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[BigDave83]

What did I miss there, I need to move this and change that, temps were different, but wait the food came out great, Sounds like you don't need to do anything but cook and learn how it cooks. Just my thinking.

[GatorDave]

What did I miss there, I need to move this and change that, temps were different, but wait the food came out great, Sounds like you don't need to do anything but cook and learn how it cooks. Just my thinking.

The problem is going to be when I want to cook several butts or racks or ribs at once or even a whole brisket.  I will constantly have to rotate things around the pit so they cook evenly.  Complicating my cooking is not the reason I got a pellet grill...lol.

[RanrocSmoker]

What did I miss there, I need to move this and change that, temps were different, but wait the food came out great, Sounds like you don't need to do anything but cook and learn how it cooks. Just my thinking.

The problem is going to be when I want to cook several butts or racks or ribs at once or even a whole brisket.  I will constantly have to rotate things around the pit so they cook evenly.  Complicating my cooking is not the reason I got a pellet grill...lol.

So, not something a little foil could fix? Like using foil to protect edges of food from the higher heat wherever the hot spots are?


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[GatorDave]

What did I miss there, I need to move this and change that, temps were different, but wait the food came out great, Sounds like you don't need to do anything but cook and learn how it cooks. Just my thinking.

The problem is going to be when I want to cook several butts or racks or ribs at once or even a whole brisket.  I will constantly have to rotate things around the pit so they cook evenly.  Complicating my cooking is not the reason I got a pellet grill...lol.

So, not something a little foil could fix? Like using foil to protect edges of food from the higher heat wherever the hot spots are?


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Unfortunately no on the foil.  Fortunately I have a machine shop at my beck and call, so I'm going to manufacture a second heat diffuser that is going to vent the heat towards the front of the pit so then it can travel back to the chimney.  I'm hoping this evens it out enough to make me happy.  I'll have pics when I finish it.  Below is a pic of the current heat diffuser/drip pan, and my first mod, new wheels.

[bregent]

What did I miss there, I need to move this and change that, temps were different, but wait the food came out great, Sounds like you don't need to do anything but cook and learn how it cooks. Just my thinking.

The problem is going to be when I want to cook several butts or racks or ribs at once or even a whole brisket.  I will constantly have to rotate things around the pit so they cook evenly.  Complicating my cooking is not the reason I got a pellet grill...lol.

How big of a difference in temp are you seeing? I would also do a biscuit test to see the real impact the variation in temp will have on food.

[GatorDave]

What did I miss there, I need to move this and change that, temps were different, but wait the food came out great, Sounds like you don't need to do anything but cook and learn how it cooks. Just my thinking.

The problem is going to be when I want to cook several butts or racks or ribs at once or even a whole brisket.  I will constantly have to rotate things around the pit so they cook evenly.  Complicating my cooking is not the reason I got a pellet grill...lol.

How big of a difference in temp are you seeing? I would also do a biscuit test to see the real impact the variation in temp will have on food.

50 to 60 degrees in places.  From middle front to middle back it's not to bad (15 to 20 degrees), but from side to side, it's awful.  If the back is at 250 the front corners are in the 190 degree range.

[pmillen]

I miss Bentley's Performance Tests more and more.  Now, it's a c_r_a_p shoot.  A carnival worker once told me, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."

[GatorDave]

I miss Bentley's Performance Tests more and more.  Now, it's a c_r_a_p shoot.  A carnival worker once told me, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."

I knew this pit was going to be a gamble.  I just didn't think even temperatures were going to be the problem with it.  With the firepot in the middle and everything symmetrical, I thought for sure they would be even.  I've got the one fix in the works, if that doesn't work I have a more radical idea.  I'm going to create a downdraft mod by cutting into the dual walls at the bottom grate level, and then venting up to the chimney in the air gap area.  That way I won't have to cut down the grates to put one in.

[slaga]

I miss Bentley's Performance Tests more and more.  Now, it's a c_r_a_p shoot.  A carnival worker once told me, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."

I knew this pit was going to be a gamble.  I just didn't think even temperatures were going to be the problem with it.  With the firepot in the middle and everything symmetrical, I thought for sure they would be even.  I've got the one fix in the works, if that doesn't work I have a more radical idea.  I'm going to create a downdraft mod by cutting into the dual walls at the bottom grate level, and then venting up to the chimney in the air gap area.  That way I won't have to cut down the grates to put one in.

It is not symmetrical. The chimney is at the back, not top center. The heated air is going to try to take the path of least resistance from the fire pot to the chimney inlet. That is why it is warmer at the back. If you are willing to start cutting on a brand new grill, I'd suggest relocating the chimney to the top center of the cooking chamber and see what you get. I bet it will be a lot more even then.

I converted a Yoder YS640 to top down cooking so I ran into the issues I am pointing out below. Top down cooking is great but, you are going to run into a couple issues in doing so.
1) The heated air is going to take the path of least resistance from the fire pot to the hole you cut out of the inner wall. For top down to work really well, something has to force all of the air up above the food and then let it get pushed down over the food at the grates, and then to the hole you put in the inner wall. If you do not force the heated, smoky air up above the grate, I doubt you will get the results you are hoping for, and you will not really be cooking "top down".
2) Top down cooking requires a smaller fire to maintain the same temperature. What ever temperature is the lowest you can cook at now, expect that temperature to be higher after your top down mods.

Edit below:
Actually there is a 3rd thing to consider. I have toyed with the idea of using the space between the walls (double wall construction) to vent my grill (not a Smok-N-Hot grill) too. One thing that bugs me about it is that space is going to get greasy and there is no way to get inside and really clean it all out. I am scared one day down the road I might end up with a grease fire inside the double wall construction. That has prevented me from acting on using the space between the walls to vent my grill.

[slaga]

Before I cut anything though, I really suggest using a piece of vent pipe just smaller than the chimney inlet and cap one end. The open end goes into the chimney, inside the cooking chamber, and the capped end towards the front door. Then cut a hole the same diameter as the vent pipe on one side and have that hole point straight down in the center of your cooking area. That would be a cheap and easy way to see if the relocated chimney would accomplish the results you are looking for without actually voiding your warranty. You could even play with cheating that hole a little bit closer to the front or back to find the spot that would get you the best results.

[RanrocSmoker]

Before I cut anything though, I really suggest using a piece of vent pipe just smaller than the chimney inlet and cap one end. The open end goes into the chimney, inside the cooking chamber, and the capped end towards the front door. Then cut a hole the same diameter as the vent pipe on one side and have that hole point straight down in the center of your cooking area. That would be a cheap and easy way to see if the relocated chimney would accomplish the results you are looking for without actually voiding your warranty. You could even play with cheating that hole a little bit closer to the front or back to find the spot that would get you the best results.

I like this idea.


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[GatorDave]

I miss Bentley's Performance Tests more and more.  Now, it's a c_r_a_p shoot.  A carnival worker once told me, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."

I knew this pit was going to be a gamble.  I just didn't think even temperatures were going to be the problem with it.  With the firepot in the middle and everything symmetrical, I thought for sure they would be even.  I've got the one fix in the works, if that doesn't work I have a more radical idea.  I'm going to create a downdraft mod by cutting into the dual walls at the bottom grate level, and then venting up to the chimney in the air gap area.  That way I won't have to cut down the grates to put one in.

It is not symmetrical. The chimney is at the back, not top center. The heated air is going to try to take the path of least resistance from the fire pot to the chimney inlet. That is why it is warmer at the back. If you are willing to start cutting on a brand new grill, I'd suggest relocating the chimney to the top center of the cooking chamber and see what you get. I bet it will be a lot more even then.

I converted a Yoder YS640 to top down cooking so I ran into the issues I am pointing out below. Top down cooking is great but, you are going to run into a couple issues in doing so.
1) The heated air is going to take the path of least resistance from the fire pot to the hole you cut out of the inner wall. For top down to work really well, something has to force all of the air up above the food and then let it get pushed down over the food at the grates, and then to the hole you put in the inner wall. If you do not force the heated, smoky air up above the grate, I doubt you will get the results you are hoping for, and you will not really be cooking "top down".
2) Top down cooking requires a smaller fire to maintain the same temperature. What ever temperature is the lowest you can cook at now, expect that temperature to be higher after your top down mods.

Edit below:
Actually there is a 3rd thing to consider. I have toyed with the idea of using the space between the walls (double wall construction) to vent my grill (not a Smok-N-Hot grill) too. One thing that bugs me about it is that space is going to get greasy and there is no way to get inside and really clean it all out. I am scared one day down the road I might end up with a grease fire inside the double wall construction. That has prevented me from acting on using the space between the walls to vent my grill.

I didn't realize most of that, so thanks for the info.  I did realize the third thing though, which is why this was a last resort.  I do have the capability to mitigate that issue as I have access to a full machine shop.  I had a plan.  With the other issues you pointed out though, this is probably not the way to go.

[GatorDave]

Before I cut anything though, I really suggest using a piece of vent pipe just smaller than the chimney inlet and cap one end. The open end goes into the chimney, inside the cooking chamber, and the capped end towards the front door. Then cut a hole the same diameter as the vent pipe on one side and have that hole point straight down in the center of your cooking area. That would be a cheap and easy way to see if the relocated chimney would accomplish the results you are looking for without actually voiding your warranty. You could even play with cheating that hole a little bit closer to the front or back to find the spot that would get you the best results.

   This was my second thought for a fix, but I would lose the whole upper half of the unit for cooking.  The chimney exits at the 3rd shelf from the bottom, so I would lose the upper two shelves.  Hopefully my new heat deflector is going to do the trick.  I'm going to push the heat to the front of the unit so that it then has to exit to the back.  It probably wont' be perfect, but I imagine it will be much better.  If that doesn't work, it's going to be time to move the chimney to top center.

[slaga]

Before I cut anything though, I really suggest using a piece of vent pipe just smaller than the chimney inlet and cap one end. The open end goes into the chimney, inside the cooking chamber, and the capped end towards the front door. Then cut a hole the same diameter as the vent pipe on one side and have that hole point straight down in the center of your cooking area. That would be a cheap and easy way to see if the relocated chimney would accomplish the results you are looking for without actually voiding your warranty. You could even play with cheating that hole a little bit closer to the front or back to find the spot that would get you the best results.

   This was my second thought for a fix, but I would lose the whole upper half of the unit for cooking.  The chimney exits at the 3rd shelf from the bottom, so I would lose the upper two shelves.  Hopefully my new heat deflector is going to do the trick.  I'm going to push the heat to the front of the unit so that it then has to exit to the back.  It probably wont' be perfect, but I imagine it will be much better.  If that doesn't work, it's going to be time to move the chimney to top center.

The vent pipe thing I was talking about is a temporary option just to see if relocating the chimney will get you the results you are looking for, without voiding your warranty. You could also see if cheating the chimney slightly to the front or back gets better results than in the center before you make your 1st cut. If it does fix your woes, then you relocate the chimney accordingly and have use of all of your shelves. If it does not get you the results you are looking for, you did not make an extra hole in your grill and void your warranty for nothing. I did not mean for it to be a "permanent" solution.

Good luck on the heat deflector. I have a feeling what you find works best at 250 won't be optimal at higher temperatures and vice versa. I hope I am wrong but that kind of seems to be the case when deflectors are used to move heat from one place in a grill to another. I have my fingers crossed for you!

[GatorDave]

Before I cut anything though, I really suggest using a piece of vent pipe just smaller than the chimney inlet and cap one end. The open end goes into the chimney, inside the cooking chamber, and the capped end towards the front door. Then cut a hole the same diameter as the vent pipe on one side and have that hole point straight down in the center of your cooking area. That would be a cheap and easy way to see if the relocated chimney would accomplish the results you are looking for without actually voiding your warranty. You could even play with cheating that hole a little bit closer to the front or back to find the spot that would get you the best results.

   This was my second thought for a fix, but I would lose the whole upper half of the unit for cooking.  The chimney exits at the 3rd shelf from the bottom, so I would lose the upper two shelves.  Hopefully my new heat deflector is going to do the trick.  I'm going to push the heat to the front of the unit so that it then has to exit to the back.  It probably wont' be perfect, but I imagine it will be much better.  If that doesn't work, it's going to be time to move the chimney to top center.

The vent pipe thing I was talking about is a temporary option just to see if relocating the chimney will get you the results you are looking for, without voiding your warranty. You could also see if cheating the chimney slightly to the front or back gets better results than in the center before you make your 1st cut. If it does fix your woes, then you relocate the chimney accordingly and have use of all of your shelves. If it does not get you the results you are looking for, you did not make an extra hole in your grill and void your warranty for nothing. I did not mean for it to be a "permanent" solution.

Good luck on the heat deflector. I have a feeling what you find works best at 250 won't be optimal at higher temperatures and vice versa. I hope I am wrong but that kind of seems to be the case when deflectors are used to move heat from one place in a grill to another. I have my fingers crossed for you!

This is my low and slow unit.  I have the bullseye for hot and fast and cooking things at higher temps.  I don't see using this unit much beyond 275.  I may try it at 350 for meatloaf, but really not for much else.