Where’s the smoke flavor?

[med_rare_imp]

Switched from a masterbuilt electric to a pit boss pro series 4 v2 vertical pellet smoker and can’t get more than a slight hint of smoke flavor on the outside of meat (no smoke flavor inside) Even after using a smoke tube. My electric always gave me lots of smoke flavor (could smell it throughout the house when I brought the meat in to rest) but this thing might as well be an oven. Tried different pellets, temperatures but no change. Thought lack of moisture might be a factor seeing as how forced air, a large cook chamber and wide smoke stack makes for crazy convection. Removed stock water pan and replaced with smaller deeper one so it could sit directly on the heat shield, making the water hotter and thereby creating more steam/moisture but still no change. Not sure what I’m doing wrong or if this model is just a POS when it comes to smoke flavor. I mean, I can see smoke literally pouring out through the stack the entire cook. I’d be less disappointed if I had a bitter dirty smoke taste than none at all. I’ve had meat from other pellet cookers before and it always had at least a notable Smokey taste. Any suggestions? Only success I’ve had is cold smoking cheese which I do with a smoke tube and the unit is off.

 

[bauchjw]

Hm. Sounds like you’re doing everything right? I’m not on the same level as a lot here, but I don’t know what to do different? Maybe spritzing meat to give the smoke particles something more to stick to? May not be the safest, but in my old MES 40 I’d put a chunk on the heating element sometimes. That may give you more.

 

[TulsaJeff]

Are you seeing plenty of smoke?

The main thing to remember about pellet smokers is to keep them really low and slow. In fact, I recommend starting almost everything in the smoke setting for at least 30-60 minutes before turning it up to 225°F.

You may already be doing all of this.. just trying to ascertain where the problem might be.

 

[MJB05615]

I had a Pitboss a few years ago and had a lot of trouble after and during 2 years, went back to my MES 40 Gen 1. But pellet smokers generate more smoke flavor and smoke at lower temps. 180 and below I believe. What temp did you start at? Most start at 180 or less, or set theirs at "Smoke" for the first hour or so. The one issue I didn't have was smoke flavor when it worked correctly.

 

[Sven Svensson]

I always run my Yoder at 150-160 for the first hour or so with almost everything I cook on it. I don’t like a strong smoke taste so I rarely use a tube. I get the same results I did with both my former MES cookers. So I concur with the low start.

 

[daveomak]

If there is a flame in the "pellet pit", flame consumes smoke... You need a smoldering pile of pellets to get smoke and flavor....

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Have you reached out to Pit Boss customer service?
Have you tried the pre-programmed recipe settings?
And as suggested above, have you tried leaving it in the "S" setting for a couple of hours after placing the meat inside the smoker then increase the temp to your desired cooking temp?
Have you tried smoking chicken or other poultry?
Did it pick up smoke flavor?

I aplogize in advance for all the questions.

 

[normanaj]

You can also use an Amazen pellet tube to add extra smoke.

 

[BigW.]

Did you try different brands of pellets or just wood types?

 

[med_rare_imp]

Maybe I’ll try the S setting more even though I’m using a smoke tube. It just seemed crazy that I had very VERY little smoke flavor when my stack was pumping out smoke like a steam engine. I mean, after the cook I smelled more like smoke than the meat did. And yes, I’ve tried several different pellet brands.
i’m still curious about the convection and moisture. This is the first time I’ve had any barbecue out of a vertical pellet smoker as opposed to a pellet grill. The combination of the forced air from the bottom and the fact that heat rises makes me wonder if these smokers get dryer heat than a horizontal Smoker where the air has to make several turns before it gets to the stack.
Thanks for all the responses

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Try the "S" setting without the smoke tube.
You should still reach out to PB customer service.

 

[bjj1805]

I’m looking for some advice you might be able to help me with. My girlfriend just bought me a masterbilt electric smoker. I had an old propane one that rotted out. The electric part of the smoker seems to work fine. Heats up fast, maintains heat but I cannot get smoke out of it. How did you get so much smoke from your old electric one?

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

I’m looking for some advice you might be able to help me with. My girlfriend just bought me a masterbilt electric smoker. I had an old propane one that rotted out. The electric part of the smoker seems to work fine. Heats up fast, maintains heat but I cannot get smoke out of it. How did you get so much smoke from your old electric one?

If your MES has the chiploader tube on the side, try leaving the chiploader out about an inch or two.
You might also need to use an A-MAZE-N smoke tube or tray.

 

[ycastane]

You will never get the same smoke flavor period. Perhaps in the SmokeFire that has a smoke boost option to impart more smoke flavor.

I upgraded from a Smoking-it electric smoker to the Weber SmokeFire and yes the smoke flavor is less subtle, although I like it more.

Electric smolders the wood so you get heavy dirty smoke in your meat in comparison to a pellet smoker that burns a super clean fire so the smoke and flavor will be different.

 

[cal1956]

i know nothing about pellet "smokers " however i do use a wood pellet heater to heat my house in winter and can tell you that it produces almost 0 smoke