Yoder YS640 - heat zone question

[New2Cue]

So I went to visit my brother, and after seeing all the pics of cue I’ve been sending, he decided to buy a 640 competition. He’s completely new to smoking, so left me with it today to set it up and figure things out since he was going to be out all day.

I ended up smoking three racks of baby backs. I wrapped in foil after three hours in honey, maple sugar, butter, and BBQ sauce. I have never had this happen with my PBC or WSCGC, but I actually got a candied texture on the ribs after only an hour and 10 minutes in the foil. Maybe it was the maple sugar, as I usually use brown sugar.

One question - the one rack that was placed in the very rear of the lower grate actually candied so much it was almost burned. Does anyone know why that rack would have had a different result from the others? All else was equal (size, cook times, etc.) except for the fact that I used a different rub on that rack. Does the perimeter of the grate tend to run hotter? Just wondering what my brother should takeaway from the experience.

My initial impressions of the Yoder are that it’s a really nice cooker. Solidly built, relatively simple construction, well thought out design. This was my first time on a pellet cooker and i noticed - as others tend to say - that there is a lesser, or different, smoke profile cooking off of pellets than charcoal and wood. Was an interesting flavor. It was good but i tend to like the profile I get in my PBC and WSCGC a little more.

Thanks in advance!

[RonB]

I can't help with your specific problem, but when I have multiple items in my Weber, I try to rotate.

[Ahumadora]

There was a hot spot in the cooker. You can map out where the hot spots are by laying slices of white bread on the racks and seeing how they toast. Very difficult to get a cooking to be perfectly even in all areas.

[Donw]

100% agree with Ahumadora that you hit a hot spot, and on using the toast test to find them. I have also noticed that the position of the sliding damper seems to move hot spots around. Did you see a relationship of hot spot to damper placement? In other words, was the hot spot right above or near the position of the damper plate?

[Texas Larry]

There is a good bit of radiant heat from the diffuser plate on the lower rack, and as Donw says the sliding damper can indeed affect it some. I usually try to use the upper rack for ribs but if I need the space I rotate them on the lower rack.

My 64o turns out some tasty ribs!

TX Larry

[Henrik]

Yup, spread wheat biscuits or bread all over the grates, that's a dead cheap and fast way to find hot spots. Works every time. The YS640 is indeed a fine cooker, but depending on how you fill it aerodynamics will change, so there will always be hot spots at different locations. The trick (as always) is to get to know the smoker.

[New2Cue]

Thanks guys! Really helpful information and tips for me to pass along to my brother.

I had laid the racks along along the width of the grill (parallel to the front edge). The damper was placed 5-6 inches in which according to the directions, would provide even heat throughout the cooker (so, each of the three slabs crossed the the diffuser plate perpendicularly).

These are really nice cookers. I put an 8 pound butt on at midnight last night. Managed to get a full night’s sleep, wrapped in foil a couple hours ago and put it in oven to save pellets. Looks and smells delicious thus far.

[Spinaker]

Word has it that, a Pit Master Club membership makes a good stocking stuffer.

[panteracfh3]

Spinaker It really is the gift that keeps on giving....

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

My Yoder YS480 has some hot spots in the front and right. I haven't messed around too much with the damper - it doesn't seem to have a LOT of variability in placement, to me.

[Dr ROK]

If you check the Yoder forum, Yoder Herb (who knows way more about the 640 than me) covers temperature variations quite extensively. In my correspondence with him and perusing posts regarding this issue, it appears to me that the damper doesn't really appear to make much of a difference. You can set the damper in a specific position and have a great cook, but if you put in a different sized HOM the next time, you're going to have different results/temps. I have gone to leaving my damper pulled all the way out (so does Yoder Herb). The grill temps on the chimney side are the higher on the lower level when I do this. Since I'm aware of this, I rotate accordingly. I'd highly recommend you refer your brother to the Yoder forum in addition to the aforementioned stocking stuffer to AR forum BTW, I love the flavor profile produced by my 640. The only thing I use my smoker tube for now is to smoke cheese.

[Sweaty Paul]

Dr ROK have you ever cooked with a large
Water pan on your YS-640? I did Meatheads smoked turkey recipe (was delicious), however, it calls for a gravy dish to be under turkey. Recipe calls for grill to cook at 325. I had to have YS-640 at 425 to 325 on top shelf. Thoughts?

[Dr ROK]

Sweaty Paul I have not used a water pan, but I do use a pan for all my cooks to save clean up time and catch drippings. I used a pan on my recent spatchcocked turkey and it worked great.

[New2Cue]

Thank you all! Really appreciate the input. The butt I smoked today on it came out fantastic. It’s definitely a good cooker, no doubt about it.

[CandySueQ]

Since it's not been mentioned -- try wrapping ribs dry. That's right, don't add any goo to them at all. I believe that it preserves the smokiness, while getting the meat super tender.

[bten]

That is what I do, sometimes I add a bit of apple juice, which I also use for spritzing