Lucky new owner of a PG500

Heck yeah, one special lady right there that knows how to get right to a mans heart!

I've used a couple bags of lumberjack pellets in my PG500. They worked okay at 275-300*, don't know about smoking at lower temps though.

The nice thing about how FE designed these grills is the ability to adjust the drop rate, which allows usage with about any pellet. Pick up a couple bags of their mixed wood and get to cooking something. If you run into problems with the pellets just give us a shout and we'll see what we can do to help.

I've used the LumberJack 100% Cherry and I have a couple bags of MHC & MBC in the garage. Good pellets, not a lot of ash. What part of SoCal?

Torrance, basically midway between LAX and the harbor.

Seasoning the grill now, that thing does get hot to the touch! Is the cover on the PG1000 where they put the insulation or is it around the base of the unit?

quote:

Originally posted by socal55:
Torrance, basically midway between LAX and the harbor.

Seasoning the grill now, that thing does get hot to the touch! Is the cover on the PG1000 where they put the insulation or is it around the base of the unit?

The lid is insulated. I think the base is as well?

Does the display on the PG500 show only the set temp, or does it display the actual temp as well like the SM025 smoker that I have. If not, I guess I need to invest in a thermometer to monitor the actual temps as well. Any suggestions for a good one?

Polder makes an inexpensive digital probe thermometer with a shielded cable and a temp alarm. Pretty much any hardware store will have one, I think. Thermoworks (maker of the Thermapen) makes some fancier ones. I've been happy with the Polder and it has lasted for years.

quote:

Originally posted by socal55:
Does the display on the PG500 show only the set temp, or does it display the actual temp as well like the SM025 smoker that I have. If not, I guess I need to invest in a thermometer to monitor the actual temps as well. Any suggestions for a good one?

The PG500 will show actual temps of the pit. The thing to remember is there is 4 zones and the reading will be for zone 4(bottom right)....with that said, it'll drive you crazy charting the temps as the grill swings if you put an independent therm in it, the meat itself won't know the difference or even care.

Here is a decent digital probe that I've come to rely on at comps.... chef alarm...not the cheapest, but hey it's almost Xmas time.

quote:

Originally posted by cal:

quote:

Originally posted by socal55:
Does the display on the PG500 show only the set temp, or does it display the actual temp as well like the SM025 smoker that I have. If not, I guess I need to invest in a thermometer to monitor the actual temps as well. Any suggestions for a good one?

The PG500 will show actual temps of the pit. The thing to remember is there is 4 zones and the reading will be for zone 4(bottom right)....with that said, it'll drive you crazy charting the temps as the grill swings if you put an independent therm in it, the meat itself won't know the difference or even care.

Here is a decent digital probe that I've come to rely on at comps.... chief alarm...not the cheapest, but hey it's almost Xmas time.

Thanks, that's what I was wondering about. When I ran it at 300 the other day to season the grill before cooking, I checked it a few times while it was running and the display always said 300. I thought it would be like my SM025 and display the actual temp while it worked its way up to 300, but it didn't seem to, unless I just didn't wait long enough. Nor did I see it creep above or drop below that set temp either. Guess I need to try it again and see what happens.
For the meat I've already got some remote probe thermometers to monitor the meat temps. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by cal:
Here is a decent digital probe that I've come to rely on at comps.... chef alarm...not the cheapest, but hey it's almost Xmas time.

+1 on the ChefAlarm, good stuff. Or if you don't need that many features, the new DOT might fit the bill. And I see they have a new air probe with a grate clip that will work with both of them. Might have to request that from Santa.

Can't believe I've had the grill for two months and yesterday was the first time I've used it. Anyway, I smoked a couple of racks of pork ribs at 225* and everytime I looked, from when I turned it on until the ribs were done, the temp display never changed from the set temp. I even used an oven thermometer on the rack in zone 4 just to check. Not surprisingly, the thermometer stayed right around 225* from about 1 hour on. I don't know if it's an isolated problem with my controller display or not. People here have said it should display the actual temp, not the set temp (like my 025) and Karen from Cookshack said the same as well (about her PG1000) a couple months ago when I emailed her about it after the seasoning of the grill. Has anyone with a newer PG500 (mine has a build date in July 14) noticed this as well? Should I check with Cookshack about a controller replacement? Or, since it kept the grill at the right temp, just leave things alone? Thanks in advance!

quote:

Originally posted by cal:
... Here is a decent digital probe that I've come to rely on at comps.... chef alarm...not the cheapest, but hey it's almost Xmas time.

I caught one of the ThermoWorks sales and purchased two of the Chef Alarms and three of the Dots. I'll use one of the Dots to monitor the pit temp (I bought one of the air probes) since my controller won't show it. I'm not planning to chart the temps, I just would like to know that it is somewhere near the set temp and I'll place the probe near the factory probe. Thanks for the suggestion, these look much more well built than the ones sold for home use.

It should be displaying the actual temp. I don't know if there is a change in the new model, they do tinker with the programming. Just call CS service.

Oh, and shame on you for not using that present more often.

If your pit is showing the set temp, you can call CS and they can tell you how to change the jumpers on the controller to show actual temp.

Nordy