New Pit Boss

[yahoot]

So I'm going to ask a potentially stupid question. I just got a Copperhead 3 series in September. Never smoked anything before in my life, so fairly clueless, but can obviously read up about what to do. Once I finally got it put together and started trying a few things out, I'm confused on what's going on. The first thing I smoked was a pork loin. Since the 3 is small I cut it in half. Used one half for chops and pulled the other half. Overall was pretty easy and the smoker worked as expected. It was a coolish day and a little windy. It took longer than I expected at 225 but attributed it to the wind. However, the next thing I smoked (again at 225) was a couple whole chickens. From everything I've seen, it should have been somewhere around a 3 hour cook. It took 7-8 hours!! It turned out perfectly good, but what I thought I was having for a late dinner, I was dealing with at 1-2am. Obviously with this kind of pellet smoker there's only so much I can screw up. I know they have a temperature fluctuation but have never heard of them affecting cook time since it should average out. Anyone have that kind of experience where the overall cook time was drastically longer than it should have been? I'm afraid to even smoke something else because I don't know how long it's going to take. Thanks.

I have never used a 3 series, but we have several 5s and 7s and love them. We actually smoke less time in them than in our previous smokers, but we also finish most things (ribs, steaks, brisket, chicken parts, tri-tip, etc.) on a grill/broiler/hot oven to brown them up.

The fact that your pork worked OK makes me think it isn't your smoker. The temperature swing in your smoker should not be dramatically different from the swing in the oven in your kitchen. I think a lot of folks get all excited about "swing" because they use digital thermometers in their smokers and can see the temp going up and down. However, as is discussed in a bunch of threads in this forum, if they will put their thermometers in their kitchen ovens, they will see similar swings - but oven manufacturers are smart enough not to show it on the oven's readouts.

How long does it take a couple of whole chickens (prepped the way you do for your smoker) to cook in your kitchen oven at 225? Maybe try cooking one to see? Your smoker really won't cook faster than your oven at the same temp (there is a slight boost from the moving air - like a convection oven, but its not huge).
FWIW - the manual for the 3 series smoker says it should take 5-6 hours to cook a whole chicken https://images.pitboss-grills.com/catalog/manuel/77350_20171005.pdf

Also, how are you measuring "done"? By internal temp with a thermometer? by look? These vertical smokers are excellent at adding smoke flavor, but they don't produce direct heat like a grill, so they don't brown/render as well (they aren't supposed to). Especially with poultry, the food can be quite done, but can look underdone (pale).

 

[yahoot]

I was wondering if there was any insulation in the 5 or 7? The doors and sides seem like just 2 separate pieces of sheeting. I may be totally wrong. They do look like nice units.

The cabinet comes from the manufacturer as a unit, so I can't tell. You may want to contact the manufacturer to find out - then let us all know.

 

[G_funk3]

Does the glass stay see thru after a handful of times smoking in it?

 

[weev]

Does the glass stay see thru after a handful of times smoking in it?

Nope you have to clean it off. But it's easy enough to wipe down

 

[weev]

Well I thought I would post a update and a warning on My smoker Up until last weekend it had been working great for over a year no problems and probably would be if it wasn't for operator error. So last weekend I was doing a awesome looking prime brisket that I had picked up at Costco got it trimmed nice and smoke was just a chugging got to about 170 and the bark was looking almost perfect and then I wrapped it. Not that wrapping is bad or wrong I do it all the time and I love that Pink butcher paper but the problem was when I put the brisket back in the smoker I didn't notice that probe hole was right on the very side of the brisket and directly on the back wall. Well when that brisket started melting down it started running out the hole and down the side of the smoker and into the bottom missing the catch pan that sits off the wall by a 1/4 in. Well we will just say that the inferno that erupted did not help the bark any.
So the oil soaked into the bottom around the fire pot and the temp probe hole and anywhere it could so I haven't totally torn it apart yet to see if it can be saved but im not thinking it will be a positive outcome

 

[FSUguy]

Has anyone found a good thermal blanket (or other option) to fit around the smoker for winter?

 

[jrapps]

Can anyone who owns the series 5 or 7 Pit Boss measure the Width and Depth and let me know the dimensions of the smoker body, AND the dimensions at the base? The numbers on their website are misleading and my local store only has it in a box, not assembled for me to measure. The pictures make it look like the Width and Depth are wider at the base where the wheels are, just curious if it will fit where I want it to in my backyard.

 

[Chuck Breen]

Got a Series 5 from Wally in the first part of February for $199.99 what a SHOCK! Did my first Boneless Pork Shoulders 2 at 13.2 lbs total. Took about 13 hrs. Had a hard time to get internal temp to 200 deg. Bark was GREAT and the flavor was great also. Can’t wait to do some more smoking. Rain on the mid Atlantic has BEEN TERRIBLE. Started at 10:00 pm and took off at around 11:00 AM.

 

[skidog]

The base where the legs are flares out from the rest of the cooker. 28 1/4" deep by 29" wide. That's a 5 series.

Can anyone who owns the series 5 or 7 Pit Boss measure the Width and Depth and let me know the dimensions of the smoker body, AND the dimensions at the base? The numbers on their website are misleading and my local store only has it in a box, not assembled for me to measure. The pictures make it look like the Width and Depth are wider at the base where the wheels are, just curious if it will fit where I want it to in my backyard.

 

[jjaekk]

Hi

Long time lurker and post very rarely. I have about 100 hours of smoke time with this smoker. I purchased it in March of 2019. Bought from walmart.ca so I paid 550 Canadian for it. Here is my attempt at a comprehensive review.

Pros;
easy to use, fairly easy to assemble (I did it with my six year old son), lots of room and produces a variety of good BBQ. Space is amazing

Cons;
temperature control (not great)
I have had to replace two parts (internal temp probe and control panel)
takes some monkeying around to get it stabilised
definitely less work than my stick burner but not set and for get by any means.
if precise temp control is your thing this is not the smoker for you.
no P setting like other pit boss grills which would solve many of the temp control problem in my opinion, but I guess you get what you pay for.

the biggest problem with this smoker is that it is a set cycle time. so when it dumps pellest at say240 (when you have it set at 250) it drops another 15 degrees before the pellets light, it then swings up to say 280 and the cycle continues. It seems to do this at 225 which is thetarget smoking temp for most BBQ. which sucks. it does better at 250 and at 275 and above it will hold withing 10 degree, great for chicken lol. At low temps like the smoke setting it does great holding at 150 to 170 depending on weather conditions.

I have tried many work arounds like placing a piece of heavy duty foil over the back of the water pan to trap heat and get the fire probe to register higher heat quicker and turn the damn pellet auger off. This was somewhat successful, but not really. The best solution I have found is to use Camp Chef charwood pellets (and I have tried over 10 different brands) they ignite quicker and take that nasty pellet swing out some what.

it would be awesome if pit boss or someone could provide a PID controller for it. That being said it does produce decent food. My advice is drink enough beer to forget about the temp swings and just let it ride. I can say that i would have rather spent a grand on something that was more precise (I use a stand alone grate and meat probe, maverick ET-733). I was looking for something that was less work than my offset charcoal/stick burner. It is less messy than that and is nice that it will cook a pizza but.........

 

[Sethwt]

I just got a pit boss 5 and tried to use it for the first time today. I did do the burn in. When running it today, it was set at 275 and it went into erH, it over heated. I had the water pan in it and filled with water setting 1 hole above the bottom. The top was open almost all the way. I was using the pit boss pellets.

 

[TulsaJeff]

I just got a pit boss 5 and tried to use it for the first time today. I did do the burn in. When running it today, it was set at 275 and it went into erH, it over heated. I had the water pan in it and filled with water setting 1 hole above the bottom. The top was open almost all the way. I was using the pit boss pellets.

I have seen this happen a few times when people put the heat deflector in wrong.. this is the metal box at the very bottom that sits over the top of the burn pot. If you look at it you'll notice it has notches on two sides.

These notches should be on the sides rather than in the front and back as this allows the probe to overheat.

It may still be ok and if not, the company is pretty good about replacing those internal probes.

Check and see that this is sitting correctly.

 

[Sethwt]

I have seen this happen a few times when people put the heat deflector in wrong.. this is the metal box at the very bottom that sits over the top of the burn pot. If you look at it you'll notice it has notches on two sides.

These notches should be on the sides rather than in the front and back as this allows the probe to overheat.

It may still be ok and if not, the company is pretty good about replacing those internal probes.

Check and see that this is sitting correctly.

It is sitting correctly. Do you think it is the probe or the controller board? It kept feeding in pellets the when then temp was going up. I had flames coming out of the heat deflector.

 

[TulsaJeff]

It is sitting correctly. Do you think it is the probe or the controller board? It kept feeding in pellets the when then temp was going up. I had flames coming out of the heat deflector.

My guess that is that it's the probe.. I would call Pit Boss customer service listed in your manual and they will likely come to the same conclusion and send you a replacement part.

So sorry you are having issues with it.. very frustrating to get a new smoker and not be able to use it due to a problem.

 

[Sethwt]

My guess that is that it's the probe.. I would call Pit Boss customer service listed in your manual and they will likely come to the same conclusion and send you a replacement part.

So sorry you are having issues with it.. very frustrating to get a new smoker and not be able to use it due to a problem.

Can I ask why you think it is the probe? I don't think this model has a pid controller. It is the coppertone 5 from Walmart.

 

[TulsaJeff]

Can I ask why you think it is the probe? I don't think this model has a pid controller. It is the coppertone 5 from Walmart.

I just went and double checked the error message erH in the manual and that one simply means the grill has overheated which, in my experience, normally means the probe is sending the wrong message to the controller because it has been damaged.

Damaged probes tend to send incorrect temperature messages to the controller and thus the error code pops up.

I'm just going off of past experience however, I could be wrong. It could be the controller.

Not sure where you purchased this but it might be easier to take it back to the store and ask for a replacement. Pit Boss will likely also send you the replacement parts once they talk to you about what it's doing.

 

[bigfurmn]

Ok I have to ask. Through all of this have you even tried to call Pit Boss?

 

[olecrosseyes]

Sorry for digging up bones, But,,,

I just brought home a series 7 copperhead, it was purchased on 10/11/2019 assembled and never plugged in! He paid $500 plus tax = $534.99 and I paid less than that.

Only 2 things that I see it is missing. one shelf slider cleat and the meat probe.

Has any one figured out is an other brand of probe will work in it? Like maybe ThermoWorks, Maverick or Holland Grill?