New to pellet smokers

[LanShark]

Thanks LanShark.
I always cooked on hardwood I cut up or scraps, and charcoal. But in England all the charcoal I've been able to find either burns too fast and is gone before it gets hot, or doesn't burn enough to get hot. Me thinks they have a problem gettoing the moisture content right in their charcoal and it was costing me a ton of money, so I jumped to a small pellet grill. (PB550). I wanted a RecTec 700, but had to get it shipped here myself, and didn't want to get stuck up without a gun, so I ordered a Pit Boss 550 grill that was available here in England and could be shipped right to me.
I have a thermometers you put the prong in the meat and can read the receiver from 300 feet away, I have the probe that came with the grill, and I have two analog meat thermometers. Tomorrow at daylight, I'll fire up the grill and bring it up to 350F, put one thermometer on the right and one in the center, and use the built in one on the left to find the grills uneven temp spots. That should help create less cinders.
I also found small (1-3kg) pieces of meat do not do well in the heat swirl of a pellet grill with over 8 inches square of grill space, and burn really fast. I also found one shelf has to be at least almost half full or the meat or it will burn to a cinder really quick. (In a boler that would say there is even heat distribution.) I have the PB550 and it has no stack. It has vents on the back and if you open them too far it will cool down due to heat loss and not cook in the time you set aside for, and if you don't open them enough it will get hot and make slag out of the meat, so I am working on several learning curves at once. I'll probably find a new learning curve tomorrow.

Sounds like you have the thermometers covered. Good luck with your cook tomorrow! You got this!!

Is that a Westie in your avatar pic? They're great dogs!

 

[NewbieForLife]

Sounds like you have the thermometers covered. Good luck with your cook tomorrow! You got this!!

Is that a Westie in your avatar pic? They're great dogs!

Yes, that is one crazy Westie. Great Dog. 12 years old.

 

[NewbieForLife]

Yes, that is one crazy Westie. Great Dog. 12 years old.

Thanks, I hope it the grill behaves. Ill be watching the draft to keep the temperature within sanity

 

[Redoctapus]

Thanks, I hope it the grill behaves. Ill be watching the draft to keep the temperature within sanity

Hello NewbieForLife,
I was just reading through all the good advice! With the time diff from one side of the big pond to the other I guess your well into your cook. As for my 2 pennies of advice... follow the "Start Up Procedure" as written and allow plenty of time for the smoker to preheat. If you are smoking a small roast (5 lbs) VS large roast (10lb+) you may try using a coverd 1/3 pan (meat loaf tin) filled with hot water to ballast the cooking chamber. (I keep aluminum foil pans of three sizes among my smoker Latigo, 1/3, 1/2 and full.)
I have a PVB5. This evening I'm going to start a 14lb brisket.
Cheers to much success!

 

[NewbieForLife]

Hello NewbieForLife,
I was just reading through all the good advice! With the time diff from one side of the big pond to the other I guess your well into your cook. As for my 2 pennies of advice... follow the "Start Up Procedure" as written and allow plenty of time for the smoker to preheat. If you are smoking a small roast (5 lbs) VS large roast (10lb+) you may try using a coverd 1/3 pan (meat loaf tin) filled with hot water to ballast the cooking chamber. (I keep aluminum foil pans of three sizes among my smoker Latigo, 1/3, 1/2 and full.)
I have a PVB5. This evening I'm going to start a 14lb brisket.
Cheers to much success!

Hello RedOctapus,
I never got started. It was pouring rain from 6a to 8:30a. Tire was dead flat on the bike and it won't roll, so I can't move it. (Its really heavy to start with, but with the back tire flat, its glued to the floor and its not moving for one person unless he's Sampson, and I'm not), so I have a friend coming today after work to help me move it forward. Then I can set up the grill right inside the double doors for tomorrow's adventure. Thanks for the tip. My wife just brought some aliuminum pans home yesterday, ill use them. Wish you well with that 14lb brisket.

 

[Redoctapus]

Hello RedOctapus,
I never got started. It was pouring rain from 6a to 8:30a. Tire was dead flat on the bike and it won't roll, so I can't move it. (Its really heavy to start with, but with the back tire flat, its glued to the floor and its not moving for one person unless he's Sampson, and I'm not), so I have a friend coming today after work to help me move it forward. Then I can set up the grill right inside the double doors for tomorrow's adventure. Thanks for the tip. My wife just brought some aliuminum pans home yesterday, ill use them. Wish you well with that 14lb brisket.

Hey NewbeForLife, I brought home two! 20 pound briskets and two 3.5lb chuck roasts that I am going to tie up for one 5 inch thick roast.
One brisket is for one of my biker Buds and the other is for me. I'll vacuum pack in 2lb portions. The Chuck will be shredded for Pit BBQ sandwiches.
I have some smoke!

 

[NewbieForLife]

Hey NewbeForLife, I brought home two! 20 pound briskets and two 3.5lb chuck roasts that I am going to tie up for one 5 inch thick roast.
One brisket is for one of my biker Buds and the other is for me. I'll vacuum pack in 2lb portions. The Chuck will be shredded for Pit BBQ sandwiches.
I have some smoke!

Redoctapus, You definitely have some Major League smoke, lol. 40 lbs of brisket and unlimited supply of BBQ sandwiches daily until they run out is the Major Leagues. That's where I want to get, so if I don't get the bike moved tomorrow, Im just going to build an 8 X 8 shed and insulate it with welding blankets and call it "The Smokin Kitchen."

 

[NewbieForLife]

Redoctapus, You definitely have some Major League smoke, lol. 40 lbs of brisket and unlimited supply of BBQ sandwiches daily until they run out is the Major Leagues. That's where I want to get, so if I don't get the bike moved tomorrow, Im just going to build an 8 X 8 shed and insulate it with welding blankets and call it "The Smokin Kitchen."

Got the bike and grill moved at 340p. I'm set for tomorrow's cook that should have happened two days ago. I'm hoping the delay will make the ham taste better and worth the wait.

 

[Redoctapus]

Got the bike and grill moved at 340p. I'm set for tomorrow's cook that should have happened two days ago. I'm hoping the delay will make the ham taste better and worth the wait.

Is that bike a Schwinn? I thought they weighed in at about 25 Kilos?...

 

[Redoctapus]

If any forum members are from Florida please be safe. It's time to hunker down!

 

[NewbieForLife]

Is that bike a Schwinn? I thought they weighed in at about 25 Kilos?...

There's probably one of those buried in the shed too. That shed is getting like a walk down memory lane or a look at an old photo album. I find things I haven't seen in years in there. The bike is a 95 Ultra that needed tires two years ago, and I keep riding on them. At the time it was easier to air them up then change them so that was my route. Now there's on tread on the back and 3 on the front, and they dont hold air well not more than a day or two. Its the newest winter project on the books, hopefully for this winter.
I moved it to where I can change the tires and use the smoker at the same time. That's efficiency if both jobs jet done.
Things always speed up when I feel liike riding old Double Red, If they won't hold air, I'll find the time to change the tires and clear a runway in the shed to get her out. In the meantime, its raining everyday, and I hate cleaning up after the rain so, I going to fine tune the grill by trial and error and hopefully eat some good food.

 

[Redoctapus]

There's probably one of those buried in the shed too. That shed is getting like a walk down memory lane or a look at an old photo album. I find things I haven't seen in years in there. The bike is a 95 Ultra that needed tires two years ago, and I keep riding on them. At the time it was easier to air them up then change them so that was my route. Now there's on tread on the back and 3 on the front, and they dont hold air well not more than a day or two. Its the newest winter project on the books, hopefully for this winter.
I moved it to where I can change the tires and use the smoker at the same time. That's efficiency if both jobs jet done.
Things always speed up when I feel liike riding old Double Red, If they won't hold air, I'll find the time to change the tires and clear a runway in the shed to get her out. In the meantime, its raining everyday, and I hate cleaning up after the rain so, I going to fine tune the grill by trial and error and hopefully eat some good food.

Ride safe! Shiney side up... rubber side down. You need some new Dunlops! IOMTT is on my bucket list!

 

[NewbieForLife]

Ride safe! Shiney side up... rubber side down. You need some new Dunlops! IOMTT is on my bucket list!

Im lookin at Michelons

 

[defenestrate]

Do you have something to monitor the internal temps? A decent "instant" read is pretty reasonable. A ThermoPro TP19H is about 14 bucks on Amazon right now. I have one and I like it. Even better is a thermometer that uses Wifi/Bluetooth that lets you monitor the items from your couch (or bed for an overnight smoke!) I have the Meater+ which I love, It was pricey, but you can certainly find cheaper.

I picked up something like the TP19H for a similar price, not sure if it's as good but it works fine. Also got a cheaper looking one (non-folding, may never be able to replace battery but I think it may be good with liquids) and more recently the ThermoPro TP20 (on sale under 50 bucks and does remote monitoring with two probes, great fit for now as long as it's not raining on the transmitter) I'm hoping to use trying a pork sirloin roast before I work on a big boy (full butt - actually I have a local grocer that does about 1" thick slices of pork butt which is probably a great size for me), and retry a brisket (i didn't burn mine but I oversmoked it and dried it out somewhat).

 

[LanShark]

I picked up something like the TP19H for a similar price, not sure if it's as good but it works fine. Also got a cheaper looking one (non-folding, may never be able to replace battery but I think it may be good with liquids) and more recently the ThermoPro TP20 (on sale under 50 bucks and does remote monitoring with two probes, great fit for now as long as it's not raining on the transmitter) I'm hoping to use trying a pork sirloin roast before I work on a big boy (full butt - actually I have a local grocer that does about 1" thick slices of pork butt which is probably a great size for me), and retry a brisket (i didn't burn mine but I oversmoked it and dried it out somewhat).

A pork butt is one of the easiest, most forgiving things you can smoke. But 1" slices of pork butt are really pork steaks and should be smoked in a different way. I don't believe they can be used for pulled pork. I'm afraid you'll dry out a 1" pork steak before you get its IT up to 205ish.

My sister lives just south of Charlotte. Sounds like y'all are gonna be getting some rain this week...