1150 Pro

[Wild Bill]

So it’s already been mentioned about the temperature settings on the 1150 giving folks problems. So I just wanted to explain the issue I had on Thanksgiving day. First off I want to say the unit as a whole, it worked flawlessly. So I by no means bashing pitboss. It burned thru pellets like crazy, smoked perfectly, and the end result was a beautiful smoked turkey. Getting to the end was the hard part. Being that I’ve Never used or cooked on a pellet grill, this was the big day. Cook it right, make no mistake, and get the family fed on time. Two of the three things worked out, the on time part, not so much.
My idea was to start early, cook for about 4-5 hours, eating by 1:00. Now my turkey was only 11 pounds. So at 275 for 4-5 hours, it should be done, especially since I’ve spent hours watching YouTube videos on how to smoke a turkey on your pitboss grill. How could I go wrong?
Well, fired up the grill, tried dialing in 275, it would do 250 or 300. No 275. I set it at 300, waited about 20 minutes, tried to dial it down, immediately it went to 250. Now I’m in a panic, but living by the less is more rule, I decided to set it at 250 and go from there. Get the bird on at 7:30, heat holds steady, probes are doing there job, 9.5 hours later after I just couldn’t make my family wait any longer, I cranked it to 300 just to get the internal temperature up and call it done.
Definitely not what I wanted to put my people thru. Maybe I could have cooked it at a higher heat and finished earlier, I don’t know. As I said, this was a first for me. I was afraid of drying it out if I cooked it too fast or too hot.
Something needs to be done about the temp settings. And being that it’s digital, why does it not adjust in 1 degree increments anyway?
Tell me what y’all think. Sorry for the long rant.

 

[MikeInFla]

Yeah it should adjust like other PID controllers in 5 degree increments. Pellet grills seem to take longer with some meats so I always start pretty early. I did two 3 pound boneless birds for about 6 hours and they turned out great. You also might want to add a water pan to keep them from drying out.

 

[Wild Bill]

Yeah it should adjust like other PID controllers in 5 degree increments. Pellet grills seem to take longer with some meats so I always start pretty early. I did two 3 pound boneless birds for about 6 hours and they turned out great. You also might want to add a water pan to keep them from drying out.

About every 30 minutes to an hour I was basting it with chicken broth. The water pan might be the way to go also.

 

[DaveXDm9]

TBH you will get the same cook at 250 as you would 275 it just takes a tad bit longer. Again 275 may not be the sweet spot for Turkeys or poultry as Traeger is the one pushing that temp as I seen other guys cook a Turkey at 225 - 250 and even at 300.

When it comes to poultry to me I always smoke mine for 30 minutes to 45 minutes then crank the temp 350 then pull it off once it reaches temp it comes out perfect. I have eaten chicken and Turkey before that taste like smoke wood it was smoked way too long.

 

[MKinHB]

So it’s already been mentioned about the temperature settings on the 1150 giving folks problems. So I just wanted to explain the issue I had on Thanksgiving day. First off I want to say the unit as a whole, it worked flawlessly. So I by no means bashing pitboss. It burned thru pellets like crazy, smoked perfectly, and the end result was a beautiful smoked turkey. Getting to the end was the hard part. Being that I’ve Never used or cooked on a pellet grill, this was the big day. Cook it right, make no mistake, and get the family fed on time. Two of the three things worked out, the on time part, not so much.
My idea was to start early, cook for about 4-5 hours, eating by 1:00. Now my turkey was only 11 pounds. So at 275 for 4-5 hours, it should be done, especially since I’ve spent hours watching YouTube videos on how to smoke a turkey on your pitboss grill. How could I go wrong?
Well, fired up the grill, tried dialing in 275, it would do 250 or 300. No 275. I set it at 300, waited about 20 minutes, tried to dial it down, immediately it went to 250. Now I’m in a panic, but living by the less is more rule, I decided to set it at 250 and go from there. Get the bird on at 7:30, heat holds steady, probes are doing there job, 9.5 hours later after I just couldn’t make my family wait any longer, I cranked it to 300 just to get the internal temperature up and call it done.
Definitely not what I wanted to put my people thru. Maybe I could have cooked it at a higher heat and finished earlier, I don’t know. As I said, this was a first for me. I was afraid of drying it out if I cooked it too fast or too hot.
Something needs to be done about the temp settings. And being that it’s digital, why does it not adjust in 1 degree increments anyway?
Tell me what y’all think. Sorry for the long rant.

yes I too think something should be done to correct this, 5 or 10 degree increments would be fine.
too much gap in the important cook temp. zones.
My grill is the PB850PS2

 

[MKinHB]

TBH you will get the same cook at 250 as you would 275 it just takes a tad bit longer. Again 275 may not be the sweet spot for Turkeys or poultry as Traeger is the one pushing that temp as I seen other guys cook a Turkey at 225 - 250 and even at 300.

When it comes to poultry to me I always smoke mine for 30 minutes to 45 minutes then crank the temp 350 then pull it off once it reaches temp it comes out perfect. I have eaten chicken and Turkey before that taste like smoke wood it was smoked way too long.

sorry excuse for not having a good PID controller

 

[DaveXDm9]

sorry excuse for not having a good PID controller

Pit Boss is a affordable pellet grill which they are after a certain market of consumers. If they use a far more superior controller it would cost you more for the grill. If you want a better a PID controller Pellet grill then a Yoder, Pitts and Spitts, or a SmokeDaddy would be the choices.

 

[MKinHB]

Pit Boss is a affordable pellet grill which they are after a certain market of consumers. If they use a far more superior controller it would cost you more for the grill. If you want a better a PID controller Pellet grill then a Yoder, Pitts and Spitts, or a SmokeDaddy would be the choices.

No, they just need to use one that works, simple as that.
The app sucks too! maybe they will fix it,
no maybe I should buy a more expensive grill to get an app that works.
maybe there is a market of consumers that are ok with buying less expensive things that don't work right.

 

[Srminosky]

Pit Boss is a affordable pellet grill which they are after a certain market of consumers. If they use a far more superior controller it would cost you more for the grill. If you want a better a PID controller Pellet grill then a Yoder, Pitts and Spitts, or a SmokeDaddy would be the choices.

I have no problems at all paying extra for features. The problem I think most of us have is the deceptive advertising and shotty quality of the advertised features. When we hear WiFi and PID controller there is an expectation associated to that. So while yes we did get what we paid for the deception and lack of ownership by PB is my biggest issue.

 

[MKinHB]

I have no problems at all paying extra for features. The problem I think most of us have is the deceptive advertising and shotty quality of the advertised features. When we hear WiFi and PID controller there is an expectation associated to that. So while yes we did get what we paid for the deception and lack of ownership by PB is my biggest issue.

If you have one of the new pro series 850 or 1150 they say on the box that they have a SMOKE DENSITY CONTROL,
THEY HAVE NO SUCH THING!
That's what I call FALSE ADVERTISEMENT
(see my avatar)
Also the wifi app does not work.
I used it from my living room and every time I went out to check, the grill temp. was changed, you have no idea what temp. you left it at from the app. there is no way to confirm the settings.
I just don't use the app.

 

[DaveXDm9]

No, they just need to use one that works, simple as that.
The app sucks too! maybe they will fix it,
no maybe I should buy a more expensive grill to get an app that works.
maybe there is a market of consumers that are ok with buying less expensive things that don't work right.

I agree they should fix what they have right now and there is no excuse for a grill to have problems. Traeger learned there lesson 2 years ago and now they have stepped up with a better controller and a better auger feeding system, but kept the same pricing.

Pit Boss created a new model, but in reality they did not step up with a better controller and auger system at all and the worst part they did not fixed the stupid hopper problem where the pellets do not flow all the way to the auger chamber. This problem has been reported for years to them and nothing was changed in that design.

You have to keep calling them and reporting the issue to them and hopefully they will resolved these issues very soon. The point I was making that Pit Boss is always going to be a low end consumer product and to provide a pellet grill at a lower cost they have to use to meet that cost. Again whatever they use needs to be fixed and not prolong the issue at all or they are going to lose customers.

I love my PB Pro Series 1100 as I like the design of the grill and it cooks they way I want it. Now with the original controller nope that is why I bought a aftermarket controller.

 

[MKinHB]

I agree they should fix what they have right now and there is no excuse for a grill to have problems. Traeger learned there lesson 2 years ago and now they have stepped up with a better controller and a better auger feeding system, but kept the same pricing.

Pit Boss created a new model, but in reality they did not step up with a better controller and auger system at all and the worst part they did not fixed the stupid hopper problem where the pellets do not flow all the way to the auger chamber. This problem has been reported for years to them and nothing was changed in that design.

You have to keep calling them and reporting the issue to them and hopefully they will resolved these issues very soon. The point I was making that Pit Boss is always going to be a low end consumer product and to provide a pellet grill at a lower cost they have to use to meet that cost. Again whatever they use needs to be fixed and not prolong the issue at all or they are going to lose customers.

I love my PB Pro Series 1100 as I like the design of the grill and it cooks they way I want it. Now with the original controller nope that is why I bought a aftermarket controller.

I sent you a private message Dave
Check it out

 

[DaveXDm9]

I sent you a private message Dave
Check it out

I have responded

 

[PeakSmoke]

I couldn't agree more. Nothing advertised about this grill works...Temps set below the 300 mark are not even close to accurate. Very frustrating...will return to Lowes...hope they will come and get this unit for me.

 

[TekVu]

The fix for me was to disable Bluetooth. I did some troubleshooting and noticed something was adjusting the temps too low or too high. I set the smoker manually with just controls and it would hold but the temps would move when I used the app. With Wi-Fi only the app will still report temps and allow temp control. BT is not needed. Either turn it off on the phone or block the all from connecting to Bluetooth. I blocked BT from the Smokeit app so I could still use BT with my other temp probes.