Heart of Dixie
Member
Quick Review of the Savannah Onyx
Disclaimer: This is my first pellet grill. I have been smoking meat with a stick burner for 20 years. My wife wanted something for her to use for grilling: chicken, fish, burgers, vegetables etc. My interest is smoking ribs, brisket & pork shoulders on days when the weather is bad or I do not have the time to sit and feed wood every 20 to 30 minutes for 4 to 12 hours.
After researching pellet grills for a week or so, the new Savannah model looked to fit our application well.
The two in the store were still in boxes that looked as though they had been beaten to death. I chose the one that looked like it might have survived a little better.
Box opening: The packaging on the inside was very good and there was no damage. The only problem was one of the pressed in threaded inserts for the bottom shelf was loose in the box. A simple cure with a nut, bolt and washer
Assembly: All you need is a Phillips Head Screwdriver. The Instructions are all drawings, no verbiage that took a little extra time to figure out what was meant. Having an extra hand for getting the legs and bottom shelf put together and attached to the cook chamber would be a help.
Burn in: Followed instructions and all went well.
I had planned to map out the temperatures before the first cook but decided to jump in and go for it.
First cook: 3 racks of ribs on the bottom shelf. The smallest rack was a bit overdone whereas the meat fell off the bones on half the rack and on the other half a small area with dry edges. They were cooked for 3 hours, wrapped and put back on until passing the bend test. The temperature was set 250 degrees. Color & flavor was good. Pit boss Mesquite was used.
Second cook – I used the second cook to map out the temperatures . The cook was an 8.7 pound, bone in pork butt. Pellets were Pit Boss hickory, temp 250 degrees. It took 10 hours to hit an internal temp of 203. The butt was wrapped in foil at 166 degrees. The result was very tender, decent bark and light, but decent smoke flavor.
Grate temps were measured with a Thermoworks Smoke X and the 2 Pit Boss probes that were included. The Pit Boss probes were always 2 to 3 degrees hotter than the Thermoworks which is close enough.
Temps results
Nothing in the pit. Temp set to 250. After a 20 minute warm up time in 42 degree weather on a screened in porch out of the wind. The probes were placed in the middle of the grates.
Bottom grate: left 251, middle 269, right 261
Middle shelf: left 258, right 272
Top shelf: left, 244 right 260
The pork butt cook: The meat was centered on the middle shelf, there was an aluminum drip pan directly under it on the bottom shelf and there was a 6 x 8 water pan in the back left corner of the bottom grate. The temps below are an average of the ones recorded every hour.
Bottom grate left :267, right 242 (Pit Boss Probes)
Middle grate left: 242 ,right 268
I also monitored the temps with the cap of the stack down all the way with no air gap between the top of the stack and the bottom of the cap, half way open = ¼” gap and fully open 3/4” . The difference ranged from + 3 degrees hotter all the way open on the left side of the pit and + 5 degrees on the right side.
The pit at 250 degrees produced. clean smoke all day.
Disclaimer: This is my first pellet grill. I have been smoking meat with a stick burner for 20 years. My wife wanted something for her to use for grilling: chicken, fish, burgers, vegetables etc. My interest is smoking ribs, brisket & pork shoulders on days when the weather is bad or I do not have the time to sit and feed wood every 20 to 30 minutes for 4 to 12 hours.
After researching pellet grills for a week or so, the new Savannah model looked to fit our application well.
The two in the store were still in boxes that looked as though they had been beaten to death. I chose the one that looked like it might have survived a little better.
Box opening: The packaging on the inside was very good and there was no damage. The only problem was one of the pressed in threaded inserts for the bottom shelf was loose in the box. A simple cure with a nut, bolt and washer
Assembly: All you need is a Phillips Head Screwdriver. The Instructions are all drawings, no verbiage that took a little extra time to figure out what was meant. Having an extra hand for getting the legs and bottom shelf put together and attached to the cook chamber would be a help.
Burn in: Followed instructions and all went well.
I had planned to map out the temperatures before the first cook but decided to jump in and go for it.
First cook: 3 racks of ribs on the bottom shelf. The smallest rack was a bit overdone whereas the meat fell off the bones on half the rack and on the other half a small area with dry edges. They were cooked for 3 hours, wrapped and put back on until passing the bend test. The temperature was set 250 degrees. Color & flavor was good. Pit boss Mesquite was used.
Second cook – I used the second cook to map out the temperatures . The cook was an 8.7 pound, bone in pork butt. Pellets were Pit Boss hickory, temp 250 degrees. It took 10 hours to hit an internal temp of 203. The butt was wrapped in foil at 166 degrees. The result was very tender, decent bark and light, but decent smoke flavor.
Grate temps were measured with a Thermoworks Smoke X and the 2 Pit Boss probes that were included. The Pit Boss probes were always 2 to 3 degrees hotter than the Thermoworks which is close enough.
Temps results
Nothing in the pit. Temp set to 250. After a 20 minute warm up time in 42 degree weather on a screened in porch out of the wind. The probes were placed in the middle of the grates.
Bottom grate: left 251, middle 269, right 261
Middle shelf: left 258, right 272
Top shelf: left, 244 right 260
The pork butt cook: The meat was centered on the middle shelf, there was an aluminum drip pan directly under it on the bottom shelf and there was a 6 x 8 water pan in the back left corner of the bottom grate. The temps below are an average of the ones recorded every hour.
Bottom grate left :267, right 242 (Pit Boss Probes)
Middle grate left: 242 ,right 268
I also monitored the temps with the cap of the stack down all the way with no air gap between the top of the stack and the bottom of the cap, half way open = ¼” gap and fully open 3/4” . The difference ranged from + 3 degrees hotter all the way open on the left side of the pit and + 5 degrees on the right side.
The pit at 250 degrees produced. clean smoke all day.
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