Costco Louisiana Grills Series 7 Pellet Vertical Smoker

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Alright - I need help addressing two issues. I've tried to read a 1000 forums on this for the LG Vertical Smoker...and really haven't found much.

1) Temperature swings - with the metal water pan (that came with it) at the bottom, closest to the firebox in, I see about 15-20 degrees consistently (without any meat). With a full 17 pound pork butt, swings between 40-50 degrees. *Using Thermapro thermometers)*

Question: Has the placement of the water pan affected anyone's temperatures in a positive way (less swings) --- i.e. moving it HIGHER up the racks?
Question: Has removing the metal water pan and replacing it with an aluminum one really made that big of a difference?
Question: How about not having the water pan at all? Results? Thoughts?

2) Packing Meat w/ Smoke - Smoked a pork butt last week. Wanted the smoker to stay at 250 degrees, had to switch the unit to 300 because of the 50 degree difference. Very little smoke flavor. *Used Pit Boss Pellets*

Question: Smoke mode...should I just keep it on smoke mode for 2-3 hours if this is the case?
Question: Any other thoughts about getting more smoke into it outside of using smoke mode?

3) Meat Placement & Temperature - I usually keep what I'm smoking on the top few racks (if I'm not doing that much).

Question: Any experience with where your smoker is the most accurate? Top, middle, bottom?

Do yourself a favor and throw that original pan in the trash where it belongs.
1. It does not hold enough water.
2. It restricts the airflow too much.

I removed the original pan and replaced it with a double aluminum pan that can also be purchased at Costco in a multi pack. I double them so it doesn't fold in half when carrying the used water away to dump it. the fire box dampens the direct heat so there is no need to have the original pan in there. As for where to place the food when smoking I start on the top and add racks as needed working my way down.

I have done many cooks with it and it makes a huge difference. If you look at my posts above I only get a 10 degree swing below the water and only 1 to 3 degree change above.

The reason for the swing is the auger dumps in a bunch of pellets, they burn fast increasing the temp. When they burn out it cools fast. When it drops enough it will dump in more pellets and repeat.

The aluminum pan holds about 10 times the amount of water as the original pan. This is what stabilizes the temperature on the top part of the smoker. It also gives better air flow which helps when smoking larger cuts of meat.

The hotter you run these smokers the less smoke you will get.

I have had a couple smokers before (propane and electric) and this by far injects more smoke into the meat. I was at Walmart yesterday and noticed they now sell the Amazen smoke tube so I picked one up in case I want to do a fast smoke.

 

[JWFokker]

If you've only tried propane and electric, pellet smoke plus a tube to supplement is a big improvement. You should try a stick burner next. It'll blow you away. The bark alone is completely different with a proper wood fire because you're getting real pellicle formation.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Thanks. The pellet is more for convenience. When I want to cook with wood I use <---------<< the pit.

 

[jmevox]

Just used my series 7 again on Sunday to make ribs. Gotta say I think I perfected my recipe.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Just used my series 7 again on Sunday to make ribs. Gotta say I think I perfected my recipe.View attachment 400170

Heck yeah! If I could grab a few off my screen I would eat them now. It looks tasty.

 

[jmevox]

They were damn good. I've been tinkering around with a lot of rubs and sauces (killer hogs/Oakridge). Think I finally found my rub combo. I like to change up the sauces a lot but blue hogs seems like a favorite in my family.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I had my smoker packed up and was going to make a salad for dinner. When I started pulling things out of the fridge plans changed. I ended up with a nice bacon bomb. It was not the prettiest one ever made but it tasted amazing.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

1 LB Bison burger seasoned. 2 Jalapeno peppers shell only. Green onions long strewn about. Big handful of cilantro. A good amount of Feta Cheese. Multiple seasoned Mozzarella cheese balls. Wrapped in 1 LB of bacon.

Smoked with Hickory pellets. 275* for 4 hours.

 

[thebattman]

congrats, looks almost identical to the pitboss series 5 in features.

Louisiana Grills & Pit Boss are the same company - and are the same smokers, just with different badging and colors. (It's pretty much like GMC and Chevrolet use to be - (those two have a few more differences now).

 

[jmevox]

Made my first Brisket ever yesterday. Came out awesome.

 

[Shaker00]

Brand new to smokers; bought this Lou Grill Vert Pellet smoker at Costco. Have read and followed instructions in detail. Worked one time and now just smokes when I try to use it again, no flame at start up. Can’t hear fan so wondering if that is issue, if fan problem? After 10 mins, shuts with error code saying check electronics... not real helpful. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong at start up before I return, I’ll take them. Jealous of all the good eating, I want to get to that part. Thanks

 

[JWFokker]

Sounds like you identified the problem. I'd exchange it.

 

[jmevox]

Yeah I would give Louisana Grills a call and see if they have any solutions but you definitely have a problem. As soon as you turn the Smoker on you should hear the fan working.

 

[JimboHold]

Do yourself a favor and throw that original pan in the trash where it belongs.
1. It does not hold enough water.
2. It restricts the airflow too much.

I removed the original pan and replaced it with a double aluminum pan that can also be purchased at Costco in a multi pack. I double them so it doesn't fold in half when carrying the used water away to dump it. the fire box dampens the direct heat so there is no need to have the original pan in there. As for where to place the food when smoking I start on the top and add racks as needed working my way down.

I have done many cooks with it and it makes a huge difference. If you look at my posts above I only get a 10 degree swing below the water and only 1 to 3 degree change above.

The reason for the swing is the auger dumps in a bunch of pellets, they burn fast increasing the temp. When they burn out it cools fast. When it drops enough it will dump in more pellets and repeat.

The aluminum pan holds about 10 times the amount of water as the original pan. This is what stabilizes the temperature on the top part of the smoker. It also gives better air flow which helps when smoking larger cuts of meat.

The hotter you run these smokers the less smoke you will get.

I have had a couple smokers before (propane and electric) and this by far injects more smoke into the meat. I was at Walmart yesterday and noticed they now sell the Amazen smoke tube so I picked one up in case I want to do a fast smoke.

I followed your advice and replaced the drip pan with the large aluminum pans. It worked great. Found temperatures to be consistent with setting and small swings. Thanks for the suggestion. I got my LG series 7 from Costco back in May and we use it every weekend. I also own a Pit Boss Austin XL that we also use and love so much we gave away our gas grill.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I have been using it that way since almost new. It completely changes the way it smokes.

 

[jmevox]

Wondering if anyone is having a similar issue. Seems like an issue with the probe or controller or both.

When i initially heat my smoker and bring it to temp it's perfect. Within 1-2 degrees of my thermopro. As soon as I open the door and hit a drop in temperature the controller/probes don't recognize the drop. The only way I can get it back up to 250 is turning the dial to 350 or 400. The heat will come back up to 250 and then I dialing the controller back to 350. I still need to leave it on 350 to keep the temperature at 250. It's driving me crazy. I have to play with the controller so much I might as well just use an offset smoker it's the same amount of work.

 

[shamilton]

Ya that's sadly pretty normal. The placement of the internal thermometer is less than idea. What I do is keep a thermometer in the meat and one right below it (ambient temp) and set the smoker temperature to WHATEVER would get me to 250 that you're talking about. Who really cares what the actual temp you have to set the smoker to. It usually holds that temp well once you figure it out.

Definitely do what other people said and get a big aluminum tin from costco and use that for your water holder. It keeps water for 10+ hours vs that small goofy one.

Good luck.

 

[jmevox]

Ya that's sadly pretty normal. The placement of the internal thermometer is less than idea. What I do is keep a thermometer in the meat and one right below it (ambient temp) and set the smoker temperature to WHATEVER would get me to 250 that you're talking about. Who really cares what the actual temp you have to set the smoker to. It usually holds that temp well once you figure it out.

Definitely do what other people said and get a big aluminum tin from costco and use that for your water holder. It keeps water for 10+ hours vs that small goofy one.

Good luck.

Thanks. I did replace the water pan with a much larger aluminum pan and temps are still all over the place. I'm so sick of this smoker that I'm probably going to have 1 more cook with it tomorrow and order myself a Rec-tec for next summer. I was planning on doing a turkey for thanksgiving but can't trust this smoker especially once it gets colder out

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Thanks. I did replace the water pan with a much larger aluminum pan and temps are still all over the place. I'm so sick of this smoker that I'm probably going to have 1 more cook with it tomorrow and order myself a Rec-tec for next summer. I was planning on doing a turkey for thanksgiving but can't trust this smoker especially once it gets colder out

Make sure you are measuring the temperature above the water pan and not below it. The firebox area will surge greatly as more pellets are added and burning. Use an external temp gauge or place one of the built in probes on a rack higher up.

You can also listen to your smoker. It should add more pellets every few minutes. You should hear the auger turning when it adds more pellets.

In a five minute cycle. Auger turns and adds pellets, they burn and temp goes up, they finish burning and temp goes down, temp drops and the auger adds more pellets. Rinse and repeat.

 

[JimboHold]

Thanks. I did replace the water pan with a much larger aluminum pan and temps are still all over the place. I'm so sick of this smoker that I'm probably going to have 1 more cook with it tomorrow and order myself a Rec-tec for next summer. I was planning on doing a turkey for thanksgiving but can't trust this smoker especially once it gets colder out

I had a similar issue and found most of it was due to a bad thermometer. I found a replacement on amazon for around 10 bucks as there was a 2 week delay getting warranty item from LG. I fell I love all over again with this smoker between the new probe, ensuring I kept vent open at least half way and the water pan. Added tip, as there are no electronics on right side of fire box, I place a chunk of wood for added smoke about an inch out from the right side, you can even add another chunk later. I will try smoke tube next instead.