Temperature Swings - Why Should I Care?

[dubob]

I see a ton of discussions on various ‘Q’ boards about temperature swings of up to 100 degrees F in pellet grills. My Camp Chef Woodwind SG runs around 30 degree swings max. I’m new to the pellet grill arena and have only had mine for a year. So far, I have never given the temp swings any thought at all. The only thing I’ve paid attention to is the internal temperature of the meat I’m smoking. Setting my smoker to the HIGH SMOKE (220) mark, I put the meat in, plug in the remote INK BIRD probes and wait until I get to the desired temperature recommended for that particular cook.

A lot of you fret about having temp swings of less than 5 degrees and buy PID units to make it so. I do have a PID unit for my Bradley smoker and have used it successfully for about 10 years now. But the real benefit for me on the Bradley is the ability to program different temps for different time cycles, not temperature control +/- 1 degree. My smokes prior to using the PID were just as good; they just required more time and interaction by me to manually adjust the temps at pre-ordained times.

So far, on my pellet grill, my cooks have reached the required/desired meat temperature in the suggested time frame shown in the recipes. So, why should I care what the temperature swings are in my pellet grill?

 

[mike243]

Temp swings are normal and it doesn’t bother me a bit, most time its dead on but wind and outside temps can and will make bigger swings, my food dont know or care so why should I lol

 

[dubob]

That's kind of what I'm thinking.

 

[Brokenhandle]

I got an auber for my analog mes 30, and to have the ability to smoke sticks and summer sausage. With 30 temp swings it's a pain, and risk fat out if temp gets too high.

Ryan

 

[JC in GB]

What broken handle said. Temperature overshoot and undershoot is just slop that detracts from the quality of the final product. My charcoal smoker runs on a PID and regulates tighter than my indoor oven. The less hysteresis in your system, the less slop you have to deal with. I upgraded TomKnollRFV MES 40 to PID and he hasn't had any fat out conditions since.

I have one more point on using average temperature as a guide to quality. There are 9 broke guys in a bar. One guy walks in worth $10 million. The average wealth of each man in the bar is now $1 million.

I am a big fan of tight control....

JC

 

[noboundaries]

I'm not a sausage maker, but I can understand why solid temps are important for smoking links at lower temps.

Pork butts, beef hunks, and poultry couldn't care less about temp swings. The clock on the other hand...

 

[bregent]

So, why should I care what the temperature swings are in my pellet grill?

Different grills have different degree of swings and folks have different tolerance for what constitutes too much swing.
My CampChef had swings of +/- 75F and occasionally 100F+ and would often flame out. That is something I think most people would care about.
However, I don't think food cooked in a pit with +/-30F swings would turn out any different than one with a +/-5F swing.

How much is too much swing? Everyone probably needs to decide that for themselves. Most home ovens have swings of +/-25F, and I've seen some high end ovens with even higher swings. However, they don't display the actual temp - they usually just display set temp, so nobody cares because the food is cooking at an average temp close to the set temp.

 

[bregent]

I have one more point on using average temperature as a guide to quality. There are 9 broke guys in a bar. One guy walks in worth $10 million. The average wealth of each man in the bar is now $1 million.

Funny joke, but a poor analogy.

 

[RCAlan]

Every brand and type of pellet grill will operate a little different from each other. PID Controller Pellet Grills will run in a tighter temperature range then Non PID Controller Pellet Grills. Are all Non PID Controller Pellet Grills bad? No... There are many that run and function great, because their manufacturers did the extra work with the controllers to dial in their intended functions. When I first got my PB Austin XL a few years back, I wasn’t expecting to see temp swings of plus 75* degrees and sometimes 100* degrees plus... I had to figure out what was going on and see if there was a way to fix it and I did. There are many reasons for temp swings and there are also many reasons for the Wild 50*-75*-100* degree temp swings that some pellet grill users have had to deal with. Some of the reasons are, 1. Controller malfunction/bad programming. 2. The User not following the instructions in their owners manual. 3. Not cleaning the ash out of the burn pot from prior cooks. 4. Cold Ambient temperature. 5. Using Low/poor quality pellets. 6. Not preheated your grill if your brand and type of pellet grill requires it... just to name a few. I was able to get my PB Austin XL dialed in pretty good and would see temp swings in the 30* degree range. That didn’t bother me as those swings would also produce more smoke and my food turned out great. It’s when the Wild Temp Swings occurs that the End Users of those pellet grills should be concerned and rightfully so. Imagine an overnight cook and someone new to pellet grill bbqing and is using a questionable brand pellet grill or doesn’t follow the instructions in their grills owners manual. A lot of Bad can happen if and when those wild temp swings occurs. So should pellet grill users be concerned about temp swings?? If they’re in the 20*-30* degree range. No, but it’s wise to always use a quality wireless thermometer just to cover yourself and your food. Now if the temp swings are the Wild ones in the 50*-75-*-100* plus degree range, then the wise and correct answer is Yes... .02. That’s just me. I’m sure there are a few here that could care less if their pellet grills experienced wild temp swings... They may call it their pellet grills “Self-Searing” mode. lol

Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods... in SoCal and Always... Semper Fi

 

[WaterRat]

I see a ton of discussions on various ‘Q’ boards about temperature swings of up to 100 degrees F in pellet grills. My Camp Chef Woodwind SG runs around 30 degree swings max. I’m new to the pellet grill arena and have only had mine for a year....

...So far, on my pellet grill, my cooks have reached the required/desired meat temperature in the suggested time frame shown in the recipes. So, why should I care what the temperature swings are in my pellet grill?

I think part of the issue is, a couple years back, the lower end pellet smokers had really cheap ass controllers with the big swings you mention. It seems many manufacturers have tightened things up a bit. I'm pretty sure PitBoss has a better controller now than what is in mine. Another concern is simply perception of a problem, i.e.: "I bought this smoker with a digital temp control and it doesn't know 200°F from 300°F!" even though the temp swing was likely short-lived.

I have questioned the controllers myself though. It comes down to economics eventually - the PID controls of similar will keep you (close to) on temp while cheaper controlers will have swings. For the smoking you have said you do and most of what I do the swings don't matter. For the sausage makers it does but they're not running pellet smokers anyhow.

 

[noboundaries]

Most home ovens have swings of +/-25F, and I've seen some high end ovens with even higher swings. However, they don't display the actual temp - they usually just display set temp, so nobody cares because the food is cooking at an average temp close to the set temp.

Bingo! My oven not only swings 15F as it cools and reheats, but there's a difference between the temp I choose on the oven, say 350F and the position of the racks where I'm cooking. The bottom rack position will read 330F and the top rack position (345F). I noticed something was off after we bought it when everything was taking longer than it should have. It was an eye-opener to test the oven. Whatever temp I'm going to use for cooking or baking, I always bump up the oven temp based on the shelf used.

So, as off as my ten-year old oven is, temp swings in my smoker are a meh in my book.

 

[dubob]

Interesting discussion that brings forth a lot of knowledge I wouldn't otherwise have gained. Much appreciated.

I'm not into snack stix or sausage, so I'm good. My pellet pooper doesn't swing a lot, so again, I'm good. Lots of good input here.

 

[mike243]

My MES 40" runs pretty good and never had any issues with being way off , reckon Im lucky on some things.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

If one does not mind wide temp swings, well then why buy a pellet cooker to begin with?

I can get temp swings as wild as what are being discussed in this thread, 100°, and even tighter or considerably less than that, using my WSM overnight. And get better smoke flavor using my WSM, to me at least, than I can get from off a pellet grill with wild swinging temps.

My WSM cost around $400.00 and will burn Kingsford briquettes that I can find on sale at Walmart if I want.

I bought a pellet grill in part to tighten down my temps and run them more consistently. If I want swinging temps, like I say, I'll use one of my WSMs or my Kamado, and get better smoke flavor for my trouble.

In short, if I'm going to deal with 100° temp swings, well then I want something in return for that. And that "something" is, a better tasting piece of meat, with a heavier smoke profile than what I can get from burning pellets.

If I'm going to be dealing with 100° temp swings, well then why bother with a pellet grill? If 100° temp swings are part of the bargain, well then give me a WSM and I'll run it all night and get temps even tighter than that, and in the morning, end up with a better, to me, smoke profile on my brisket, or pork butt, than I would get with pellets.

As an aside, I don't barbecue in my oven, and so my oven is not really a good analogy when it comes to this.

 

[sweetride95]

If it isn't an issue, why does it always come up?
My food never suffered, but it bothered my OCD brain. I just got a Rec Tec Stampede and wow, this is an amazing grill in the price range. Don't knock accuracy until you've tried it.

 

[dubob]

I didn’t intend to start a battle over what type of cooker is better. I have a gas grill for cooking burgers, dogs, steaks, chops, etc. I have a Bradley smoker to do smoked fish and jerky. And I have a pellet grill to do my smoking of red meats and fowl. I’m not inclined to change brand names of my pellet grill. I am just curious as to what, if any, impact temperature swings will have on my smoking red meats and fowl. My swings aren’t ‘wild’ swings – greater than +/- 20 to 25 degrees. And from MOST of what I’m seeing posted here and on a couple other ‘Q’ sites, I can continue to not be concerned with what my grill produces in the way of temperature swings for the type of smoking I do.

I can see from the posts so far that some of you disagree and will make every attempt to control and minimize the swings to the best of your abilities. I have absolutely no issue with that. If it makes you happy to do that or makes it possible for your cooks to meet or exceed your expectations, then I am very happy for you. Grill on brothers and sisters; life is good and good ‘Q’ makes it even better.

 

[sweetride95]

I don't think temp swings matter that much. My traeger swung 30 degrees and I never really made bad food because of it.
The problem I had with swings came from running low temps and worrying about the thing flaming out on me. It never did, but many times I caught billowing the startup type smoke, to just come out of it, then overshoot 40 degrees.
I really wanted the traeger to work out, so I bought a Savannah Stoker for it. It ran much better, but still was sensitive to weather. In the end it seemed overly complicated, not wifi, and basically I had enough of all of it.
A bag and a half of pellets in on the Stampede, I can't express how less stressful it is cooking on it. I'm not making any better of food, but I am quickly gaining confidence in my grill. Confidence I didn't have a long time in my old setup.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

I like the temperature control for overnight cooks that a PID controlled pellet grill gives me. Love it. However it gives me that benefit at the expense of smoke flavor vs the smoke flavor that I can get in food smoked on my WSM using lump charcoal and wood.

I like the smoke flavor that my WSM burning lump charcoal and wood gives me. But it does that at the expense of tight, PID pellet grill type temperature control. Sure I can keep my WSM to within 20°-25° of my target temperature. But if my target temperature is 225°, I don't like seeing my temps drop to 200°.

Everything is a tradeoff. And a 20°-25° temp swing in a non PID controlled pellet grill today or tonight, is liable to become a 50°-100° temperature swing on another day or night depending upon ambient conditions, wind, etc. This is why I want a PID controlled pellet grill.

Cook on, smoke on. But if I believed that temps swings didn't matter, well then I would stick to my WSM for overnight cooks, and not tout the "convenience" nor the "consistency" of pellet smoking vs smoking on a WSM.

 

[Bearcarver]

As for Electric Smokers, the only real important thing about Temp Swings is that you know how much the swing (both ways) is. I want to know that, so I know where to set my MES 40 so I can get the average Temp to be the Smoking Temp I want.
So mine swings from 220° to 240°, when set at 230°, so whenever I want to smoke at 230° that's where I'll set it. When first starting up, it might swing from 260° to 210°, but once it levels out it should settle in at 220° to 240° if set at 230°.
Too many people would see that initial 260° Temp, and start turning the heat down, when they should have left it alone. Then they'll have it jumping all over the place.

Bear