Question About Doing an Overnight Smoke

[Daba's BBQ]

Having never done an overnight cook before, how safe is it?

If I set the Trager at say 160-170, will 18 pounds of pellets last through the night?

 

[smokerjim]

I would say yes on pellets lasting. Do you have a high low alarm to wake you if something goes wrong, I just wouldn't leave a unattended cooker close to the house though anything can happen.

 

[SmokyMose]

Like smokerjim said, have a temp alarm to wake you if things go off the rails. Seems I've been seeing a lot of posts about smokers quitting in the middle of the night.
Just out of curiosity, what are you cooking at such low temps?

 

[Daba's BBQ]

I would say yes on pellets lasting. Do you have a high low alarm to wake you if something goes wrong, I just wouldn't leave a unattended cooker close to the house though anything can happen.

What is a high/low alarm and where can I buy one?

 

[kilo charlie]

Most pellet smokers burn 1.5 to 2 pounds per hour... the weather will affect that.

Depending on how low the ambient temps get the burn rate will increase to keep the smoker to temp.

Humidity, wind direction and speed against your smoker will also affect the burn rate.

As smokerjim said.. safety FIRST! Make sure the grease trap won't overflow if you have one, make sure it's away from the house and deck railings etc .

A probe with a high/low alarm is recommended from me as well. The last thing you want to do is start a fire or ruin an expensive piece of meat because the fire went out.

I run a water pan in my smoker so that's good for about 3 hours in my smoker... I wouldn't let yours go longer than 6 hours without checking on it.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

Like smokerjim said, have a temp alarm to wake you if things go off the rails. Seems I've been seeing a lot of posts about smokers quitting in the middle of the night.
Just out of curiosity, what are you cooking at such low temps?

I am making a 14 pound brikset? I just used the 160-170 number as a frame of reference to gauge if 18 pounds of pellets will last throughout the night (6-7 hours). I plan on moving the smoker about 10 feet away from my house - kinda close to the pool in case it blows I can just dump the entire rig in the pool :O

 

[ofelles]

I have ran many things over night in my pellet grill without any problems. The temp alarm is a good idea though and make sure the hopper is full when you go to bed of course. Most leave in probes have alarms. Amazon or ThermoWorks are good sources.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

I have ran many things over night in my pellet grill without any problems. The temp alarm is a good idea though and make sure the hopper is full when you go to bed of course. Most leave in probes have alarms. Amazon or ThermoWorks are good sources.

I found this one

 

[SmokyMose]

I am making a 14 pound brikset? I just used the 160-170 number as a frame of reference to gauge if 18 pounds of pellets will last throughout the night (6-7 hours). I plan on moving the smoker about 10 feet away from my house - kinda close to the pool in case it blows I can just dump the entire rig in the pool :O

Gotcha. I don't have a pellet smoker so that's beyond me. Many here (me included) use an Inkbird unit which uses your phone via Bluetooth. You probably have to get it on-line. You can get a Maverick at Home Depot. It's a temp probe that you can put in the smoker to keep track of the temps. A remote can be carried around to alert you if the temps get too low or high.
The Inkbird alarm will wake the dead!
Don't dump the smoker in the pool LOL!

 

[smokerjim]

What is a high/low alarm and where can I buy one?

Looks like ya found one,

 

[eaglewing]

I am making a 14 pound brikset? I just used the 160-170 number as a frame of reference to gauge if 18 pounds of pellets will last throughout the night (6-7 hours). I plan on moving the smoker about 10 feet away from my house - kinda close to the pool in case it blows I can just dump the entire rig in the pool :O

I have ran many things over night in my pellet grill without any problems. The temp alarm is a good idea though and make sure the hopper is full when you go to bed of course. Most leave in probes have alarms. Amazon or ThermoWorks are good sources.

You don't have to go as low as 160° to conserve pellets, you should not run out even doing 7-8 hours of sleep at 180°
I have several buddies that do overnighters with no concern at all... I use my FireBoard for high/low alarms but you don't need one that expensive. You might be close to 165° IT by the morning just in time to paper wrap... or soon there of.

 

[forktender]

I highly recommend the inkbird 4 probe remote bluetooth thermo you can use one of the probes as your high/low smoke chamber alarm.

It's simple to use and the alarm in LOUD in case you wear a Cpap or sleep like a rock it will still wake you.

 

[eaglewing]

This guy just did an over night pork butt cook

Fri Jun 25 2021. 24 lbs pork butt

Auto-created session

share.fireboard.io

 

[tallbm]

I found this one

Hi there and welcome!

I have that thermometer and I don't belive it has both a High and Low alarm but this one does and has an electronic coupon (just click the coupon) to get 15% off at the moment. It has a High and Low Alarm and 4 probes. I own it and it works well also.

The unit I linked is RF (Radio Frequency) and will work at 100yds no problem.
I mention this because Bluetooth options exist but the range on bluetooth is not as far as a dedicated RF device.
Depending on how far away you are from your smoker Bluetooth may not work for you with it's much shorter ranges but this RF Unit will.


Finally, a 14 pound brisket at 275F in my super optimized smoker would take me a little over 15 hours before it becomes tender and thereby done. Brisket is never done by time or temp, it is only when it is tender.

So your brisket will take way longer than 6-7 hours overnight to finish. Also add an additional 4 hours to your time frame. This extra 4 hours allows for buffer time for the brisket to finish or if it is tender and ready you have 4 hours to rest it. You simply tightly double wrap in foil, then wrap in 3 bath towels and set on the table until 4 hours later when it is time to eat and it will still be steaming hot!

So your 14 pound brisket at a 275F smoker temp naked in my smoker would have me planning to put it on 18 hours before I wanted to eat.
So if eating at noon I would put it on at 6pm the day before I planned to eat. I do this all the time and it works like a charm. To me a brisket is a mandatory overnight smoke if I plan to eat during the day lol.

I hope all this info helps :)

 

[schlotz]

You choice on whether to overnight smoke or not, but make sure you have a process that will wake you if the smoker temp either drops or shoots up. As far as a 14 # brisket goes, is this the sticker weight? If so, you most likely will need to trim it and at a minimum removing the hard fat that will not render. That alone will account for 2-3 #s. Always a good idea to weight what is trimmed off so you know for sure what the smoking weight is. Good Luck!

 

[Winterrider]

tallbm has you covered. Very reliable and accurate thermometer. My go-to out of 4 units.

 

[whistlepig]

I have an Inkbird IRF-4S. Highly recommend it. It's much better than the other three remotes I have owned.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

Hi there and welcome!

I have that thermometer and I don't belive it has both a High and Low alarm but this one does and has an electronic coupon (just click the coupon) to get 15% off at the moment. It has a High and Low Alarm and 4 probes. I own it and it works well also.

The unit I linked is RF (Radio Frequency) and will work at 100yds no problem.
I mention this because Bluetooth options exist but the range on bluetooth is not as far as a dedicated RF device.
Depending on how far away you are from your smoker Bluetooth may not work for you with it's much shorter ranges but this RF Unit will.


Finally, a 14 pound brisket at 275F in my super optimized smoker would take me a little over 15 hours before it becomes tender and thereby done. Brisket is never done by time or temp, it is only when it is tender.

So your brisket will take way longer than 6-7 hours overnight to finish. Also add an additional 4 hours to your time frame. This extra 4 hours allows for buffer time for the brisket to finish or if it is tender and ready you have 4 hours to rest it. You simply tightly double wrap in foil, then wrap in 3 bath towels and set on the table until 4 hours later when it is time to eat and it will still be steaming hot!

So your 14 pound brisket at a 275F smoker temp naked in my smoker would have me planning to put it on 18 hours before I wanted to eat.
So if eating at noon I would put it on at 6pm the day before I planned to eat. I do this all the time and it works like a charm. To me a brisket is a mandatory overnight smoke if I plan to eat during the day lol.

I hope all this info helps :)

GREAT point on the RF issue. My bedroom is on the second floor, about approximately 75 feet from my rig.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

Hi there and welcome!

I have that thermometer and I don't belive it has both a High and Low alarm but this one does and has an electronic coupon (just click the coupon) to get 15% off at the moment. It has a High and Low Alarm and 4 probes. I own it and it works well also.

The unit I linked is RF (Radio Frequency) and will work at 100yds no problem.
I mention this because Bluetooth options exist but the range on bluetooth is not as far as a dedicated RF device.
Depending on how far away you are from your smoker Bluetooth may not work for you with it's much shorter ranges but this RF Unit will.


Finally, a 14 pound brisket at 275F in my super optimized smoker would take me a little over 15 hours before it becomes tender and thereby done. Brisket is never done by time or temp, it is only when it is tender.

So your brisket will take way longer than 6-7 hours overnight to finish. Also add an additional 4 hours to your time frame. This extra 4 hours allows for buffer time for the brisket to finish or if it is tender and ready you have 4 hours to rest it. You simply tightly double wrap in foil, then wrap in 3 bath towels and set on the table until 4 hours later when it is time to eat and it will still be steaming hot!

So your 14 pound brisket at a 275F smoker temp naked in my smoker would have me planning to put it on 18 hours before I wanted to eat.
So if eating at noon I would put it on at 6pm the day before I planned to eat. I do this all the time and it works like a charm. To me a brisket is a mandatory overnight smoke if I plan to eat during the day lol.

I hope all this info helps :)

BTW - my plan is to serve around 6:30 pm

 

[whistlepig]

I have an 8 acre yard. I can get a signal anywhere from my IRF-4S while I am mowing the yard. Even through thick spruce trees. Did it today. I stick the receiver in my shirt pocket and keep a check on the smoker while I mow.