The Char Hickory are fine, too! I like the part about experimenting with difference wood flavors. Like many, I even mix pellet flavors. I had some left over PB charcoal pellets and mixed them with hickory pellets from PB and/or Lumber Jack. BBQ' Delight are suppose to be really good and should...
Here are some additional thoughts:
1) You can start of your smoke on the "smoke setting." This will produce a more constant smoke at the start. You can experiment with how much time on the "smoke setting" will work best for you. I hear many people will start off for one to two hours on "smoke"...
"Grill Sargent" and "Weekend Warrior" are great references for PB smokers. The advice from Mike in Florida is excellent--I watch their videos and learn lots. Once you get used to how your machine works, I think you will appreciate what is can do for you. If you want more smoke, you can even buy...
Hang in there my friend... I own a PB Austin XL and a PB Series 5 vertical smoker and I love them both; however, it did take some time learning how to achieve the best flavor / results. To infuse more smoke flavor start your cooks at a lower temp--if it is chicken parts I smoke them for an hour...
I think my unit flames out, too, drops 60-100 degrees, and the auger dumps pellets into the burn pot. The result is huge billows of smoke like at startup.
I have used Pit Boss pellets in the past, and then I started to use Lumber Jack. The Lumber Jack to me provides a little better flavor...
Last night I smoked on my Copperhead Series 5 a whole salmon filet, boneless chicken breasts, and fresh smoked veggies. It was a short 3-hour cook, and I also used an A-MAZE-N two-hour smoker tube filled with hickory and charhickory pellets. I did not experience any major temperature spikes...
Most of the time I will see the typical swing of +/- 20 degrees... and like you I can see +/- 50 degree swings--I'm OK with that. However, I have seen it shoot up 100+ beyond my set point many times! When this happens, the fire out of the fire pot increases more than I usually see it. It will...
I purchased a Copperhead 5 Series Vertical Smoker this past spring of 2020. I have experienced huge temperature spikes especially on long cooks. I keep the water pan filled and have moved it up from the bottom, too. I've contacted PB, and in a reply they informed me to preheat the grill at 200...