Not much smokey taste...

[Rusty]

I have a PitBoss upright smoker. I've had it for about 9 months and we don't get the great smokey flavor we used to get from our Master Built.
I've used the same pellets in both and the Master Built smokes "like a chimney", but the PitBoss barely smokes at all.
The last brisket I smoked, my wife said, "It is a nice tender roast, but doesn't taste smokey at all."
I agree with her.
Is there a way to increase the smoke during the smoking process?
The "chimney" cap screws up and down, but I can't tell any different in changing that.
Advice?
Rusty

 

[MikeInFla]

I have a Pit Boss Series 3 vertical and it is excellent for smoke. But if you want even more I suggest the A-Maze-N Pellet Tube.

Paul's video will show you how it works, I have one and it will smoke for 4-6 hours just be careful when moving it from upright to laying it down as not to disturb the pellets. I think I bought mine for 9.99 last winter at Walmart but you can get them anywhere. Just find a good deal on one.

The cap won't make much of a difference but if you screw it down too low it will cause the smoker to over heat so I leave mine about half way during cooks. Really it is only there to keep out rain but I never grill or smoke in an uncovered area.

 

[Dave V.]

I have a PitBoss upright smoker. I've had it for about 9 months and we don't get the great smokey flavor we used to get from our Master Built.
I've used the same pellets in both and the Master Built smokes "like a chimney", but the PitBoss barely smokes at all.
The last brisket I smoked, my wife said, "It is a nice tender roast, but doesn't taste smokey at all."
I agree with her.
Is there a way to increase the smoke during the smoking process?
The "chimney" cap screws up and down, but I can't tell any different in changing that.
Advice?
Rusty

I have a PB vertical electric smoker, and gave up trying to use the smoke settings. I bought a cheap Pellet tube smoke generator and use it instead. I get a good constant amount of smoke, for about 4hrs. If I need more smoking time, I just add more pellets. Great for cold smoking

 

[Rusty]

ok, I hear you both, thanks .
What is the purpose of buying a pellet smoker that doesn't "smoke". With one of these tubes, I could just use my BBQ and save the space and money on the PitBoss...
any suggestions/advice?

 

[Rusty]

Makes me feel foolish that I now have a smoker that doesn't "smoke" unless I buy a "Smoker Tube" which works in any BBQ grill, gas, charcoal or electric...argh! I didn't have this problem with Masterbuilt...
Thanks for the advice, though

 

[MikeInFla]

Ignore any posts from Carl Martin, he is a spammer.

 

[MikeInFla]

I have 2 PB's, a grill and Copperhead Series 3 vertical. The vertical always gives me good smoke. Not sure why some are not. I use the smoke setting on it from time to time but normally start off at 175-200 and it has never let me down. The grill doesn't smoke as well but it is also a grill and does a better job at higher temps. I have used the smoke tube many times, normally in my grill. Tried it out in the vertical a couple of times and it adds even more smoke.

 

[Rusty]

Thanks Mike. Could you please explain "I use the smoke setting on it from time..."
I thought the temperature for the SMOKE setting was "just to get things started", not to maintain smoke at, say 250 degrees or some "cooking temperature"??
It would be great if that would work throughout the entire smoking project.
Also, do you know how to manage/use the chimney cap screw down? Does this affect the smoke generation/retention?

 

[MikeInFla]

Yes, you use the smoke setting to turn it on but you can also cook with it. My grill hold a temp around 165-185 when on the smoke setting. I use the smoke setting all the time! Sure it takes longer but I LIKE being outside with my two Pit Bosses. Plan on taking some time when using the smoke setting. Try something out on the "smoke" setting for 2 hours, then go up to 250 or whatever you want.

As for the chimney caps, I don't think they make a difference. It is mainly there to keep rain out of the Pit Boss. If you screw it down too far it can cause the grill to retain heat and get too hot.

My grill does not have a chimney but my Pit Boss Copperhead vertical does and I usually screw it down about half way.

Also, depending on what controller you have (most grills have a controller with Smoke then 200- those usually have a P setting) you can adjust the P setting for more or less smoke. The lower the P setting the less smoke, the higher the more smoke. It is defaulted to 4 and this seems to work best. I have tried setting 5 and 6 but them temps get too low. In fact one time on P-6 I had a flame out so now I just leave it on setting 4.

The vertical smokers do not have a P setting but they have more options. Mine has Smoke, 175, 220, 225 and goes up in 25 degree increments.

 

[Rusty]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this stuff to me.
I use Smoke to warm up; then set to 250 to actually "cook".
There is almost NO visible smoke coming out of the chimney once the cooking temperature is acquired.
My Masterbuilt smoked profusely the entire smoking "event".
My vertical Pit Boss almost doesn't smoke at all (out of the chimney)...thus my results have very little to no smoky taste...
I'll try starting on SMOKE for a couple hours and then heat it up to see if that works Thanks!

 

[MikeInFla]

One thing you have to remember is that pellets burn very clean. You will not get the same smoke flavor from a pellet smoker that you do on a stick burner. My thoughts on a stick burner -- I like to sit outside and cook but I do not like to babysit. A wood burner you have to always monitor and get it just right. That's why I have a pellet smoker so I can enjoy being outside but not have to worry about drastic swings like with a stick burner.

Since you have a vertical (I have the series 3 from Walmart) I am a bit surprised you are not getting smoke even at 250.

You probably don't have the P setting. What I normally do is turn it on S to start off. Then I turn it to 200 and let it run for a while. Then I will turn it back down before putting meat on it. Sometimes to "S" and sometimes to 175. Keep in mind doing this is going to take a long time. 175 or 200 will not cook anything, it will just give it more smoke.

Here's Boston butt I did took around 13 hours (including rest time). I started at 3AM and left it on 200 until it hit 165. It did have decent smoke but not as much as I wanted (I wanted heavy smoke). Watch here and you will see at the start of the video how much smoke I got at 200.

The last one I did for the same amount of time but for the first couple of hours I had it on the smoke setting and got more smoke plus I used a smoking tube.

 

[Rusty]

WoW! that's great!
My smoker doesn't smoke like that at all. I have (basically) the same one, I bought at Lowes.
If I set it to "smoke" it will smoke like that, but NEVER does it even barely smoke when it is set to a temperature. You can barely (or not at all) see any smoke when it is set to a temperature.
Thanks for the video!
Also, my probes are different from the pitboss probes by about 40 degrees or more... I have the Thermoworks SMOKE remote monitor ...