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Fire out... and this time I know why

FM Former Member
I had a load of pork butts going. I was doing a two stage cook. 4 hours at 180 then hold at 250.

The cook was actually about 1 hour from being complete and I noticed my cooking temp had fallen to around 218. I opened the door and sure enough had started to collect unlit pellets in the fire pot.

What I also noticed was the amount of "pellet debris/dust" that was on the ramp and coming out of the auger.

I was at the point in the hopper where I had emptied one bag of pellets and began another. All that debris/dust that are in the bags had made its way through the auger, down the ramp, and actually appeared to smother my fire and put it out.

I watched the auger turn and couldn't believe how much of that junk was coming down vs. the very little amount of pellets.

Lesson learned for me. I will now be sifting every bag of pellets that I put into my hopper. I will either use a screen or just dump them into a 5 gallon bucket while in front of a fan set on high to blow all that crap out.

Needless to say, I'm glad it happened when it did instead of at 3 am while I was sound asleep Smiler

Just a thought if some of you were having issues. Might be something to check into.
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M maxqMember
Thanks for the heads-up Grux. Now the question is, why did you encounter so much debris & dust in your pellets? I go through 2 20 lb bags a week and I've never come across this situation. Ok, maybe a slight handful of dust at the bottom of the bag but not to the extent you describe.

Reasons for debris...
pellets disintegrate when exposed to moisture or water. Despite the plastic bag, perhaps the bag was compromised and moisture seeped in? The only other thing I can think of is one of your bags was the very end of a pellets production batch, and an unusually large amount of debris was contained in the bag.

By all means, sift your pellets and let us know if you continue to find debris. I'm assuming you're using CS/FE pellets?
T trucky1008Member
I sift my pellets as well. I found using a colander works real well, although my wife was not too happy when she realized what I had used her colander for! Needless to say she bought another one.

I purchase BBQ'r Delight pellets and even though they are good quality I still have a decent amount of dust in the bottom of the bag. Since I began sifting I haven't noticed any dust build-up on the ramp.
FM Former Member
I just had the exact same experience with my new FEC120. Never had this happen before but I was warming up the unit before a cook and when I checked on it the fire was out, the pot was empty and the pellets were stuck on the ramp with all kinds of debris and fine dust. I was using BBQ delight pellets. I too will now be sifting my pellets.
FM Former Member
I noticed that my pellet log jam happened right at the end of the ramp. Upon closely inspecting the ramp, I noticed that the last two inches had a black carbon buildup. I think what can happen is the fine dust builds up there because it is extremely hot in the fire and carbonizes the fine dust into a rough spot. I think some 600 grit sanding paper and better maintenance of the ramp should help.

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