Pellet Fan
Pit Talk -- Comments and Questions Regarding These Pellet Pits => Dansons/Country Smokers...Louisana Grills...Pit Boss => Topic started by: wilpark on January 16, 2018, 11:26:53 PM
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Sorry I didn't put this in the Danson forum but thought this was more of a general discussion topic.
But saw an interesting product video. A Pitboss vertical pellet smoker with a large window, high capacity pellet hopper on the back double wall Insulated and a digital dial controller. 3 different sizes from 2.0 cu ft, 5 cu ft and 7 cu ft. Seems to be reasonably priced but don't see any reviews or in stock anywhere.
Any issues to be concerned about on a vertical pellet smoker?
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This sounds awesome.
For those of us who have other ways to grill things, I've always thought a vertical pellet smoker would be ideal. Fit more stuff in a smaller foot print!
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This sounds awesome.
For those of us who have other ways to grill things, I've always thought a vertical pellet smoker would be ideal. Fit more stuff in a smaller foot print!
I started with one of those Masterbuilt duel fuel verticals. Issues I have had was huge temp difference from bottom to top.
https://pitboss-grills.com/grills/?model=77350
Only shows one of the sizes but general look and specs.
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I have shelves in my grandslam. I love the versatility. I can fit a full packer brisket, 3 racks of ribs, and a bunch of sausage. It all cooks brilliantly.
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I have shelves in my grandslam. I love the versatility. I can fit a full packer brisket, 3 racks of ribs, and a bunch of sausage. It all cooks brilliantly.
I have a gmg and made a second shelf and does cook wonderfully. but if there are 4-5 shelves I wonder how well it will Maintain temps on all shelves.
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Camp Chef has a XXL model that is vertical. Unfortunately, there is very little information outside of their website and less than a handful of reviews on the internet about it. It has been out of stock for months. It was about 2x the size of the one in the link in this thread and only $200 more. The cost per sq in of cooking space was very low.
I would certainly be interested in entertaining a vertical smoker with lots of rack options at these prices if it had temps in the 150°-160° range on the low end and at least 350° on the high end. I would probably want no more than 10°-20° difference top to bottom.
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I was at Walmart today and they had one. Wasn’t sure what it was at first, thought it was a large vertices electric as there was a plug hanging out. It was about half again as large as the one in the link. If you go to support in the website you will see manuals for the larger models. It will be interesting to see how these go over. I’m happy with my conventional pellet grill.
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Any issues to be concerned about on a vertical pellet smoker?
I have a Cookshack FEC-120 (Vertical Pellet Smoker) and I love it. I haven't had any issues. My FEC-120 is a cooking machine ;D
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I am thinking I would like to have one of these. I just watched the assembly video.
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They have one at my local WalMart and it is cheap too. If I didn't already have a vertical pellet smoker (the new Masterbuilt unit), I'd be tempted.
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would you say it is made better or on par with the masterbuilt?
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They have one at my local WalMart and it is cheap too. If I didn't already have a vertical pellet smoker (the new Masterbuilt unit), I'd be tempted.
How is the Masterbuilt one? In terms of build quality and temp control. I was looking really hard at that one too.
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would you say it is made better or on par with the masterbuilt?
They don't have one on display - just the one in the box. So, I have no idea to be honest.
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How is the Masterbuilt one? In terms of build quality and temp control. I was looking really hard at that one too.
I like it. Build quality seems great, although some people have had controller issues. Only the door is double insulated on the Masterbuilt, but I think all of it is on this Pit Boss. My Masterbuilt holds temps very well; I expected it to be all over the map, but it really isn't. Overall I am very happy with it and glad I got one!
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I watched their videos also. I also mentioned getting one to Bentley for testing. He said he will be looking into that at some time. Hard to beat for $399. 1500 sq inches, pellet smoker, oven, small profile, 50 lb pellet hopper. Only negative for me is that there are only 2 of us, and occasionally, the family of 11. However, you could do simultaneous cooking of meat, veggies, bread. Very nice.
In the meantime I am getting my Barrel House vertical smoker tomorrow. Can't wait. :cool:
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2 minute product review from pitboss
They lost me with that controller. I would rather have a PID controller and why does it have to be on the ground? The controller should be up higher so you don't have to bend down to use it.
Now that I have a wifi enabled PID, the thought of anything else just seems caveman.
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2 minute product review from pitboss
They lost me with that controller. I would rather have a PID controller and why does it have to be on the ground? The controller should be up higher so you don't have to bend down to use it.
Now that I have a wifi enabled PID, the thought of anything else just seems caveman.
It's a smoker in the 400-700 dollar range with huge capacity. I would use it for a dedicated jerky maker and rib smoker.
While the controls on the top would be better my guess is it has to do with heat rising.
I have a smoker with wifi capability and couldn't imagine cooking without one but it isn't at this price, capacity, pellet capacity and dual wall insulation.
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Would be nice to know how accessible the guts are: i.e. auger tube, hot rod (is it ceramic). How are pellets delivered to the fire pot. Chances for auger tube fire? (No one talks much about the actual components themselves like auger motor, fan etc. If you look at those things in a Blaz'n compared to a Traeger or others, there is a world of difference.) Is it a direct feed fire pot or indirect. etc. That's what it would be nice to know before buying. ???
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Would be nice to know how accessible the guts are: i.e. auger tube, hot rod (is it ceramic). How are pellets delivered to the fire pot. Chances for auger tube fire? (No one talks much about the actual components themselves like auger motor, fan etc. If you look at those things in a Blaz'n compared to a Traeger or others, there is a world of difference.) Is it a direct feed fire pot or indirect. etc. That's what it would be nice to know before buying. ???
I'm pretty sure the guts are about as basic as you can get for the price range. But since the pitboss parent company is LG they don't want to field customer service calls all day I'm betting they are reasonably reliable.
I love the footprint/capacity to price ratio. Not sure if I'm better off adding a pellet pro auger assembly to an insulated vertical file cabinet. LOL.
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Would be nice to know how accessible the guts are: i.e. auger tube, hot rod (is it ceramic). How are pellets delivered to the fire pot. Chances for auger tube fire? (No one talks much about the actual components themselves like auger motor, fan etc. If you look at those things in a Blaz'n compared to a Traeger or others, there is a world of difference.) Is it a direct feed fire pot or indirect. etc. That's what it would be nice to know before buying. ???
I'm pretty sure the guts are about as basic as you can get for the price range. But since the pitboss parent company is LG they don't want to field customer service calls all day I'm betting they are reasonably reliable.
I love the footprint/capacity to price ratio. Not sure if I'm better off adding a pellet pro auger assembly to an insulated vertical file cabinet. LOL.
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The hopper is in the back so I imagine the auger feed is rather short. Auger fire could easily turn into hopper fire. That is why I want a look at the mechanics. Will try to look up the owners manual.
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Would be nice to know how accessible the guts are: i.e. auger tube, hot rod (is it ceramic). How are pellets delivered to the fire pot. Chances for auger tube fire? (No one talks much about the actual components themselves like auger motor, fan etc. If you look at those things in a Blaz'n compared to a Traeger or others, there is a world of difference.) Is it a direct feed fire pot or indirect. etc. That's what it would be nice to know before buying. ???
I'm pretty sure the guts are about as basic as you can get for the price range. But since the pitboss parent company is LG they don't want to field customer service calls all day I'm betting they are reasonably reliable.
I love the footprint/capacity to price ratio. Not sure if I'm better off adding a pellet pro auger assembly to an insulated vertical file cabinet. LOL.
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The hopper is in the back so I imagine the auger feed is rather short. Auger fire could easily turn into hopper fire. That is why I want a look at the mechanics. Will try to look up the owners manual.
From what I saw of a demo the pellets drop into a pretty deep firepot but if it's not cleaned out the ash can pile up and can be a potential fire hazard.
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Just went thru the manual for the Walmart Copper Top version (which looks like the best deal) of the Pit Boss Vertical Pellet. Very standard arrangement, with hot rod below and auger tube above it and both empty directly into the fire pot. Can't tell how long the auger tube is because the manual only shows drawings, but suspect it is rather short. Something to really check out in the testing. The motor and fan are about on par with Traeger, or similar. Can't be sure about that either for now. Will try to get a look at one when they appear at the super Walmart.
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I'm a little confused, the PitBoss web page says the Copper Top is only available at Walmart but when you go to Walmart.com......the only one listed is the small 2.2 cf electric smoker. The PB web page does make it look rather intriguing but where can you get it? Store only?
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Not sure if I'm better off adding a pellet pro auger assembly to an insulated vertical file cabinet. LOL.
That's part of the reason I took a chance on the Masterbuilt pellet smoker. I always had in the back of my mind that I would put a pellet pro auger assembly unit in it. Unfortunately there is no way you could do that with this pit boss.
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The pellet grill is called the copperhead
Here is link to Wal-Mart
(https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/f8178603-96c5-4f30-9321-7b34186c8772_1.f857b010610d0d5e895ab7e6bc131da1.jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF)
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Well no wonder I couldn't find it. I was looking for Pit Boss.
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Well no wonder I couldn't find it. I was looking for Pit Boss.
Sorry its the Copperhead by Pitboss. Not coppertop by pitboss
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Anyway, looks like the best bang for the buck if it works well.
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There is also this one on Cabela's website that they will apparently carry at some point. Since this is a 7 series and the WalMart one is series 5, I would guess the Cabelas one is the larger size:
(https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/f8178603-96c5-4f30-9321-7b34186c8772_1.f857b010610d0d5e895ab7e6bc131da1.jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF)
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Was checking out the new vertical pellet smoker for more information and saw this for the first time: https://pitboss-grills.com/products/?product=austin-xl
a nice sized, good looking unit for a good price, and sold out of Walmart. Really looks like they are expaning the Pit Boss line up with very good looking units at very good price points.
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Yeah, for $500, the XL matches what a PB820 used to be a couple of years ago(though they were usually on sale for $400). Plus, you get a little bigger cooking area, 31lb. hopper with pellet "purge" (whatever that means), casters on all four legs, a cheap looking side table, and a probe(this is pretty cool, if it works!), in a snazzier package. Controller looks to be similar, though it has a power button(don't know why they would do this, as all you have to do is turn it to smoke to start it up on the 820). Advertising blurb claims "hotter", but my 820 can get to 500, too.
All in all, a good price, IMO.
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Yeah, for $500, the XL matches what a PB820 used to be a couple of years ago(though they were usually on sale for $400). Plus, you get a little bigger cooking area, 31lb. hopper with pellet "purge" (whatever that means), casters on all four legs, a cheap looking side table, and a probe(this is pretty cool, if it works!), in a snazzier package. Controller looks to be similar, though it has a power button(don't know why they would do this, as all you have to do is turn it to smoke to start it up on the 820). Advertising blurb claims "hotter", but my 820 can get to 500, too.
All in all, a good price, IMO.
I am suspecting the "pellet purge" is the same as a pellet change, where you can drain the hopper of the pellets for the changing of flavors.
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I hav enot seen where it said if they are insulated or not. Anyone have that info?
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I hav enot seen where it said if they are insulated or not. Anyone have that info?
https://pitboss-grills.com/products/?product=copperhead-7-series
Description. Says "double walled"
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I think if they work without many issues these would be great for jerky and sausages.
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I think if they work without many issues these would be great for jerky and sausages.
BigDave83 this is what ij hope to use this for. Jerky and Ribs. So I'm hoping the bottom isn't too much hotter than the top. Supposed to have a fan too.
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I think if they work without many issues these would be great for jerky and sausages.
Yep, I thought the same about the Camp Chef similar model that they have had out of stock for months. It had more racks than these and seemed to have a little more flexibility in racking. Wasn't double walled and I think the top end of temps was lower. Interesting that some of these bigger name companies are making so many different styles of grills. Traeger will have one out within 12 months if this design works.
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I think if they work without many issues these would be great for jerky and sausages.
Yep, I thought the same about the Camp Chef similar model that they have had out of stock for months. It had more racks than these and seemed to have a little more flexibility in racking. Wasn't double walled and I think the top end of temps was lower. Interesting that some of these bigger name companies are making so many different styles of grills. Traeger will have one out within 12 months if this design works.
The thing with the copperhead is you can buy additional racks and.rack holders. They have plenty of extra holes to.add racks. It comes.with 5 but I'm sure you can squeeze in 3 or 4 more.
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What i am concerned about is 50/60 lbs hopper and 24 hours of smoke. Thats more than 2lbs per hour. Hopefully that's at max temp. Because that's not very efficient for an insulated pellet grill.
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I think if they work without many issues these would be great for jerky and sausages.
Yep, I thought the same about the Camp Chef similar model that they have had out of stock for months. It had more racks than these and seemed to have a little more flexibility in racking. Wasn't double walled and I think the top end of temps was lower. Interesting that some of these bigger name companies are making so many different styles of grills. Traeger will have one out within 12 months if this design works.
The thing with the copperhead is you can buy additional racks and.rack holders. They have plenty of extra holes to.add racks. It comes.with 5 but I'm sure you can squeeze in 3 or 4 more.
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didn't realize that from what I saw
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I think if they work without many issues these would be great for jerky and sausages.
Yep, I thought the same about the Camp Chef similar model that they have had out of stock for months. It had more racks than these and seemed to have a little more flexibility in racking. Wasn't double walled and I think the top end of temps was lower. Interesting that some of these bigger name companies are making so many different styles of grills. Traeger will have one out within 12 months if this design works.
The thing with the copperhead is you can buy additional racks and.rack holders. They have plenty of extra holes to.add racks. It comes.with 5 but I'm sure you can squeeze in 3 or 4 more.
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didn't realize that from what I saw
They have an assembly video. Very much like the Masterbuilt tack system if you are familiar.
If you Google pitboss copperhead assembly video at about the 3 minute mark is the rack system. Looks like ability a adjust every 2" or so.
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https://youtu.be/6fMPVuqPSY4
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interesting rack concept
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I think temps will be hotter at the top probably as the smoke and heat pool to escape the chimney, another small fan somewhere may help move air for drying purposes and probably if needed one could rework the exhaust with an adjustable damper to get temps evened out if needed.
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I hope someone on here buys one so they can give us more facts about it. Not that I need something else to put on my patio (which I probably need to expand this Spring), but this vertical pellet smoker concept by Pitboss or Camp Chef has me intrigued.
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Its a vertical smoker it dlesnt take up that much room.
Perhaps we can have pitboss send it to Pelletfan and someone can do a test.
What I like about it is the price, dual wall, capacity and small footprint to capacity.
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Given the interest in this new smoker, I wrote to our contact at Dansons/Pit Boss and asked if they would be interested in sending one of these smokers for a performance test. I will keep folks apprised if I hear back.
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Given the interest in this new smoker, I wrote to our contact at Dansons/Pit Boss and asked if they would be interested in sending one of these smokers for a performance test. I will keep folks apprised if I hear back.
Awesome. Thank you
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Was at Walmart this morning and saw this unit. Very nice and hopefully it sells. The more people that get into pellet cooking the better.
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I just purchased the Copperhead Pit Boss Vertical Smoker from Menards. The setup and burn in was pretty easy and straight forward. I did my first cook this weekend. This is my first time with any pellet fueled grill. I come from a stick burner and electric smoker background. It held the temperature pretty stable +or- 15 degrees. It was chilly 35 degrees and 25 mph winds. Will be curious how it performs on a calm day, I suspect the temperature will be steadier. I smoked a 8lb turkey breast at 225 and it took 8 hours. It used about 15lbs of pellets (I have no idea whether that is a excessive or frugal since I have never used pellets before). The skin had a dark patina and very moist pink meat. Overall, I am very happy with the performance and the purchase. The unit is so new that there are no accessories available like extra probes or cover. I called Pit Boss and was told they expect the accessories to be available at the beginning of March and that Wal-Mart would have them before anyone.
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I just purchased the Copperhead Pit Boss Vertical Smoker from Menards. The setup and burn in was pretty easy and straight forward. I did my first cook this weekend. This is my first time with any pellet fueled grill. I come from a stick burner and electric smoker background. It held the temperature pretty stable +or- 15 degrees. It was chilly 35 degrees and 25 mph winds. Will be curious how it performs on a calm day, I suspect the temperature will be steadier. I smoked a 8lb turkey breast at 225 and it took 8 hours. It used about 15lbs of pellets (I have no idea whether that is a excessive or frugal since I have never used pellets before). The skin had a dark patina and very moist pink meat. Overall, I am very happy with the performance and the purchase. The unit is so new that there are no accessories available like extra probes or cover. I called Pit Boss and was told they expect the accessories to be available at the beginning of March and that Wal-Mart would have them before anyone.
15 lbs for 8 hrs for an insulated pellet grill seems a bit high but you did have winds that were blowing and may be the culprit. Anything close to 1lb per hours is doing really well.
Thanks so much for a user review.
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I watched their videos also. I also mentioned getting one to Bentley for testing. He said he will be looking into that at some time. Hard to beat for $399. 1500 sq inches, pellet smoker, oven, small profile, 50 lb pellet hopper. Only negative for me is that there are only 2 of us, and occasionally, the family of 11. However, you could do simultaneous cooking of meat, veggies, bread. Very nice.
In the meantime I am getting my Barrel House vertical smoker tomorrow. Can't wait. :cool:
After some thought, I can do all the smoking I want on the GS, but also grill steaks and chops, burgers etc. No real grilling is suggested on the vertical PitBoss. (max temp 450). So owning one suggests that you will still need another form of grill for hot searing cooks.
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For anyone who's got this smoker, how's the smoke output? I have a CS450 (similar to LG700) and have been pretty disappointed in the controller and very little smoke. It's great for grilling, but not nearly as nice as my Traeger for smoking. It looks like the Copperhead uses a simple controller, which I actually think is a good thing if it's not PID - I'm off the opinion that smoke production and stable temps are mutually exclusive.
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For anyone who's got this smoker, how's the smoke output? I have a CS450 (similar to LG700) and have been pretty disappointed in the controller and very little smoke. It's great for grilling, but not nearly as nice as my Traeger for smoking. It looks like the Copperhead uses a simple controller, which I actually think is a good thing if it's not PID - I'm off the opinion that smoke production and stable temps are mutually exclusive.
There is a 26 page product review on the Copperhead 5.5 that just finished up today after over a week of functional use and documentation.
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For anyone who's got this smoker, how's the smoke output? I have a CS450 (similar to LG700) and have been pretty disappointed in the controller and very little smoke. It's great for grilling, but not nearly as nice as my Traeger for smoking. It looks like the Copperhead uses a simple controller, which I actually think is a good thing if it's not PID - I'm off the opinion that smoke production and stable temps are mutually exclusive.
There is a 26 page product review on the Copperhead 5.5 that just finished up today after over a week of functional use and documentation.
https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=2242.0
Quick link
Mudflap
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A-/B+ give or take temperature setting!
If you stay in the center of all racks, -+10°.
For anyone who's got this smoker, how's the smoke output?
I'm off the opinion that smoke production and stable temps are mutually exclusive.
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When members post their smoking results could you please post what shelf or shelves you used.
This is going to be a huge learning curve with so many shelf options.
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Thanks Bentley. And yes, I certainly do know about the (now) 27 page posting - buried in the middle somewhere I did find some information around this. To be fair, there's so much discussion in that post it's hard to weed the information out. Regardless, my question here isn't out of line - different people have different results, and I'm not going to rush out and buy it just because of one person's results, even if it is Bentley. :-)
So hopefully anyone else with this smoker can provide their feedback too. Looks like a great unit for the price, but I'm a bit guarded after being only moderately satisfied with my CS450. Thanks!
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I joined the Pit Boss Pellet Grill/Smoker Owner's facebook group and there are a lot of new owners of the the 5.5 and 7.0 copperhead smokers.
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I have my smoker and I plan on doing something simple today. I was surprised on how the start procedure has you do the start up on smoke and then bump up the temperature to 350 and then bring the temperature back down for what temperature I want.
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I have my smoker and I plan on doing something simple today. I was surprised on how the start procedure has you do the start up on smoke and then bump up the temperature to 350 and then bring the temperature back down for what temperature I want.
How did your cook go?
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I have my smoker and I plan on doing something simple today. I was surprised on how the start procedure has you do the start up on smoke and then bump up the temperature to 350 and then bring the temperature back down for what temperature I want.
How did your cook go?
It went OK. I put two oven temperature monitors on the shelves and they stayed pretty close to what was on the control board. All I did was to smoke some meatballs for a get-together.
I am only going to be home for a few days before I leave again in our RV. Once I get back about the middle of May I will do more extensive smoking.
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Please do, looking forward to more reviews and results. Thinking of picking one of these puppies up in a month...
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Yeah, I won't be doing any cooking in mine until mid-May most likely and then a big jerky cook over Memorial weekend due to work travel.
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Anyone else buy and use one of these yet? My work travel slows down for the month of May so I should be able to get something cooked finally.
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Anyone else buy and use one of these yet? My work travel slows down for the month of May so I should be able to get something cooked finally.
I bought one, but it's still in the back of the car. I can't decide if I want it or should return it.
I had an electric smoker and sold it, bought the brinkmann kamado from bjs. Used it a little bit. Now trying to decide on this one.
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I bought the 7 series from cabelas, because I couldn't pass up the deal. got it for 265 delivered. Going to try to put it together this weekend.
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I bought the 7 series from cabelas, because I couldn't pass up the deal. got it for 265 delivered. Going to try to put it together this weekend.
How did you get it so cheap?
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they had them on sale for 550 and then one day they had a 10% off plus free shipping so that took another 55 off and I had 260 cabelas points, brought it to 23X plus tax.
I was going to order the 5 from walmart and figured I may even add the warranty extension but they raised the price for a week or so to 442, so I went with the 7
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I have not been home long enough to use mine much except for the initial use of some smoke meatballs. I joined the Pit Boss facebook group and a lot of people are buying them. I am thinking of doing pulled beef when I get a chance to use it. I caught chuck roasts on sale a while back.
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I picked up a Series 5 from Walmart less than a month ago. So far I've smoked ribs and then last weekend pork chops. Both turned out good. The temperature swings on my first cook were pretty high but I think the average temp was probably pretty close. My 5 is replacing a GMG that died. The cook time on my ribs was pretty close to what I used to do on the GMG when set at the same temp so it couldn't have been too far off.
This weekend I'm cooking a whole brisket and 6 racks of ribs for a Derby party. I definitely like the capacity of this smoker.
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I picked up a Series 5 from Walmart less than a month ago. So far I've smoked ribs and then last weekend pork chops. Both turned out good. The temperature swings on my first cook were pretty high but I think the average temp was probably pretty close. My 5 is replacing a GMG that died. The cook time on my ribs was pretty close to what I used to do on the GMG when set at the same temp so it couldn't have been too far off.
This weekend I'm cooking a whole brisket and 6 racks of ribs for a Derby party. I definitely like the capacity of this smoker.
Interested to see your cooks this weekend.
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The derby smoke was a success. The brisket was perfect and so were the ribs. The crowd loved them. This was the first long smoke I've done on the Series 5 and it did good. Like with any new smoker, it takes time to get used to how it cooks. Still had temp swings but the duration of cook for a 16.5 ib brisket was about right (15 hours).
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Glad to hear. Thanks for sharing.