Welcome to the club I have a FEPG 1000 in Fl and a Memphis Pro and a Cookshack CB 24 here in Brevard just up the mountain from you I agree with the above comments Just fire it up at 400 when you get it and burn off all the factory stuff. Probably coat the grills with canola oil prior to use to prevent sticking I've been using a lot of PAM lately It's a great grill I tried foil everywhere and now just use it on the drip tray I put foil pans in the warming drawer but they get some ash in them but easy enough to knock out The controls with the high and low temp settings can be a little confusing so i refer you to the Cookshack forum There is an excellent explanation there.There can be some larger temp swings depending on the temp The Memphis Pro is spot on and all automatic, no adjustments In the end, you can get excellent results with both and the temp swings may produce a better smoke profile with no loss of quality
It's a great grillI use the different zones more than i thought I would Big pellet hopper, no wi fi has not been a problem,I always check frequently anyway
I've gone on too long
Enjoy your grill
Any of us will be glad to help
Sam in Brevard

that may be the longest sentence i have ever seen

I just missed my period

It was a pregnant pause

  

I actually did LOL, and then I said, "Oh Lord."

It was a pregnant pause

Congratulations!

It's a grill!!!!

Never would guess i'm a retired OB GYN

Ok - I've received my PG500 and burned it in.  Here are my thoughts so far:

1.  The quality is very impressive - maybe even more so than I thought.  I'd read a lot of reviews, seen a lot of Google images, and watched uTube cooks.  But I bought it without ever touching one.  The build quality is very heavy-duty throughout.

2.  It looks to me like the idea of protecting the outside from smoke and drippings is almost and exercise in futility.  The doors are actually very tight-fitting - just not sealed.  Running 1/8" Nomex along the bottom door will cause the right door to "angle" out a bit and gap more at the top.  I don't see that this works.  pmillen's idea of running a bead might work - but it looks like it will need to squeeze down pretty thin so I'm not going to try it.

Plus - there's the issue LowSlowJoe pointed out in sealing things up too tight - looks to me like leaving the unit as-is to leak where it may is preferred.

Will need to go to plan B - just clean the outside up periodically.  Looks like the stainless will still show signs of discoloration after cleaning - but that's just part of the way the unit works.

3.  I'm not going to foil - looks to me like it's hardly worth it.

4.  I'm probably not going to season with anything.  The inside is already developing a fairly nice, dark patina.  Will do bacon Sunday and see what that does to the inside.

Now, getting ready for the first cook this weekend :  3-2-1 ribs, baked beans and corn-on-the-cob along with a few hot dogs and burgers for the granddaughters !


 

Fond memories of a first cook on a new pit..You are off to a good start my friend!

Enjoy yourself.

I don't recall if anyone mentioned this or if you read of it as you perused the forum...many users have pasted cabinet door bumpers on the controller buttons.  For them, it makes the buttons easier to push.

>Now, getting ready for the first cook this weekend :  3-2-1 ribs,
>baked beans and corn-on-the-cob along with a few hot dogs and
>burgers for the granddaughters

Sounds like a plan, but at some point you're going to have to make Fast Eddy style ribs - I mean, really

>Now, getting ready for the first cook this weekend :  3-2-1 ribs,
>baked beans and corn-on-the-cob along with a few hot dogs and
>burgers for the granddaughters

Sounds like a plan, but at some point you're going to have to make Fast Eddy style ribs - I mean, really

That's the next round of ribs !  This round is for my son and his family.  I did explain the Fast Eddy style - he liked the idea of the butter, brown sugar and honey in the wrap.  I've done them before - have to go a bit light on the butter/honey so they don't steam.

It's a shame that they don't have some of these out and around at local retailers.  I bet they would sell a lot more if they did.

I had bought mine without ever seeing one either. Looking at the specs and photos really don't do the grill justice, once I saw mine in person, I was much more sure of my purchase.. then of course after using it a few times, the satisfaction with the purchase just continued to go up and up.

I personally have come to REALLY like the way the doors open... I think that design helps keep heat inside, and I actually feel like it just is easier to open doors to the side, rather then up...   Only caution I have on the doors, is make sure you grab the 'spring' like thing on the handles, the rest can get quite hot.

 Another thing, that I like a great deal about the PG500, is the ease of cleaning ash from the firepot. Just remove the direct grill grate, the heat deflector, and scoop it out with a spoon ( or vacuum it, if you really want ). I just scoop much of the time, often just letting the ash I scoop out fall down into the ash tray bellow... it very easy to just pull out the ash tray and dump that after.   I surely don't miss having to take out the drip tray to clean ash.

  I do hate to admit it... but because the drip tray doesn't have to be removed to clean out ash, because it's on a pretty large angle,  and because there is no direct heat bellow it... I rarely clean my drip tray.  It's pretty ugly , but since there's virtually no chance of that drip tray ever catching fire, I just don't feel much need to clean it.

Either way congratulations on your new PG500.

It's a shame that they don't have some of these out and around at local retailers.  I bet they would sell a lot more if they did.

I had bought mine without ever seeing one either. Looking at the specs and photos really don't do the grill justice, once I saw mine in person, I was much more sure of my purchase.. then of course after using it a few times, the satisfaction with the purchase just continued to go up and up.

I personally have come to REALLY like the way the doors open... I think that design helps keep heat inside, and I actually feel like it just is easier to open doors to the side, rather then up...   Only caution I have on the doors, is make sure you grab the 'spring' like thing on the handles, the rest can get quite hot.

 Another thing, that I like a great deal about the PG500, is the ease of cleaning ash from the firepot. Just remove the direct grill grate, the heat deflector, and scoop it out with a spoon ( or vacuum it, if you really want ). I just scoop much of the time, often just letting the ash I scoop out fall down into the ash tray bellow... it very easy to just pull out the ash tray and dump that after.   I surely don't miss having to take out the drip tray to clean ash.

  I do hate to admit it... but because the drip tray doesn't have to be removed to clean out ash, because it's on a pretty large angle,  and because there is no direct heat bellow it... I rarely clean my drip tray.  It's pretty ugly , but since there's virtually no chance of that drip tray ever catching fire, I just don't feel much need to clean it.

Either way congratulations on your new PG500.

Thanks for the feedback.  There's a lot to like about the PG500! I just want to use this post to personally say that you have been the single most influential person in helping make my decision on the PG500.  Your posts in Facebook, in pelletfan.com and other forums over the past 6-9 months ( yes, I took that long to decide.  To me, the PG500 is not pocket-change - it's a 10-15 year investment ) have been immensely helpful !  You know pellet cookers well - and you know how to cook !