New to smoking - intro and issues

[Dent08]

Hi Guys,

Long time reader of this forum from Winnipeg trying to bask in any information I can about pellet smoking as well as a ton of fantastic recipes on here that I've followed. My message is a little long winded I apologize as I would love to figure out exactly what I am doing wrong.

I actually was sold on the pellet grill after reading this forum back in the summer and the endless things you could do with it. I went ahead and started small and bought a Pit Boss 340 in the summer for smaller cooks and doing ribs every once in awhile. Smoking has been going smoothly with some excellent food coming out until the past few prolonged cooks where I've been having some issues. I seem to be having no problems cooking things for an hour or so, but am trying to figure out if it's machine or user error when trying to do anything over 2 hours. I'd like to recall the two instances below as they both got pretty serious to the point where I don't think I want to fire this thing up again.

#1) A few months ago I was having issues with the smoker being able to maintain temperature on the 200* setting of the grill. I'd usually make it up to about 180*F with the setting on P4 for about an hour until it declined, declined, declined, and eventually started blinking and completely fell to a flame out. This is where I think I made the mistake of turning the device off again, flicking it back on to smoke and letting the auger run pellets into the hopper again, Believe what happened is the firepot overflowed and a fire ignited in the bottom of the barrel, in the firepot, and even into the auger and in my hopper smoke started billowing out. The fire grew and grew until the barrel was nearly engulfed and I had to throw baking soda on it. Game over.

#2) Happened yesterday. So I can re-call what I did here quite accurately, temperature was around 35*F and setting was set to P5, firepot and bottom of the smoker were vaccumed out prior to cooking:

1) Flipped the PB onto "smoke" setting. Smoke started coming out within 3-5 minutes so I closed the lid and let it run for another 5 minutes or so.

2) Turned the dial up to 200* F, PB climbed to about 240* so i opened the lid for a few minutes and let it drop a little, closed the lid, went inside and checked it after about 30 minutes. Smoker was maintaining tempt exactly @ 200*F

3) Another half hour goes by and I come out and see the PB has dropped to 110*F and blinking, thick heavy smoke is just POURING out of the machine again and I open the lid and release it all, a fire then brews under the broiler plate across the bottom of the whole barrel of the smoker. It's starting to look similiar to the explosion/fire I had in instance #1.

4) I turn the machine straight off, and see the fire isn't spreading anywhere above the broiler plate, so I let the fire burn with the lid open until it goes out by itself.

Game over and I have to finish the ribs in the oven..

based on my steps supplied above, am I doing something wrong? The smoke both times has been so bad that the neighbours are eventually going to call the fire department on me..

Appreciate all the help!

 

[oldsmokerdude]

Based on your description, I would say that you aren't doing anything wrong. It appears that it is a controller issue. I would suggest reaching out to Pit Boss with your symptoms and a replacement.

 

[RCAlan]

There are a lot things you need to address with your PB grill..
The OP stated..

#2) Happened yesterday. So I can re-call what I did here quite accurately, temperature was around 35*F and setting was set to P5, firepot and bottom of the smoker were vaccumed out prior to cooking:

1) Flipped the PB onto "smoke" setting. Smoke started coming out within 3-5 minutes so I closed the lid and let it run for another 5 minutes or so.

2) Turned the dial up to 200* F, PB climbed to about 240* so i opened the lid for a few minutes and let it drop a little, closed the lid, went inside and checked it after about 30 minutes. Smoker was maintaining tempt exactly @ 200*F... Based on your posting and description, you did many things wrong...

As per your owners manual on page 15...
Pre-Heating
It is extremely important to ALWAYS allow your grill to preheat before cooking. This allows the grill and cooking grids to heat up quicker and the grill is able to maintain its cooking temperature once your food is placed in the cooking area. If you do not allow the grill to preheat, you will find that it takes a longer period of time to bring both the grill and the food to cooking temperatures.
Always pre-heat your “Pit Boss” Grill with the lid closed. After your Grill has ignited, close the lid and set your temperature control knob to HIGH for 10-15 minutes depending on weather. This gives you enough time to prepare your food for the grill; as well it is the final step in cleaning your cooking grids.
Lid Position
Always cook with the lid closed. Not only does this keep the temperature even, the food will cook faster, using less fuel. A closed lid also helps to create a smokier flavour. You can slow down your cooking by propping up the lid. As per the owners manual..

35* degrees outside... You need to preheat for at least 30 minutes... Preheat Temp should be set between 300*-350* degrees... Never preheat your grill lower then 300* degrees... The owners manual says to preheat on the high setting... During the Winter months or cold climates, I would preheat on the High setting. During cold weather, use lower “P” settings like P2-P3... Your grill is flaming out because you’re not preheating your grill long enough and correctly and you’re using the wrong “P” setting..

PB Austin XL in SoCal and always... Semper Fi

 

[Dent08]

Thank you Alan! I guess i should have paid more attention to the pre-heating settings as I did not know I should crank it up to high first before cooking. So would this mean the startup procedure would be as follows if my intended cooking temp was going to be 225* as an example?

1) Start up on smoke, wait 3-5 minutes and close lid.
2) Turn up to 350* to preheat, wait 20-30 minutes to pre-heat
3) Turn back down to 225* and wait for it to maintain temp, then throw food on.

 

[RCAlan]

Thank you Alan! I guess i should have paid more attention to the pre-heating settings as I did not know I should crank it up to high first before cooking. So would this mean the startup procedure would be as follows if my intended cooking temp was going to be 225* as an example?

1) Start up on smoke, wait 3-5 minutes and close lid.
2) Turn up to 350* to preheat, wait 20-30 minutes to pre-heat
3) Turn back down to 225* and wait for it to maintain temp, then throw food on.

Follow these steps for preheating your PB Grill..

1. Ensure the Temperature Control Dial is in the SMOKE position. Press the Power Button to turn the unit on. This will activate the start up cycle.
2. For cold weather, set the “P” setting to P2 or P3... For warm weather, use P4 or P5. Never use P6 or P7, your grill will have a greater chance of flaming out if You do.
3. The auger feed system will begin to turn, the igniter will begin to glow and the fan will supply air to the burn pot. The grill will begin to produce smoke while the start-up cycle is taking place.... The barrel lid “Must” remain open during the start-up cycle. To confirm the start-up cycle has begun properly, “listen for a torchy roar, and notice some heat being produced”. This may take longer then 5mins.
4. After a fire has started, begin to preheat your grill with the lid closed. Turn the Temperature Control Dial to 300*-350* degrees during warm weather or use the high temp setting during cold weather to allow the unit to preheat for approximately 30 minutes.
5. After preheating is complete, Your grill is ready to bbq on whatever temp you want.
6. Always keep the Fire Pot clean after every cook.

PB Austin XL in SoCal and always... Semper Fi

 

[realslimnatey]

I'm going through similar issues. Just bought a Traeger Bronson 20 probably 2 months ago. Only used it 2 times with issues each time. The last time was yesterday where it kept spiking up over 400. I shut down and called Traeger customer service. The guy told me to leave it on smoke setting with lid open and after the startup process set the temp with lid open still. He said once it gets to temp then close the lid but it soared to over 400 again. Called them again and this time they said to leave it open in smoke setting until you reach desired temp which was 225 and then set it to 225 and close lid. If it soars too high then open the lid to keep the temps down. Kept doing that for a while but still burning too hot so I switched to 180 and p3 setting. It FINALLY maintained around 188-227 but I definitely wanted at least 250 so I switched the knob to 225. Temps kept going down and down until it was around 104. Wasn't sure what happened so I shut it down and waited for it to cool. Then removed the plates and my firepot was filled with pellets. Looks like the fire went out. So far this thing has been a nightmare.

 

[hondabbq]

Not much to add to the problem but just saying Hi from a fellow "pegger"