Your guess is as good as mine. Mine never does anything like that unless I put the meat over the fire pot location. I actually put my water pot there now.
So it is under my impression that the "P" setting is suppose to help "Dial" in keeping the pit boss temp accurate when you set the desired temp on the nob.
The instruction Manual I got with my AustinXL says it only affects the temperature of the "SMOKE" setting.
Now I know the hoppers and...