First Pellet Smoker and 1st Cook

[MOSmoking]

Just purchased a Yoder YS640, will be delivered on Friday afternoon. So I have a first cook to plan after the burn in. Not new to smokers or grilling, have had a BGE Large for 20 years along with a Weber Kettle - but this is the first pellet smoker I have owned or used.

Going for simple the first time, thinking smoked chicken thighs - salt and pepper seasoning. When doing this on my BGE I would get temp to about 350, and would usually take about 45 minutes with flip about halfway through.

Will this work ok on a smoker like the 640? I do not have the 2 piece diffuser or Grillgrates yet - just the standard heat diffuser and the grill racks. Thinking about using hickory pellets too. It does have 2 levels, bottom and top rack...

I have Amazon sending me a A-Maz-N smoke tube which will be on hand by Friday - will I need the additional smoke? Or should I save that for later till I know what I am doing

 

[bregent]

That should work, but be aware that pellet cookers are like convection ovens and cook faster than other smokers - so 45 minutes might be longer than needed. Also, you won't get any smoke flavor running at that temp - so you'll need to use the tube for that.

 

[dacfan]

I just did a tray a thighs yesterday, I go 250 for aprox 45 minutes and they came out perfect, finished them with some Alabama white sauce. enjoy your yoder, ive been eyeballing them pretty hard myself but the boss told me I have to wear the one I have out first. lol

 

[WaterRat]

I did thighs last week on my pellet smoker running at 300°F it took about an hour, skin was good and bite through but I had also scraped it. I didn't use my tube so smoke was quite light but there was a bit. I don't know the Yoder controls but it probably has a "smoke" setting where it will run ~150-180°F so you could do that for a half hour or so then crank it up to 350°F to finish. You may want to wait to play around with that until you're more familiar with the unit, just a thought.

 

[smokingrk]

I've had a 640 for a while, definitely a great smoker. Definitely use the tube for extra smoke and use bottom racks. Temp at 300 to 325 will work, fun part is you can try again. I use a blend of Maple and Hickory for chicken. Enjoy.

 

[smokingrk]

Forgot to say best place for the tube, at least on my 640 is top shelf left rail, seems to distribute smoke throughout best I can tell,due to convection.

 

[MOSmoking]

That should work, but be aware that pellet cookers are like convection ovens and cook faster than other smokers - so 45 minutes might be longer than needed. Also, you won't get any smoke flavor running at that temp - so you'll need to use the tube for that.

I have a Thermoworks Smoke, so I can keep an eyeball on the meat temp - I'll try the smoke tube. Thanks!

I just did a tray a thighs yesterday, I go 250 for aprox 45 minutes and they came out perfect, finished them with some Alabama white sauce. enjoy your yoder, ive been eyeballing them pretty hard myself but the boss told me I have to wear the one I have out first. lol

I love Alabama white sauce. Sounds like you need to be smoking 3 meals a day :)

Forgot to say best place for the tube, at least on my 640 is top shelf left rail, seems to distribute smoke throughout best I can tell,due to convection.

Thank you! You just answered my next question.

 

[gmc2003]

Sorry I'm not a pooper, but just wanted to welcome you to the site. As you can see you'll get plenty of help here.

Chris

 

[MOSmoking]

I did thighs last week on my pellet smoker running at 300°F it took about an hour, skin was good and bite through but I had also scraped it. I didn't use my tube so smoke was quite light but there was a bit. I don't know the Yoder controls but it probably has a "smoke" setting where it will run ~150-180°F so you could do that for a half hour or so then crank it up to 350°F to finish. You may want to wait to play around with that until you're more familiar with the unit, just a thought.

I think I can run the smoker from 150 to 550 or so... Don't quote me on that - read so much about pellet smokers lately it is all a bit fuzzy.

What did you mean when you said you scraped the skin?

 

[MOSmoking]

Sorry I'm not a pooper, but just wanted to welcome you to the site. As you can see you'll get plenty of help here.
Chris

Thank you for the welcome!

 

[kruizer]

Welcome to SMF from Minnesota.

 

[WaterRat]

I think I can run the smoker from 150 to 550 or so... Don't quote me on that - read so much about pellet smokers lately it is all a bit fuzzy.

What did you mean when you said you scraped the skin?

I know what you mean, and the manuals aren't typically written by mensa members.

As for scraping the skin - You peel the skin back- almost or totally off- then with a very sharp knife sorta fillet off the fat on the inside of the skin using a scraping motion. Allows it to get bite through at lower temps (usually) as there is less fat to render. Bit of a PITA, but can produce good results. If you're going to 350°F it's probably a waste of time as you'll render fat fine at those temps.

 

[MOSmoking]

Update to 1st cook: Outdoor Home delivered the YS640 yesterday afternoon. I did a burn in at 350 for 1-1/2 hours then let it run through the complete cool down cycle. The fan on the 640 is pretty quiet, that was a good surprise. Started it back up at 300 and put GrillGrates on the left side. I had prepped the chicken thighs the night before - simple, just Southern Succor dry rub from Smoke and Spice. Took 55 total minutes, 25 on one side, 20 on the other - they were wonderful!

Smoke02

• MOSmoking
• Apr 6, 2019

 

[mike243]

Looking good thanks for sharing

 

[jlud]

Just got my 640 this week and did burgers one night and ribs last night. Couldn’t be happier...brisket prep this afternoon....hadn’t rained for a couple weeks and as soon as this arrived it hasn’t stopped off and on.

 

[retfr8flyr]

One point I would make is you will not get much smoke flavor, on a pellet grill, at temps much over 250°.

 

[MOSmoking]

One point I would make is you will not get much smoke flavor, on a pellet grill, at temps much over 250°.

I did a 2nd test cook last night. Same thing, chicken thighs with dry rub - this time I added the A-Maz-N smoke tube with whatever pellets it came pre-filled with. I got a much more distinct smoke flavor using the tube. They were delicious, but I am not sure they were "better", just slightly different.

 

[MOSmoking]

One point I would make is you will not get much smoke flavor, on a pellet grill, at temps much over 250°.

Today for my 3rd cook I a, doing ribs @ 225*. Think I will need the tube at that temp?

 

[SlowmotionQue]

Yes. It's too easy to use it, and there is little point in not using it if you're looking for your best smoke flavor.

 

[Ed Crain]

Welcome and you will love the 640 have had mine for about a year and a half also got it from outdoor home great people