Pellet Smoker Overnight FAIL

[Gabe1226]

Hello all,

Tossed in a brisket last night at about 11 pm. Set the temp to 225 as I had done only 2 times before. I didn’t go to sleep right away, stayed awake maybe 2 hours just in case and all seemed good. Woke up sometime maybe around 3am and noticed IT temp on the brisket was just shy of 160 and went back to bed. Normally i would set an alarm at around 5am to check on everything but this time I spaced out. Didn’t wake up to check until 6am only to find out my grill turned off at some point and IT was now at 124. Stupid pellets had created a funnel in the hopper auger stopped feeding them into the fire. I am honestly not sure how long it was off for but couldn’t have been longer than 2 hours although entire grill was cold to the touch. I immediately started the grill back up and am currently at 132 IT @ 7am.

My biggest concern of course is if this is still safe to finished the cook or should I just toss it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JLeonard]

In my opinion you are probably ok. But, I'll defer to other more experienced cooks.
And you might want to invest in a therm that you can use presets for max and low temps. Inkbirdbbq has a good 4 probe that I use all the time. And they usually have a discount code available.

Jim

 

[TNJAKE]

Since your IT got above 140 you are safe to proceed. Post pics when you are done.........don't sleep and smoke

 

[Gabe1226]

In my opinion you are probably ok. But, I'll defer to other more experienced cooks.
And you might want to invest in a therm that you can use presets for max and low temps. Inkbirdbbq has a good 4 probe that I use all the time. And they usually have a discount code available.

Jim

Thank you Jim. I will continue on and just give everyone a warning lol. Let them decide. I do use a GORNELL wireless thermometer that I keep bedside to check temps every now and the through the night. Or do you meant one that actually charts the max and low so I know where it peaked?

 

[Gabe1226]

Since your IT got above 140 you are safe to proceed. Post pics when you are done.........don't sleep and smoke

Only my third time making brisket. All have been this low and slow overnight. I do normally wake up every 2 hours or so to check but my wife and I just had out third kid, first boy 1 week ago so he is definitely screwing with my sleep lol. I did wake up at around 4 and checked the thermometer but never expected it to turn off so I didn’t go outside to check the grill.

 

[Gabe1226]

In my opinion you are probably ok. But, I'll defer to other more experienced cooks.
And you might want to invest in a therm that you can use presets for max and low temps. Inkbirdbbq has a good 4 probe that I use all the time. And they usually have a discount code available.

Jim

Not to pass the blame, but my previous 2 cooks I’ve been able to use the SMOKE IT app with my Black Label 1000 to check grill AND temp on my phone but they switched to PIT BOSS app and I haven’t been able to connect my grill to this new app otherwise I would’ve gotten a notification on my phone soon as the auger stopped feeding pellet.

 

[JLeonard]

Thank you Jim. I will continue on and just give everyone a warning lol. Let them decide. I do use a GORNELL wireless thermometer that I keep bedside to check temps every now and the through the night. Or do you meant one that actually charts the max and low so I know where it peaked?

Does it have alarms if it gets out of parameters? And I do so remember the nights of little to no sleep for the babies. And congrats on the new son. Expecting my 4th grandchild (and first grandson) this summer.

Jim

 

[Gabe1226]

Does it have alarms if it gets out of parameters? And I do so remember the nights of little to no sleep for the babies. And congrats on the new son. Expecting my 4th grandchild (and first grandson) this summer.

Jim

Awesome, congrats to you as well.

Unfortunately it does not. I didn’t understand what you meant at first but now I do. That would be a good investments after today.

 

[seenred]

don't sleep and smoke

This has always been my mantra. I'm aware there are lots of folks who start a fire (pellets, charcoal, wood - whatever the fuel, it's still a fire), put on an expensive piece of meat, then go to bed an sleep through the night, without problems...but it only takes one time to wreck your world!

Where fire is concerned, I've always been overly cautious. It only takes one disaster to ruin an expensive cut of meat...or destroy an expensive cooker, or God forbid, burn your house down. Any time I'm running a smoker or grill, I'm awake and monitoring it. Sure, it's more work and more trouble...but I've never had to worry about what might happen if I'm asleep when things go sideways.

Sorry that sounds preachy...just one old guy's 2 cents...

Red

 

[dr k]

Awesome, congrats to you as well.

Unfortunately it does not. I didn’t understand what you meant at first but now I do. That would be a good investments after today.

I set my digital multi probe therm to a range on the pit probe to 145-290 on all smokes since I smoke brisket, butts and ribs around 265-275 and removed the dime sized thermal safety switch out of the circuit that can totally fail or start opening too early when failing, cooling the smoker and messing up a smoke. Since no safety switch on my smokers, then a range is set all the time for an alert when/if it ventures outside of set range.

 

[JLeonard]

That would be a good investments after today.

And cheaper than ruining a brisket.
Jim

 

[Hijack73]

You can get an aftermarket PID that will refire if you have a flame out - but it won't help if you get the hopper block. I stir my pellets to kind of 'fluff them up' before I nap. Once I started doing that I didn't have that problem anymore. About 2/3 hopper fluffed up and I can get a good 4-6 hour snooze in.

 

[Gabe1226]

You can get an aftermarket PID that will refire if you have a flame out - but it won't help if you get the hopper block. I stir my pellets to kind of 'fluff them up' before I nap. Once I started doing that I didn't have that problem anymore. About 2/3 hopper fluffed up and I can get a good 4-6 hour snooze in.

Yeah, I’m thinking I will have to empty out the hopper after every cook and hopefully avoid this. The hopper design is not the best since they always seems to mount up on one side and not feed properly. I’ve just always been able to check it every 2-3 hours to avoid this. That was the biggest difference this time.

 

[normanaj]

A separate therm with a hi/lo temp alarm will save you everytime. Never smoke without it.

 

[Buttah Butts]

I’m glad I got a rec tec and thermoworks to make my overnight cooks a little less stressful

 

[mike243]

Pellet brand is why they bridged, try Kingsford they are too short to bridge and have great flavor imo

 

[schlotz]

Never do an all night smoke without a working probe alarm that you have personally tested. That includes ensuring the power to it is adequate i.e. new battery or power cord securely in place. This is the 'ounce of prevention' all our mothers preached to us while growing up.

TNJAKE is spot on, you are good to go since it reached 160º. Hope it still turns out great for ya!

 

[negolien]

Hello all,

Tossed in a brisket last night at about 11 pm. Set the temp to 225 as I had done only 2 times before. I didn’t go to sleep right away, stayed awake maybe 2 hours just in case and all seemed good. Woke up sometime maybe around 3am and noticed IT temp on the brisket was just shy of 160 and went back to bed. Normally i would set an alarm at around 5am to check on everything but this time I spaced out. Didn’t wake up to check until 6am only to find out my grill turned off at some point and IT was now at 124. Stupid pellets had created a funnel in the hopper auger stopped feeding them into the fire. I am honestly not sure how long it was off for but couldn’t have been longer than 2 hours although entire grill was cold to the touch. I immediately started the grill back up and am currently at 132 IT @ 7am.

My biggest concern of course is if this is still safe to finished the cook or should I just toss it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Gotta set limits for upper and lower temps on probes with an alarm bud.