Camp Chef Pellet smoker questions

[multi_smoke]

Hi,
    this is my first thread other than intro. Some of this will probably be generic, but
some definitely only applies to Camp Chef owners.
    I did two very long brisket smokes as my first smokes on the Smokepro SG 24.
I noted what appeared to be sawdust all over the inside of the unit (on top of grease). I did some cursory googles
on the subject and I came to realize it's not that unusual. But, fact is; if it's all over the interior, it's
got to be all over the food. It doesn't seem like ash, but more like unburned sawdust. I can't say that I detected
eating sawdust or noticing anything odd, but I have to ask, particularly due to my second question.
That is; the ash cup on the bottom ends up with almost nothing in it after these long smokes. That
seemed to make sense since all that residue appears to be all over the inside of the unit instead of in
the cup. OR, is that cup mostly just for manual cleanout, as in opening it up and scraping the crud down
into it? I did pull the rod on the right and that opens the hole into the cup, but nothing much falls in there on its own.
Am I supposed to scrape all the accumulated stuff into that cup? Is that the methodology? If so, it's not impressive despite
all the great reviews. After all, it's not that easy to maneuver a scraper down in that area anyway and like I said,
nothing much falls down there due to gravity.
     I'm wondering if something is wrong with my unit, like maybe the fan is pointed wrong or something.
I just have no experience with pellet smokers. I'd appreciate some thoughts.
Thanks.

[TMB]

I do not own a Camp Chef but I do own two pellet grills.   I'd say to start with what pellets do you use?  Next question how often do you clean it out?

[sschorr]

I had a Camp Chef DLX (PG24), a 2016 model.  The PG24 is basically the same as your SG24 on the internals.  My initial cooks, say the 1st 5 or 6, did seem to have more ash/sawdust looking debris, but that diminished over time.  I think TMB has the right question - which pellets are you using?  I was using Camp Chef's Alder and Cherry and notice that the bags had more "fine" (dust).  This dust travels down the auger and gets blown by both the main fan and the auger fan.   However, I never saw any noticeable ash or dust on my food - there may have been some, but did not notice it.

I would suggest trying a different brand of pellet such as LumberJack or BBQ Delight.  Those long cooks should have left 1/8 to 1/3 residue in the burn pot.  I never had to scrape the burn pot, just used the ash dump feature. 

[multi_smoke]

I do not own a Camp Chef but I do own two pellet grills.   I'd say to start with what pellets do you use?  Next question how often do you clean it out?

Used Camp Chef so far, although I bought a bag of Traeger from HD yesterday just because that's all they had
and I thought I'd try them. I really don't know whether pellet grills have problems burning or feeding other
brands. They of course tell you to use theirs. What's your experience with that? Also what brand(s) do you like?
    I have only used it twice for two long brisket smokes, but I cleaned it after both.
thx

[multi_smoke]

I had a Camp Chef DLX (PG24), a 2016 model.  The PG24 is basically the same as your SG24 on the internals.  My initial cooks, say the 1st 5 or 6, did seem to have more ash/sawdust looking debris, but that diminished over time.  I think TMB has the right question - which pellets are you using?  I was using Camp Chef's Alder and Cherry and notice that the bags had more "fine" (dust).  This dust travels down the auger and gets blown by both the main fan and the auger fan.   However, I never saw any noticeable ash or dust on my food - there may have been some, but did not notice it.

I would suggest trying a different brand of pellet such as LumberJack or BBQ Delight.  Those long cooks should have left 1/8 to 1/3 residue in the burn pot.  I never had to scrape the burn pot, just used the ash dump feature.

Interesting thought about the existing sawdust in the bag. I also didn't know there were two fans.
I'll try other pellets. How do you feel about Traeger pellets?

[TMB]

I had a Camp Chef DLX (PG24), a 2016 model.  The PG24 is basically the same as your SG24 on the internals.  My initial cooks, say the 1st 5 or 6, did seem to have more ash/sawdust looking debris, but that diminished over time.  I think TMB has the right question - which pellets are you using?  I was using Camp Chef's Alder and Cherry and notice that the bags had more "fine" (dust).  This dust travels down the auger and gets blown by both the main fan and the auger fan.   However, I never saw any noticeable ash or dust on my food - there may have been some, but did not notice it.

I would suggest trying a different brand of pellet such as LumberJack or BBQ Delight.  Those long cooks should have left 1/8 to 1/3 residue in the burn pot.  I never had to scrape the burn pot, just used the ash dump feature.

Interesting thought about the existing sawdust in the bag. I also didn't know there were two fans.
I'll try other pellets. How do you feel about Traeger pellets?

I WOULD NOT!   I have friends that have found staples and nails in those bags.  I would go with Lumber Jack, BBQ's delite 

I use to use Traeger yaers ago for smoke only in my smoking tubes but always had issues with keeping them going enough to make the smoke I was looking for   

[multi_smoke]

I had a Camp Chef DLX (PG24), a 2016 model.  The PG24 is basically the same as your SG24 on the internals.  My initial cooks, say the 1st 5 or 6, did seem to have more ash/sawdust looking debris, but that diminished over time.  I think TMB has the right question - which pellets are you using?  I was using Camp Chef's Alder and Cherry and notice that the bags had more "fine" (dust).  This dust travels down the auger and gets blown by both the main fan and the auger fan.   However, I never saw any noticeable ash or dust on my food - there may have been some, but did not notice it.

I would suggest trying a different brand of pellet such as LumberJack or BBQ Delight.  Those long cooks should have left 1/8 to 1/3 residue in the burn pot.  I never had to scrape the burn pot, just used the ash dump feature.

Interesting thought about the existing sawdust in the bag. I also didn't know there were two fans.
I'll try other pellets. How do you feel about Traeger pellets?

I WOULD NOT!   I have friends that have found staples and nails in those bags.  I would go with Lumber Jack, BBQ's delite 

I use to use Traeger yaers ago for smoke only in my smoking tubes but always had issues with keeping them going enough to make the smoke I was looking for

Good to know. I'll try these suggestions at some point soon. How about Camp Chef pellets in comparison?
Also in the Traeger category?

[multi_smoke]

Let me re-ask the primary question too.
After a 23 hour smoke, I had almost nothing in the ash can. Same with the 12 hour first smoke I did.
Do y'all think that's as weird as I do? What could be going on there? Nice cup and everything, but
at least there could be some amazing smoked coffee in there or something. Sometimes I expect too much though.

[TMB]

I had a Camp Chef DLX (PG24), a 2016 model.  The PG24 is basically the same as your SG24 on the internals.  My initial cooks, say the 1st 5 or 6, did seem to have more ash/sawdust looking debris, but that diminished over time.  I think TMB has the right question - which pellets are you using?  I was using Camp Chef's Alder and Cherry and notice that the bags had more "fine" (dust).  This dust travels down the auger and gets blown by both the main fan and the auger fan.   However, I never saw any noticeable ash or dust on my food - there may have been some, but did not notice it.

I would suggest trying a different brand of pellet such as LumberJack or BBQ Delight.  Those long cooks should have left 1/8 to 1/3 residue in the burn pot.  I never had to scrape the burn pot, just used the ash dump feature.

Interesting thought about the existing sawdust in the bag. I also didn't know there were two fans.
I'll try other pellets. How do you feel about Traeger pellets?

I WOULD NOT!   I have friends that have found staples and nails in those bags.  I would go with Lumber Jack, BBQ's delite 

I use to use Traeger yaers ago for smoke only in my smoking tubes but always had issues with keeping them going enough to make the smoke I was looking for

Good to know. I'll try these suggestions at some point soon. How about Camp Chef pellets in comparison?
Also in the Traeger category?

That I do not know, but I would say no.   Traeger, are not my choice but I would give Camp Chef  a try if I didn't already have 200+ lbs of BBQ's delite in my shed

[sschorr]

I have switched from Camp Chef Pellet’s to Lumberjack for Oak and Cookinpellets for fruitwood (Apple, Cherry, Maple) and their Perfect Mix.   I do not use Hickory or Mesquite, although the Perfect Mix has Hickory in it.
I would avoid Traeger pellets - I do not have great confidence that their quality control is as strong as I want for cooking my foods with.

[multi_smoke]

I have switched from Camp Chef Pellet’s to Lumberjack for Oak and Cookinpellets for fruitwood (Apple, Cherry, Maple) and their Perfect Mix.   I do not use Hickory or Mesquite, although the Perfect Mix has Hickory in it.
I would avoid Traeger pellets - I do not have great confidence that their quality control is as strong as I want for cooking my foods with.

Thanks, I'll have to try some of these other brands.

If any admins are viewing; I'm not receiving notifications for any updates on these two threads I opened. I have selected notify.

thx

[HighOnSmoke]

I have switched from Camp Chef Pellet’s to Lumberjack for Oak and Cookinpellets for fruitwood (Apple, Cherry, Maple) and their Perfect Mix.   I do not use Hickory or Mesquite, although the Perfect Mix has Hickory in it.
I would avoid Traeger pellets - I do not have great confidence that their quality control is as strong as I want for cooking my foods with.

Thanks, I'll have to try some of these other brands.

If any admins are viewing; I'm not receiving notifications for any updates on these two threads I opened. I have selected notify.

thx

I am not sure where you selected notify as the section to notify you of this was not checked. I took care of it for you. Hopefully that solves it.

[multi_smoke]

The "NOTIFY" clickbox at the beginning of the post. When I clicked it, it changed to "UNNOTIFY". So, I thought at that point it was set correctly, but no notifications were coming in. I have received one today at 2pm.
Thx