Swapping Pellets on the PG 500

Reported as spam.

Thanks oldsarge, I thought it was a rather stupid response. I got it figured out. I made a shoot out of cardboard & now my pellets don't go all over the place.

Jack - glad you got you pellet problem figured out. Stuart will take care of the spam response from elysia.  

Thanks oldsarge, I was going to report it but got distracted. It can get exhausting keeping up with all the spam. I wonder what attracts them. Too easy to sign up?

Jay - This forum and one other I belong to have turned into a lonely hearts club. Spam and trolls. At least on the other one I am a moderator and can deal with it quickly. 1 warning then banned. Life is good. Dave

Don't suppose you'd consider volunteering to Stuart?

I did, a couple of times.  I even dropped your name.  That was well over a year ago.  Not sure that the crowd stack folks want to go along with it.  My warning email usually does the trick and the people just disappear. Being able to hit a remove/delete button is a wonderful thing. And the removal of the trolling/time wasting post(s) also works well.  Banning is the last resort for the most persistent pests.

Dave, Yeah, I try to warn and to point out replies to 25 year old posts, etc. It is still aggravating to see someone sign up for membership just to post nonsense.

Wait, you volunteered me?? Yikes! I'm too comfortably retired to take on that responsibility. I like staying under the radar.

Jay

Not volunteered; tried to get you drafted. Actually, I said I was willing if asked/invited and that maybe he could contact you and get your feedback.

Retired?  I plan on working till I am 75.  71 now and being a field construction quality assurance inspector, I am out doors most of the work week and, well, I just plain like it.

Dave, good for you! Well, I'm 72 and retired for some time, but I manage to keep busy and religiously exercise several times a week. My lady is a cpa and not yet retired and is currently slammed by tax season. I cook for her and she likes it.

@JMack posted:

This might be a dumb question, but I'm wondering the best way to swap pellets on the PG 500.  I just got mine about a month ago & the pellet drain door isn't really located in the best place.  What have other PG 500 owners done to funnel their pellets intoa bucket?

I use one of those bucket top vacuums that I got from home depot.  Since I store my pellets in 5 gallon buckets, its easy to get them out and dump them  back into a storage bucket.  Before that, I would hold the 5 gallon bucket against the bottom edge of the bin and open the hatch, but it seemed to be a three handed job, one to move pellets, one to hold the flap open, and a third to hold a bucket.  I was very organized when I first got my PG500 and had all kinds of different types of pellets and put them in and out for practically every cook.  However, I found that other than mesquite, almost all the other smoke tasted the more or less the same although they smelled a bit different while cooking.  I use alder for smoking fish as that is sort of traditional where I live in the Pacific Northwest, I use hickory for pork, I use oak or mesquite for beef, and for chicken I usually use when ever I left in the grill as I prefer to cook it more of a hot and fast style so the skin is crispy.  I try to gage how many pellets that I will use depending on what I'm cooking so that there is not much left in the bottom when I finished.  Doing pulled pork or brisket I fill up the hopper,  other wise I plan on burning a pound and hour, unless its really cold and/or windy.

I have cooked some great food on mine over the last 10 years.  It may look a little grungy, but there is no burnt off paint or rust, I don's see why it wont last another 10 years or longer.

Don't be afraid to experiment, think of the cooker as a wood fire convection oven, anything you can cook inside you can cook out side; add some smoke flavor, keep the heat down in the kitchen, or free up the kitchen oven when cooking for large groups.

pagesk,

Thanks for the response. I hadn't thought about one of those bucket top vacuums. That's a good idea. I also store my pellets in 5 gallon buckets. I ended up making a shoot for the pellets. I place the bucket on the ground & with one hand I hold the door & shoot & use the other to push the pellets out.

Being in the southwest I cook outside pretty much from April through October to avoid heating up the house. I had a Treager back in the day when they were the only game in town for pellet grills, but when I moved to the southwest it was too hard to find pellets & so I got rid of it & bought a stick burner. Now that I'm older I don't want to babysit a stick burner. I did my research & settled on a PG500. I don't regret a thing. I love my PG500 & I get just as good smoke as I did with my stick burner.