At the end of the day, if you do not get a flame out during a long cook and you are OK with vacuuming out the ash before each cook, I wouldn't worry about it if the grill is performing to your expectations for the rest of your wants/needs from a pellet grill.  Keep us updated.  I am amazed that a "no name" grill has produced this much insight for the members of this forum.  I think that is great and thank you for your continued contribution.  You are going to help others learn about pellet grills if they read this thread from beginning to end.

The idea of the easy pull out and dump pan is to do it before every cook.  Same with the Blaz'n. So I would think that if you purchase a SNH that one of the reasons is to be able to start with a clean fire pot on each cook. (without having to vacuum the bottom of the grill very often).  Not many grills offer that option. Just 3 that I can think of.

I think almost all Camp Chef and Pit Boss do now too.  MAK isn't as easy but the firepot slides out so you can dump the ash.  It also has a slide in the bottom where you can sweep the ash out of too.  At least the older model that I have does.

Yesterday, I looked in the hopper and there was only 2-4 pounds (guesstimating) of pellets left, so I let them burn at 350* for a couple of hours.

When it was almost emptied, I saw several expanded pellets which led me to believe moisture was getting in at the bottom (never saw any expanded pellets toward the top of the hopper and I regularly ran my hand or a cooking tool to check for bridging).

Lots of sawdust too. I took a clean paint brush and swept down the sides and seams, as I was planning on using the red RTV caulk as a precaution (per okie smokie's suggestion).

Good thing I did this, as I looked on the outside of the joints where the auger tube and hopper meet and saw piles of sawdust on either side. This must have been where moisture, and probably some rain, got in and wet the pellets from earlier cooks.

I went ahead and sealed the seams (see pic).

On the bright side, the fan adjustments made a significant impact on ash volume in burn pot...there was very little compared to prior to the adjustments. Between this and having dry pellets, it should be smooth sailing. Of course, I'll update here if anything doesn't go as expected.

BTW, I reached out to the manufacturer and reported what I observed and how I caulked the hopper seams. He told me that the last run of their Kansas City Grills all had the red RTV caulk applied to the hopper. The Eco did not as they were manufactured prior to the changes they made withe Kansas City line. At least they are aware of this problem, and I hope this becomes standard on future productions of this grill.

Hurray for you.  Great job with the caulk.  I suspect that Dan has had more helpful feedback and input from PF just with the two owners of his grills. If he had been exposed to PF sooner, might have increased sales?

I think almost all Camp Chef and Pit Boss do now too.

Unless they just did it, and haven't updated their literature, Pit Boss doesn't have an ash dump feature.

Just a couple of quick updates on the ash volume in burn pot post cooks post fan adjustments...for those interested.

Today I filled the hopper with 20 lbs of Lumberjack 100% Oak.

See pics:

1. This morning's ash content: 375* for about 1.5 hrs, then bumped up to 425* for 30-45 mins (used a cast iron pan to make brown-and-serve sausage links, hash browns, and scrambled eggs; sorry no pic of the food!)

2. Second pic: couple of choice ribeyes for dinner, brought up to internal temp of about 120* with grill set at 215*...took about 2.5 hrs as the steaks went right from fridge (meat probe read 40* internal)

3. Then, just for kicks and giggles, I bumped up the setting to 650*, waited for it to heat up, and then placed one of the steaks right on the heat shield with the slats open for direct cooking.

4. Steak getting nice sear, total of about 30 seconds a side then flip...total of about 3 times each side. LOTS of heat, so I kind of had to stay back, and couldn't really see how the steak was doing. Not interested in doing this anymore, as the other steak that was cooked on the grate had better Maillard reaction and tasted just as good!

5. Fresh off the grill

6. After resting (sorry no money shot! I devoured it...it was delicious!)

7. Ash results in burn pot: total usage time (including running at 350* for a while...I got into a conversation and could not get to the grill to start cooking...smoking at 215* and then searing at 650* setting, and then shut down mode where fan blows at high speed) was about 4 hrs...long time to eat a couple of steaks, but hey life happens! EDIT: I did a 25-30 minute burn off at 650* before going into shutdown mode, which is included in the 4hrs

Looks like problem solved for the short cooks.

Give us the update on the long pork shoulder or brisket cook to confirm you are out of the woods on the ash causing problems on snuffing out the fire.

The food looked great.  Love to see folks cooking great food and them and their friends/family being happy with their cooks.

Pellet cookers should cook food better and easier than stick burners, charcoal, or gas grills in most instances.

Two questions:
1.  Why are you using the mesh grate over a small drip pan when cooking? when your grill is designed to cook on its own grates and catch and collect the drippings in the pans below?
2.  Why put the steak on the open vent drip pan instead of on the grill grates above, which is how it was designed to be used.

I realize that #1 will keep your grill cleaner. But #2 I do not understand. Or are you experimenting with new ideas? (which I can understand).  Not criticism, just curiosity.

Two questions:
1.  Why are you using the mesh grate over a small drip pan when cooking? when your grill is designed to cook on its own grates and catch and collect the drippings in the pans below?
2.  Why put the steak on the open vent drip pan instead of on the grill grates above, which is how it was designed to be used.

I realize that #1 will keep your grill cleaner. But #2 I do not understand. Or are you experimenting with new ideas? (which I can understand).  Not criticism, just curiosity.

Fair questions.
You’re right on #1. I know it will get messy when I cook directly on the grated but anything I can do to minimize cleanup I’ll do.

My plan for the near future is, if I’m going to go low and slow, how would I do it in my kitchen oven? I’d put it over a tray to catch excess liquid and not directly on the oven racks. Plus, usually when I do steaks or even a butt or brisket, I prep it the night before and stick it in the fridge overnight on that tray and mesh grate. It just makes it convenient to transfer into the cooker. No impact on smoke flavor on my opinion.

Also, there haven’t been any drippings that made it to the bottom of the pit or either of the two drip buckets by doing it this way.

#2 you are also correct that I am just experimenting . It was for kicks and giggles. I won’t do it again as the other steak I cooked right on the grate was better flavor and sear result (better Maillard reaction in my opinion).

My next experiment will be using my weber charcoal baskets for the kettle, placing them right on the heat shield and using the fire from the pellet grill to light coals and air from the fan to fuel the coals while I sear a steak.
Just for fun, but also saw this on the Twin Eagles grill. If it works and I long for charcoal taste on my steaks, this might be an easy way to do it.


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Very good! and practical.  Hope your charcoal trial is a success.  Happy 4th!

Where did you go man?  We need more bbq pics!

Where did you go man?  We need more bbq pics!

LOL! I’m still here. Between work, vacation, and the rain, it been tough trying to get a cook in. I’m hoping to get another brisket attempt this weekend if the wife lets me. Otherwise, it might just be shorter cooks.

I did do a big slab of ribs for the 4th. Used a 4-2-1 method, wrapped in pink butcher paper. Over 7 hours plus and little ash in burn pot compared to my first long cook that led to fire. I’ll post those rib pics once I get to my laptop.


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Where did you go man?  We need more bbq pics!

LOL! I’m still here. Between work, vacation, and the rain, it been tough trying to get a cook in. I’m hoping to get another brisket attempt this weekend if the wife lets me. Otherwise, it might just be shorter cooks.

I did do a big slab of ribs for the 4th. Used a 4-2-1 method, wrapped in pink butcher paper. Over 7 hours plus and little ash in burn pot compared to my first long cook that led to fire. I’ll post those rib pics once I get to my laptop.


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     I did a 15 hour cook this weekend and tilted the pit just a tiny bit to make the slide steeper, and I didn't have the issue of the pellets backing up.  I did get the ash build up, but it didn't seem to affect the pit temps.  I think the main problem is that the slide needs to be a touch steeper.  This long cook showed me another upside on the Outdoor cooking center.  I use maybe 3 pounds of pellets for the entire cook.  It only dropped about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in the hopper.  I was shocked when I checked it to top off the pellets.  It hadn't moved enough to really add any pellets after 5 hours.

Where did you go man?  We need more bbq pics!

LOL! I’m still here. Between work, vacation, and the rain, it been tough trying to get a cook in. I’m hoping to get another brisket attempt this weekend if the wife lets me. Otherwise, it might just be shorter cooks.

I did do a big slab of ribs for the 4th. Used a 4-2-1 method, wrapped in pink butcher paper. Over 7 hours plus and little ash in burn pot compared to my first long cook that led to fire. I’ll post those rib pics once I get to my laptop.


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     I did a 15 hour cook this weekend and tilted the pit just a tiny bit to make the slide steeper, and I didn't have the issue of the pellets backing up.  I did get the ash build up, but it didn't seem to affect the pit temps.  I think the main problem is that the slide needs to be a touch steeper.  This long cook showed me another upside on the Outdoor cooking center.  I use maybe 3 pounds of pellets for the entire cook.  It only dropped about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in the hopper.  I was shocked when I checked it to top off the pellets.  It hadn't moved enough to really add any pellets after 5 hours.

That's great, GatorDave! I'm not surprised about the pellet usage on your Outdoor Cooking Center...it looks like it's a very efficient cooker. What temp did you cook at?

Where did you go man?  We need more bbq pics!

Here are ribs I did on the 4th...4-2-1 (4 hrs uncovered at 230*, about 2 hours wrapped in pink butcher paper at 255*, almost 1 hour or so with butcher paper torn open, but ribs still in there).

The rub was a variation on the rub used at the Flame Tree BBQ in Disney World's Animal Kingdom.

100% Oak (LumberJack).

I was wondering why it was cooked so long.  Now seeing they are spare ribs, I understand.