Pellets in smoker, moisture

[drinkoj]

I have a vertical Pit boss pellet smoker and all was going fine and I noticed a stall. Come to find out when I checked the rear pellet dump door that I had a large clump of pellets that had gotten wet/moisture. Emptied, cleared, and got it feeding pellets again, but trying to figure out how they got wet when I have a Pit Boss cover over the grill. Am I going to need to put some sort of rubber gasket at the pellet emptying door. Any ideas would be appreciated as I just lost a lot of cooking inside the 4 racks of ribs I'm cooking (123F to 110F internal).

 

[Ol' Smokey]

I empty my hopper after every cook. Crank the heat on high, empty hopper, let it go till auger is empty. Im in NE Illinoiz so humidity is constant. Ive read enough horror stories about swollen pellets that i never leave any sit for more than a couple days....

 

[drinkoj]

I empty my hopper after every cook. Crank the heat on high, empty hopper, let it go till auger is empty. Im in NE Illinoiz so humidity is constant. Ive read enough horror stories about swollen pellets that i never leave any sit for more than a couple days....

I was thinking that might be the easier fix than a rubber gasket that I don’t know if will work

 

[MikeInFla]

I leave my pellets in the hopper. I have a PB cover on my vertical and also cover it with a tarp and bungee cords.

 

[Mike From R.I.]

My PBV4PS2 stays in the barn all of the time where it is always dry, I don't have a cover for it.

 

[Steve In Pa]

I empty my hopper after every cook. Crank the heat on high, empty hopper, let it go till auger is empty. Im in NE Illinoiz so humidity is constant. Ive read enough horror stories about swollen pellets that i never leave any sit for more than a couple days....

Similar here, but my angle is to have little pellets left at the end of a cook. For one, when I clean the pot later I can back blow air that pushes finer dust particles out of the feeder. Secondly is to minimize pellet exposure to moisture, which for me is just humidity in the air. More of a summer time factor than wintertime.

 

[EdGs]

Using the smoker alot also eliminates that problem.

 

[EdGs]

Similar here, but my angle is to have little pellets left at the end of a cook. For one, when I clean the pot later I can back blow air that pushes finer dust particles out of the feeder. Secondly is to minimize pellet exposure to moisture, which for me is just humidity in the air. More of a summer time factor than wintertime.

^^^This^^^ I am still figuring out how much pellets for different cooks.

My 3 series is kind of a pain to empty, and you just don't get them all out. But a short burn will take care of that if you want to completely change pellet types.

I am really liking the PB Competetion Blend/Jack Daniels 1:1 though, so I just try not to have too many pellets in the hopper when done.

 

[HarleyTodd]

I have a vertical Pit boss pellet smoker and all was going fine and I noticed a stall. Come to find out when I checked the rear pellet dump door that I had a large clump of pellets that had gotten wet/moisture. Emptied, cleared, and got it feeding pellets again, but trying to figure out how they got wet when I have a Pit Boss cover over the grill. Am I going to need to put some sort of rubber gasket at the pellet emptying door. Any ideas would be appreciated as I just lost a lot of cooking inside the 4 racks of ribs I'm cooking (123F to 110F internal).

Mine stays in garage so don't have a problem. I only add pellets a little at a time. Try to not leave a lot in the hopper. I keep my pellets in a 5 gallon bucket with a spin on lid (Amazon has them) that has a rubber gasket to keep the humidity out.

 

[Redoctapus]

^^^This^^^ I am still figuring out how much pellets for different cooks.

My 3 series is kind of a pain to empty, and you just don't get them all out. But a short burn will take care of that if you want to completely change pellet types.

I am really liking the PB Competetion Blend/Jack Daniels 1:1 though, so I just try not to have too many pellets in the hopper when done.

View attachment 10583

My ShopVac works everytime for me.