Pellet Fan
All Things Considered => General Discussion--Food Related => Topic started by: jdmessner on December 20, 2017, 12:38:48 AM
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A few weeks ago I was very discouraged. There were several things I had planned on smoking for Thanksgiving, but was having problems with the grill. One of the augers kept binding up and would not work. I was able to talk a friend into helping me out. He is much more mechanically inclined than I am and loves a challenge. Several times we would try something new, think it was fixed, and then find out it was back to the drawing board. I stopped just short of checking out the going rate for scrap metal. However, last week we got the bugs out and it is now working better than ever. The bottom line was that the auger was out of alignment and it took a while (and two motors) to get it fixed. Thanks to those who offered advice on a previous thread, it helped with the discernment process.
My wife and I do an annual appreciation dinner for the people we work with and those who have helped in various capacities throughout the year. My wife does the decorations and desserts, the kids do appetizers, and I do the main course. We ended up serving about 75 people last night. Fortunately I was able to cook all the meat on the grill. The menu included: 2 boneless rib-eye roasts (10 and 12 lbs.), 2 pork loins (10 lb. each), and 140 chicken drumsticks. For sides I made maple glazed carrots; green beans with bacon and toasted almonds; a tossed salad with pears, apples, dried cherries, and almonds; mashed garlic red skin potatoes; and cream of broccoli soup. Got a lot of complements on everything, especially the meat. There were some nice smoke rings on the beef and pork. I’ll post some pictures when I get a chance.
I also ended up using a new brand of pellets toward the end of the cook. They are Pro Pellets and made less than 25 miles from where I live. They are used for heating, but I couldn’t find a reason not to try them. They are 100% hardwood and meet the pellet fuel premium grade standards. The burned a bit hotter than the food grade pellets and seemed to do a great job. They were $4 for a 40 lb. bag.
Even though Thanksgiving was a bust, Christmas was saved!! Thanks to everyone here for all of your contributions, advice, help, and support. This site has been a blessing and a source of inspiration. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
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Good to hear you fixed your grill. Any idea what may have caused the misalignment of the auger?
You're an amazing person, jdmessner. You say you had help, but my goodness, 75 people . . . that's just a huge event. It must feel good to give like that and have it be so successful. Good job! :clap:
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Sounds like a wonderful evening for your guests!
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+2
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Way to go on the big cook, jd,
And also good to see another fan of heating pellets.
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Trooper; I didn't realize you are a heating pellet person as I.... We shouldn't call them heating pellets, just non food grade or some fancy name. A new topic perhaps, for a more refined name.. Heating pellets just don't sound right. Almost as if they are inferior
to the premium 100% hardwood pellets we use.
Merry Christmas.
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Trooper; I didn't realize you are a heating pellet person as I.... We shouldn't call them heating pellets, just non food grade or some fancy name. A new topic perhaps, for a more refined name.. Heating pellets just don't sound right. Almost as if they are inferior
to the premium 100% hardwood pellets we use.
Merry Christmas.
Just call them 100% hardwood pellets
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Here are a few pictures:
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Trooper; I didn't realize you are a heating pellet person as I.... We shouldn't call them heating pellets, just non food grade or some fancy name. A new topic perhaps, for a more refined name.. Heating pellets just don't sound right. Almost as if they are inferior
to the premium 100% hardwood pellets we use.
Merry Christmas.
Just call heating pellets PFI certified pellets.
They are the only ones that really are certified.
Food-safe is a myth.
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An ambitious project with obvious exceptional results and an excellent example of Christmas spirit.
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I am not special, but my mind just sees things different at 1st...I thought how did that meat get sucked into an exhaust fan...
(https://pelletfan.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1319.0;attach=4200;image)
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I am not special...
;D People who are categorized as special sometimes don't know that they are. I'm just sayin'.
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Good to hear you fixed your grill. Any idea what may have caused the misalignment of the auger?
The auger ordeal was a true test of patience and determination. Looking back, it wasn’t anything terribly wrong; it just took a long time to figure out what was wrong. The biggest problem was going for the quick fix rather than taking the time to see what was really wrong.
Initially the sheer pin broke, so I replaced it. Then the motor stopped working, so I replaced it. New motor sheer pin broke, replaced it with a heavy duty pin. The new motor stopped working. Come to find out I was much better off with the weaker pin. When the auger bound up, either the pin would break or the gears in the motor would be stripped.
The problem persisted because the new motor and the mounting bracket did not line up exactly the same. I put the motor on the best I could and called it good. It wasn’t long and it stopped working again. Someone on a previous thread also mentioned that the alignment could be the problem. I called a friend for help, it took a several more tries but eventually we ended up getting the auger lined up properly in the shaft and mounted properly. From that point on it has been working great.
I guess it is a lot like life. There are minor things that we try to ignore and don’t take the time to truly fix. The results from quick fixes can be devastating and no matter how hard we think we’re trying, we still come up short. Sometimes we need to just stop and take the time to make sure our priorities are in line so our motor can keep turning!
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I am not special, but my mind just sees things different at 1st...I thought how did that meat get sucked into an exhaust fan...
I guess I really need to figure out how to post better pictures. This was the first time I tried posting directly from my phone, so it's one step at a time. That being said, I guess the caption under the picture could be, "This grill really sucks! :D
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Your last comment about life, NAILED IT!
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Glad it all worked out.