If you had it to do over.

[Badgersmoking]

Still getting use to the new PB and so far I've had some real good eating come out of it. No regrets so far.

 

[JackAH1G]

I haven't owned my laredo 1000 very long but I'm 100% happy at this time and would definitely buy again . I also own a propane ,charcoal and offset. I didn't buy my pellet grill to replace any of those but to add to my arsenal. All have their advantages/disadvantages I enjoy them all

Hear you but old grill was due for a complete overhaul, so I did the research, have been wanting to do more smoking so Pit Boss seemed have a solution for both worlds. I works, but wish it was larger. Also having rust which makes me wonder about metal quality.

 

[PostalTwo]

Hear you but old grill was due for a complete overhaul, so I did the research, have been wanting to do more smoking so Pit Boss seemed have a solution for both worlds. I works, but wish it was larger. Also having rust which makes me wonder about metal quality.

Metal parts will rust on any cooker . Seasoning with oil will help

 

[mikenburnie]

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

I bought a Platinum Laredo 1000, other than taking a few minutes longer to heat up to “grill”, I love it, it is my first pellet grill and I basically use it every weekend, everything is as smoked as I want it to be and haven’t had a bad meal yet, Everyone that comes for ribs, brisket, chicken, steak, lobster or whatever I throw on is certainly glad I got it. I would buy another in a heartbeat.

 

[jimbo]

I have a pitboss 1000t2, it runs a good but I dont get the smoke flavor I like, get better flavor from my mes 30. So I wouldn't purchase another pellet grill/smoker

 

[TJSlayer]

Well we started in the Pellet grill world about a year ago and picked up a Princess Auto special for $400 (Canadian) which is essentially and Austin XL or very similar.

And have enjoyed many great cooks on that.

So next up was upgrading the cheap BBQ at the cottage to something better and we chose to go with the new Pro Series Combo with the side burner there. And I have to say I was super impressed with it after we finally got it (took aver 4 months up here) We even picked up a camp chef griddle insert to go on the gas side.

Only complaints I have here is that with the top shelves in it hard to turn or flip anything due to the height, may try to come up with something there but presently I just take them out unless needed.

We love using the griddle on the gas side for doing up hash browns, eggs over easy and pancakes for breakfast while smoking the bacon and sausages on the pellet side.

This thing even allows for cold smoking by opening the trap door between the two.

I have also found that you can hot smoke on both sides doing this and only turning the far burners on, and adjusting the temp until it at your desired level. Normally use a pan with a grate when doing this to make sure there is no hot spots.

We like this model so much I just bought another to replace the Natural Gas BBQ and big smoker at home with it.

Heats up quicker than big smoker and uses less pellets, so make more sense when just cooking for two of us, but still have the ability to cook a lot of food when needed.

Very happy with the flexibility and versatility of the combo.

Only thing I wish is
A) Pit boss should offer a specific griddle for these to fit the gas side - very useful!
B) The height of the cooking camper was about 3-4 higher would allow for the racks to remain in when flipping easier.

But I would still buy again in a heartbeat...

 

[Koenigmd]

Ok here’s a question probably most of us have asked ourself. Especially new to pellet guys like me.
I know I’ve pondered over this a few times myself. And from a lot of the posts we see In here, I’m sure there’s a few that would have some input.

OK…….
If you knew what you do now. Would you have bought it. And maybe more importantly would you have bought a different model than the one you got?

First off I’m not posting this for it to become a bashing thread! If it does I would like a mod to just take it down.

There’s a lot of things about pellet cookers that newbies don’t know till it’s too late. And also different features and models. For myself there’s a lot of things I didn’t know about, to consider.

Who knows. Maybe somebody lurking around thinking about getting in the game might stumble on this and get a little educated about them.

I’ll start by saying I was infatuated with the pellet smokers in general and ran across a very good deal on a floor model. Price on mine at Lowe’s was 459 I believe and mine went out the door for 320 bucks and tax.

PBV4PS2

At first I was about ready to take it back because of the lack of smoke. Especially since the sales guy told me these things were the smokiest available. My first few cooks were, well lacking. The ease of using it was great. But the lack of smoke was almost a deal breaker. I ran across a couple of websites and watched a million YouTube’s like most do. And especially in here I learned two things. The first being they do NOT deliver the smoky flavor as say my offset or chip burner. And the second thing I learned I didn’t know what the hell I was doing lol. Low temp smoke session and most of the time a smoke tube. And experiment with pellets.
Now I’m pretty happy with it. I use it a few times a week. And can get satisfactory smoke when I want it. And have even used to cook when I didn’t necessarily want heavy smoke. Kinda like an outside oven if ya will.

As far as buying one. Knowing what I do now. Yup I certainly would.
But the same one ??? I’m on the fence there. I see the 850s and others with their grill like capabilities and actually thought about replacing this one. I have a couple of son in laws that I’m sure would like it.
But it ain’t going nowhere right now. Lol. But man I do like the idea of the other options on the others.

Just bought mine no smoke after start up. Wouldn't buy it if i knew this. Expensive oven. Taking back to store

 

[ANT0407]

Just bought mine no smoke after start up. Wouldn't buy it if i knew this. Expensive oven. Taking back to store

I can't help but wonder if you are expecting to see the thick white smoke you get at startup throughout your entire cook. The smoke that puts the flavor is described as a thin blue smoke not that thick white smoke. That thick white smoke because it is not burning clean when you fire up the smoker, every smoker does that( keep your lid open until it clears). After it completes it's startup the smoke will be less noticeable but that's what you want for the flavor.

 

[Koenigmd]

I can't help but wonder if you are expecting to see the thick white smoke you get at startup throughout your entire cook. The smoke that puts the flavor is described as a thin blue smoke not that thick white smoke. That thick white smoke because it is not burning clean when you fire up the smoker, every smoker does that( keep your lid open until it clears). After it completes it's startup the smoke will be less noticeable but that's what you want for the flavor.

Ok. Not going to give up on it yet. Could not set p setting would go back to p1 on its own.

 

[MikeInFla]

p4 is the best setting to use.

 

[D.Suz]

In considering your question.....

I thought about it for about 20 minutes or so.

I bought the 1150. There were a bunch of us all went and got them within a couple weeks of each other. I had been wanting a grill, and a smoker. This fit the bill.

I love this thing. There are two issues I have found with it. Neither is a deal breaker, and both of them have been modified.

1) The metal grate over the pellet hopper. I know why its there, to make sure people do not stick their hands down there and get their fingers hurt in the pellet auger. It is just annoying when trying to level out the pellets on a long cook. I just removed the whole grate because I am smart enough to not put my hand in there.

2) I feel that there is an *obvious* design flaw regarding the left side of the grill, where the heat shield has a 1/2 to 3/4 inch gap across the entire shield that allows the heat to go up right over the barrel temp probe. I had a 50 to 60 degree temp difference between the left and right side of my grill. I purchased a "mod". and installed it. Problem fixed. Now no more than a 10 degree difference between the left and right sides.

So there are a LOT of comments and threads about upgrading the controller, and the horrors of it. I have not upgraded mine. It works very well. Still fence-riding on whether or not I will.

Now. Would I buy this one again. Yes. Yes, it would have the same issues, and they would be fixed in the same way as mentioned above.

BUT.

I'm honestly debating if I need an 1150. I could probably make everything I wanted to, on the 820. Basically the same thing...just smaller.

And from what I understand, THAT one has the heat shield that keeps the heat from going up across the temp probe.

I cant give a firm, "I would buy the 820", or a firm "I would buy the 1150"....at this time. I would buy one of them again. It is absolutely an awesome beginner pellet smoker grill.

What "mod" did you buy to fix the problem?

 

[JayDub]

After smoking about 40 lbs of pork butt, I wish I had spent more money and bought a Traeger.
It is a real disappointment that the Pit Boss 850 does not accurately display the temp inside the smoking chamber.
I have verified the actual temp with other thermometers, that match my kitchen stove exactly.
Mine is off +25 degrees at every level. With adjustment increments mostly every 50 degrees, it is a constant battle to maintain a desirable cooking temp. I seem to be at either 212 or 275 degrees. Also disappointed in how little smoke flavor I get.

I've been on the traeger forums today doing research and it seems they have the same inconsistent reading problem and most recomend a 3rd party temp monitoring system for their Traeger pits. Kind a what pushed me back to pit boss if I need to buy a separate monitoring system then why bother spending the extra money on the pit.

 

[Warthog]

Traeger is a rip off. Your paying for their advertising. Is it really worth 3 or 4 times the cost of a pit boss? My sister in law has a big Traeger and is always running to the forum's for issues.

 

[t-roy]

I have just had 2 smokes with my pb 820 sportsman. The first one had trouble with temp so I got that taken care of and stuff still came out good. But the second smoke came out excellent!! 2 " porchops that just melt in you mouth and best chicken breasts I have had in a long time. I got this brand new for 76 bucks and it was put together already. Even if I sold it now I would triple my money so yes, Im keeping it! Selling my masterbuilt 30 inch electric now for 100 bucks. Never did like the food that came off of it.

 

[Jimsmokes]

Once I took the app out of the picture. My 1150 does exactly what I set it to do.
If I could do it over think I'd add 600 more and get a real gravity fed smoker.