UPDATE!!!!!! The issue with smoke coming out of hopper was the Treager Cherry pellets I was using. The pellets were bad and auger was chewing them up into dust which let the auger tube catch fire inside. It was so bad fire was shooting out of the auger tube and no fire was in fire pot. Glad I always pay attention to my cooks or this coud have been disastrous. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BaI5dvoy_KU.html
Had this same issue on my initial burn. Just so happened I was using Traeger pellets also. Called PitBoss and they had 0 answers for me. Cleaned everything out when it cooled and I will be trying an initial burn tomorrow.
@@beardswagbbq I did a long smoke today with new pellets and the flame crawled up the auger. Pellets at the bottom of my hopper were burnt.. Calling PitBoss again and may have to look at a different brand for a mobile smoker.
@@beardswagbbq ended up buying a second PitBoss and ran it right next to my larger PitBoss pro. My PB table top took 10 minutes longer to heat to 400 degrees and after about 2 hours of running at 250 the PB table tops fire climbed the auger. I ran these 2 side by side with the same temps and lifted the lids at the same time. My bigger PB pro actually had the lid held open longer due to rotating meat. I will be returning the PB tabletop.
You gave a nice discussion on the leg instillation. Wish you'd have shown that. There are two versions of this. The Wally has a 7 pound hopper vs Lowes5 pound hopper. I do like the slide rod for the sear plate. You get a cover where the Wally you have to get after market. Choices.
Brother, I’m a charcoal guy and not a pellet guy, but the vibe you give and the honesty(as being a RU-vidr myself and knowing you need some time off sometimes) made me subscribe. Great video and I think I will actually consider this unit.
About the smoke in the pellet bin. If you let it go for 5-6 hours it affects the pellets in the hopper. It makes them tacky. When mine did it I shut it off and disassembled it down to the auger tube. What is happening is the pellets are igniting all the way into the tube about two inches or more especially when the fan come on. I squirt a small amount of water up the tube to extinguish the glowing pellets. I turned on the grill again and pressed the prime button until all the charred pellets were pushed out. I set the temp to 225 and it’s going fine so far. The first time it did it I let it go 6 hours and the remaining pellets got a smoky tar like coating on them. I think maybe bringing the temperature up slowly might stop it from smoking up the pellets.
Yes its a very bad design flaw I feel. I no longer own this smoker went with the Davey Crocket from @greenmountaingrills and its great. Did some modifications so it will fit in the Trek Cart 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Mhxf-YEa6hk.html
Well, when you pour the pellet in to the hopper you added saw dust with your pellets which will clog or sit under your auger and burn which will causes the smoke to.
If you read reviews on this pit boss there seems to be fire concerns where it gets out of control. So be careful with the smoke coming out of the hopper.
Little late to the show but I've had mine a couple weeks now and have had no problem at all. I will say leaving the hood open will make it want to back draft up the auger tube though. That and I back it down to the smoke setting after I get done cooking.
You’re going to suffer the same problem I had with my Asmoke 350 pellet grill, I kept my grill clean and just had a catastrophic hopper fire which destroyed my grill after a 1-1/2 hour cook of a London Broil. I was seeing the same smoke issue ( and you’re using a brand new grill), after pulling the meat off, I turned it to off where the fan was still running, opened the hopper to check and feel the pellets and move them around a bit to see if there was any burning but didn’t see any, so I went inside to eat, we were smelling smoke and came out and opened the lid to find the plastic latch was melted and gone and prayed it open to see the entire hopper burned up. This is ridiculous, it is such a bad design, the auger tube is too short and at the same level of the fire and there is nothing shielding the heat from going back into the auger, there should be a metal tent which allows the pellets to drop into the fire box but stop and shield the fire from heating and burning pellets in the auger or at least the auger should have been at a much higher level than the fire. This Asmoke grill is very similar to this Pitboss (I believe the same parent company Dawson) makes these. The end of the auger tube should look like this representation. ===>
What sucks about this design is that also there is no easy way to clean out the hopper like having a trap door you can open to clear the hopper, you have to use a shop vac and vacuum them out
i bring mine camping with me all the time. i camp off grid everywhere i go. i tried it a few times at home first to make sure before i got my hopes up but you can run this unit off a battery and a inverter. the most draw is on the start up to light the pellets. after that its a walk in the park for the inverter and battery. also the talk about the smoke riding up back in to the hopper is usualy caused by dust from the pellets. if sift them before putting them in . in the video you can see alot of dust from the bag when you filled the hopper. that should take care of that issue.
Just found your channel and subbed. I bought this smoker last weekend at Lowe’s. Very impressed so far. Last night I did a reverse sear ribeye ( used grill grates ) and that thing got up to 550. Steak was fantastic. I have had some smoke come up through hopper but only when it was on high for searing steak.
Welcome to the family ✌🏼. Founf out the Treager pellets I was using must have been bad, the auger chewed them up into powder and fire caught clear up the auger tube. Switched pellets and now all is well and working perfectly. Love this little 150
@@beardswagbbq I use lumberjack. I’ve cooked at all temps and only at high did I see smoke coming out of hopper. I’m pretty sure it was due to it being that hot and having a short auger. After it cooled down I dug through pellets and none were burned in hopper so no worries.
I also have had the back burn issue! The burn pot is shallow but not as shallow as the Traeger ranger. I may try hooking my spare grilla grills silverback controller to it to see what happens. Definitely a fan or controller issue.
Glad I cam across your channel. I seen a great deal on the Pit Boss smoker, $174 at Target and I promptly ordered. Then I watched your review, having read the issues you have encountered and other viewers of your channel encountered I promptly canceled the order. Thanks for saving me some aggravation.
That's why love to do this, look into the Green Mountain Grill Davey Crocket model. I absolutely love mine and I have a video on it as well. Welcome to the family ✌🏽
Did you find out why the smoke was coming back through the hopper? I’m having a similar issue. I have a Country Smoker but I believe it’s made by Pitboss. Looks just the same except mine is all black. Great review
Man that is such a great Idea now i have an opportunity to actually use it. Thank you for reminding me. I did not need to use it for the fact my Recteq is WiFi, but now that this pitboss has none of that technology it will definitely come in play
Did Pit Boss get back with you on the smoke in the hopper?? We are considering getting one like this to camp with and want to know it is safe! Thanks great video!!!
They told me it was the pellets, so I tried 4 different brands and they all did the same thing. I would really look into the Green Mountain Grills Davey Crockett. I purchased one for camping and it is much more dependable of a unit 😁
@@beardswagbbq I had smoke come from the hopper during the burn off and my first 5-hour cook. Solution both times when it happened,I switched it back to smoke for about 10 minutes maybe a little longer and it pushed all the pellets that were smoking out of the auger. Never happened again both times after doing that. Hope this helps anybody that's having the same issue.
I've got mine three weeks ago and am getting a lot of smoke out of the hopper and a lot of moisture in it also on every cook so far, I've called Pit Boss about it and they act like I'm the only one with this problem and don't have an answer ... I'm at wit's end with it and wanted to love it ... any suggestions ???
It's been 2 years since you did this review, and I am just getting into purchasing one of these portable pellet grills. What ever happened with the smoke getting back into the hopper? Were you able to find out why it happened? I saw one review where it shows the hopper catching on fire. How many other cooks have you done on this Pit Boss portable? What are your thoughts after these 2 years?
@@titaniumhen go check out Recteq and spend a little extra for some no worry problem free smoking. I have 3 of their smokers and love love love everything about them. Top notch support and quality.
@@beardswagbbq quality content brother. I have a Camp Chef Persuit I have been using for a couple of years. I purchased this unit because I work out of town and get tired of eating out and do a lot of camping also. The Pit Boss comes in today. My maiden voyage on the Pit Boss unit will be Rib Eye Cap steaks or Tomahawk reverse sear. I will definitely try the pork burnt ends. Glad I subbed. The only regret is I didn't come across your channel earlier. Kudos and keep Smokin Big. 👏
@@beardswagbbq I agree with you. I might try and find a buyer for mine. I prefer the cabinet over the grill type. The vertical seems, in my opinion, to give a better smoke flavor. I just got the Pit Boss Onyx, PBV4SX, from Wally World. Did a bacon wrapped stuffed pork tenderloin and it came out pretty good.
What pellets did you switch to? I used pit boss pellets and had smoke coming out the hopper twice. Seems like it’s happening as I’m cooling the unit down from 350 or higher…….now I just let it cool down very slowly and don’t overload the hopper. Wondering if it’s crushing the pellets like the treager pellets
I use Recteq hardwood pellets but very hard to get now that thay have went with promoting Kingsford. I am leaning towards Pit Boss smoker may be issue with the design or a controller issue. Please get hold of them so they know you have an issue like everyone else
Does your grill temperature fluctuate? I was smoking my Pulled pork at 250 and my temperature would jump up to 325. It would go up and down. Not normal
New sub thanks for the great review brother! I do my fair share of smoking on the road and have been thinking about this. Do you think I could do a 5-6# shoulder with it instead of cranking up my big smoker?
A little long I know but man are these fun to make. I love to share stuff like this and hopefully give the family some examples of use before they buy 🤗🤗
No it did this on 4 different brands of pellets, I would look at the Davey Crockett model from Green Mountain Grills, I bought one and love it. Video coming soon
I watch your RU-vid videos. They are very helpful with me just starting to smoke foods. It’s been a couple months since your videos on pit boss portable. Do you still like using it. Thanks
I love hearing that you enjoy my content. I actually gave my Pit Boss to my daughter and purchased the GMG Davey Crocket ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uq14T7WSNc4.html Here is the link if you want to watch it ✌🏼
Let me know after you reach out to the manufacturer they'll know for sure about the smoke problem. I'm curious if it's a defect or normal or what the fix is cuz this is one I'd buy for sure.
@@beardswagbbq mine doesn’t… especially on the surface below. Legs are plenty high. Anyways mine didn’t come w a probe and I thought they missed it. I called PitBoss and they told me one was being mailed to me. We’ll see if it comes!
Have you ever had problems with the pellet hopper smoking? I've run into this on numerous occasions with this particular model and never had it happen with my GMG Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone models.
@@beardswagbbq I didn't like the Davy Crockett. They are coming out with a newer version called "Trek". I'd wait and buy it. The legs are permanently affixed and they got rid of those swing arms that you carry it with. The thing is a beast to carry around. Mine caught fire frequently, never would connect to wifi, the meat probe never worked. I hated the thing. Love my larger version the Daniel Boone.
Well I got a really good deal on it so I bought it. Hopefully it will do its job and not have too many issues. I will buy a Trek and the cart as well when they are more available 🤗
I've had the same problem from day one, and Pit Boss acts like I'm the only one ... I'm ready to put it out on the side of the road for some scrapper to take
@@hazman440 Pit Boss did the same to me, like I was the 1st person to have this issue. There is a lot of people with this problem and I am shocked they are not more concerned about this 😱
I have a Masterbuilt portable propane smoker I got from Lowes for $89 minus 10% Military discount. I'm not really happy with it. Flame blows out too easily and not a good seal so uneven heat.
I used this Pitboss a couple of times and moved on to the Green Mountain Grill Davey Crockett model. The quality of the Pitbass was not the issue, I just had the pellets burning up in the auger tube both times and felt like it was a fire hazard.
Hello, just found this video when I was looking for a portable smoker for our travel trailer. I’m sorry if it’s already been asked , but what was causing smoke to roll out of your hopper?
I have to be honest and say it is because of the machine itself. I have tried numerous pellets and it happens every time it's used. I am trying a new smoker from Green Mountain Grills and it seems to be the one I am going with when taking the smoke show on the road. I have a video on it as well if you would like to watch it 😉 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uq14T7WSNc4.html
@@beardswagbbq I just watched your video on the green mountain smoker. tbh, it looks too big to be a portable imho. I really like the size of the pit boss because you can just put it inside one of the camper compartments, not liking the way the smoke rolls out of the hopper though, surprised pit boss let this go into production like that, seems like a fire hazard. Thanks again
@@beardswagbbq adding a bracket with a metal Chinese hat looking on the end which would prevent the excessive heat going back into the auger would fix this in my opinion
Lowes edition looks like it also comes with side handles. I ordered mine from Walmart and it doesn't have carry handles. I'm a little annoyed about that. Makes it awkward to carry.
@@beardswagbbq the Asmoke is the same poor design ( Danson makes these for all these companies to slap a label on) there should be a longer auger and it should be 3-4 inches above the fire box so pellets can drop down plus there needs to be a shield bracketed over the auger to block the direct heat hitting the pellets still left at the end of the auger which haven’t dropped
Yes I did and the pellets were burning up auger tube and about to catch the pellets in hopper on fire. This unit is no longer in use because I can't trust it from catching on fire 😳
@@beardswagbbq I was worried that's what was happening the same thing happened with my dad's Oklahoma Joe. I have a traeger and 2 pit boss grills. I want a tabletop one but think I'm going to go with the traeger one because I've heard of the pitboss tabletop ones doing that, and now you have confirmed that
Before you make a decision watch this video on my Green Mountain Grill that I found and that I love ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uq14T7WSNc4.html
No I had to order one. And after that I gave it to my daughter and purchased a GMG Davey Crocket and it's AWESOME 👌🏼. I have a video on it if your interested and here is the link ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uq14T7WSNc4.html
