FEC120 owners question

Randy. I don't have an FE, but call Cookshack tomorrow morning. They'll get you settled.

I don't have the 120, haven't used it, but it's the same basic concept (just an added large convection fan).

And overshoot of 20 to 40 is good but 80/100 is not.

Just call Bill/Tony this morning and ask them.

Was having the same issue with my 120 with a light load until Bill sent me a different auger motor that turns slower. Problem 100% fixed.

Thanks for the responses. Monty, I'll talk to Bill about that motor.

I got my 120 back in June and had the same problem. I talked to Tony at Cookshack and he explained to me that the program assumes a 75% load in the cooking chamber and feeds the amount of pellets appropriate to heat up that mass (that's about 90# of meat). If you are running a light load, the program does not recognize that, so it heats the chamber thinking that you have a larger load. I found that filling 1/2 size hotel pans with water and covering them tight with foil will simulate the mass required to offset the temperature spike, so if I am only doing 4 butts, I will load 4 covered pans of water (I call them "dummy loads") on the top two shelves. I have been doing overnight cooks, 4 nights a week for the last 3 months and this method has not failed me. Also, I have found that by using this method, there is no need to preheat the oven.

Yes ANP is right. I am in the process of also getting a fec 120 and have spoke to John at cooksack. The smoker is basically made more for restaurant use so they assume it will be full of meat when a light load is put in it seems to overshoot temperature range. I was told they just changed program to old way in which it will heat up smoker more slowly so it will take longer to heat up but wont overshoot as much.

Thanks again for the responses. Bill is sending me the slower feeding motor. I'm still having a problem understanding the reasoning behind the 75% load assumption of the programing. I have two Old Hickory CTO's and a Stumps Stretch that are all also designed for large quantity cooking. If I want to cook one piece of chicken or 300 lbs of meat, all I have to do is set the thermostat for the desired temperature and they go there. The FEC100 is also close in size to the 120 and uses the same IQ4 and doesn't act as erratic as the 120. I might not be understanding a real simple design philosophy here but it seems like I should be able to set it at whatever temp I want and that's what I should get. A design, shipping that has the customers changing out the board, the motor and the auger, like I've had to do,as have others, to to try eliminate 80 to 100 degree over shoots has me a bit discouraged. I will say that Cookshack customer service has been great but if the motor doesn't do it then My 120 is probably going back.

I understand completely. When I received my 120 and the temp spikes happened I freaked out. I designed my entire Trailer and business around a $5000 smoker. When it did not perform as expected I got very discouraged and damn near had a heart attack. After a few phone calls and some practice I mastered the learning curve. At the end of the day, It's the end result that matters and the fec120 delivers. If you like a heavier smoke flavor, spend the 40 bucks on an a-maze-ing pellet smoker. It fits perfectly in the fire box and and you can add any flavor of smoke you want to your load! I do wish that Cookshack would spend the time To create a program that would work with load size....I am a start up restaurant and I am going to grow.....4 butts today....40 tomorrow. Don't send it back! It's like A woman, it just needs to be caressed!

I am trying mine for the first time tonight. My temperature is a bit high. I lowered my setpoint a bit and it holds temp pretty tight. It is fairly close without too much overshoot.

Cooking Ribs Tonight, buts and brisket tomorrrow night.