Pellet grills smoking times always fast. NASCAR fast pork butt?

[CellPhoneGuy81]

I am fairly new to smoking and have a pit boss pellet grill. I have turned out great results in the first few months. Nothing has ever been over or under done that I can tell. However the times I find online never seem to be accurate, not even remotely close. I am always done at least 30% earlier than estimates.

However today was crazy. I had an 11 pound pork butt. I smoked it at 250 degrees all the way up to an internal temp of 203.

I wrapped it after three hours as it was nice and golden brown with a nice crust.

The roast was done in six hours. I know I wrapped it halfway through but I don’t understand how an 11 pound roast at 250 could ever be done that quickly.

Are used multiple thermometers to make sure my internal temp was correct.

 

[TNJAKE]

Are you using a probe to check ambient smoker temp? Besides the one on the lid or the led. If you have the dial set at 250 you are probably cooking closer to 285. Especially after all that fat gets dripping on the heat shield. I'd check that.

 

[Chasdev]

Agree, you are clearly cooking hot and fast, way hotter than you think.
Not that there is anything wrong with that, I prefer hot and fast.

 

[CellPhoneGuy81]

Are you using a probe to check ambient smoker temp? Besides the one on the lid or the led. If you have the dial set at 250 you are probably cooking closer to 285. Especially after all that fat gets dripping on the heat shield. I'd check that.

Thanks. I don’t even look at the dome thermometer. There is a digital controller which shows what temperature you’re set at and then what temperature it is in the smoker at that moment. I didn’t sit there and watch it the whole time but most of the time the ambient temperature showed to be between 235 and 255 when sent to 250. I have a MEATER wireless thermometer and I found it to be very accurate on the internal temperature. I have used several other thermometers to verify and it always comes out within a degree or so. However the tip also measures ambient temperature. I find that runs about 20° lower than whatever the digital controller shows. I was monitoring my ambient temperature in the app and it never said more than 230. Which is about right considering how it typically runs. So I would have a hard time believing between the two of them that my temperature was a lot higher than I thought. But I get it, Something doesn’t add up.

 

[Buckeye02]

The pit boss that I had was all over the place with temps. Set at 225-250 it would go as low as 160 and as high as 320. And there was no figuring out how long it was going to take something to cook. Sometimes I'd cook quarters and they'd take 4hrs. Next time 2hrs.

 

[CellPhoneGuy81]

The pit boss that I had was all over the place with temps. Set at 225-250 it would go as low as 160 and as high as 320. And there was no figuring out how long it was going to take something to cook. Sometimes I'd cook quarters and they'd take 4hrs. Next time 2hrs.

Interesting. I actually had a Traeger before this but did not like the fact that I couldn’t sear some thing well. So I returned it and got this. It was cheaper and has worked pretty well overall though I have had occasional flame outs. The end result of all my barbecue has been absolutely great though.

It’s hard to beat for the price but eventually I might buy a higher end one. I wish all the Browns have the ability to access the open flame.

 

[bregent]

Pellet grills generally cook faster than other smokers because they have a fan that produces a lot of convection. 30% faster than other cookers is probably about right. But an 11lb butt done in 6 hours does seem extremely fast. Some pellet grill controller's set and display temps are not always accurate. I know Meater's IT have been reported as accurate but haven't seen much feedback about their ambient temp accuracy. Do you have another digital you could put inside to measure?

 

[CellPhoneGuy81]

Pellet grills generally cook faster than other smokers because they have a fan that produces a lot of convection. 30% faster than other cookers is probably about right. But an 11lb butt done in 6 hours does seem extremely fast. Some pellet grill controller's set and display temps are not always accurate. I know Meater's IT have been reported as accurate but haven't seen much feedback about their ambient temp accuracy. Do you have another digital you could put inside to measure?

I have plenty of digital thermometers but not the kind that sit inside. I could for sure get one. Do you have any recommendations?

Also, when I actually broke it down just a little bit ago it seemed like it was a bit smaller than last time, and last time I only had an eight pounder. I wasn’t really paying attention to the weight other than what it said on the package. I wonder if there’s any way it could’ve been missed labeled?

 

[TNJAKE]

Inkbird makes some good and affordable probes. The 4 and 6 probe had an ambient probe included

 

[Fueling Around]

Failure in mid smoke smoke with other smoker sent me to Wally World for $20 on a 4 probe unit. (It passed the ice and boiling water tests.)

Got a $200 Masterbuilt pooper from Sams.
I used the extra probes to check grate temp in multiple locations. I got lucky as grate level is pretty close to digital readout on the pooper.

Until you measure grate level temperatures in several locations, it is a guessing game.
Guess is you your grate temp is 100° over controller temp.

 

[Winterrider]

With your digital, just make a couple balls out of aluminum foil and stick probes all the way thru foil. Set in middle a little apart from each other and see where that is in conjunction with your pit thermometer.

 

[CellPhoneGuy81]

With your digital, just make a couple balls out of aluminum foil and stick probes all the way thru foil. Set in middle a little apart from each other and see where that is in conjunction with your pit thermometer.

Interesting. Will try.

 

[Voltron]

The pit boss that I had was all over the place with temps. Set at 225-250 it would go as low as 160 and as high as 320. And there was no figuring out how long it was going to take something to cook. Sometimes I'd cook quarters and they'd take 4hrs. Next time 2hrs.

I wonder if it's due to environmental changes. I have experienced the same thing. I'm doing a pork butt today and it reached 160 in 3 hours. I let it ride for another 1.5 hours before wrapping.

 

[Fueling Around]

Pellet grills generally cook faster than other smokers because they have a fan that produces a lot of convection. 30% faster than other cookers is probably about right.
...

Words of wisdom!
Poopers will heat the meat quickly if you set the temperature to the traditional 250°.
Forgot to reply I start at 200° unless in a hurry.
Once you wrap meat, the convection oven factor is greatly reduced.

 

[Jabiru]

C CellPhoneGuy81 Mine is the same. Pellet smokers are like a fan forced oven vs non, my meats cook almost twice as fast at same temp as my traditional smoker. It’s normal.