Smokers / Grills

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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Smart purchase, make sure you like doing it first.

I smoked for roughly 10 years using one of these for ~$90

View attachment 246720

I didn't buy a "good smoker" until 5 or 6 years ago. Now I am considering buying a second GMG just so I can keep the Pizza Oven in year round.
what pizza oven attachment aare you using?
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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The one made by GMG (Green Mountain Grills).
maxresdefault.jpg

?

ah that looks cool, must be nice to have a smart pellet monitoring temps, if you wanna just do pizza is it just 10mins to get up to temp?
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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About that, longer in the Winter.
where do you store it, like put it on the floor when you want to smoke, thata why you thinking of another, just so you don't have to deal with all the moving around? (i mean mine was just on my porch floor, lulz, imagine being on your knees cooking pizzas, i legit was wearing kneepads)
 

Ameraves

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For any of you GMG users out there. Do you have an idea on how much pellets you go through?

Reason I ask is because I bought a Jim Bowie about a month ago, and it seems like it burns through pellets like crazy. I've been smoking a 10lb pork butt for about 12 hours now, and at the rate I am going it looks like I will go through somewhere between 15-20lbs of pellets. I could be crazy but it sure seems like an awful lot.

Prior to this I had a small Traeger that I used, and I would say that it used less than half the amount of pellets. Granted it is a much smaller grill so it takes less to heat it. However, my neighbor has the larger Traeger and he doesn't go through nearly as much as I do.
 

Oblio

Utah
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For any of you GMG users out there. Do you have an idea on how much pellets you go through?

Reason I ask is because I bought a Jim Bowie about a month ago, and it seems like it burns through pellets like crazy. I've been smoking a 10lb pork butt for about 12 hours now, and at the rate I am going it looks like I will go through somewhere between 15-20lbs of pellets. I could be crazy but it sure seems like an awful lot.

Prior to this I had a small Traeger that I used, and I would say that it used less than half the amount of pellets. Granted it is a much smaller grill so it takes less to heat it. However, my neighbor has the larger Traeger and he doesn't go through nearly as much as I do.
That sounds a bit high, I would call their customer service. They are pretty awesome, they might diagnose and replace a certain part. Never hurts to try.
 

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
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I don't have a GMG, but I smoked a brisket for 11 hours last night at 200 degrees while outside it was in the 40s and raining off and on. I used about 7 lbs of pellets all told. Unless you're cooking at really high temps I think something is up. Are you using good pellets?
 

Ameraves

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That sounds a bit high, I would call their customer service. They are pretty awesome, they might diagnose and replace a certain part. Never hurts to try.
Thanks. I just sent them a note because one of the casters is bent, and the paint on the front is already chipping off. I figured if they contacted me about those I could bring up the pellet usage as well. Seems like it is way too early to be falling apart already

1584937374666.png
 

Ameraves

New title pending...
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I don't have a GMG, but I smoked a brisket for 11 hours last night at 200 degrees while outside it was in the 40s and raining off and on. I used about 7 lbs of pellets all told. Unless you're cooking at really high temps I think something is up. Are you using good pellets?
Been cooking at 225 most of the day, just turned it up to 260 to speed it up a bit cause it's getting late. And they are GMG pellets.
 

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
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Been cooking at 225 most of the day, just turned it up to 260 to speed it up a bit cause it's getting late. And they are GMG pellets.

Might try other pellets to see if you get a better burn rate. I use the bag from Sam's Club that is $15 for 40 lbs and they taste great.
 

Lenardo

Vyemm Raider
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I go thru about about 1lb to 1.5 lbs an hr using my bowie for smoking at ~225. Slightly more if cold out, less if hot.

I have to reseal the lid this spring to minimize drafts, maybe Gethe a thermal blanket to help insulate the grill to retain heat better.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
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I usually figure a long cook is going to take a full 15 lb bag of pellets. My pellet grill is pretty large though. I've never actually measured but it's in that ball park.
 

Ameraves

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They sent me this chart on burn rate. There is definitely something wrong, because I went through way more than that. The hopper holds 17lbs, and I filled it twice yesterday and it has maybe 1/3rd in it now. So I would say I went through closer to 30lbs, and going off this chart I should have gone through maybe 12-15lbs

1584983833705.png
 

Ameraves

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They just called me back and gave me a couple ideas on what is going on. Sounds like the heat shield just needs to be moved to the right more, which is what is causing the paint to crack. Cause the front right for sure is hotter than the rest of the grill. So he thinks that was also just causing it to use way more pellets than it should.

I'll test it out in the next few days to see
 
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Lenardo

Vyemm Raider
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if the heat shield is offset too much most of the heat is offset and not spread and with the temp sensor on the LEFT if most of the heat is diverted RIGHT......

the ideal thing to do is-do you have a 3rd party thermometer with a few temp sensors? say 3? the bowie is big- weber has one that does 4 temps at the same time. i

set one ~6" from the left side of the grill- centered
set one ~ 6" from the right side of grill- centered
set one in the middle- centered- can be skipped if need be.

IDEALLY all 3 will show the same temp. and that temp will be the SAME temp as what the electronic sensor on the grill is saying.

ignore the grill sensor for now.

set the grill for say 250
place sensors, wait 15 minutes until temp reached

read the temp on the 3rd party thermometer
if temps are EQUAL, then compare that temp to the grill temp (use the APP) use the settings button to adjust the grill to match the 3rd party

if temp on either side is higher, slide the heat shield towards the high temp side about an inch if there is a WIDE discrepency in temps. half inch or less if small...

wait 5 minutes for temp in grill to stabilize.

check 3rd party... Adjust shield as necessary. Even a small 1/8th of an inch adjustment can affect the balance of the temps significantly throughout the grill surface.
Once the temps are GOOD....MARK the position of the heat shield on the FEED Tube on the left side with a sharpie or other perm. marker (or measure with a measuring tape and write it down somewhere it will not get lost, because when you clean the grill of ashes....you have to remove the shield.
 

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
4,889
11,292
if the heat shield is offset too much most of the heat is offset and not spread and with the temp sensor on the LEFT if most of the heat is diverted RIGHT......

the ideal thing to do is-do you have a 3rd party thermometer with a few temp sensors? say 3? the bowie is big- weber has one that does 4 temps at the same time. i

set one ~6" from the left side of the grill- centered
set one ~ 6" from the right side of grill- centered
set one in the middle- centered- can be skipped if need be.

IDEALLY all 3 will show the same temp. and that temp will be the SAME temp as what the electronic sensor on the grill is saying.

ignore the grill sensor for now.

set the grill for say 250
place sensors, wait 15 minutes until temp reached

read the temp on the 3rd party thermometer
if temps are EQUAL, then compare that temp to the grill temp (use the APP) use the settings button to adjust the grill to match the 3rd party

if temp on either side is higher, slide the heat shield towards the high temp side about an inch if there is a WIDE discrepency in temps. half inch or less if small...

wait 5 minutes for temp in grill to stabilize.

check 3rd party... Adjust shield as necessary. Even a small 1/8th of an inch adjustment can affect the balance of the temps significantly throughout the grill surface.
Once the temps are GOOD....MARK the position of the heat shield on the FEED Tube on the left side with a sharpie or other perm. marker (or measure with a measuring tape and write it down somewhere it will not get lost, because when you clean the grill of ashes....you have to remove the shield.

I think this information all depends on what type of pellet smoker you have. If you have one with an auger and a firepot that uses a fan to circulate the heat inside the drum, then those probes are probably going to show wildly different temps depending on where they are placed. This is because air is constantly being circulated throughout the drum, usually in a swirling motion. I tried taking the temps in my cheap(ish) pellet smoker and the temp at the probe varied by more than 50 degrees at times from the set temp on the smoker. This changed depending on where the probe was located on the grill and how close it was to the meat. Again, this is all anecdotal and may not apply to this situation, but it is helpful to keep in mind.

Once I stopped obsessing over the probe temps and just set the smoker for low and slow and let it do its job, I started getting much better results with way less attention paid.
 

Metalhead

Blackwing Lair Raider
904
2,396
So I bought a Yoder YS640 off a buddy of mine. Thing is, dude has had this thing in his garage unused for like three years and it's in need of some deep, deep cleaning and I am not sure other than elbow grease how to tackle this thing. I assume a good degreaser but a stiff bristle brush? Sos pads? I don't want to go ham with a hose and drench the electronics. Speaking of, the electronics still work on it when I plug it in but unsure if there are updates for it.
 

Lenardo

Vyemm Raider
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Good luck. Yoder are good.

As to that temp thing I posted above. Gmg has a long auger from the left and the burn pot is in the center.
The heat shield has a upside down v shaped deflector to spread the heat evenly. If the tip is offset, then the grill Will run hot or cold depending on the side.

Tip a bit to the right, then the grill will be cold since the deflector will be deflecting the heat towards the temp sensor making that side hot, while the rest is cooler. Opposite is true bit left then heat heating right side away from sensor, thus having to use more fuel to get to temp. Placed correctly, the left side and right side will be only a few degrees apart (under 5)