Has anyone with a grilla OG had any issues getting it up to higher temps? I bought this a few weeks ago and I have been completely disappointed so far. I get very little smoke flavor and tons of ash at any temp (low or high). The smoker has a very difficult time reaching anything over 275, and doing so requires opening the door a couple inches. All this leads me to believe there is an airflow problem with my smoker. I wrote to grilla and got a list of foxes but nothing worked. I'm curious if this has happened to anyone else and if they have a fix for it. This smoker replaced my pitboss 820 and honestly, I'm sorry I upgraded because the pitboss has so far been a better performer on every level. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
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Don't have a Grilla, but sometimes for whatever reason a smoker can have gremlins. I assume you've tried a different brand of pellets fresh off the shelf from somewhere? Other than that I'll leave it to Grilla OG owners to provide advice -
A lot of good advice on this old thread that may be worth considering. I would be thinking pellets are maybe clogging and need to be cleaned out as one idea.
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I had a fox living in my kettle. Man it made a lot of noise at night.
Wait,...what?
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I had very similar problems with my OG that I bought last November. I chronicle them here:
You can read that I spent a lot of time and effort to try to fix it myself and replaced the temp RTD temp probe, tried all the suggestions. This was during frigid Wisconsin winter weather. Eventually I got a replacement OG. I have learned to play to its strengths and have had much success thus far. I tend to avoid using it for cooking temps > 325 to avoid frustration, I get because of my impatience. If I am cooking w higher heat I will use my old Weber gasser.
Hope it helps. I found the Grilla people very helpful and they stand behind their products.Comment
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It's not that the OG "can't" get > 325, it is merely that a weber gasser gets there faster. -
It's a value proposition. The gasser holds 325+ very steady and easy, low fuel consumption. The Grilla takes more pellets at that temp, raising the cook cost, for a marginal smoke benefit. Now, I do anything 350+ on the barrel,
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Hey DVal. I've been getting familiar with my Grilla OG for a few months. I also contacted Grilla support for advice on how to get to higher temps. If Grilla support didn't already send you the link to this video, you will want to check it out. https://youtu.be/ustquDkP45k
Mark Graham steps through a list of items to check and adjust on the Grilla OG to get to higher temps. I found it very helpful in resolving my issues. Even though it is a YouTube video, you won't find it by searching YouTube and the steps are not noted in the product manual. Go figure.
Here is a summary of the steps I got from Grilla support:
1: Fuel is confirmed good quality (not Traeger or Pit Boss - or too moist).
2: Grease Pan at 2 finger distance from bottom of front most grate bracket.
3: Hopper clean of pellet dust.
4: Burn Pot clean of ash.
5: Lid slightly cracked (between 1/4"-3/4").
6: If Grease pan wrapped in foil, ensure it's neatly tucked around the edges.
7: Try other Mode if #'s 1-6 above have been confirmed. (Mode 1 default).
Hopefully, once you work through these steps, you'll have as much fun cooking with your Grilla as I have been having.Last edited by Squatly; August 24, 2021, 06:43 PM.Comment
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I saw this back when it first was posted, but I was on vacation and didn't take time to respond. Also, my OG is so old it was made in Holland, MI, and they made it with a rotary dial controller, so when it comes to mode 1 or mode 2 I haven't got a clue. I have had mine over 500 a number of times, and it got there almost as fast as my Weber gasser can. My experience is that pellets are important, but it's the type of wood, not necessarily the brand. I use Lumberjack and Bear Mountain most of the time. Whichever one my son has at the best price. Fruitwoods will not get as hot as Hickory or Oak. This will go against "common knowledge" and #1 in the list Squatly got from Mark Graham, but I have gotten some of my hottest temps in the OG using Pit Boss Competition Blend. Which reminds me, I have a half bag of Pit Boss sitting in a closet at home that I saved in case I ever ran out of the LJ or BM. I've got 150 lbs sitting in the garage, and the bag is over 2 years old. I either need to throw it away or burn it up.
BTW, I have never wrapped my grease pan. The best way to get it really clean is to get it up to 500 degrees for about an hour, and then scrape it with a putty knife. What's left just pops off.Last edited by Bogy; August 25, 2021, 12:03 PM.Comment
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In any event, if you have more foxes than you can use, you can send them to me!Comment
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I've an OG and your problem is definitely pellets! Getting to 500 degrees shouldn't be a problem.
Try this. Clean everything out in the fire pot area. Dump your old pellets. Buy another brand and try those. I don't agree with Bogy assessment, but everyone's experiences are different.
I did do an interesting test with my OG, which I won at the World Food Championships in 2017. I primarily used BBQr's Delight oak and didn't clean it. It went almost 13 months before it wouldn't start due to ash buildup!Comment
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CandySueQ I'm not surprised that you don't agree with me.
It surprised me. 4 or 5 years ago before my son was selling pellets I would occasionally buy Pit Boss from Wal-Mart when I needed some quick. At that time it was the only place and only pellets I could buy in 50 miles. That bag is probably still from those days, which is why it will probably go in a campfire, and not one of my smokers. But I was surprised at how fast and how hot it got. Probably also made more ash.
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Seconding the BBQr's Delight.
High Quality pellets make all the difference.
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Only a few years into pellet grilling, and I am of the opinion and concur with pellets being about 80-90% of pellet grill problems.
At first, I did not think there was much of a difference between pellet brands. Traeger pellets us a finer grind of sawdust which you can see compared to Pit Boss from Walmart.
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I don't THINK the size of the sawdust matters, but CandySueQ would know better. I do think the quality & ratio of woods used matters. FYI traeger pellets use additives, others might, but they got caught. For a pinch I don't mind pitboss (had a bad experience with them at first, but I suspect it was handling and not the actual product). Only 2 brands I've NEVER had a problem with, BBQers delight (don't use em much 'cause I gotta mail order) and Smokehouse. I've used nearly all brands at least 2x -
Fuel quality is the same with pellets as charcoal. Some folks swear by briquettes and others with lump. Then there's imported lump versus domestic. Lots of variables with pellets from the quality of the sawdust, use of additives (oils for flavoring, extenders to maximize sawdust) and compression factor on the pellet manufacturing machine (pellet density). All of this effects the burn-ability of the fuel, the smoke flavor and temperature consistency.
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Hi guys. Thanks for the replies. I 100% agree that pellets are a big factor in pellet smoker performance. I used cookinpellets in my old pit boss with great success. However, I have had little success with the perfect mix and apple mash blends, as well as the 100% hickory. Grilla sent me a bag of their mix to try, and it really didn't help much either. They suggested that their pellet mix would work better because it contained oak instead of maple.
I haven't responded back to them in over a month because of time issues, but I plan to send an email back and I'll keep everyone posted.
Has anyone tried a smoke tube in their grilla og? I've noticed that I get a bit more of a creosote taste then I did when using it in my pitboss. This suggests to me that there is not a lot of oxygen in there to help the pellets in the tube burn. This may explain my other issues as well.
Pitboss competition pellets are surprisingly good compared to other store brands. I had a backup bag of these as well. Now that we are talking about it, maybe I need to give them a shot too.Comment
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I realize it's been a while but here's an update. I went through quite a bit of troubleshooting with grilla before they eventually told me there was nothing wrong with the smoker. This was after telling me that it should heat up much faster than it was. The impression I got was that they couldn't solve the problem and gave up instead of replacing the smoker or it's components. I'm very disappointed in this company and I strongly recommend people look at other products from more reliable manufacturers.Comment
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Wow, that's too bad that you didn't get the help you needed, DVal .
Are you still using the Grilla often and having the same problem? Perhaps you could give them another call. They may still be able to help. After 9 months of use, they can't blame it on the new user's learning curve.
Kathryn
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Diagnosed an issue with them over FB Messenger, and the part is in transit. Will get instructions on replacing it when it gets here.
im sorry for your experience, but it does not reflect my experience with them.Comment
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I had a minor problem with one of the legs on my Chimp when I received it last year. One call to them, they listened, they told me what they would send me, and they did what they said. Can't get better service than that!Comment
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