First time Pit Boss owner with a question about the value of thermal blankets

brianaggie2002 · Oct 7, 2021

Howdy! Brand new Pit Boss owner of a PB 1150. I want to know what ya'll think of thermal blankets for the smoker. They are a little pricey but if they provide more even temps front to back and right to left and help retain and stabilize the heat it might be worth it. Any thoughts?

Sparky · Oct 7, 2021

Welcome to the group. I have seen where some people are using welding blankets in colder climates during their cooks. I don't know if it will stabilize the temps. I have the KC Combo and after about 5 cooks the temp swings dropped.

brianaggie2002 · Oct 8, 2021

Sparky said:
Welcome to the group. I have seen where some people are using welding blankets in colder climates during their cooks. I don't know if it will stabilize the temps. I have the KC Combo and after about 5 cooks the temp swings dropped.

Thanks for the reply Sparky! I appreciate the tip about welding blankets. They are probably less expensive. The blankets made for the Pit Boss would probably fit better but definitly more $$. I am hoping to be able to find a way to have consistent temps across the grill grates.

Sparky · Oct 8, 2021

brianaggie2002 said:
Thanks for the reply Sparky! I appreciate the tip about welding blankets. They are probably less expensive. The blankets made for the Pit Boss would probably fit better but definitly more $$. I am hoping to be able to find a way to have consistent temps across the grill grates.

Like I said, on mine after several cooks it seamed like it leveled out for me.

Gkr7007 · Oct 8, 2021

brianaggie2002 said:
Thanks for the reply Sparky! I appreciate the tip about welding blankets. They are probably less expensive. The blankets made for the Pit Boss would probably fit better but definitly more $$. I am hoping to be able to find a way to have consistent temps across the grill grates.

Not sure a thermal blanket is going to help with evening the temps across the grates.
I recently bought the 1150 pro also and I used that Smoke Like a Boss mod side heat deflector and a deflector over the firepot. I also put gasket where the lid closes on the left, right, and bottom. (If you put it along the top the lid doesn't close correctly. It worked wonders for evening out the temps. Also remember that the controller is a PID which means it learns the more you use it.
All I'm saying is I was going to bring this thing back until I put these mods in. Now I've got a nice cooker that is very close to set temp and no more than about 7 degrees off side to side. Add a smoke tube and / or Mojobricks for added smoke flavor and this ol' timer who used to be a dedicated stick burner is pretty happy.
Best of luck.