Time to get serious about a new smoker.

[lambdacoug]

Just saw this on the PBC FAQ site:



http://www.pitbarrelcooker.com/faq/

Yeah, I know, my temps are at least 10-20% higher.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, I know, my temps are at least 10-20% higher.

Yikes.

Time to cut your losses.


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[Joe Public]

Did some absolutely horrible ribs yesterday. Maybe I should stop trying new stuff and get something consistent then start changing stuff. So far, I've not been terribly pleased with the PBC, slow and low isn't really a thing with it. It does hold a temp for a looong time though. I wonder WTF I can cook that would actually need the heat as long as it's available. The brisket only needed 4.5-ish hours and the heat goes strong for about 7-8 hours. Maybe it'll just replace my weber kettle grill that is 8-9 years old and I'll go get something else. I'll give it a few more cooks before cutting my losses.

What was horrible about the ribs?

If you can hold 325F degress, maybe do some searches for hot and fast brisket and pork, weeping ribs, etc. There are plenty of folks out there who cook around that temperature with results they find satisfying.

[lambdacoug]

What was horrible about the ribs?

If you can hold 325F degress, maybe do some searches for hot and fast brisket and pork, weeping ribs, etc. There are plenty of folks out there who cook around that temperature with results they find satisfying.

They were dried out. It probably has more to do with my n00bishness than anything, but the temps didn't help.

[lambdacoug]

Yikes.

Time to cut your losses.


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[Drunk Tank]

If you aren't already, sign up for the bbq-brethren forum. They have a 200+ page thread called the PBC appreciation thread. Alot of folks seem to like the cooker. Don't give up so quickly. All cookers have a learning curve.

[Uncle Ted]

Did some absolutely horrible ribs yesterday. Maybe I should stop trying new stuff and get something consistent then start changing stuff. So far, I've not been terribly pleased with the PBC, slow and low isn't really a thing with it. It does hold a temp for a looong time though. I wonder WTF I can cook that would actually need the heat as long as it's available. The brisket only needed 4.5-ish hours and the heat goes strong for about 7-8 hours. Maybe it'll just replace my weber kettle grill that is 8-9 years old and I'll go get something else. I'll give it a few more cooks before cutting my losses.

So my son built one of these PBC's for his engineering class as his project. I am thinking of giving it a try this weekend. Maybe I'll just try some chicken.

[Pelado]

For some reason, I've been trusting that the Traeger temperature was really what it said on the digital readout. As I started a smoke last night, I clipped my extra Maverick probe onto the grill. I had it set for 225, but soon the Maverick was registering temps over 300. I turned it down to 180, but the temps only came down to 250-260 range. So I turned it down to the smoke setting.

Anyone else have such divergent temps on a Traeger? Is there some way to recalibrate it?

[All-American]

For some reason, I've been trusting that the Traeger temperature was really what it said on the digital readout. As I started a smoke last night, I clipped my extra Maverick probe onto the grill. I had it set for 225, but soon the Maverick was registering temps over 300. I turned it down to 180, but the temps only came down to 250-260 range. So I turned it down to the smoke setting.

Anyone else have such divergent temps on a Traeger? Is there some way to recalibrate it?

Two ideas-- both of which are doubtlessly wrong.

First, there is supposedly more heat generated during the startup process on account of pellets being dumped in before there's a fire to burn them all off. If you're cooking at a low temp, they say to leave the door open for a few extra minutes to begin with to let that extra heat dissipate.

Second, try cleaning off the temperature probe that's connected to the control panel. If there's too much gunk on it the grill might think it's cooler in there than it actually is.

Probably the more likely thing than those two is a part that's off-- if you're still under warranty you may think about pushing to replace the probe.

[Pelado]

Two ideas-- both of which are doubtlessly wrong.

First, there is supposedly more heat generated during the startup process on account of pellets being dumped in before there's a fire to burn them all off. If you're cooking at a low temp, they say to leave the door open for a few extra minutes to begin with to let that extra heat dissipate.

Second, try cleaning off the temperature probe that's connected to the control panel. If there's too much gunk on it the grill might think it's cooler in there than it actually is.

Probably the more likely thing than those two is a part that's off-- if you're still under warranty you may think about pushing to replace the probe.

The readings I was looking at were from a few minutes to a few hours after starting the cook. I kept waiting for the temperature to drop below 300 when I had it set for 225, and it just wouldn't. I waited another hour or two at the 180 setting (registering 250+) before reducing it to Smoke.

Cleaning it probably won't hurt, but I'm skeptical it would make that much of a difference.

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[All-American]

The readings I was looking at were from a few minutes to a few hours after starting the cook. I kept waiting for the temperature to drop below 300 when I had it set for 225, and it just wouldn't. I waited another hour or two at the 180 setting (registering 250+) before reducing it to Smoke.

Cleaning it probably won't hurt, but I'm skeptical it would make that much of a difference.

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You have a digital controller for the Traeger? Is there a difference in temperature displayed on the Traeger vs. what the maverick says, or do they both agree that it's hotter than the setting would suggest?

[Pelado]

You have a digital controller for the Traeger? Is there a difference in temperature displayed on the Traeger vs. what the maverick says, or do they both agree that it's hotter than the setting would suggest?

The digital temperature reading on the Traeger is reading 60+ degrees lower than what the Maverick says.

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[All-American]

The digital temperature reading on the Traeger is reading 60+ degrees lower than what the Maverick says.

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Then my only guess is something is wrong with the probe-- excessive buildup or otherwise. I dunno.

[All-American]

Finally putting an end to a long-lasting saga with our Traeger.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we were seeing smoke come out of the hopper after some of our cooks. Since I last brought it up it had been happening more and more, eventually getting so that anytime we did a high-temperature cook we could count on smoke to start pouring out of the hopper by the end. At first it was only happening as we were shutting things down, but with more and more regularity the hopper would start smoking during cooks.

I called in to the help line dozens of times. I got to be on a first-name basis with some of the support staff. Every time they would suggest I do something to fix it that I hadn't heard before, I tried it. Tried cleaning it out before cooking. Tried new pellets (twice-- in fact, they sent me fresh bags of pellets to make sure it wasn't a problem with the pellets I picked up). Tried leaving the door open during the shut-down cycle. Tried leaving the door shut during the shut-down cycle. Nothing was working. With no reason to think that it was actually going to fix the problem (but no idea what else the problem could be), the support team sent me a new auger motor, a new induction fan, a new thermometer, and a sample pack of rubs and shakes (just out of pity, really). I give them an A for effort-- and if nothing else I can probably build a second traeger out of all the spare parts they've sent to me-- but nothing was working. Smoke was still pouring out of the hopper toward the end of high-temperature cooks. I was about ready to take the thing back to Costco-- I love it, but I'm not going to pay $700 for a grill that I can't cook a burger on.

I'm not sure what gave me the idea, but as a last-ditch measure I tried changing one last variable-- the time of day. I had been doing the cooks in the afternoon, so I tested it in the morning. This time, it worked like a charm.

As it turns out, something about the fact that the grill was sitting in the sunlight seemed to be throwing off the temperature regulation or something in the machine's inner workings. We've since found that everything works great if we keep the grill in the shade when we cook-- whether by cooking on a cloudy day or by moving the grill a few feet over on our deck and popping open the umbrella on our outdoor table. Simple little fix, and now we're back in business.

I looked around online quite a bit when we were trying to get this resolved (on this site and several others) and didn't see anybody suggest that this could be an issue, so I thought I'd post something so at least that bit of input is out there in case someone else ever has the same problem. I also called the Traeger customer support team to let them know what we had found; they seemed pretty surprised themselves (though they declined my offer to let me return all the spare parts. Like I said-- A for effort).

[Jeff Lebowski]

Wow. That is odd. I never would have guessed that.

Glad you got it figured out.