Very frustrated new user

[DHlatko]

Morning everyone. I have a PB pro Series 1150 that is frustrating the heck out of me.
The barrel temp. seems to be all over the place. I contacted Pit Boss and they sent me a new temp sensor. Installed and working. However, the temp varies up to 50-60 degrees depending on where you are in the barrel. I’ve cooked a couple of tomahawks as well as a few bork butts with good results, but now doing a Brisket flat and the temp is all over the place. One side of the flat, the ambient temp is 216, while the other is 245. Grill is set to 230. This frustrates the heck out of me. I have also installed a fire pit cover/diverter to try to even out the temps to no avail.
I would LOVE to hear your similar experiences as well as solutions!

Thanks,
Frustrated in Michigan…

 

[Cowboy1955]

Welcome from Texas to the group!!
If you’re using the PitBoss temperature probes my suggestion is to use a stand alone
I have the temp pro thermometers along with the heat defuser with no issues
I smoke a couple of pork butts a week or so ago and placed one to the left and other to the right
You’ll have a small temperature difference but nothing drastic
Hopefully this helps you

 

[mixed up]

It's not uncommon with pellet smokers to have 30 to 40 degrees different internal temp to set temp .
That is why I cook to internal meat temp not time .
As you learn your smoker you will learn it's habits and adjust your methods accordingly.
As a new person to the forum I alway pass the word along smoke by meat internal temp not by time but you can use the internet time as a estimate of when things might be done.
I have smoked rids 6 or 7 hrs I have done butts and brisket 24 hrs

 

[DHlatko]

Welcome from Texas to the group!!
If you’re using the PitBoss temperature probes my suggestion is to use a stand alone
I have the temp pro thermometers along with the heat defuser with no issues
I smoke a couple of pork butts a week or so ago and placed one to the left and other to the right
You’ll have a small temperature difference but nothing drastic
Hopefully this helps you

Thanx Tex! Appreciate the warm welcome!
I have tested against the Pit Boss temp with 3 different stand alones. I after installing the diffuser, Indid a temp profile using a four probe. I monitored the top shelf left, right grate left, right ambient temps from 180 deg to 350 at 5deg intervals. Then threw the numbers into a spreadsheet and created a chart with the smoker set temp and what was averaged as the ambient. The largest difference between the set and barrel was 62 deg. To me, that is ridiculous. Maybe I’m being too anal about it, but how am I supposed to get repeatable results when you’re playing a guessing game. Since this is my first pellet, maybe this is the norm for pellet grills, but I miss the repeated accuracy of my old electric smoker.
It would be nice to be able to adjust the set temp to match the actual temp of the barrel, but no such option exists.
Sorry for the long post, but my head is swimming with questions, lol

 

[DHlatko]

It's not uncommon with pellet smokers to have 30 to 40 degrees different internal temp to set temp .
That is why I cook to internal meat temp not time .
As you learn your smoker you will learn it's habits and adjust your methods accordingly.
As a new person to the forum I alway pass the word along smoke by meat internal temp not by time but you can use the internet time as a estimate of when things might be done.
I have smoked rids 6 or 7 hrs I have done butts and brisket 24 hrs

Thanks Mixed up!
Yes, I always smoke to internal temp. I’ve had pretty good results so far but am just frustrated with the temp difference of up to 60 deg between the set temp and barrel temp.
Another question: do you find it better to smoke on the upper rack when possible or on the main grate?
Thanks again!

 

[mixed up]

I have a PB 4 VERT and smoke in the middle if I'm only doing one item most of the time I use a set temp of 250 and just let it do it's thing and I find the temp probes are off also and use a wireless temp probe to my phone to monitor meat temp .
The only time I touch the temp is to bump temp for a finish after wrapping

 

[DHlatko]

I have a PB 4 VERT and smoke in the middle if I'm only doing one item most of the time I use a set temp of 250 and just let it do it's thing and I find the temp probes are off also and use a wireless temp probe to my phone to monitor meat temp .
The only time I touch the temp is to bump temp for a finish after wrapping

Thanks mixed up. I think I’m just expecting too much from the smoker, but I’d think that if you set the temp to 250, it would at least be close, not off by 40-60 degrees.
Thanks again.!

 

[Sparky]

Welcome to the group from Mesquite, Texas

 

[Upinmygrill]

Welcome @DHlatko I don’t know your grill but use an 850dx and have smoked pork ribs on the top shelf for approx 6 hrs without fail.

Like everyone else says go with the meat temp. The other thing is experience and experimentation always win out which is why I frequent this forum. There’s a ton of experience here.

Happy smoking!

 

[DHlatko]

Welcome @DHlatko I don’t know your grill but use an 850dx and have smoked pork ribs on the top shelf for approx 6 hrs without fail.

Like everyone else says go with the meat temp. The other thing is experience and experimentation always win out which is why I frequent this forum. There’s a ton of experience here.

Happy smoking!

Thanks. Sparky!! Will do!!
It’s an expensive learning curve, lol

 

[Cowboy1955]

Thanx Tex! Appreciate the warm welcome!
I have tested against the Pit Boss temp with 3 different stand alones. I after installing the diffuser, Indid a temp profile using a four probe. I monitored the top shelf left, right grate left, right ambient temps from 180 deg to 350 at 5deg intervals. Then threw the numbers into a spreadsheet and created a chart with the smoker set temp and what was averaged as the ambient. The largest difference between the set and barrel was 62 deg. To me, that is ridiculous. Maybe I’m being too anal about it, but how am I supposed to get repeatable results when you’re playing a guessing game. Since this is my first pellet, maybe this is the norm for pellet grills, but I miss the repeated accuracy of my old electric smoker.
It would be nice to be able to adjust the set temp to match the actual temp of the barrel, but no such option exists.
Sorry for the long post, but my head is swimming with questions, lol

You’re more than welcome
A lot of great folks in here