Pellet Smoker - Biggest Beginners Mistake  

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Just ordered me bumps up front hoodie yeah

@@cypressblue8877 BUMPS 4 LIFE! Ha! Cheers!

Lol Andrew you crack me up. Watching you video now. @@GrillSergeant

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.

Thanks Doug for stopping by! Cheers!

I had a auger issue and had to start over. I’m no longer going to buy Pitt boss pellets and sift

No problem! Welcome 🙏

Thanks man! Cheers!

Yup, did it with my traeger. Set it on fire.

Good call

I don't vacuum out the ash until it's sat for several days - but I only smoke about once a month.

Ha! You are welcome cheers man! 🍻

Yep I had to disassemble mine to remove the auger shaft and it was full of swollen pellets

That happened to me how do I get it out

My problem now... this Has been my project this evening

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!

Same! 🍻

Ahhh!!! Thank you!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers 🍻

Ha! Thanks Tom! 🍻

Thanks Paul! Enjoy your new smoker! 🍻

How's it doing after a year interested in one of those too

Great video. Newbie here. Could someone explain the need or not need of water in tray?

No problem Jose! Thanks for stopping this channel...hope to see you around!

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

Ha! Once they get it going they are in for a treat!

I’ll do it in my next video...lol

Welcome! What smoker did you get?

@@GrillSergeant - Thanks! I got the Pit Boss Pro Series 850. About to do the pre-burn.

Sweet! I’m sure you will enjoy it!

Great tip! Thanks for sharing! 🍻

@@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.

My pit boss is not getting hot enough

@@reggiesmith37 if you're using just smoke it has one temp. If you're using it with the heat setting make sure you have a probe inside or the smoker won't get hot enough.

I use both the heat and smoke it was working fine until I changed out the control panel. It gets hot but hot enough to cook the meat all the way . Temp say 300 degrees but you can hold your hand on the glass?

@@reggiesmith37 sounds like a bad controller

Thanks for posting that. I have been thinking about getting a pellet grill/smoker, but after reading a bit more, seeing comments like yours, and videos like this one, I think I'll stick with my weber bullet for smoking and my propane grill for everything else.

What nonsense

Nonsense how?

Pretty much man. And I’m telling you, you can mix certain pellets together that mimic flavor profiles of a offset smoker. One day I’d love to do a video when it’s a blind taste test between a offset smoker and a pellet smoker to see if they can taste the difference. Thanks for stopping by! 🍻

Ha! Thanks brother

Overlanding, camping, grilling, and 90s trucks you have great taste and make good videos!

Very true!

Wow.... I'm a major slacker!!! 6yrs w/ my Treager, never heard of sifting, never cleaned the burn chamber, only cleaned the insides after the stuff that built up on the inside started self combusting when doing a high temp sear (that was fun!!). Never had any codes or problems other than the one time we let the hopper run empty (that was annoying!) But thanks for the tip on the smokestack regulator!

@@davidjones8942 That is what I was thinking too. Sifting is the thing of the past. Back in the day pellets for heat stoves were not like they are today. They are now inspected and if a bad batch comes thru they rotate it back to the pellet mill to be processed again. The way you can tell if your pellets are good, the shininess of the pellets which means that they were milled at a good high temperature enought to glaze over the sugars in the cellulose. If your pellets are very dull and tend to break apart with ease then they are bad either by getting water on them or just not processed correctly. My smoker which I just got done upgrading is a DIY pellet smoker with a trager pellet hopper and burn pot added to my insulated proofing box which I used to just run 3 electric burners one with pellets on it and then the other 2 for heat and some times a pan of water. With my new set up I can just run the pellet smoker and set temp or to smoke and if I need to add a pot of water I can add it on top of the hopper shield. I will smoke a dozen turkeys or chickens and what ever else in it before the year is over. I like to add water to the box add a nice wet smoke and the air moist. I have no stack on mine. I also cover them with a blanket in the colder months. I doubt that I will have to do that now. I am still debating on a stack or not. I just do not see the point when most if not all of my smokes will be done under 250 and finished in the oven.

Sweet! Thanks for stopping by!

Very true! Thanks for sharing man!

Thank you

Thank you Thomas! Cheers 🍻

Great idea...stand by!

I am new to this, how do I burn off the pellets?

I do not empty my hopper, actually...I've never even used that trap door before. I sift my pellets before they hit the hopper and I cover it when it's not in use and I've never had an issue with swollen pellets. Then again, I've only used Pit Boss pellets and I live in Los Angeles so we get very little rain and almost no humidity.

Living near the gulf coast, this is a necessity. Even if you remembered to cover the grill with the heavy canvas cover to keep the rain out, the moisture will still get in. Only way to prevent a moisture jam up is a trapdoor release followed by a complete burn out of what's still in the auger chute. My grill is still screwed right now 2 months after grilling steaks and a sudden rain storm popped while we were eating. That's all it took. This will be the 3rd time I've rebuilt my Pit Boss because of moisture jam up.

If you do get a smoker you will add ribs, pulled pork and brisket and more to that list of what you make. :)

Get yourself a pellet smoker or offset smoker. Think of it as an oven because temp control is easy.......but add the tender smoke taste to your labor. You won't regret it my friend.

@@joshuamunkeby5530 ok ty

I get Aaron Paul slightly more than Owen Wilson but no lie detected. 😂

Wooow.... wow...wooooooow

Awesome! Enjoy!

Couldn’t agree with you more!

You took my thunder. That was the only reason I wasted my time on this video. I wanted to bash

Or get an actual smoker and learn how to run it and not have to deal with not knowing how to run something that’s the adult equivalent of your daughter’s easy bake oven. The guy got what he got because of reasons. Just because he didn’t spend what you did on yours does not make him any less than you. But if you want to keep the logic that you all are using and look down your nose at him just because he doesn’t have a “Recteq”🙄 then maybe you should’ve gotten a cooker that you don’t have to plug in and need electricity to run and that would require that you actually learn something and have a skill set rather than just the ability to read a recipe card. 🤔

Or ill just use my stick burner oh its Myron Mixon. Excuse me for having a good job and not depending on the government 🙄

Well if you want to go that route I’m retired before 45 and busted my ass to do that and also not be a pretentious a-hole who is able to see people outside of what’s in their back account 🙄🙄🙄. But since you want to go “there” why not get a Jambo instead of a Mixon. Or let’s just stay on topic and get a Yoder instead of a Recteq? At least this video was put out by some trying to help others.

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...

Traeger> whatever you use.

Nice! What are you gonna be smoking?

@@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

Hopefully not the exploding part 😂

Ha! Glad you are OK Matt! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Thanks man for stopping by! 🍻

That sounds amazing!

Thanks man! And thanks for stopping by!

Awesome! Thanks Tim! 🍻