I finally saw the light on the YS 640

[pwillie]

There may be some here that are as slow as I have been, so I thought this might be an informative thread for some of us.  I have been chomping at the bit to order a Yoder YS640 and have researched it until I am blue in the face.  I have found nothing but rave reviews about this pellet smoker.  I decided to place the order and then sometime during the night it came to me, "I wonder what fuel cost will be?"  It seems that most everyone that has the 640 must be smoking a great deal more meat at a time than I would be.  I usually smoke for 3 to 6 people which means that I am only doing one brisket or one butt at a time or maybe two or three racks of ribs at once.  The YS640 seems to be consuming anywhere from 1 to 2 lbs of pellets per hour depending on the variables in play.  That means that your fuel cost is somewhere around $1 to $2 per hour depending on how you buy pellets.  I can afford cost of the smoker but I am not willing to pay $8 to $10 for fuel to smoke one pork butt at a time.  Am I correct here or have I missed something.  Most of you guys that have a 640 are smoking with the thing full or half full.  Is that correct?  I am disapointed because I really wanted to see a Yoder 640 on my patio but I don't think it would be a good investment for me because of the way that I would be using it.  Sombody tell me that I am wrong so I can reconsider............

 

[show me smoke]

I have the 640 and yes thus far I am burning about 1-2 lbs per hour. Pellets here cost about 14 bucks for 20 lbs or about $1.43 per lb... What about the smaller 480...it may burn less per hour than its bigger brother.  Does anyone have figures for other similar cookers?  The fast Eddie does better on pellets because it is insulated...but costs significantly more.

In the yoders defense I never figured the cost of charcoal for my offset..so I do not know how much it cost to run per hour. 

I guess convenience just costs more..

 

[striper]

I have a 640 and never think about the cost of the pellets I use.  There are times I fire it off and put one steak in it.  Being single I don't fill it vary often.  It is more the flavor of the food that comes off of it, you just can't beat it.  That said many times I'll plan a smoke to do several things at once and stock the freezer with them.  I.e. half a dozen Stuffed Burgers and a couple of pounds of Stuffed Meatloaf.  Makes for many quick meals down the road.

 

[pwillie]

Those are the same reasons that I considered it in the first place.  When I stopped to thinki about fuel cost for a ten hour run for something like a brisket or pork butt adding fifteen or maybe twenty bucks to my finished cost it made me think twice.  Since it can hold up to 70 pounds or so, it makes a lot more sense when you are smoking several items at a time..  I may give in and get it anyway but fuel cost slowed me down a bit.  No doube the taste is much better than smoking on something electric.  I guess I'm just being a tight wad............

 

[striper]

I know what you mean.  I recently did 2 pork shoulders that turned into a 20 hour run for some reason.  Doing a little figuring I came up with a finished price of about $6.00 per pound, which kinda shocked me.  Then I discovered that each pound would yield at least 3 of the pulled pork sandwiches a local place sells foe $6.00 each.  Price didn't seem to bad then.

 

[bruno994]

No matter what you buy, it costs to smoke food, unless you have an endless supply of wood and a stickburner.  A WSM would probably be one of the most cost efficient smokers on the market, hearing stories of 10 hour cooks on 10#'s of coal.

 

[pwillie]

I really wasn't trying to find the most efficient and cost effective method of smoking, it is just that I have been grilling on a grill that burns natural gas and smoking in my MES 30, which is to small for me.  Of course my cost is just pennies using these two methods and when I stopped to consider the cost using the 640 it sort of shocked me a bit.  Like always, the best tasting food will usually need to be prepaired the best way and that almost always cost the best dollars.  I shouldn't have been surprised.  I guess I'll just have to smoke a greater volume at a time and share more of it with my friends.  My biggest problem is that I am just to damn old and have to many good memories of buying a Snicker for a nickel.  I think I'll get it ordered....................

 

[bruno994]

Get you a Foodsaver if you don't have one yet, smoke lots of meat at one time, vaccum pack it and continue to enjoy down the road.  I don't know how many times we have gotten home late from a ballgame or other activity of one of our kids and just pop a bag of brisket or pulled pork in the microwave or boiling water and enjoy it again.

 

[pwillie]

I've got a good vac master 260 and will be doing just that.  Thanks for the suggestion.  I have not been using it for already prepaired food.  I use it for fresh food storage and I also do some sous vied stuff that I vac.  Thanks again............

 

[striper]

That's what I do also, smoke up a bunch of stuff and then vacuum pack it.  Makes for good quick meals down the road.

 

[pwillie]

Well, it's all over now except for the smokin.....I got her on order yesterday and am anxious to recieve it (new 640).  I'm trying to decide what should be my first smoke.  I have both ribs and a brisket in the freezer.  I think I will go for the brisket and will be looking for my first smoke ring since I have been using a MES and have never seen a smoke ring.  Any suggestions or advice?

 

[show me smoke]

After it gets lit I have been lowering the temp to 190 produces more smoke at lower temps. I will do that for about a hour then turn up the temperature.  I have not done a brisket on my 640 yet but have done a butt.  Maybe someone else can chime in that has done a brisket.?  I am just guessing at this but on my offset I will foil brisket after about 4-5 hrs.  In order to keep some smoke off it, so since the 640 burns cleaner it may be able to stay unwrapped longer..Just a theory .

 

[ptpalms]

Well, it's all over now except for the smokin.....I got her on order yesterday and am anxious to recieve it (new 640).  I'm trying to decide what should be my first smoke.  I have both ribs and a brisket in the freezer.  I think I will go for the brisket and will be looking for my first smoke ring since I have been using a MES and have never seen a smoke ring.  Any suggestions or advice?

For break in, put it together and fire it up to 180* let it stabilize, then crank it up to 225* & stabilize, 275*, 325*, etc until you have it on it's max temp.  Let it run for 30min on max to burn off all the manufacturing residue. 

Drop the temp back down to about 300* and lay bacon all over the grates to cook.  This will help season it. 

Shut it down and scrape clean the grates. 

For your first cook, I would do a couple big ol boston butts.  The fat will also help season the unit. 

Pork butts are forgiving and hard to screw up and will be a longer cook to really help season it. 

 

[woodscomp]

I have the 640 and yes thus far I am burning about 1-2 lbs per hour. Pellets here cost about 14 bucks for 20 lbs or about $1.43 per lb... What about the smaller 480...it may burn less per hour than its bigger brother.  Does anyone have figures for other similar cookers?  The fast Eddie does better on pellets because it is insulated...but costs significantly more.

In the yoders defense I never figured the cost of charcoal for my offset..so I do not know how much it cost to run per hour. 

I guess convenience just costs more..

That would be .70 a pound for the pellets. At a $1.43 a pound that 20 pound bag would cost you almost $30.  This actually is much cheaper than what my gas smoker is costing me now for fuel.

 

[show me smoke]

That would be .70 a pound for the pellets. At a $1.43 a pound that 20 pound bag would cost you almost $30.  This actually is much cheaper than what my gas smoker is costing me now for fuel.

Well so it would...hmm good thing I am not a engineer...lol...well that makes me feel alot better...Thanks for checking my math...

 

[pwillie]

Thanks for the advice posted.  I will take your advice and break it in right.  The shipper called today and will be delivering it to me on Tuesday of next week.  I am looking forward to it.

 

[show me smoke]

Pretty exciting...let us know how the first cook goes