Pit Boss Electric smoker

[smokeringking]

Hey everyone.
Im new to electric smokers Ive always used just a barrel grill I built a small charcoal fire on one side and smoked meat on the other. Lots of tending, usually slowed my cooking times since to do anything I had to open the whole thing.
Well last year I got a Pit Boss Electric smoker. Just a little up right one no hopper or auger. But no matter what I tried I could not get proper smoke and temps, the element just would never heat the chips to the point of smoking unless I turned up the temp to like 300 or so. This year I thought Id try again with actual pit boss pellets, I thought maybe they were made to smoke at a lower temp than wood chips. But I just did a test and its the same thing. Am I doing something wrong? Not understanding something?

 

[kilo charlie]

Let's see a photo of this unit

 

[smokerjim]

Not familiar with your smoker but is your chip tray close enough to the element, I know with the masterbuilts sometimes we have to bend them a little to get close enough or in some cases touching.

 

[smokeringking]

Its a hammertone 2 series

I figured the issue was the wood tray not being close enough to the element but theres no adjustment. It rides on rails on the top edge so I cant really bent the whole thing down how would you bend the tray?

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Did you soak the chips before adding them to the chip tray? Don't soak chips, it is not necessary.
Are you now using a smoker tube or smoker tray for the pellets?
Do the pellets stay lit (smoldering) after you light them with a propane torch?
Generally, it is not recommended to use wood pellets in the smoker's chip tray.

 

[kilo charlie]

I'm not familiar with this one either... and searching YouTube videos revealed some horrible videos... perhaps you can find one that's watchable and see if the solution is hidden in one of them.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Could just be a case where the chips are oxygen starved.
Try running the top two vents wide open and pulling the chip tray out about a 1/4 " until the chips start smoking.

 

[SKade]

There is a mod called the mailbox mod for electric smokers. It should work out great for you. There is a thread in electric smokers about how to make one with a popcorn tin.

Mailbox (Popcorn) Mod (with a small twist)

Two minor new ideas. 1. Using a popcorn can. It's a nice size, and totally free (see my later post for where you can buy tins for under $12, if you don't want to spend $40 on gourmet mail-order popcorn and then use the "leftover" tin). 2. Using aluminum mesh inside the duct in order to trap...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

I’m not sure how to link to it properly but that should get you there. My Masterbuilt electric would sometimes have trouble smoking at lower temps. I would bounce it up whenever I added chips and back it back down when it started smoking. Electric smokers can be vary convenient but everything has its quarks. I just passed my electric smoker onto someone else this weekend for them to enjoy. Made a lot of good food and good memories with it.

 

[Winterrider]

Have you ever tested the actual Pit temp with a digital thermometer?
My Master built before PID, I would have to have set at 235° which was actually 215° before it would smoke the chips. Have since gone with the mailbox mod and use pellets or dust.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Look into a Tube Pellet Smoke Generator...JJ