Pellet Smokers

[4given]

Does anyone have experience with the Boone model from Green Mountain Grills Daniel? I've seen it recommended by Mad Scientist BBQ on YT but the reviews seem iffy from what I've seen.

I have had an GMG Daniel Boone for almost 8 years. Great customer service and it is still running strong!

[BehindBlueI's]

Does anyone have experience with the Boone model from Green Mountain Grills Daniel? I've seen it recommended by Mad Scientist BBQ on YT but the reviews seem iffy from what I've seen.

Mine was a lemon. They offered to replace it, but it soured me on the concept. I spent quite awhile resetting stuff, updating stuff, talking to customer service, etc. but at the end of the day all it would do is billow black smoke as the electronics would tell it to feed way more pellets then it could burn and they would smoulder. In fairness, they were great about offering to send me parts or even let me exhange it when I declined. I want a grill/smoker, not a project, and no matter who makes it the electronics are eventually going to fail.

[UNK]

Blaz'n grill works http://www.blazngrillworks.com/ used to be compared with Mak and Yoder. Might still be worth a look.

Pitts & Spitts https://pittsandspitts.com/pellet-grills/ and
Lone Star grills https://lonestargrillz.com/collectio.../pellet-smoker
Are companies known for their offset smokers, and made in Texas, that are making pellet grills.

One last thought, if insulation is important, have you thought about an insulated vertical cabinet with a bbq guru added for set and forget cooking?
Something like this Stumpster comes to mind https://stumpssmokers.com/the-stumpster/

I'm thinking of trying something similar with an old country gravity fed.

I wanted to come back and say thanks for posting those grills. They are all really nice and I had only heard of the pitts and spitts brand.
I thought the blazing grill works was really innovative. The grates that roll and also the option of the insulated firebox. Although his controller is very accurate I think there are better options available now. I would like to have the multiple probe option vs one probe. If he had the lone star controller Id say my search would be over.
The lone star has some very good videos. I find it interesting how they they use their controller to do their smoke temps in steps according to the internal meat temps vs a steady box temp and final temp on the meat.
So they set the box temp at 180 and when the meat temp hits 160 they step the smoke temp to 200 and then when the meat temp hits 180 they step the smoke temp to 225 then once the meat hits the final temp the smoke temp the cook temp is dropped to a holding temp of 160 until the meat can be removed from the smoker. Then they let it rest in a cooler for a bit over and hour and its ready to slice and serve. The juice was literally pouring out of the brisket when they sliced it. They also never wrapped the brisket. Im impressed to say the least. And this is all programmed into the controller. There is no user input required once the smoke is started. And it was a 17 hour smoke. Vid below

[Bratch]

Grilla is another well respected grill company. They have a funky lava fountain shaped vertical pellet grill that is supposed to be a smoke machine.

https://grillagrills.com/

[rob_s]

I don't know if there's anyone out there that's really done a deep dive into the controllers, probes, thermometers, etc. but I'd love to see it if there is. some are third party, some claim to be in-house, some use thermocouples, some support apple watch... there's a lot to parse. Not to mention failure rates (the comments about the CC controllers shitting the bed are disturbing, great CS or not. I prefer great QC to great CS)

I find it somewhat hard to believe that every little shop making these things is writing their own code, not to mention I'm not sure that's a good use of resources if you are. The fact that so many of these guys brag about it seems to me even more misguided.

The fact that Yoder uses the Fireboard is a big selling point to me. Even if I don't get a Yoder, I'm probably buying a Fireboard standalone in the next little bit. I like the fact that they know their own limitations.

ETA: here's my wishlist (outside of the ability to just work the goddamn grill, which apparently is not a given)

• Minimum 2 ports for dedicated meat probes (prefer 4)
• hard-wired air temp meat-chamber probes (prefer 2), could accept total of 4-6 ports for plug-in probes of my choosing
• wifi
• Apple Watch app
• thermocouple plug

[omega9]

I wanted to come back and say thanks for posting those grills. They are all really nice and I had only heard of the pitts and spitts brand.
I thought the blazing grill works was really innovative. The grates that roll and also the option of the insulated firebox. Although his controller is very accurate I think there are better options available now. I would like to have the multiple probe option vs one probe. If he had the lone star controller Id say my search would be over.
The lone star has some very good videos. I find it interesting how they they use their controller to do their smoke temps in steps according to the internal meat temps vs a steady box temp and final temp on the meat.
So they set the box temp at 180 and when the meat temp hits 160 they step the smoke temp to 200 and then when the meat temp hits 180 they step the smoke temp to 225 then once the meat hits the final temp the smoke temp the cook temp is dropped to a holding temp of 160 until the meat can be removed from the smoker. Then they let it rest in a cooler for a bit over and hour and its ready to slice and serve. The juice was literally pouring out of the brisket when they sliced it. They also never wrapped the brisket. Im impressed to say the least. And this is all programmed into the controller. There is no user input required once the smoke is started. And it was a 17 hour smoke. Vid below

MAK does the same. You can program cook temp changes based off time or internal temperature.

[UNK]

I don't know if there's anyone out there that's really done a deep dive into the controllers, probes, thermometers, etc. but I'd love to see it if there is. some are third party, some claim to be in-house, some use thermocouples, some support apple watch... there's a lot to parse. Not to mention failure rates (the comments about the CC controllers shitting the bed are disturbing, great CS or not. I prefer great QC to great CS)

I find it somewhat hard to believe that every little shop making these things is writing their own code, not to mention I'm not sure that's a good use of resources if you are. The fact that so many of these guys brag about it seems to me even more misguided.

The fact that Yoder uses the Fireboard is a big selling point to me. Even if I don't get a Yoder, I'm probably buying a Fireboard standalone in the next little bit. I like the fact that they know their own limitations.

ETA: here's my wishlist (outside of the ability to just work the goddamn grill, which apparently is not a given)

• Minimum 2 ports for dedicated meat probes (prefer 4)
• hard-wired air temp meat-chamber probes (prefer 2), could accept total of 4-6 ports for plug-in probes of my choosing
• wifi
• Apple Watch app
• thermocouple plug

Im looking into it also. Ive just realized the blazing grill controller can be augmented with a temp only device that supports multiple probes. It wont help with the control aspect but I think it would work out fine.
The blazing grills i think is a big daddy controller which will connect to an only 2.4 modem. If it has 2.4 and 5 it wont connect. Im having an email convo with BG now and at some point Ill probably call him. The other plus of the Big Daddy is its a learning controller. They claim to be the only one for pellet grills. Im aeeing a lot of problems posted with the Fireboard. Im dubious about claims that we developed this or that or proprietary programming in general especially if it pertains to a fireboard. The exception to that would be MAK. Its a learn as you go situation so who knows I may totally contradict myself in the near future.

I did email MAK about the grate temp for searing. They said the grate temp will be 10-20 degrees above the set temp. According to the Thermoworks article about searing that I linked previously you could get the MAK Into the perfect zone for searing. Lots to consider Im thankful Ive fought the fight with the weber kettle as I think it has provided a lot of experience about what I dont want.

[UNK]

MAK does the same. You can program cook temp changes based off time or internal temperature.

Good to know. Ive tried to find some info about that type of cook but Im not finding anything. It seems like a good idea but Id like to see in put from Amazing Ribs.

[UNK]

I watched the lone star brisket video again. First off I misquoted the temp set points.
Its pit 180 meat 160, pit 215 meat 170 pit 225 meat 202. He called it a staggered cook. I have searched I cannot find a single reference to this method. Has anybody ever heard of this? Im curious if there is a tangible benefit to this over setting the pit at 225 for the entire cook.

[omega9]

I watched the lone star brisket video again. First off I misquoted the temp set points.
Its pit 180 meat 160, pit 215 meat 170 pit 225 meat 202. He called it a staggered cook. I have searched I cannot find a single reference to this method. Has anybody ever heard of this? Im curious if there is a tangible benefit to this over setting the pit at 225 for the entire cook.

I do something like that on occasion to get a heavier smoke profile. Compared to an offset or charcoal cooker, a pellet cooker can have a much lighter smoke profile.

Tomorrow I’m cooking a pork loin on my Mak. I’ll start it in the “smoke” setting which is a temp range between 170 and 190. On smoke, the forced air fan runs extremely slow. After about an hour or so I’ll kick it up to 225 or possibly higher to speed up the cook.

To me, it seems to make the meat a little more smoky but I have never done a side by side comparison to a constant temp cook.