Breaking in The Yoder 640

[db192]

Have had this Grill for a few months now, and have done a number of items and just wanted to posted some of my latest.  Picked up a Pizza Stone last week and did some Pizza and stromboli, but no Qview.  Hopefully in the near future.

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

Yoder 640

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

First Chicken smoked with Sugar Mapple, Grabbed the drumstick to move it and it pulled away from the body.

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

Bacon Wrapped Jalenpeno stuffed with Cream Cheese, I did 30 of these, and only took this one pic.

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

5lb pork boneless pork shoulder

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

10 pounds pork shoulder - 10 hour smoke this picture is from 5 hrs in.  Picture above is the piece on the right finished

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

First Fattie, didn't have the patience to do the bacon weave.  Pizza Fattie

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

Pizza Fattie Cut Open, Nice little smoke ring. Took this to work, and now the guys are hooked.

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

Pizza Fattie  Again

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• db192
• Aug 24, 2012

Hot smoked salmon, Olive Oil salt and pepper, no brine smoke for 3 hours,

 

[dragonmaster194]

It all looks good, congrats on your successes with the new smoker.  Keep on keeping on.  Steve

 

[roller]

Nice job !

 

[pgsmoker64]

Beautiful!  How did the salmon turn out?  Flaky and juicy?  It looks great.  What smoking woods did you use?

 

[db192]

The salmon came out great.  Especially because I did it on a whim.  Just put it on and let it go.  Smoked it with a mix of Hickory and Apple.  I have a pretty good mix of pellets, Cherry, Mesquite, Hickory, Apple, and Sugar Maple. 
 

 

[1beezer]

It all looks good. Where did you pick up a Yoder in Pa?

 

[tjohnson]

How about a review on your Yoder YS640?

TJ

 

[db192]

I really enjoy my Yoder.  I cook on it as much as possible.  My results are as good as they have ever been, with less effort.  This is the first  pellet smoker that I have owned, so I really don't have anything to compare it with. My other smoker was a 32inch Masterbuilt which was a good little smoker but took more babysitting.  I haven't had any real issues and my temperature has remained fairly constant.  I upgraded to the wireless maverick dual probe which makes makes monitoring much easier.

I am very happy with the unit, it does go through some pellets, but its a big unit with lots of space which was a trade off I was willing to make.  It's a heavy unit, very sturdy, and the cleanup isn't too bad with the shopvac.  I was cleaning it out after every cook, but now I do it every 4 or 5. 

I have and Amazing Pellet smoker that I do throw in there when I cook at higher temperature to get more smoke flavor.   At lower temperatures or on longer cooks I have found the smoke flavor to be very good, but depending on who I'm cooking for it never hurts to add a little bit more.

 

[db192]

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• db192
• Oct 23, 2012

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• db192
• Oct 23, 2012

Here is an 8lb Roaster I smoked last week or so.  Smoked it at 325 with the addition of the Pellet Smoker and it came out Fantastic.  The meat was moist and just feel apart, I hand pulled it and put some in a pot and added some BBQ sauce and just stiring it made it fall farther apart.  This wasn't a planned smoke, just a spur of the moment.  So I just bought it, rubbed it and smoked it

 

[stbatton]

Just saw your thread. My Yoder 640 comes tomorrow. Any advise on seasoning?

 

[stormer]

​

Just saw your thread. My Yoder 640 comes tomorrow. Any advise on seasoning?

Hi stbatton, I've had my 640 since August and cook everything I can think of on it, have done pizzas, brownies (oh my god), and of course the normal que (many briskest, shoulder, hot links, fatties etc).

My process was to first follow the mfg reco, 350 for a period of time if I remember correctly, then I laid out a couple pounds of thick bacon, and took it long and low (225) until done, seems to blow the grease around in the cabinet and start the lubrication and adhesion process. I have a very nice "varnish" going inside now. Could not be happier with the unit, just extremely satisfied.

My first accessory was one of Todd's Amaz-n pellet tubes. This is part of EVERY cook. I fill the 18" half way for a short 3 hour cook, and all the way for everything else, touch it off with a propane torch and blamo! Smoke city!

Also, I've found the smoke sweet spot for this unit to be 180 degrees, subsequently, everything I cook on the unit (smoking) goes on for two hours at 180, with Todd's tube burning away as well, after two, process as normal. This step has done wonders for the smoke penetration and flavor.

After experimenting with almost every pellet out there, I have found Lumberjack, and Cookin pellets to be the best for smoke production, with Lumberjack getting extra points for deep rich flavor. The bbqrs delight that come with the unit are great for high heat cooking where smoke is not the object...because in my experience, they do not produce as much smoke as the others mentioned...just my observation.

Listen, you've sunk some dough into this unit, and I can assure you, you are going to love it! Reach out anytime, I know a few of the ins and outs with this guy at this point.

Also, I am in Kansas and winter wind is a real bear for consistent temps, I added the thermal jacket, and ordered the unit with the comp cart, love them both.

Congrats!

 

[stbatton]

Thanks for the info Stormer. I am so excited to get smokin. I am sure I will have questions. I thought about the blanket but here in Md we get ripped off when it comes to winter. By the way winter is my favorite season.

 

[mossymo]

Nice looking cooks db192... your rocking the Yoder!
Wife and I have had a YS640 for a year now, great pellet grill!

 

[sam3]

It all looks good. Where did you pick up a Yoder in Pa?

X2

Great looking food so far.

 

[db192]

Wasn't able to locate a Yoder in PA, but Dover Delaware has a nice litte BBQ store called BBQ Grills Inc.  The carry a decent amount of Pellet Poppers and the guys there are great.  They ordered both the 640 and 480 for me to look at.  I went with the 640 for the extra room.