pellet use in the ys640

[show me smoke]

This is by no ways a scientific study..but over the last 2 cooks I have weighed the pellets that I put into the hopper and then scooped out what was left and weighed them.  The results are cook 1 ambient temp was 24 degrees and it used about 2.8lbs per hour...cook 2 today ambient temp of 52 and she used 2 lbs per hour...both cooks the temp set in cooker was same.   Started at 350 to warm up..then down to 190 for smoke for and hour then up to 250. 

 

[striper]

Interesting but lacking in very important information, what Pellet Pooper are you running?

 

[show me smoke]

sorry the ys 640..on the colder day I had a blanket on it to help the heat retention..do not know if it made a difference..but made me feel better..

 

[striper]

Right on, same unit I have.  Good information.  I'll be running mine tomorrow with 15 lbs of Boneless Pork Shoulder for Pulled Pork, so will go through a bunch of pellets.  Temp's predicted in the mid 40's with a bit of wind.

 

[show me smoke]

Right on, same unit I have.  Good information.  I'll be running mine tomorrow with 15 lbs of Boneless Pork Shoulder for Pulled Pork, so will go through a bunch of pellets.  Temp's predicted in the mid 40's with a bit of wind.

So how many pellets did you go through?

 

[striper]

I'll try to keep track of how many times I reload the hopper.  Just started the grill with a full hopper, will see what happens over the next 12-18 hours.

 

[show me smoke]

let me know going to fire up the yoder sun...temp i am going to track use again.

 

[striper]

Ok, at 14 hours I have reloaded the Hopper twice.  Temperature here was 46-49 all day with very light wind.  Had the Yoder set on H-3 and the Temperature set at 230.  Finally hit the point where I could wrap the pork in foil so have raised the temp seting to 260 and will probably kick it up to 300 soon to finish getting the meat to 200 internal.

 

[bama bbq]

I have a better question:  How much do your pellets cost per lb?  In other words $ per hour vs lb per hour.  For instance, I know I pay X for a bag of charcoal weighting Y.  I know I burn # lbs so I know I burn $ cost per hour.

 

[striper]

Ok, my cook yesterday was 18 hours of cooking time plus another 30-45 minutes warm up.  So for giggles lets just call it 19 hours.  I burned 36 pounds of pellets.  Figuring the price per pound of  available pellets in this area that puts me slightly under $2.00 per hour.  However I bought a pallet of pellets from Todd so my price is down to roughly $0.42 per pound making yesterdays cook run slightly under $0.84 per hour.  And the Pulled Pork that is now in my refer is FANTASTIC.  

Just did a rough weigh in on the finished product and came up with a finished price for the Pulled Pork of $ 6.12 per pound.  Seems a touch high, but a mediocre Pulled Pork Sandwich around here will go for over $5.00 and will have no more than 1\3rd of a pound of meat on it. 

Hmmmmmmm started out with 15 lbs of Boneless Pork Shoulder and ended up with 7 lbs of Pulled Pork.

13 hours.jpg

• striper
• Feb 2, 2013

 

[1beezer]

You can save some pellets by finishing it off in the oven after foiling. It's not going to get anymore smoke foiled. Just a thought.

 

[striper]

You can save some pellets by finishing it off in the oven after foiling. It's not going to get anymore smoke foiled. Just a thought.

Yes and I've done that.  Just doesn't seem worth the trouble of heating up the oven, bringing everything in when that portion of things doesn't generally take all that long.  Just turn up the temperature on the grill and let it finish.  Just my .02

 

[show me smoke]

Dang striper,  seems like alot of pellets does it always take 19 hrs for you to cook butts...12 hrs is a long time for mine...I usually get em done in 6-8...at 250.  If my pork is going to cost about 6 bucks a pound i need to raise my prices more...but that figure is on my stick burner which my wood is free...I have not figured out cost on pellet grill...but your figure has me thinking of my costs...I will see how many Lb i go through today..temp is about 50.

 

[show me smoke]

Dang striper,  seems like alot of pellets does it always take 19 hrs for you to cook butts...12 hrs is a long time for mine...I usually get em done in 6-8...at 250.  If my pork is going to cost about 6 bucks a pound i need to raise my prices more...but that figure is on my stick burner which my wood is free...I have not figured out cost on pellet grill...but your figure has me thinking of my costs...I will see how many Lb i go through today..temp is about 50.

Cooked today temp low 50's and used about 2lbs per hour.Cost me about $2.84 per hours...Pellets around here for bbq delight are about $1.42 a lb.

 

[pwillie]

Just a thought.......I talked to the folks in Pine Bluff Arkansas who, I understand, are the BBQERS Delight folks and a lady that I know there told me that I should buy their Brand known as B & B

Pellets which were the exact same but sold under a different label.  She also told me that Academy had them available in a 20 pound bag for $10.  I went to Academy and picked up some Apple and Hickory 40 pounds for a total price of $20 plus 1.40 tax.  That's pretty cheap for me.  You might check it out if there is an Academy near you.

 

[striper]

Dang striper,  seems like alot of pellets does it always take 19 hrs for you to cook butts...12 hrs is a long time for mine...I usually get em done in 6-8...at 250.  If my pork is going to cost about 6 bucks a pound i need to raise my prices more...but that figure is on my stick burner which my wood is free...I have not figured out cost on pellet grill...but your figure has me thinking of my costs...I will see how many Lb i go through today..temp is about 50.

Several friends have told me the same thing about the time.  Maybe next time I'll raise the temp a bit and see what happens.  Last time I bought Pellets on the open market up here in the Pacific Northwest they were 19.95 + tax for 20 lbs and those were Oak based blends.  That's part of the reason I bought the Pallet.

 

[show me smoke]

I do not have a place to store a whole pallet.  I like the ease of the Yoder...but as the temps get warmer and I do longer cooks can see the offset being used more to cut cost.  My wood is free..Dad's place has lots of Oak..and have access to a Apple orchard that is clearing out old trees.

 

[bbq pit vulture]

Several friends have told me the same thing about the time.  Maybe next time I'll raise the temp a bit and see what happens.  Last time I bought Pellets on the open market up here in the Pacific Northwest they were 19.95 + tax for 20 lbs and those were Oak based blends.  That's part of the reason I bought the Pallet.

Hi, Striper

Where do you purchase your pellets?

I live in Lynnwood

With a YS640 purchased at Foothills in Black Diamond WA. That is a two hour round trip

To purchase pellets. Looking for someplace closer

Thanks, Ollie

 

[striper]

Ollie,

I bought a pallet of Pellets from Todd.  I have a couple of friends that went in with me so we all got a good deal.  Still working on using them up.

 

[bbq pit vulture]

Ollie,

I bought a pallet of Pellets from Todd.  I have a couple of friends that went in with me so we all got a good deal.  Still working on using them up.

Keep me in mind for the next group buy.