Pit Boss at Menards

[hopfster]

Jeepers K Dog, your the man!! I won't even need to read "how to" part after I put it together! Thanks!:sausage:

 

[lhpike]

I bought one. Used it three times and the unit has a problem. I sent my first service request on 08/31/15. I finally received a response on 09/21/15 asking if my problem had been solved. At this point I would have to say that this is a grossly over priced inferior product with horrible service. I wouldn't encourage my worst enemy to buy one

 

[lhpike]

Poor quality. Horrible Service

 

[3rdgenump]

I have had one for about 3 month now. Burned through about a 100 lbs of pellets. Everything has come out great! No complaints yet. Except the directions tell you to put the wheels on the same side as the handle...

 

[hockman4357]

Also what the manual doesn't clearly explain is when your in temperature mode the "P" settings are used once the grill meets it's temp.  Lots of people complain about the overshooting of the Pitboss.  You can overcome slightly by using the "P" setting.  Example, You set the grill to 300F, the auger will continue to run until it reaches 300F. Your fire pot is now full of pellets and continues to burn high for a minute or two causing the temp to overshoot. Mine is usual 40 degrees. You can't stop this from happening the first time or after you open the lid.  Now once you've loaded your grill and it's pre-heated you can adjust your "P" setting.  This will be done by lowing your "P" setting to P0.  This means the off time is 55 seconds which is more pellets. It seems backwards to add more pellets to get your temps lower from over shooting but your goal is to keep the fire pot at a more constant fire.  If you had your grill on P7 it's still going to overshoot 40 degrees but it won't put pellets in the pot for 150 secs or goes below 300F.  If it goes 150 secs the fire is now near out and the temp will undershoot and the series starts all over again.  This is what separates the pellet grill manufactures, allot of the higher end models have PID (smart) controlled augers.  If I'm cooking something at 250 I set it to "P0" and don't touch it for 20 mins and might bring it to P1. It will level out real nice.  Knowing what temp all your P settings run at is very helpful.  

My grill with Cookingpellets perfect mix runs like this.

P0  205/215                           
P1  190/205                             
P2  180/190
P4  180                                  
P3  180/185                         
P5  165/175
P6  140/150
P7  125/130

This will change with ambient temp, humidity and the amount of food in the grill.  The pellets by far make the biggest difference.

This is at 70/75F ambient, 1200 feet elevation and fairly humid.

I just did my break in firing and plan to use the Pit Boss for the first time this weekend. I called and talked to a Pit Boss rep about the P settings. She (Jennifer) seemed very knowledgeable and claimed that the control board only recognizes P setting adjustments in the Smoke mode and not in the High or Temperature mode. I told her that I had read that in Temperature mode the temp could be fine tuned by adjusting the P setting. She was adamant that this wasn't the case and that you could change the P setting but the change would not be recognized by the control board. She also indicated that the manual misstates that you can adjust P settings in the High mode and that it is being rewritten. Do y'all think her information is wrong based upon your experience with the grill?

 

[k-dog]

Yes, she is wrong, at least with my grill. You can easilly check yours. Turn your grill to 350 and let it get to set point then turn it back to 200, set your p setting to 0 and listen for when the auger goes off. Start timing it when it shuts off. It should be 55 seconds and the auger will come back on. Now turn the p to p7 and time it. The auger will be off for 150 seconds. You had me second guessing myself so I went out and checked mine again tonight. Haha, I've now put about 450 pounds through it and she's going good.

 

[k-dog]

I just did my break in firing and plan to use the Pit Boss for the first time this weekend. I called and talked to a Pit Boss rep about the P settings. She (Jennifer) seemed very knowledgeable and claimed that the control board only recognizes P setting adjustments in the Smoke mode and not in the High or Temperature mode. I told her that I had read that in Temperature mode the temp could be fine tuned by adjusting the P setting. She was adamant that this wasn't the case and that you could change the P setting but the change would not be recognized by the control board. She also indicated that the manual misstates that you can adjust P settings in the High mode and that it is being rewritten. Do y'all think her information is wrong based upon your experience with the grill?

I'm also finding out the colder it is outside, the more stable the temp is. But I sure burn through the pellets. I did a roast when it was 15 degrees out and it would only over shoot 5-10 degrees.

 

[hockman4357]

Well, I smoked a 9 pound brisket on my Pit Boss 820 on Christmas Eve. It was 35 degrees outside which I'm sure impacted the cooking. My observations verified using a Maverick temperature probe:

1) The grill was relatively stable in the Smoke mode. With the P setting at P3 the grill fluctuated between 174-196.
2) after 4 hours in Smoke mode I switched the grill to 225 Temperature Setting. The grill was very unstable spiking to as high as 286. I adjusted the P settings while at 225 from P1 to P5 waiting 20-30 minutes between changes to no avail. This was disappointing. I had hoped it would hold at +/- 10 degrees.
3) In desperation, I switched the grill to the 200 Temperature Setting. I experimented with P3 and P4. With this setting the grill would spike at 230 and not fall below 190. This was the only way I could achieve a temperature of approximately 225.

It seems strange to me that the grill would be so unstable in the Temperature Setting mode. Setting it at 200 to keep it near 225 seems nonsensical.

If you have any suggestions for leveling out the temperature swings//spikes while in Temperature mode I would greatly appreciate it. I really want to get this grill dialed in.

 

[k-dog]

How was the brisket? Cooking at 200/225/250 is the tough temp for stability. If your getting 180s on p3 you should try p0 to see what that runs at. This all changes with outdoor temp and amount of food in the grill. If I was doing a brisket right now I would set it to 200 and p4, my cone damper at 1/4 inch gap from inside of the cone. This will give me more smoke because of the temp swings. I don't care about the 40 degree swings anymore because they haven't affected the outcome of my meat. 25 degrees outside. This is just my preference. If I wanted more stability I'd set it to p0.

 

[hockman4357]

How was the brisket? Cooking at 200/225/250 is the tough temp for stability. If your getting 180s on p3 you should try p0 to see what that runs at. This all changes with outdoor temp and amount of food in the grill. If I was doing a brisket right now I would set it to 200 and p4, my cone damper at 1/4 inch gap from inside of the cone. This will give me more smoke because of the temp swings. I don't care about the 40 degree swings anymore because they haven't affected the outcome of my meat. 25 degrees outside. This is just my preference. If I wanted more stability I'd set it to p0.

Honestly, the brisket was excellent! I wrapped it in foil at 175 and then left it on the grill until it reached 200 followed by a 2 hour rest in the ice chest. It had a nice smoke ring with really good flavor and was very tender.

Are you suggesting trying P3 while in the Smoke setting to check the temperature?

I did have my chimney cap at about 1" so I will lower it.

I actually enjoy the learning curve. I think I'm really going to like the grill once I master the technique.

 

[k-dog]

Try p0 and see what it runs at in smoke mode. If your at about 180 in p3, I'd would guess you'd be at 205/210. Your doing everything right to learn it. In the summer your p0 might be 230.

 

[eat more beef]

Ive only used my pit boss a few times and have noticed a learning curve for me. But that is part of the fun. Going to try some jerk wings on it for the game today.

 

[dockman]

Pick a Pit Boss up from Menards today. Not sure it is what I want? From what I have read here if I want to smoke it needs to be in smoke mode but then temps will not get much more then 200 - 230 depending on the P setting! Is this more of a bbq pellet grill? Can I smoke with dial set at a temp setting?

 

[eat more beef]

The little i have used mine im liking it. I put it on smoke for a little while then bring it up to temp. The flavours have been very good. Not as good as using wood chunks and charcoal but alot less time and effort involved.

 

[jhjewelljr]

I, too, bought a PitBoss 820 at Menard's.  Spent $399 on it, and bought a 40# bag of hickory pellets for it.  Trying it out today.  It's not the best day to try it out, as it is REALLY windy (gusting to 40 mph).  Temp in smoke mode won't hold, but seems to be holding OK when I set it at 225 (between 215 - 240).  There are some settings adjustments that can be made on the thermostat for the Smoke mode, which I have been playing with a little.  We'll see how it goes.  

The unit seems to be solidly built and sturdy.  I'll update how things turn out and what my experiences are as I continue to use it.

 

[loucarisma]

Just bought my pit boss 820 yesterday. Put it together this PM. A very well built unit haven't even started it yet. But I think kdog was the one who explained the p setting very well. Wrote his settings down. I have copd and am getting older (60) and wanted an easier method of smoking my meat other than the briquets check heat place more briquets and wood repeat for hours. One thing I used a recipe on all recipes for a true smoked pork butt marinated in spices and Apple cider fabulous fall off the bone and flavor used Apple wood. I'm going to do this on this pellet grill with the Apple pellets.

 

[loucarisma]

Also any one smoke any catfish or carp walleye ect on this?

 

[loucarisma]

OK fired up the pit boss yesterday. Had a slight hiccup. The auger wouldn't turn. Took bottom of the hopper off wiggled the motor shaft and plugged back in. Walla the auger worked but every revolution it made a clunking sound like it was hitting something. Called customer support immediately they sent pictures of how to remove the auger to check for foreign object on auger tube. Pulled apart the grill and noticed some sharp edges on the shaft side of the auger. Took my grinder and flap disk and smoothed out any sharp edges that could be the problem. Reinstalled auger plugged in and it still made noise not a thump but something similar. I then noticed the motor wasn't aligned straight with the auger causing the motor to move around because of binding. I took a piece of 1/8 inch aluminum angle iron and a 1/16 piece of steel and mounted them to the shelf and eliminated the binding problem. Turned it on and viola no thump or noise problem solved.

 

[smokin papaw]

I see Menards has the Pit Boss 820. The price is $499. Does anyone have experience with this pellet grill? Dansen makes the grill for Menards. Looks like a Trailer knock off. Any suggestions or reviews would be appreciated.

 

[smokin papaw]

Just purchased one today