New PSE1600 owner in OKC OK - first cook and I have some questions!

[SilverWings]

Howdy folks and greetings from OKC, OK.

I have my first cook going as I type this on my brand new ProSeries 1600 Elite. Important to note that I did install the heat deflector made by "smokelikeaboss" on in this grill right off the bat. This is the deflector that helps to adjust & equalize left-right temp distribution on these 1600 barrel type smokers.

One question I have is: can I use the included temp probes (P1 and P2 readouts) as internal temp probes to see the actual inside temps? I did try it and got some very (!) HOT readings compared to the "set" temp. For example, my set temp is 275 and P1 reads 320 and P2 reads 340. Wow quite a difference! I also placed a standard mechanical oven thermometer inside the grill and is also was reading 320. So why am I seeing such massive differences between set temp and measured temps inside the grill?

Thx...

Bill.

 

[Cowboy1955]

Welcome from Texas to the group!!
I use a handheld thermometer instead of using the other probes
Hopefully this helps you

 

[SilverWings]

Yes that does help, thx Cowboy1955.

One other question: is it normal to have some smoke eminating from the pellet hopper? The hopper is now about 1/3 full of Lumberjack brand pellets. Thats a bit concerning to me...

Thx again.

 

[Cowboy1955]

Yes that does help, thx Cowboy1955.

One other question: is it normal to have some smoke eminating from the pellet hopper? The hopper is now about 1/3 full of Lumberjack brand pellets. Thats a bit concerning to me...

Thx again.

I sift my pellets through a colander
It gets the dust out and prevents fires and smoke comin back into the hopper
Hopefully this helps you

 

[Mike From R.I.]

Welcome

 

[Sparky]

Welcome to the group

 

[SilverWings]

Folks - I did it! First cook went well! Not without some issues - the major being a massive error in reported cooking temp by the main control board. It was reading up to 80 degrees low which I did notice right away.

Some very aggressive temp changes saved the day: The set temp was 275F, which (thankfully) I double-checked initially using the other 2 probes, and then backed those up with our trusty old oven thermometer which we know is accurate. At 275 indicated, the actual temps were in the 350 range. So I dropped set temp first to 240, then 220, then finally 210. The PSE1600 did a fantastic job of making all these adjustments... still to have the *actual* temperature somewhere between 50 and 80F above set temp.

At 210 set, I measured the internal ambient temps at 240 left side and 280 right side. Geez thats WAY off what I expected to see. Think I'll be giving PitBoss a call tomorrow.

Thanks again - looking forward to seeing and sharing more in the near future.

Bill.

 

[primeone]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the successful cook!

I also like using a pen thermometer to get quick temps. Something like this:
ThermoPro TP19 Waterproof Digital Meat Thermometer -

https://amzn.to/3WPCQ1f

 

[jaykav]

Pretty much in every video I've ever watched the first thing people say is get a 3rd party temp gauge and not to trust the smoker. Some prob are just cheap and bad...others that do work can start going bad if they aren't properly cleaned. I just ordered myself a new temp gauge so I am going to run a quick test sometime this week...old gauge vs new gauge vs smoker. hopefully two of the three are in the ball park of each other.

 

[SilverWings]

PrimeOne & Jaykav - yes thats a must have item. I have one of those too. Soon I'll be getting a 4-probe unit that will do a much better job of measuring internal temps: ThermoPro TP829

Rather than put these extra comments here in the "intro" thread, I shall start a new thread where I want to discuss the designed-in issues with the factory probe.

In the mean time, here's a couple pics of the first effort

 

[jaykav]

I have the TempPro H29 showing up today, let us know how the 829 works out for you.

 

[SilverWings]

Jaykav - Will do! Its supposed to be here Thursday so probably over the weekend I will check it out and get back with a report. That report will also be added as a separate thread so watch for it.

Cheers!

 

[HarleyTodd]

Howdy folks and greetings from OKC, OK.

I have my first cook going as I type this on my brand new ProSeries 1600 Elite. Important to note that I did install the heat deflector made by "smokelikeaboss" on in this grill right off the bat. This is the deflector that helps to adjust & equalize left-right temp distribution on these 1600 barrel type smokers.

One question I have is: can I use the included temp probes (P1 and P2 readouts) as internal temp probes to see the actual inside temps? I did try it and got some very (!) HOT readings compared to the "set" temp. For example, my set temp is 275 and P1 reads 320 and P2 reads 340. Wow quite a difference! I also placed a standard mechanical oven thermometer inside the grill and is also was reading 320. So why am I seeing such massive differences between set temp and measured temps inside the grill?

Thx...

Bill.

I never trust the pit boss probes. I only use them to watch the temp rise. I use a high quality meat thermometer to get an accurate reading. All of my pit boss probes give a different temp on the same meat I'm smoking.

 

[Tim W]

I never trust the pit boss probes. I only use them to watch the temp rise. I use a high quality meat thermometer to get an accurate reading. All of my pit boss probes give a different temp on the same meat I'm smoking.

I have found the closer to 205 I get the closer together the temps are. A 10 lb butt can very 15 20 degrees till it starts to get near done then they tighten up a lotIt matters how deep and centered they are. I also use a good quality instaread to check all the time also never to carefully with what I feed the family.