Temp problem on new smoker?

[blackhawk556]

I cooked for the third time last night and it didn't go as planned. I put in a pork shoulder at 9am @250 and 4 hours laters the internal temp was at 113. About 4 hours after this, internal was up to 127 degrees. At this point, I was frustrated at all the videos I see on YouTube show people getting up to 160 degrees internal about 5-6 after starting. I increased the temperature to 275 and 1 our later I was up to 133 internal. I got tired and wrapped it at this point and increased the temp to 300.

By the end of the night, temp was up to 350 and I finally reached 195 internal (11 hours cooking). How do people get up to 160 internal cooking at 250????


Today I went and bought an over thermometer and placed it all around the chamber and noticed temps 30-50 degrees lower than the "Set" temperature. The right side of the chamber was way colder than I'm guessing because of the smoke stack area. I'll post a picture of what I mean in the morning.

Two weeks ago I cooked ribs and I noticed the internal temp was taking a long time as well. The Smoke IT app won't connect to wifi like many others on here have noticed and PB told me I could have a bad controller. Could a bad controller cause the temp to be lower in the cooking area compared to the "set" temp?

The "set" temp stays put but the chamber cooking area reads much lower.

 

[MikeInFla]

Are you using the Pit Boss probe? Those are garbage, get a bluetooth or wireless one on Amazon. Those seem to give better REAL temps.

 

[blackhawk556]

Are you using the Pit Boss probe? Those are garbage, get a bluetooth or wireless one on Amazon. Those seem to give better REAL temps.

Yeah I used the three pit boss probes but I also used one I bought and both read the same internal temperature.
I called PB and they recommended I relive and clean the built in probe which I did. I also bought on oven thermometer and did some further tests. When I was cooking the shoulder mentioned in the original post, I was using one sheet of aluminum foil to cover the metal plates underneath to make clean up easy.
I’m doing the temp tests using the oven thermometer with no foil and it measured up with the built in probe. I’ll keep doing some tests over the next few days and see if temp issues are fixed.
Smoke It app is still broken. PB tier one app support believes my controller is defective since the IT light keeps flashing.

 

[Sparky]

Yeah I used the three pit boss probes but I also used one I bought and both read the same internal temperature.
I called PB and they recommended I relive and clean the built in probe which I did. I also bought on oven thermometer and did some further tests. When I was cooking the shoulder mentioned in the original post, I was using one sheet of aluminum foil to cover the metal plates underneath to make clean up easy.
I’m doing the temp tests using the oven thermometer with no foil and it measured up with the built in probe. I’ll keep doing some tests over the next few days and see if temp issues are fixed.
Smoke It app is still broken. PB tier one app support believes my controller is defective since the IT light keeps flashing.

My IT light was flashing the whole time last weekend during my long cook. I deleted the app & reinstalled. Did a complete new s et up with a new email & password. IT light is now not flashing and it says I’m set up thru the cloud. I’ll se what happens during my next cook.

 

[Jmaldonado]

I have the same grill and am very unhappy with the results of how it’s working. I am having the same issues as you taking forever to get up on temp along with burning through a lot of pellets. I have a smaller Pit Boss and was very happy with how it cooked so I said well it’s time to get a bigger better one but that’s just not the case here. I’ve tried 5 different times but the cooks seem to take a lot longer than planned and the meats are coming out tough and dry.

 

[blackhawk556]

I have the same grill and am very unhappy with the results of how it’s working. I am having the same issues as you taking forever to get up on temp along with burning through a lot of pellets. I have a smaller Pit Boss and was very happy with how it cooked so I said well it’s time to get a bigger better one but that’s just not the case here. I’ve tried 5 different times but the cooks seem to take a lot longer than planned and the meats are coming out tough and dry.

Are you putting aluminum foil inside? I was and the temp readings were all jacked up. I’ve tested temp with oven thermometer and no aluminum foil inside covering the metal plates inside and internal temp is now right along the internal built in probe. Pit boss recommend I remove the internal probe and clean which I did. Ever since I did these things the oven temp matched the internal probe. I will continue to test this smoker as Walmart as 90 day return policy I believe. I only paid $455 out the door for this smoker as I got one with ripped box so I’m cool with this. I’m going to cook again with no aluminum inside and hope this helps.

outside temp as been in the 40s and 50s the times I’ve cooked and I think this has harmed the smoker from keeping temp consistent.

 

[Jmaldonado]

Are you putting aluminum foil inside? I was and the temp readings were all jacked up. I’ve tested temp with oven thermometer and no aluminum foil inside covering the metal plates inside and internal temp is now right along the internal built in probe. Pit boss recommend I remove the internal probe and clean which I did. Ever since I did these things the oven temp matched the internal probe. I will continue to test this smoker as Walmart as 90 day return policy I believe. I only paid $455 out the door for this smoker as I got one with ripped box so I’m cool with this. I’m going to cook again with no aluminum inside and hope this helps.

outside temp as been in the 40s and 50s the times I’ve cooked and I think this has harmed the smoker from keeping temp consistent.

No foil inside the grill and I have wiped down the probe thinking that may be an issue but nothing has changed. It just doesn’t make since how long it takes to reach the internal temperature for the meats. Something that should have took around 3-4 hrs is taking 6-8 hours on the grill. I got upset the other day and went back to my smaller pit boss and it cooked like a smoker should. I have a claim in with Pit Boss but have heard nothing yet.

 

[blackhawk556]

No foil inside the grill and I have wiped down the probe thinking that may be an issue but nothing has changed. It just doesn’t make since how long it takes to reach the internal temperature for the meats. Something that should have took around 3-4 hrs is taking 6-8 hours on the grill. I got upset the other day and went back to my smaller pit boss and it cooked like a smoker should. I have a claim in with Pit Boss but have heard nothing yet.

That’s why i I started this thread. I see videos of people cooking shoulders at 250 and and internal temp reaches 160 in about 5 hours. Mine took 7 hours and stalled at 127.
My oven thermometer confirmed the right side of the smoker chamber is cooler. During some of my tests when I was using foil and outside temps were cold, the right side of the chamber were 25-50 degrees lower than the left side of the chamber! Huge difference.

you need to test this as well. I cooked the shoulder on the right side so I’m guessing that’s why it took for ever to cook. Now that I cleaned the internal probe removed the foil, I want to cook something again to see if they take as long as they use to.

I recommend you try out the oven thermometer and find your hot zones inside the chamber. I tested this thermometer inside my oven to see if it measured correctly and it did. I then tested all four corners of the smoker and found the right side being cooler. Make sure you also place it right next to internal probe to see is they read the same temp.

one other thing, the two meat probes included with the smoker are not designed to measure ambient temperature. They are contact probes according to pit boss customer support . I first I placed one inside the chamber to read the ambient temp and freaked out on how low the ambient temperature was inside. Then pit boss told me they don’t worked this way and recommended the oven thermometer

try this out. It’s only $6 and it might help you. Next time I cook I’m going to leave this inside next to the food so I know the ambient temperature at all times. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a wireless ambient temp probe so you can see the degrees inside at all times.

Robot or human?

 

[blackhawk556]

No foil inside the grill and I have wiped down the probe thinking that may be an issue but nothing has changed. It just doesn’t make since how long it takes to reach the internal temperature for the meats. Something that should have took around 3-4 hrs is taking 6-8 hours on the grill. I got upset the other day and went back to my smaller pit boss and it cooked like a smoker should. I have a claim in with Pit Boss but have heard nothing yet.

How did season the griddle by the way? I haven’t used it yet.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Yeah I used the three pit boss probes but I also used one I bought and both read the same internal temperature.
I called PB and they recommended I relive and clean the built in probe which I did. I also bought on oven thermometer and did some further tests. When I was cooking the shoulder mentioned in the original post, I was using one sheet of aluminum foil to cover the metal plates underneath to make clean up easy.
I’m doing the temp tests using the oven thermometer with no foil and it measured up with the built in probe. I’ll keep doing some tests over the next few days and see if temp issues are fixed.
Smoke It app is still broken. PB tier one app support believes my controller is defective since the IT light keeps flashing.

Foil inside is problematic... It messes with temps.

 

[Steeljack]

I had a Kamado and traded it for the 1150. Was frustrated with 75-100 degree swings from right to left side. Experimented with plugging the exhaust and no difference. Customer service said the fan pushes all the heat to the right and out which is why it swings. I removed the sheet metal diffuser plate that goes over the fire box and that has certainly helped. Now just trying to identify the temperature tendencies but concerned with smoke. Not much. Will continue trying but may go back to a Kamado as the flavor was better. Each grill seems to have its issues and I thought this grill would be a good compromise but still looking for the success story. Any suggestions to increase smoke would be helpful.

 

[Jmaldonado]

I hear you on going back, I’m real close to taking mine back to Lowe’s. I’ve tried customer service and have received no info on my case yet.

 

[blackhawk556]

I had a Kamado and traded it for the 1150. Was frustrated with 75-100 degree swings from right to left side. Experimented with plugging the exhaust and no difference. Customer service said the fan pushes all the heat to the right and out which is why it swings. I removed the sheet metal diffuser plate that goes over the fire box and that has certainly helped. Now just trying to identify the temperature tendencies but concerned with smoke. Not much. Will continue trying but may go back to a Kamado as the flavor was better. Each grill seems to have its issues and I thought this grill would be a good compromise but still looking for the success story. Any suggestions to increase smoke would be helpful.

My local Lowe’s has the smoke tubes on clearance for $14.99 as of today. Try those for added smoke.
My KC combo doesn’t blow out tons of smoke but was about to produce a good smoke ring. Look

 

[Steeljack]

Yeah I have been putting wood chunks and chips in a makeshift tube to smoke but can’t seem to locate where to put it that is hot enough to ignite.

 

[MikeInFla]

Yeah I have been putting wood chunks and chips in a makeshift tube to smoke but can’t seem to locate where to put it that is hot enough to ignite.

I light mine with a butane torch for about a minute. Let it burn like a candle for about 8 minutes then blow it out and it starts smoking.