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Rib disaster

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  • das85
    replied
    Thanks again everyone.. It really is awesome how this crowd jumps in to help on something like this, good to know I'm never alone in the ongoing pursuit of bbq.

    In daylight I opened it all up and sure enough, when I cleaned it last week I misplaced the heat shield by half an inch. I'm betting that's enough to cause a 50 degree swing (they suggest moving an eighth of an inch at a time to experiment). Fixed it now and hoping all good next time!

    I am surprised by so much advice to use a grate probe routinely on pellet cooker.. I do use for cookers where I control the fire, but on a pellet machine I think would just drive me insane, tempting me to fiddle with controls throughout instead of setting and forgetting which is the point! Totally agree it's a great way to troubleshoot when something seems wrong, and will do that here if I have more trouble.

    Leave a comment:


  • Rod
    replied
    Extreme ambient temps also have a big impact on pellet grills. The pellet grills I used to have would never be able to maintain low temps this time of year. I'd have to crack the lid with a ball of foil to help keep the temps down. When it's real hot outside and the grill set to 225 or 250, it would spend the majority of the time at 300+ if I didn't crack the lid.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dewesq55
    commented on 's reply
    I do this with my ThermoTemp propane cooker and highly recommend it as well. My cooker keeps fairly stable temps, but they're not always at the temp the dial says it's set for so I adjust the dial to the remote probe.

  • bbqLuv
    replied
    Get to know your grill. Take temp readings throughout the grill with the grill set to different temps.
    Chart and log the findings. Great reference.
    Try the "Burnt Biscuit Test." Using the pop-open biscuits, place them all around in a hot grill.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dewesq55
    commented on 's reply
    Sounds right to me, too, Eric.

  • glitchy
    replied
    You might just need to clean the RTD in your pit too. It could be gunked up and giving inaccurate readings. To go along with above advice, I almost always have my Fireboard hooked up for smoking sessions. However, to be completely honest since I cook ribs to appearance that would be the cook I might not use it. Though at the first signs of oddities, it would be fetched and setup to troubleshoot what was going on.

    Leave a comment:


  • Rod
    commented on 's reply
    Definitely use a grate probe.

  • FireMan
    commented on 's reply
    Vents/air.
    Or (I can’t resist) the knob on the left! 😳
    Last edited by FireMan; July 29, 2021, 08:21 AM.

  • harveydom
    replied
    Originally posted by Huskee View Post
    I treat my pellet cooker the same as my charcoal kettles, stickburner & other cookers in that I always place a grate probe in there, sometimes 2. They will always tell the truth. My advice is get into the habit of doing that and adjust the control's temp to what your grate probes are telling you. Similar to how we're taught to ignore lid thermometers on kettles & gassers.
    How do you usually regulate the temperature?


    Leave a comment:


  • Huskee
    commented on 's reply
    Can't be remiss with the pricey delicacies Panhead John

  • Panhead John
    commented on 's reply
    Especially with hot dogs!

  • Huskee
    replied
    I treat my pellet cooker the same as my charcoal kettles, stickburner & other cookers in that I always place a grate probe in there, sometimes 2. They will always tell the truth. My advice is get into the habit of doing that and adjust the control's temp to what your grate probes are telling you. Similar to how we're taught to ignore lid thermometers on kettles & gassers.

    Leave a comment:


  • das85
    replied
    Thanks gang. This must be it. Would actually jive with recent results as I think about it, e.g. did chicken the other day with smoker set for 375, came out perfect with crisp skin although the smoker temp readout never got over 350. I'm going to try adjusting the heat shield, must have misplaced when I cleaned it recently. As I read GMG documentation, sounds like bad placement can throw off the thermal sensor generally in addition to left-right uneven-ness.

    Really appreciate everyone chiming in here, I'm always wary of jumping to "smoker temp readout was wrong" conclusion but seems the clear answer here.

    Leave a comment:


  • Old Glory
    replied
    Agree with above temps were hotter than you thought. Could the foil have leaked on two out of the three resulting in the loss of liquid in two? If not perfectly sealed liquids will steam out under high heat.

    Leave a comment:


  • Henrik
    replied
    Check temps in multiple places in your GMG. This is clearly a case of hot spots, charring the ribs too soon and too fast.

    Leave a comment:

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