Pit boss smoker help

[Laner7]

I just got a pit boss smoker I did the “burnout” that is required for it a few days ago and yesterday I put a brisket in (11lbs) it has been on for about 13 hours now. My question is do y’all have issues with the built in thermometer reading different than another thermometer? The pit boss thermometer shows 225, but the other thermometer I’m using shows the smoker at 190. I have probs in and they are both reading around the same temperature at 170.

[rsquared]

i have not had any major discrepancy with mine and i have calibrated with a meater probe and with a probe from thermopen

[Greylight318]

It depends on where the temp is read from on the smoker. I imagine one is on the grates and one is probably above the grates? This could lead to different readings.

[Laner7]

The built in thermometer is towards the bottom I believe. The external one that I put in there is next to the brisket.

[mooch]

Yes, I have the Pit Boss Austin XL and it has temperature discrepancies like you mentioned. I think part of the problem is the temp probe is located on the upper left side of the grill and the burner pot is in the middle. I’ve just learned where my hot/cool spots are and adjusted accordingly.


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[Greylight318]

It shouldn't matter too much as long as you know the meat temp. You will learn the smoker as you cook on it

[Bdub25]

Test them both in ice water and boiling water.


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[Laner7]

Okay, thanks. I’ll do that. As far as the brisket is should still be okay or is it going to get dried out? I have a pan of water in there with it. Still reading around 170 in the 2 meat probes

[Brett A]

Okay, thanks. I’ll do that. As far as the brisket is should still be okay or is it going to get dried out? I have a pan of water in there with it. Still reading around 170 in the 2 meat probes

You should be fine with the water. I don't think you will dry it out. You may hit a stall, but I wouldn't pull it until it reaches 190.

[mooch]

You’ll be fine. Remember all pits will fluctuate to some degree. Sounds like your brisket is in it’s stall right now. You can wrap it to help get through or just let it ride the stall out.


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[Master Blaster]

You should be fine with the water. I don't think you will dry it out. You may hit a stall, but I wouldn't pull it until it reaches 190.

I start probing it at 190 but never pulled one less than 200 before. I check it to see if it wants to grab the probe on the removal and as soon as it comes out freely i pull the brisket to rest. Just my 2 cents

[Arrowthreat]

Mine has the same issue. I think its a combination of the internal probe location and the fact that Pit boss doesn't hold temp that well. The rec tec's and Pitts and Spitts hold temp way better from what I've seen.

Just watch you probes and act accordingly. I've cooked some good briskets on my Pit Boss. If the other companies offered an adjustable sere plate like the Pit Bosses, I would go buy one of them. The Pit Bosses are better pellet "grills" than most, but they're probably the worst pellet smokers if that makes any since.

[Graysonhogs]

Get a good set of probes and Ignore what the smoker is telling you.

[antonlsu]

Having a pan in will affect the temperature it's reading.

[bgleaton]

The hood temp gauge will be different than the controller. They are two different materials taking measurements at two different locations. The thermocouples are normally above a heat plate so they don't get direct hot air whereas the temp gauge is getting hot air from the gap between the firebox and the heat plate. Most every pellet grill gives an average reading and is programmed to show a temp around the set temp when sometimes it will go 15-20 above or below the set temp. For example, if you have the smoker set for 220F, the controller will show 210 to 230 but the actual temps have a larger variance. A pellet grill cannot give a steady consistent temperature and also offer lots of smoke at the same time. The more smoke you see, the more temp variance you'll get. That being said, it's not that big of a deal to be 15-20 degrees off when smoking a brisket at 225F. I have tested Traeger, Pit Boss, RecTeq, etc. and they all operate very similarly.