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[JoeGrilling]

Gator paint chips, a little disappointing, but got that fixed.  I still love my Gator, this isn't a bashing post, just a FYI as all pits are going to need maintenance.

DK

I believe the Gator Pit uses the same paint that went on my homemade grill.  It's the Rustoleum grill paint.  That paint gave me fits.  One surface on my grill was bright shiny cold rolled steel.  My prep before painting included washing with acetone to remove all oil from the surface.  The paint peeled like cellophane a week after painting.  Googling around I found that Rustoleum has given customers refunds when they had similar results.  I did find buried in their documentation that the surface should be "scarified" before painting.  Yup...that's the trick for keeping the stuff from peeling/chipping off easy.  My stacks were media blasted before paint and the paint has held up well there.  I repainted a few of my pits surfaces by wire brushing the paint off and going over the surface with a random orbital sander.  A few of the surfaces will need to be repainted later.  Rustoleum grill paint just doesn't  do well on shiny new steel.

[dk117]

Joe, you're exactly right on the Rust-Oleum BBQ paint.  Still, I got the Gator painted and cleaned up, then played a bit with the filters on my phone.

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[dk117]

way back when this thread was started, almost a year ago, there were questions on pellet consumption.   35 lb hopper, 24x36 big cooking chamber.   I'm on 15 min shutdown mode after an almost exactly 12 hour pork shoulder cook.   Started at 195 for 5 hours, then 265 to finish.  I just refilled the hopper and couldn't fit a whole bag in, so about 18 lbs of pellets eaten.   1.5 lbs per hour.   A little bit high maybe?   Still within reason.    Ambient temps ranged from 51 to 58 and we did have rain and the pit was uncovered. 

DK

[pmillen]

Compared to the other costs associated with each cook, I've never been concerned with the cost of an extra pound of pellets.

[dk117]

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[dk117]

I'm very pleased with this cook.  Got a nice smokey taste, good bark, done to my liking, probe tender a little early 185 to 197 IT.  I don't think I've ever pulled pork that early, but it was done bone slid out effortlessly.  Seasoning imperfect as I ran out of my go-to but ... this will be pulled pork sliders with slaw for Sunday afternoon at the beach.   I've got plenty of vinegar, cider, bbq sauce ready to go for the refresh on Sunday.

pmillen I use Bear Mountain pellets.   Roughly $10 for 20lbs, I don't really worry about it either, just wanted to post the closest to accurate measurements I've had thus far.   Normally I don't pay attention. 

DK

[dk117]

I used to smoke salmon frequently onl my old pit.  I'm not sure I convinced everyone on PH as it's quite a boast ... but my old Traeger (which has only been used about two or three times in the past year) could hold in the 120's on a cool day (let's call that 50's or below).  Many times I've smoked salmon for 5 to 7 hours.   Very rarely a flame-out. 

Albacore tuna today and giving the Gator a shot at smoked fish.   It's 65 degrees out, moderate yes, cool, no.  So not really a fair comparison, but I'm having trouble holding much below 170.    Frankly this was expected as there isn't as much heat loss as the thin, leaky Traeger.   Conversely, a good reason to keep my Traeger Texas. 

[dk117]

Assuming my bro gets me some salmon this fall, I'll probably go back to the Traeger for smoked fish.

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[dk117]

The Meat Slinger!  LOL

Vertical pellet smoker, looks pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzbjgWDe3Sc

DK

PS you all know me well enough now, near 10 years posting on these forums.  I have no affiliation with Gator Pit.  I love mine yet confess it's not perfect.   I do like to give these guys some credit with their quality welding, metal, and designs.   Comes with a price though. 

[BigDave83]

That is a nice cooker, no doubt worth the price, but I think i may add a few bucks and buy an FEC100 if I was wanting something like that.

[pmillen]

additional observations.

• ash/fly ash.  back to the gigantic drip pan ... I'm seeing no ash on my cooks thus far.

Yay!

You referred us to here from another post.  I re-read the entire thread.