The inaugural chucky cook is underway. Now let's hope the rains hold off, in an area that gets 10" a year . . .
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The first cook is done. I ran at 225° using alpha smoke to an IT of about 170, then wrapped in aluminum foil and switched to 275° and PID control. I let it cook to about 202-203° and then let it rest for about 90 minutes. I dry brined for a couple of days and used @jarodbroussard's trifecta rub.
The smoke profile is definitely lighter. It was much more in the background. The family likes it, which is good. I liked it also. I think I'm going to experiment with 200° for the first 2 hours to see how that goes.
Another plus - I had plenty of pellets left in the hopper, even after running 9 hours. That gives me confidence for the first overnight cook.
Overall, the first cook was a success!Attached FilesLast edited by tdimond; May 16, 2021, 07:54 PM.Comment
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Congrats! Maybe I missed it but what pellets did you use?Comment
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Cook #2 done - wibs!Comment
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The details:
I dry brined for about 12 hours and used Memphis Dust for the rub. I'm experimenting with running cooler for the first part of the cook this time. I ran at 205° with Alpha smoke for the first three hours, then boosted to 225°. They were done after about 6 hours. Then I sauced two racks with Meathead's KC sauce and left one unsauced for my wife, though I did sprinkle on more Memphis Dust on that rack. Then I pushed it to 260° for the last 30 minutes.
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Pros and cons compared to your other grills/smokers? Any mods you would do?Comment
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STEbbq Sorry I didn't reply earlier, I got sidetracked. I've only been able to cook on it twice so far, so I'm still learning.
Pros: I'm liking the ease of startup and monitoring of the cook, especially with the grill WiFi and the app. I was able to monitor and adjust a cook while running errands, which is a nice feature. Temperature control is a snap, though I've been using alpha smoke and letting it swing.
The construction is solid. It comes essentially fully assembled. The only thing I had to install were the side shelves. Then it was clean the heat deflector and the grates and burn it in.
Refueling is much easier than the PBC, and I have more cooking space than the Weber 22" kettle with SNS.
Cons (maybe): it is definitely a lighter smoke profile. I did a few hours at 205° with my second cook, which did seem to help. I'll have a better feel after the first butt, which will be in a week or two. I'll likely do a brisket over July 4th weekend.
Save yourself some effort and foil the heat shield/drip pan. I was running out of a time before my most recent cook and didn't foil. I paid for it on cleanup.
I have not experimented with 100% hickory pellets yet to see how that affects the smoke profile, but that is on the agenda. I'm currently using Lumber Jack competition blend. I have some of Grilla's competition blend on hand, but I have not opened the bag yet. I'm also thinking of trying mesquite pellets to see how that affects flavor. I have not gone to smoke tubes yet.
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Outstanding thoughts.
I’d be curious about your thoughts on https://cookinpellets.com/ if you try them out. Very popular as I understand.
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tdimond Glad to see you are enjoying the new Grilla - I'm living vicariously through you, since that has been on my radar for several years. Hopefully you will break it in with some more cooks over this holiday weekend.
The bark on that chuck roast is as dark as any I've seen, and impressive for a pellet cooker.Comment
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tdimond, My OG is an original OG, so I don't have the upgrades they have come up with in the past few years. But a couple of comments that you might or might not find useful.
I have never wrapped the drip pan. What I have found is if you get it up to about 500 (baking a pizza works for this) when it cools down all the crud scrapes off very easily and it looks like new. I only do this occasionally, a quick scrape off is good enough for me. If you do wrap, be sure to keep the foil smooth, I partly don't because I've seen people get into trouble when the grease pools in a crease.
Way back I tried a smoke box. I haven't bothered in a long time. I find if I start the meat as close to 30 F IT as I can, after 10 hours it takes on enough smoke for me. But tastes vary. As do pellets.
Glad to you have more pros than cons, at least for now.Comment
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Overall, I like it. I'm obviously still learning the ropes. And thanks for the advice on the 500 degree burnoff. I'll have to give that a try.
And I did pay attention to making sure the foi was smooth for drainage, but thanks for the heads up.Last edited by tdimond; May 28, 2021, 11:08 AM. -
STEbbq No, I've checked with Grilla and was told that none of the upgrades for the OGs made in China are compatible with mine, which was made in Holland, MI. Even before the WiFi, the wiring harness for mine is not supposed to be compatible with the digital controllers. Wheel upgrades, stainless steel, none of those upgrades are compatible. I don't mind, my OG, Blaz'n Grid Iron and Weber Genesis were all made in the US. The Blaz'n is the only one that is still made here.
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After using my Chimp for several months, I am seriously considering getting an OG. That is down the line some though. I really like the Chimp, even though the smoke profile is light.Comment
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I’ll chime in too. Everything has been fine from on operating standpoint with one exception. The app works great and I really like it. Setting it up was a breeze as well. I’ve done 3 racks of ribs, ribeye steaks, potatoes, wings, pork shoulder, beef roast, and a pork tenderloin. The beef roast was terrible and I tossed it. That wasn’t the smokers fault. It was just a bad cut. Lousy bottom roast. 0-2 on making those. It was cooked to perfection too so it had nothing to do with the smoker. The beef rub I bought from them was fantastic too. Overall I’ve really enjoyed all of the food I’ve made on it.
the only issue I’ve had the food probe. It never would go above 132. Which was weird. I did my pork should on an overnight cook and after 8 hours it was still 132, which was odd. So I stuck my thermoworks Pop in it and sure enough 205. I contacted them and they replaced the probe but it’s still an issue. Finally on my last cook on Thursday the food probe finally reached and surpassed 132 and mirrored my thermoworks Dot. I’m still going to keep and eye on this. My thinking is is it’s not an issue with the probe then there is something else going on. Regardless, that’s only for the wifi. The grill is great and having wifi is a nice extra but it’s not a deal breaker. I have a Traeger at my lake house and that grill keeps dropping from our network. So while I’m used to wifi not always working on my smokers, it’s still a little annoying. A suppose that’s a metaphor for being a Bears fan.
traeger makes liners for their drips pans and I wish Grilla did too. I know you can use foil, and but those liners are great.
for pellets I am currently using hickory that I purchased from them when in bought their sauce and caddy package. Great purchase by the way. Got all of their sauces and ribs, which I really like. And the caddy has come in handy. Otherwise for pellets I’ve been using Traeger brand that I picked up at Costco.
I have a WSM too. Later this summer I am going to smoke some ribs on that and the compare it to the Grilla. One of the things I didn’t like with the WSM was the overpowering taste of charcoal. So we will see. But overall I’m very happy with the Grilla and still buy it again.Comment
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And I'm back with some boneless shorties, picked up from Costco in my quest to find a brisket. (My wife eventually found them in the third Costco we went to yesterday.) The rub is BBBR with cumin. I also grabbed some Cookin' Pellets 100% hickory for this cook.
An interesting observation: I have the Grilla set to 205°, and you can see what the FireBoard is reporting for the grate level probe.
Last edited by tdimond; June 6, 2021, 10:50 AM.Comment
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IT about 180°, I think I'm going to let them ride. They're close. I may be able to pull at about 190°.
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And the final product. Pulled when mostly probe tender, running approximately 190.
The smoke flavor was much more pronounced with the 100% hickory pellets. I'd say it was comparable to doing them on the kettle with SNS, though maybe a tad lighter on the smoke. I think I have a winner with the Cookin' Pellets.
I let it go unwrapped the entire cook. I fiddled with the cooker temperature toward the end, which you can see on the graph. It was a timing thing for dinner. You can also see the dips when I was checking on the cook. I went with Pro mode all the way. My grate level probe is consistently reading 15° above the set point. I want to confirm calibration before adjusting the offset in the OG controller.
I think I'm getting the hang of this thing, though overall it's pretty easy to manage.
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Potkettleblack you can see me letting it swing in Pro mode here.
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I'm glad to see you off to such a good start with the OG ... That's a mighty fine little smoker.Comment
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