Pellet Grill Smoker Digital Temp Control

Very true. But you CAN use them in circumstances where you would typically use a propane grill. Of course, you won’t get the same flavorful results.

If you’re talking about a hot sear then this pellet pooper probably can’t do that, as most can’t reach those 600-700° temps required for that. But that does not mean that this can’t do what most people normally do on a propane grill. But the convenience of smoking is spectacular.

Check out this site:
http://pelletheads.com/index.php?board=171.0

Woot! should have included this image to help folks understand how the pellet feeder works and heats.

http://www.campchef.com/media/wysiwyg/campchef/cms_content/PG24se_function.jpg

It is important to note that with the smoke being generated in the main compartment (and therefore the heat as well) this is probably not a good choice for “cold smoke” - no Gouda for you…

Sorry for the confusion. It IS a 1 yr warranty! The sale has been updated. Hop that helps!

If it had the chimney I would get it to help control smoke/heat output. It appears that this model does not have any smoke outlet or it just comes out of a hole in the back. There is no manual to read and I could not see where to order a chimney stack from the company.

How big of a bag? A 20 lb bag? Wouldn’t that add $15 to the cost of your meal (at Costco’s price)?

This is not a charcoal grill, you don’t control heat and smoke through the chimney, you control it via the control panel. My Danson Country Smoker TG-300 has several holes in the back of the unit for smoke to escape instead of a chimney and that has never been a problem.

I have a large stick burner smoker, a Weber kettle and a pellet pooper and get great results from all 3. They are all different in how you manage their fires and the pellet pooper is by far the easiest. But it has its place and doesn’t not put out better que than my stick burner.

+1 for the pic. Thanks!

does this model have anything to empty the ashes? i cant find any info on the this model. The slightly better version has a rod on the right side to pull to dump the ash into a cup.

Does this model have this?

Humble brag alert! :wink:

Good question. Looking at the product page on their site, it doesn’t look like it.

Sorry for the confusion, vendor confirmed this DOES NOT come with the ash can.

I have a Traeger grill that looks very similar to this (but of course, different manufacturer, so who knows).

I spent a ton of time writing a review about the limitations of it on this Amazon listing:

http://www.amazon.com/Traeger-Junior-Digital-Thermostat-Controller/dp/B00DUQHAX6/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Scroll down to my review about “not set and forget and P-Settings”…assuming this one operates similarly, it’s worth reading even if you want to jump on it.

I use the smoker pretty routinely still, but my complaint still stands and I think it’s important to read to get how the appliance is working. I won’t repeat them here, but I’ll check back to see if I can answer any questions.

Just yesterday I smoked pork ribs…I had it set at 180 degrees, but the temperature constantly swung between 170-250 degrees. I was ok with that and ribs were going well for several hours…and then the pellets choked themselves and the temperature plummeted (which is how I knew I was dead in the water). Went outside to a 140 degree smoker still trying to feed itself pellets. Had to take the partially cooked ribs out, remove all the grates, scoop the excess pellets out of the hopper, and restart. That’s a killer if you’re waiting on dinner to be ready and the meat lost 8 degrees of internal temperature in the process. I’ve never had a long smoke that didn’t suffer from this phenomenon at least once. Short smokes at higher temperatures rarely run into the problem.

It’s Electric… I wouldn’t recommend having it out in the rain, you know? His has a remote, not sure about this one.

Additional thoughts I had after hitting the post button…

  1. I use this to complement my (bitchin’!) Weber propane grill. I wouldn’t recommend having a pellet smoker as your only grill. You can probably limp along like that, but (a) you’re using the most expensive fuel, especially at high heat, and (b) at high heat you’re not getting any of the smoking benefits and are just using a slow to respond, hard to hold a constant temperature, appliance. I’d rather use a real grill on things that need high temps or need a searing phase.

  2. If you want a cheaper summer toy, consider this: http://www.amazon.com/A-MAZE-N-Amazen-Pellet-Smoker/dp/B007ROPJ1M/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430764768&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=ez+smoke+pellet+tray

It uses the same wood pellets and puts out a ton of smoke. You can throw it in your existing grill (with the grill off…just using the shape to hold in the smoke) and cold smoke stuff. Cold smoked cheese = amazing and worth it. Or, you can throw that badboy in your existing grill (ideally over a low heat area so it keeps producing nice smoke) and crowd your hot grill with delicious smoke.

I’ve been on the Pellet Grill fence for a while. I looked at some reviews and it gets fairly good reviews on pellet heads and amazon. I hope I made the right choice.

You will get maybe a half cup or so of ashes after an 8 hour smoke. So, ashes aren’t a big deal.

I would be tempted to order, but I just ordered on Saturday from Smokin-it a model #1.

About how many pellets (lbs) are used in an 8 hour smoke? I’m concerned about the fuel usage. How long does it take to get through 20 lbs of pellets?

My off-the-cuff estimate is about 1-1.5 lbs per hour, assuming a lowish temp setting. Outdoor temp and wind can make that vary quite a bit.

EDITED…I got curious and looked it up. I wasn’t too far off. Here’s the answer from amazingribs (which anybody considering one of these should be all over)…

“According to Bruce Bjorkman of MAK, his cookers use about 1/2 pound of pellets per hour when set on “Smoke” (about 175°F). At 450°F, the high temp, they burn about 2.3 pounds per hour. This is about the same average as I have experienced on a variety of pellet eaters.”