Adding Bricks To Pellet Smoker Grill? ? ?

[zzdocxx]

Hi Everybody,

Posting from San Diego. I've got a Traeger Silverton 420 (from Costco).

I was talking to a couple of Green Egg owners last night and learned that even after you choke the fire, you can put the lid on and it will stay quite warm in there, due to the heat retention of the ceramic material of the egg.

My Traeger has got stainless all around. The thing is that the temp drops so much when opening the grill to flip or add or whatever. I have have seen pics here and there of Traegers with bricks inside them.


Anyone here do the same with their pellet grills ? Do you use special "firebricks"? Is the purpose mainly insulation, or to retain heat and radiate back into grill ?

[Jerod Broussard]

Nothing. Mine jumps back to temp just fine. My Weber is thin too, no bricks there either.

[Huskee]

Might be quite counter-intuitive in pellet cookers as far as the flavor scale is concerned. The better the heat retention, the less the pellets burn, the less the pellets are burning, the less smoke & flavor there is, and pellets are already quite delicate on smoke flavor. But, if you're simply looking at an energy-savings standpoint, it might help. How much? Who's to say, would take some detailed notes and some trials to see.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I think it's about how the controller handles cycling the pellet drops to balance smoke and temp retention more than the construction of the grill. Though I've found for cooks where I need to spritz a lot, I do benefit from mixing in charcoal blend pellets into my regular mix. I understand the idea of bricks on some cookers, but I agree, bricks probably aren't the best idea for pellet grills. You probably get some benefit from the temp spikes in the form of smoke

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

ran out of room... at least so far this summer, with my grills newest firmware and pellets I've been using for years, I'm seeing more smoke AND quicker responses to temp changes. And I haven't had charcoal in my blends for a few months. I will have to re-evaluate when we get to colder months to be sure though

[GolfGeezer]

Never do it on either my old Camp Chef DLX or my current MAK. The MAK recovers quite quickly. However, even if the temp took 10-15 minutes to recover, particularly on low and slow cooks, it will not make much difference in how well the food is cooked. I don’t do any high temp (over 275*-300*) cooks, but cannot see how those cooks would be negatively impacted either.

[bbqLuv]

No, I would not add fire bricks as they may interfere with airflow in the chamber.
Perhaps you are overthinking. My Traeger does just fine.
Carryover cooking, the meat will continue to cook and internal temperature continues to raise after being removed from the heat source for a time. So "If you're looking, you're not cooking" applies more to the cook and not the cooker. I know for me when I get impatient and start looking I tend to pull the meat before it's time. Under-cooked it is. Must be the grill's fault or the PBR.

Here is a great article on the free side
Myth: If You're Lookin' You Ain't Cookin' (amazingribs.com)

[zzdocxx]

Hahaha nice article.

Funny I guess that is part of the principle of the BGR that I hadn't understood till the other day.