I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. I was able to christen my new Grilla by smoking a 14lb packer brisket. I had this one knocking around in the freezer for a while, a select grade brisket I picked up from Walmart. I wanted to use prime, but I told myself that it was time to make some room in the freezer and rotate the stock. I dusted with Oakridge Black Ops Brisket Rub. That is a mighty fine rub for brisket, if you haven't tried it out!
The brisket went on at 8:30 pm and I pulled it 10:30 am the next morning. I used the Grilla competition pellets - a combination of oak, hickory and cherry. Kept track of the temperatures with the Maverick XR-50: one probe in the point; one probe in the flat; and the final for the grill temp. When I pulled the brisket the point was at 205 and right on the verge of being too probe-tender, and the flat was almost 202 and was mostly probe tender (some areas had resistance, but it was minor). I held it in a faux cambro for 2.5 hours and then sliced. I couldn't be happier. We all agreed that this brisket was better than the first one I did, which was a prime brisket, but I cooked it on an electric Masterbuilt. There was a good smoke profile, the rub + the beefy flavor of the brisket was delightful, and it was quite moist (though the sliced pics don't show that because we had to wrangle the kids to the table!). All of the pics below.
This being my first cook on the Grilla (or any pellet smoker) has me left with some Grilla-specific questions and a general pellet smoker question.
Grilla-specific questions:
1. Smoke escapes from the viewing glass. Does/did anyone else have this issue? When I contacted Grilla they said it was normal for the first few cooks and would eventually seal up.
2. The built-in internal temp probe versus the cooker probe readout from the Maverick was different. If I wanted the Grilla at 225, I had to set the temp to 215. I know there is the "temp swing" with Grilla; however, I am surprised that I never reached my intended temp unless I consciously subtracted 10 degrees. One consideration I gave to this was perhaps by not wiping the internal built in probe down after the initial seasoning I could have unintentionally caused an improper readout. I plan to test it with boiling water to see how the Grilla readout responds. Owners: Do you find the Grilla internal temp probe and your set temperature to be correct?
3. The temp swing was more than I expected. The temp never dropped below my calculated temp (meaning I would know that 215 was really 225); however, it would swing as much as 30 degrees higher. Therefore the temp would ebb and flow between 225 and 255 - this is based on the readings from the Maverick. When looking at the temp readout on the Grilla if I had it set to 215, it would say it was not above 235 (though 240 did happen at one point). I understand why there is a temp swing between dumping pellets, running the fan, allowing them to burn and repeat, but I have not heard of others experiencing that large of a temp swing. One thought I had about this is I didn't have the Grilla level, though I thought it was in the dark. Would that make a difference? Has anyone else experienced that high of swing?
General Pellet Smoker question:
1. Do other pellet smokers see large temperature fluctuations? If so, how much and on what smoker?
The brisket went on at 8:30 pm and I pulled it 10:30 am the next morning. I used the Grilla competition pellets - a combination of oak, hickory and cherry. Kept track of the temperatures with the Maverick XR-50: one probe in the point; one probe in the flat; and the final for the grill temp. When I pulled the brisket the point was at 205 and right on the verge of being too probe-tender, and the flat was almost 202 and was mostly probe tender (some areas had resistance, but it was minor). I held it in a faux cambro for 2.5 hours and then sliced. I couldn't be happier. We all agreed that this brisket was better than the first one I did, which was a prime brisket, but I cooked it on an electric Masterbuilt. There was a good smoke profile, the rub + the beefy flavor of the brisket was delightful, and it was quite moist (though the sliced pics don't show that because we had to wrangle the kids to the table!). All of the pics below.
This being my first cook on the Grilla (or any pellet smoker) has me left with some Grilla-specific questions and a general pellet smoker question.
Grilla-specific questions:
1. Smoke escapes from the viewing glass. Does/did anyone else have this issue? When I contacted Grilla they said it was normal for the first few cooks and would eventually seal up.
2. The built-in internal temp probe versus the cooker probe readout from the Maverick was different. If I wanted the Grilla at 225, I had to set the temp to 215. I know there is the "temp swing" with Grilla; however, I am surprised that I never reached my intended temp unless I consciously subtracted 10 degrees. One consideration I gave to this was perhaps by not wiping the internal built in probe down after the initial seasoning I could have unintentionally caused an improper readout. I plan to test it with boiling water to see how the Grilla readout responds. Owners: Do you find the Grilla internal temp probe and your set temperature to be correct?
3. The temp swing was more than I expected. The temp never dropped below my calculated temp (meaning I would know that 215 was really 225); however, it would swing as much as 30 degrees higher. Therefore the temp would ebb and flow between 225 and 255 - this is based on the readings from the Maverick. When looking at the temp readout on the Grilla if I had it set to 215, it would say it was not above 235 (though 240 did happen at one point). I understand why there is a temp swing between dumping pellets, running the fan, allowing them to burn and repeat, but I have not heard of others experiencing that large of a temp swing. One thought I had about this is I didn't have the Grilla level, though I thought it was in the dark. Would that make a difference? Has anyone else experienced that high of swing?
General Pellet Smoker question:
1. Do other pellet smokers see large temperature fluctuations? If so, how much and on what smoker?
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