Time to get a smoker...

[Jamnanc]

For those on a budget Sam’s is closing out master built pellet grills for $200.

[whitewalrus]

Does anyone here have an opinion on the Pit Boss line of smokers?

They seem pretty feature rich and built well for a reasonable price.

Looking at maybe the 8-in-1 Pro Series.

I have one and I like it. Know others with them as well who are satisfied with them.

[Great-Kazoo]

Does anyone here have an opinion on the Pit Boss line of smokers?

They seem pretty feature rich and built well for a reasonable price.

Looking at maybe the 8-in-1 Pro Series.

It's a well recommended smoker, on a few cooking forums i'm on.

[Aloha_Shooter]

For those on a budget Sam’s is closing out master built pellet grills for $200.

Thanks for posting that. I have a friend who was looking for a smoker to give her husband but had a limit of $200 due to unexpected expenses this year (including someone running a red light and totalling their car last week) so I was at a loss on what to recommend. Just sent her the link, chatted, and ordered it for pickup as soon as they get back in town.

[Jamnanc]

Thanks for posting that. I have a friend who was looking for a smoker to give her husband but had a limit of $200 due to unexpected expenses this year (including someone running a red light and totalling their car last week) so I was at a loss on what to recommend. Just sent her the link, chatted, and ordered it for pickup as soon as they get back in town.

Nice. I’ve got something similar and have been very happy with it.

[eddiememphis]

I still love my GMG Davey Crockett but sure wish it could do the prep of putting the initial load in the fire chamber automatically. I'd use it more often for even simple grilling if it did. I don't mind cleaning out the ashes separately, just don't like having to go through pulling everything out to load the chamber when all I want to do is grill a steak or two.

My dream grill would use wood pellets, fire up without having to pull everything out first, and hit peak temps of 750 or so.

Six months too late on my part, but I have a Davy Crockett and all I do is push a button. It runs the auger, filling the fire pot then the igniter gets hot. I have never had a problem with it. In fact, I have a couple pounds of salmon going in it today.

Not sure why you would need to manually fill the pot. How old is your unit?

https://greenmountaingrills.com/wp-c...Prime_WiFi.pdf

Re-read the manual. You shouldn't need to manually fill the fire pot every cook. Only if you run out of pellets.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Six months too late on my part, but I have a Davy Crockett and all I do is push a button. It runs the auger, filling the fire pot then the igniter gets hot. I have never had a problem with it. In fact, I have a couple pounds of salmon going in it today.

Not sure why you would need to manually fill the pot. How old is your unit?

About 5 years old. I hear the auger going when I press the start button but the instructions that came with the smoker specifically said to clean out the ashes and load the firebox manually before starting. I usually use it for smoking rather than grilling anyway so guess I never thought about deviating from the instructions.

[eddiememphis]

...the instructions that came with the smoker specifically said to clean out the ashes and load the firebox manually before starting.

They may have rewritten that. Going through my book and the online guides, I don't see that anywhere. Vacuum out the pot if the ash covers the igniter is all I see. I clean mine out before every cook, then press the button and go.

Try it, I bet it works fine for you.

[Gman]

I clean my Traeger a lot less frequently. Ash doesn't build up that quickly. I just turn it on at the smoke setting with the lid open and wait a few minutes until I hear the rumble of the pellets burning in the bowl. Close the lid and set to the desired temp.

[eddiememphis]

I clean my Traeger a lot less frequently. Ash doesn't build up that quickly.

GMG says vacuum out the fire box every 2-3 bags of pellets. I do it every time because I line the drip tray with foil and since I have it apart, might as well use my sweet little DeWalt cordless vacuum.

I have noticed a big difference in the amount of ash left between pellet brands. I tried Traeger and Pit Boss before settling on Lumberjack. The latter produces much less ash and more smoke flavor that the other two.