Welcome!


This is a membership forum. Guests can view 5 pages for free. To participate, please join.

[ Pitmaster Club Information | Join Now | Login | Contact Us ]

Only 4 free page views remaining.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Lone Star Grillz 20x36 initial review

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #16
    I keep coming back to look at these pics, I’d love to get my hands on one of these for a while especially side by side with the MAK for a little comparison. It sure is a beauty. I would love that Fireboard controller as that feature almost got me to buy a Yoder over the MAK. Don’t take me wrong, I love what I got, just like learning about different pellet grills, especially the higher end ones.

    Comment


    • willxfmr
      willxfmr commented
      Editing a comment
      I know what you mean. I'd love to get some hands on time with a MAK. Maybe we need to arrange a swap sometime.

    #17
    Awesome write-up, thanks for sharing all the details and photos. And congrats on what looks and sounds like a terrific cooker. Look forward to seeing some of the output!

    Comment


      #18
      Very impressive. Congratulations!

      Comment


        #19
        Congrats and many "AUgSPICIOUS" cooks Sir.

        Comment


          #20
          On my pellet I'll set it at 195 to run 230 on the warm end. They claim the probe is in an "average" area when in reality it is the coolest part of the grill.

          Comment


          • willxfmr
            willxfmr commented
            Editing a comment
            That tracks well with what I'm seeing here. As long as the difference is consistent, I can adjust. So far that has been the case.

          #21
          Here is a little follow up from yesterday's burn in, and some notes on the second heat test.

          I started the initial burn in with a full hopper of pellets. When it was all said and done, the total run time was just over 14 hours.
          This is what was left of the pellets.
          Click image for larger version  Name:	PXL_20220203_220145890.jpg Views:	0 Size:	3.63 MB ID:	1169328

          And a picture of the ash left behind. All told, #40 of pellets produced about 4 cups of ash.

          Click image for larger version  Name:	PXL_20220203_215646760.jpg Views:	0 Size:	4.50 MB ID:	1169329
          ​​​​​​
          To be honest, I'm impressed. The outdoor temp when I started was low teens. As the night went on, we dropped down to single digits, with the temp being a cozy 5°F when I shut things down. We also had a steady 10-16 MPH wind all night that was blowing straight at the back of the smoker. Being able to hold temp in those conditions, for that long will come in handy around here.
          ​
          Today was round two of the heat test, with the focus being on the upper rack. I also added a fifth air probe positioned right next to the built in probe that regulates the cooker temps to try and get an idea of why set point and grate level temps differ so much.

          The test today ran for a couple of hours with a set point of 225°F and showed even heating across the entire upper rack, with only the left rear corner having a meaningful deviation of roughly 25° lower than the other three probes. This was also the case in yesterday's lower rack test, but after several hours, even that corner leveled out and tracked with the rest of the probes. As with yesterday's test, actual temp at grate level ran hotter than setpoint, but it is consistently hotter, so it is easy to deal with by lowering the set point. What my fifth air probe, that was placed next to the built-in probe, revealed was that there is a dead zone in that area. Both the built-in and my added probe were always within a couple of degrees of each other, and always within 10° of the set point. For reasons I can't explain, that area is just cooler than the rest of the cooking chamber. I plan to run a biscuit test in the next few days to really nail down where the temps run hot and fall off, but that's for another post.

          A bit of interesting information popped up before today's test run, during the clean up from the previous run. I think I have figured out the secret to the steady stream of smoke coming out of the stack that this cooker gives you.
          As you can see in pictures below, the holes on the vertical end of the burn pot are considerably larger that the rest. Based on what I saw when I took the pot out for cleaning, I think what is happening is that when pellets are being fed in from the top, they hit sloped section of the pot, and while most of them stay in the pot, some of them make it through the larger holes and fall into the lower section of the burn pot. I'm pretty sure this is working in a very similar fashion to gravity charcoal smokers where you actually put your smoking wood under the charcoal in the ash collection zone, and the hot ash causes the wood to smolder giving you smoke.

          Click image for larger version  Name:	PXL_20220203_215559134.jpg Views:	0 Size:	3.25 MB ID:	1169327

          Click image for larger version  Name:	PXL_20220203_215615241.jpg Views:	0 Size:	2.92 MB ID:	1169326


          Today's clean up also revealed the first design flaw. The area around the fire pot has enough of a gap to allow very small pieces pellets, and ash to get trapped in such a way that the pot is no longer inclined to slide out. Some of this is likely due in part to running nearly #40 of pellets through it in one shot without any clean up. I'll know more about that later when I clean up from today's much shorter run. To get the pot to budge required some gentle persuasion with a flat bar. Luckily for me, flat bars, tape measures, and razor knives all fall into the same category. I own six of them and hope that at any given time, I can find one of them. Luck was on my side today. I didn't take the time to investigate this issue, so there may well be an easy fix. I'll update you all as we go along.

          That's it for today. Tomorrow will be the first actual cook. It will be a true test of my experience and technical skill. On the menu for supper is.... Cheeseburgers!
          Wish me luck.
          Last edited by willxfmr; February 4, 2022, 01:53 AM.

          Comment


          • glitchy
            glitchy commented
            Editing a comment
            Apologies if I missed this, but did you run the whole first 13 hours at 225 or various temps? It will be interesting to see if the cool spot changes when you cook big things that redirect air flow some, but that consistency should make it an easy cooker to deal with.

          • willxfmr
            willxfmr commented
            Editing a comment
            glitchy on the first run I was trying to maintain 225° at the grate, so the set point was adjusted down to get there. It did respond well to each change, so I think temps will be easy to control.

          #22
          I really like that smoker

          Comment


          • willxfmr
            willxfmr commented
            Editing a comment
            Me too!

          #23
          Ran a biscuit test today to get a good look at the hot and cold spots. Ran the lower rack first, and got these results. Set point for this test was 250°, and the outdoor temp was a balmy 35°. Wind was not a factor where the cooker was sitting.
          Click image for larger version

Name:	PXL_20220206_220424374.jpg
Views:	840
Size:	187.8 KB
ID:	1170874 Click image for larger version

Name:	PXL_20220206_222858610.jpg
Views:	812
Size:	196.3 KB
ID:	1170875

          Consistent, even heat all the way across the rack, with the far left running just a little cooler. Smoke distribution was even across the entire rack.

          The upper rack yielded the similar results, with the left side tracking closer to the rest of the rack than on the bottom rack, but the rear overall was slightly cooler. Again, smoke levels were even across the entire rack.
          Click image for larger version

Name:	PXL_20220206_231038226.jpg
Views:	814
Size:	157.2 KB
ID:	1170876

          In hind sight, I should have done the upper and lower racks at the same time to check the difference between the two, but I have run temp probes on each at the same time, and the temps track well across both.

          All of this testing is pointing to the LSG pooper being a well designed cooker that performs as well as can be expected. Actual food tests food tests are limited, but there is no doubt that the unique design of the fire pot on the LSG produces a lot more smoke with less temperature fluctuation than the traditional round pot found on most of the mass market pellet cookers available in big box stores. There is a chicken cook on the schedule to test smoke output at higher temps, but that is for another post.

          Speaking of the fire pot, I had an issue getting the fire pot to slide out smoothly after the initial thirteen hour burn that consumed nearly #40 of pellets. Since then I have done several shorter runs, and after each one the fire pot has slid right out without any trouble or force required. My feeling is that as long as you remember to remove and dump the ashes, before each cook, you shouldn't have any problems.

          I did encounter one very strange phenomenon near the end of the biscuit test. I was trying to take just a basic shot of the exterior of the cooker, and something that cannot be explained happened. The sky took on a eerie hue, and time seemed to stand still. I didn't think much of it and wrote it off to the nonprescription experiments of my youth flashing back. That is until I looked at the picture I took at that very moment. You can see in the distance a strange apparition haunting my world. There are rumors of such a creature in these parts, but he is known to prefer the Northwoods to the lower Fox Valley. What I saw, I can't be sure. All I know for sure is that I hope to see him more often.
          Click image for larger version

Name:	PXL_20220206_230936605.jpg
Views:	819
Size:	137.4 KB
ID:	1170877

          Comment


          • willxfmr
            willxfmr commented
            Editing a comment
            glitchy I'm going to try and coax it back with some wibs when the weather turn nicer. I'll report back if I'm successful.

          • CaptainMike
            CaptainMike commented
            Editing a comment
            Hmmmm, I sense this apparition may be a man that has something to do with fire. A very good omen going forward...

          • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
            ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
            Editing a comment
            I think thats the most even heat I've seen on a stack pellet grill. Very impressive.

          #24
          That is some wicked even cooking. willxfmr How wide are your grates? I'm much warmer closer to my chimney intake but I'm pretty sure I am a bit wider.

          Comment


          • willxfmr
            willxfmr commented
            Editing a comment
            The bottom grate is 29.5"(W) 20"(D). The top grate is 29.5"(W) 15" (D).
            I don't know how long it took LSG to get the air flow right and keep the heat so even from one end to the other, but I'm certainly glad they took the time to get it right.

          #25
          Yes that is eerie. To those in Oconomowoc, that is not Lake Erie, eerie. Look it up.

          Comment


            #26
            Ahhh. This is what I needed. In week 2 of the wait. How have your cooks gone? This smoker looks so freaking sweet.

            Comment


              #27
              Really good review in some colder ambient temps.

              I have learned with mine (LSG 20x36) to not pay too much attention to the controller temp it is flashing. The Tel Tru or my grate temp is what I am concerned with although it took me a few cooks to understand this as the controller oscillates the temps to get a better smoke profile.

              According to Chris the open center auger allows for pellets to flow through easier and not get hung up.

              I have used the sear function 4 times and have been impressed that I can get temps around 750 right above the flames, I'd suggest giving it a try. Leave the lid open when you do.

              I did a whole chicken at Thanksgiving and was impressed I could get smoke out of the stack with the controller set to 350, unheard of on my Rec Tec.

              Look forward to hearing and seeing more of your journey.

              Comment


                #28
                How much meat will it hold? That always seems to be the first question about any cooker.

                Well, here are three racks of St. Lou's fitting quite nicely on the bottom grate of a 20x36 LSG pooper. I could easily put one more on the bottom grate, and at least two more on the upper grate without doing any splitting of the racks to make them fit. So I'm going to call comfortable capacity six racks of St. Lou spares.

                Click image for larger version

Name:	PXL_20220705_181009228.jpg
Views:	619
Size:	230.1 KB
ID:	1249130


                Last edited by willxfmr; July 6, 2022, 03:45 PM.

                Comment

                Announcement

                Collapse
                No announcement yet.
                Working...
                X
                false
                0
                Guest
                Guest
                500
                ["pitmaster-my-membership","login","join-pitmaster","lostpw","reset-password","special-offers","help","nojs","meat-ups","gifts","authaau-alpha","ebooklogin-start","alpha","start"]
                false
                false
                {"count":0,"link":"/forum/announcements/","debug":""}
                Yes
                ["\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1157845-paid-members-download-your-6-deep-dive-guide-ebooks-for-free-here","\/forum\/the-pitcast","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2019-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2020-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2021-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2022-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2023-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2024-issues","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here"]
                /forum/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here