Grill temp way hotter than setting

SmokeDaPlanet · Jun 25, 2023

Hey all. Have a recurring issue with my Pit Boss Pro.
Set to Smoke setting right now. Screen reads 195deg. Thermometer in lid reading 220 deg, and the 2 Chugod probes hanging an inch above the grill - 1 center 1 right side are reading 241/259 respectively.
I always finish cooks WAAAY sooner than expected. I do cook to internal temps rather than time, but I would like to know where I am truely cooking at for consistency. Any ideas? Just did a full clean out of the machine and cleaned the internal temp probe.
Thanks for the help.

brewersfan73 · Jun 25, 2023

Since the smoke setting is just a timed setting, you may need to increase your p-value so that there is a longer delay between auger turns.

Otherwise, set your smoker at 200-225 if you want a lower temperature.

brewersfan73 · Jun 25, 2023

Whoops, I reread your post again. I see that the PB RTD probe is pretty close to what I would expect for the smoke setting. It's more of an issue that the rest of the grill is hotter than you want.

Sounds like it is more of a matter of different temperatures across the grate. Do a little digging on this form, and you will see some different strategies that people have used. Flame diffuser, air gap mod, removing the sheet metal diffuser around the burn pot, etc. I'm not familiar with your grill, so I'm not sure which issues could be affecting your temperatures.

SmokeDaPlanet · Jun 25, 2023

brewersfan73 said:
Whoops, I reread your post again. I see that the PB RTD probe is pretty close to what I would expect for the smoke setting. It's more of an issue that the rest of the grill is hotter than you want.

Sounds like it is more of a matter of different temperatures across the grate. Do a little digging on this form, and you will see some different strategies that people have used. Flame diffuser, air gap mod, removing the sheet metal diffuser around the burn pot, etc. I'm not familiar with your grill, so I'm not sure which issues could be affecting your temperatures.

just to see, I changed to the 200 setting on the control. Now the center probe is at 237 and the right is 268. i generally do not cook on the left side because of the high heat issue(unless i need it to get something done quicker). I plan to make the metal diffuser for over the pot and the block off plate for the left side to help even out temps, but I still expect to have higher grill temps than the setting on the controls, which is my biggest concern.