan will shut off after it does its thing. 🤷♀️
Not gonna lie. This just might be the greatest comment I’ve ever read. 😂 And don’t worry I get that question “why does my smoker not turn off” all the time. In fact I dropped a video talking about that 2 days ago. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pVNkhE5EL_A.html See you around Lulabell!
The music on this though 😂😂😂😂. Bro, I'm out here trying to learn and I keep getting transported to some Honky Tonk Elevator! It really needs to chill 😂 Great info though!
I like how you speculate on the real humanistic problems in juxta-position to the Pellet Smoker involved, as effortless as the contents may seem on a superficial or theanthropic level. Nice!
My takeaway from all this is this. I had no idea that if you turn it off or in plug it, the smoker starts priming itself! I had no idea. I usually put it on smoke and for the first 25 minutes I’m trying to figure out why I have 300+ temps when I’m trying to do a low and slow
