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Smoking Temps on PG1000

N nordyMember
I'm pretty sure this thread will end with "Call Cookshack on Monday"... But here goes.

I've been smoking a huge 18# brisket (burntends are on now) and ran into a problem with the PG1000 running way too hot.

I'm using CS/FE Oak pellets.

Last night I set it at 200 deg with LHT 10 HHT 30. I gave it some time to settle in... and regardless of what I did it ran at 250-260 degrees (confirmed with 2 mavericks and the hood thermo. I don't usually use 2 mavs, just wanted a 2nd opinion after I started noticing this.)

The HHT was NEVER kicking in (telling me the control board was reading high temp as well) so I turned the LHT to 5 knowing this is a LEAN fire thinking that maybe I could get it down in the low 200s. No dice. Pretty much ran 240-250 regardless. Then finally after 7 horus... fire out... I restarted set at 250 LHT 10 HHT 30 and called it good. Ran at about 250-260 without any problems.

Currently running at 225 LHT 10 HHT 30 with the burntends on and temp is consistently in the 275 range.

I've never had this problem before on the PG 1000. I've cooked at sub 200 several times and had no issue.

Options:
1) I got pellets made from a "super tree" that was collecting extra BTU
2) The fans regulating the fire aren't working right
3) ALL my thermometers are malfunctioning
4) Something else

I think tomorrow I will clear out all the pellets and replace to rule out the "super tree"... Any other ideas?

Nordy

PS - The brisket turned out great... I did a "SmokinOkie" test for the dinner party tonight. 2 briskets one foiled one not. One injected, one not... one on a SMO20 one on the PG1000. Too many variables I know... but will be interesting to see the "winner"
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N nordyMember
Still need some help...

Finally got around to swapping out pellets...

I cleaned out all ash and all of the FE/Cookshack Oak pellets I was previously using.

I put some FE/Cookshack Hickory pellets in the hopper and started it up with settings:
Temp 180
LHT 10
HHT 30

Grill is empty with 2 temp probes one in the back middle indirect (just under the pit probe) and the other is front middle indirect.

Started up and went to 250.. no biggie... Let out some heat (not patient enough to let it settle out) and temp went to about 200 deg. HHT never kicked in. About an hour later both probes are reading 232-238degrees and have been for at least the past 30 min.

This is frustrating... Any ideas on what is causing this problem? I'm very hesitant to set LHT at 5 since I've had some problems with a fire that lean. And in the past I've had no problems running at 180-190 with the above settings. Seems crazy that I cant even run cool enough to cook at the "most common temp" of 225.

Again this is new. I've had no problems in the past. Have cooked a lot at low and high temps 2-4 times a week for the past 3 months...

Any ideas?

Nordy

ADDENDUM - Now that I post this... it's dropped to a steady 225-228 - Better but still too high... Maybe it would run lower with a hunk of meat in there...
Last edited by nordy
FM Former Member
You need to email or call FE.

I'm not big on adjusting the LHT and HHT, I'm a pretty basic guy and mines on the factor settings and it runs fine at 180.

But what's wrong with 250?

I do PB and Brisket plenty of time at 250 and get all the smoke I want with it. It seems to be better at smoke than the FE in some ways because of how the smoke travels up, over, down and out.

FE would be the best call.
N nordyMember
Talked with FE. Going to talk to the tech guys at cookshack... He thought it might have to do with higher ambient temps now compared to Feb when I was cooking lower, and possible an auger RPM issue. We will get it sorted out...

Mine runs fine at 180 (fire stays lit etc) but temp runs 225...

Nothing is wrong with 250 especially with butts or brisket, the 1000 puts out great smoke at that temp, but I like to cook salmon etc at a lower temp (about 190) and right now for some reason (probably warmer ambient temps?) it just wont go that low.

I'll update after we figure it out.

Again - regardless of the temp issues... Everything I've cooked has turned out pretty darn good! (clearly the cooker and not the cook...)
N nordyMember
Just wanted to update you all. I spent some time Friday AM troubleshooting with Tony at Cookshack. Checked all connections, RPMs, Voltages etc. and everything checked out perfectly. This ruled out about everything but an airflow problem... DUH!

So I removed the cap on the flue and tried to cook at 200 deg this evening (adding a little flavor to some ribeyes!). Temps ran just about perfect 195-205... I'll take that.

The flue wasn't particularly low (bottom edge about 1/2 inch above top of the pipe.) But this did make a huge difference in temps. So I put it back on basically as high as I could put it and have it be secure, just to have a cover on it... Temps were running great.

To top it all the ambient temp was about 30 degrees higher than when I was having problems. I'm guessing this did the trick, but will continue to monitor and test over the next few days.

Thanks go out to Eddy for your help (and this great grill) and thanks to Tony and the great customer service at Cookshack.


Nordy
N nordyMember
Update to the update... in case anyone cares. Yesterday was 100+ degrees ambient temp here in Oklahoma. I was nervous about cooking salmon at low temps given my previous issues. However, the PG1000 did a great job! At the settings below it ran a cool 187-195 pretty much the whole cook (except for about the first 15-30 min as it was settling in)

Ambient temp 100+ Windy
Flue cap as high as it can go.
Set temp 190
LHT 5
HHT 20

Was nervous running so lean at a LHT of 5... but it worked our great!

NOrdy
FM Former Member
Thanks for the update.

I don't adjust my LHT or HHT and have never had issues as you describe. I know a lot of people like to adjust them, but I'm 100% satisfied with the defaults.

But you're quickly getting the be the expert on the adjusting, so the posts will be helpful.

Maybe just a general "how to use your LHT and HHT" on your FEPG post Big Grin

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