Let's Talk BBQ
Outdoor Cooking Equipment => Grills & Smokers => Pellet Grills and Smokers => Topic started by: IR2dum on May 01, 2013, 02:39:53 AM
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Well, I finally pulled the trigger on a pellet pooper. I'm a little ashamed to even mention it because it is not a name brand like Rec-Tec, Mak, Yoder, etc., but I wanted to get my feet wet to see if it would work for me. It is an Outdoor Gourmet from Academy Sports and Outdoors. I wanted a pellet grill ever since I cooked a brisket on the RecTec at the Gathering last September. I had my eye on a boxed up grill at Academy for at least 3 weeks (the only grill in all of Houston), but I procrastinated buying it (silly me). Finally 2 weeks ago, I made the decision to go get it. I figured for $200, I would at least get a good learning experience from it. Guess what? It was gone. I had them check inventory at other stores and found that the closest one was in Laredo (about 350 miles and not enough time). Let it slide for the last two weeks, but last weekend, I caught the fever and started a new search and found the closest grill in Baton Rouge, LA. As some of you might know, I work on weekends all around the country and last Sunday, I was in Lexington, Kentucky and fly right over Baton Rouge on my way home to Houston. I made numerous calls to Academy headquarters and to the store in Baton Rouge. They were going to hold it for me, but informed me that it was in a box with the top of the box all torn up and there might be missing parts. I told them I still wanted it and would rely on Academy's superb customer service if I needed anything. So, on my way home Sunday evening, I stopped in Baton Rouge to pick up this grill. Hired a taxi van at the airport to go to the store.They gave me an extra 20% off for what might be missing parts and I bought it for $160. It took 3 people to load it into the taxi. Back to the airport. Had to get airport concierge and both pilots to help me get it inside the plane. Tied it between a couch and a table and took off for Houston. Arrived in Houston and got help unloading it, but I had the wrong car at the airport. I had to store the grill in the terminal while I drove home to change vehicles. An hour and 30 min later I was back with my SUV. Loaded it up and finally arrived home at about 1AM. I was so excited that I put it together right away. It took an hour for me to unload it by myself, but finished in about another hour. It went together beautifully and not a single missing part down to the last screw. I am very pleased with this grill and cooked a chicken in it this evening for my first cook. Along with the $160 I paid for the grill, I had a few miscellaneous costs....$100 for airport usage fees (I'm on my own for personal unscheduled stops), $70 taxi, $120 gratuities for loading/unloading, So I figure I got this $200 grill for about $500 with tax, title, and license (which was the original selling price before it went on clearance). I know that I will have questions and will rely on all you good people for advice. Sorry for the long story, but I got excited. Pics of this evening's first cook will be posted tomorrow if I can get them off my phone or if Jaxon might be able to get them off his phone. Thanks for reading.
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Great story. Good luck with your new toy.
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You are so brave...cant' wait for pics. Pam .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ
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Even with the added expense, still not a bad score.
Go ahead and get yourself an A-MAZE-N pellet tube. The Traeger style grills are known for not putting out as much smoke flavor and the pellet tube will help.
Another tip for pellet grills: If you want more smoke flavor, then putting cold meat (straight from the fridge) onto a cold grill, then turning it on takes advantage of the extra smoke during the warm-up and also extends how long the meat will absorb smoke.
Hope you enjoy your new grill! :)
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Good luck with it. Looking forward to seeing some of your cooks!
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See, the darkside aint so bad ;) Looking forward to your pellet cooking adventures.
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Had to get airport concierge and both pilots to help me get it inside the plane.
You get an A+++ for persistence! Smoke on!
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Welcome to the dark side Don!
This grill will get your feet wet. In a year or two you will be looking to upgrade and we will be here to help you make that decision.
If you have any questions there are many experienced pelleteers who can help.
BTW great story on how you obtained that grill ;)
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Don, It's obvious you weren't flying Delta. You should have called me to come over and help you unload. Dee
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Welcome to the Dark Side, Don. You were sure determined. You will probably appreciate every cook that much more because of your experience.
Art
Make sure you post lots of pictures about your cooks.
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Don lives in another world....... 8)
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I love the enthusiasm! Looking forward to your "reports". I too am considering the dark side...
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nice snag cuz (http://i50.tinypic.com/20ztyfl.gif)
wouldn't it have been easier and cheaper to come home and get the SUV and drive back over to BatonRouge?
Cuz, you are so right, but I didn't think about the add-on costs at that moment and I had all ready made the arrangements.
Dee, it's all ready unloaded, but you can come over and help me post some pics.
TentHunteR, I have the Amazin maze tray I can use. I had an Amazin tube smoker but I think Dee has it now. Thanks for the heads up because I did notice that there was not a lot of visible smoke when in smoke mode, but it smelled real smokey. At high temp, there was not a wisp of smoke, but the smell of wood burning was definitely in the air
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Don is now a pellet head!!
Wow, great news ;) Proud of you Don! Now lets mod that bad boy :D :D :D :D
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Cool another Houston area pellet cooker
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Don,
Be careful. Tommy will have your pellet pooper modified beyond your wildest dreams. I did say "your wildest dreams", not his. You know what he is like with a new idea in his head. I don't know how Kimmie puts up with him sometimes.
Art
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Dee got me straightened out on how to get the photos out of my phone so here they are. Not many pics, but this is the first test last evening of a spatchcocked yardbird with Elgin Southside Market rub. I sarted it on smoke setting for 30 min. and then bumped it up to 375 until the IT was at 170. My smoke setting temp turned out to be 225 so I need to adjust it down for more smoke. The cabinet temp was within 5 degrees of the called for temp and only varied by about 5 degrees up and down. All in all, I was pleased with the way this knock-off worked. Excited to do a brisket, but was told to wait until they go on sale probably closer to Memorial Day. I do have 3 butts and 2 turkeys in the freezer. Might need to thaw something out. And thanks for any suggestions ya'll might have.
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Don,
Be careful. Tommy will have your pellet pooper modified beyond your wildest dreams. I did say "your wildest dreams", not his. You know what he is like with a new idea in his head. I don't know how Kimmie puts up with him sometimes.
Art
Kimmie is a saint.
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Don don't pay no attention to that hood ornament(thermometer) cause they are not that accurate. You are cooking at grate level and not at the top of the hood. Get yourself a good digital gauge like the Maverick ET-732 if you don't have one. You can monitor grate temps and meat temps wirelessly with that thing.
And until you get familiar with how it operates I would wait on making adjustments of the p-setting on the thermostat. This timing adjustment can cause a flame out if set too low.
And did you mention three frozen butts? No need to thaw them out. Just throw them in on smoke mode for a few hours then bump it up to 250F until their IT hits 200F. You can rub them with some molasses while frozen and sprinkle with your favorite rub ;)
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^^^^^^^^^ What he said! ^^^^^^^^^
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That is a nice looking knock off and that chicken looks real good....
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I'm major jealous cuz (http://i50.tinypic.com/20ztyfl.gif)
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Don..chicken looks real good..ya did good and it's pretty too. WTG. Pam .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ
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I hope it works out for you Don. I think it might have been a one time buy for Academy. There are only a few left out in scattered stores and none in the warehouse with no purchase order pending. I think it fell victim to what happened to a lot of other new things they tried. It just showed up in the stores and no one really understood what it was or what to do with it. Any customers that knew what it was already had a name brand pellet grill and were not looking to buy it. There were a couple of know issues like a bad batch of ignitors that caused problems. I don't think they sourced these from Traeger but most likely from the folks that build the Traegers and they used the same components and design. There is one left in the store where I work sitting there at $199. The folks that work in that department don't even know it is there or know what it is. If it drops below $100 I might be able to buy it without having to pay for a divorce lawyer, but would have to pay for an extension for my deck to put it on.
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OK, I've now done a comparison of the specs between a Traeger and this Outdoor Gourmet knockoff. The grill area is 19.5 X 29.5 for about 575 square inches, which puts it between the Lil Tex (418) and the Texas (646). The barrel size is the same as the Lil Tex at 20 inches. So the knockoff is 7.5 inches wider overall. I know the Lil Tex puts out 20K BTU's and the Texas puts out 36K BTU's, but I couldn't find the output for the knockoff, but I bet that it is probably comparable to the Lil Tex. Here is my question. How do they arrive at different BTU outputs? Is the burn pot larger or do they send more forced air in or how?
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I hope it works out for you Don. I think it might have been a one time buy for Academy. There are only a few left out in scattered stores and none in the warehouse with no purchase order pending. I think it fell victim to what happened to a lot of other new things they tried. It just showed up in the stores and no one really understood what it was or what to do with it. Any customers that knew what it was already had a name brand pellet grill and were not looking to buy it. There were a couple of know issues like a bad batch of ignitors that caused problems. I don't think they sourced these from Traeger but most likely from the folks that build the Traegers and they used the same components and design. There is one left in the store where I work sitting there at $199. The folks that work in that department don't even know it is there or know what it is. If it drops below $100 I might be able to buy it without having to pay for a divorce lawyer, but would have to pay for an extension for my deck to put it on.
Ken, you summed it up perfectly. I probably shouldn't say anything, but there are two sitting in Macon, GA., but that might be one by now because I haven't talked to Jaxon in a couple of days. I was told that they sold one in College Station, TX for $99 just to get rid of it. And you don't need a new deck extension, you just need the Tim Tucker method of making new grill space.
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Ken, you summed it up perfectly. I probably shouldn't say anything, but there are two sitting in Macon, GA., but that might be one by now because I haven't talked to Jaxon in a couple of days. I was told that they sold one in College Station, TX for $99 just to get rid of it. And you don't need a new deck extension, you just need the Tim Tucker method of making new grill space.
Alright!!! Who let the cat out of the bag about my new multi-story grill parking deck!!! :D :D :D
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Alright!!! Who let the cat out of the bag about my new multi-story grill parking deck!!! :D :D :D
Tee, I have one of these I have thought about rigging up on the deck.
http://www.amazon.com/Racor-PHL-1R-HeavyLift-4-Foot-Cable-Lifted/dp/B0009I8AO6
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OK, I've now done a comparison of the specs between a Traeger and this Outdoor Gourmet knockoff. The grill area is 19.5 X 29.5 for about 575 square inches, which puts it between the Lil Tex (418) and the Texas (646). The barrel size is the same as the Lil Tex at 20 inches. So the knockoff is 7.5 inches wider overall. I know the Lil Tex puts out 20K BTU's and the Texas puts out 36K BTU's, but I couldn't find the output for the knockoff, but I bet that it is probably comparable to the Lil Tex. Here is my question. How do they arrive at different BTU outputs? Is the burn pot larger or do they send more forced air in or how?
The firepot in the 070 has 7 holes and the Lil Tex has 9. Some folks like the performance of the 9 hole pot in the Lil Tex. They are not expensive at all unless you go stainless.
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The firepot in the 070 has 7 holes and the Lil Tex has 9. Some folks like the performance of the 9 hole pot in the Lil Tex. They are not expensive at all unless you go stainless.
If I am understanding this correctly, the extra two holes allow more air to be pushed in for a hotter burn in the pot; however, the size of the pot remains the same? Sort of like the bellows effect, right?
So if the parts are interchangeable, I could get overall higher temps if I swapped out firepots? Is that a reasonable assumption? The reason I am asking is the fact that I don't think this grill has a high enough temp to grill a steak as it sits right now. Does the Lil Tex 075 have the ability to grill a steak? Anybody with experience with this?
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Don there are several things that limit your high temperature...
Your thermostat- the digital thermostat will only let the cooker go so high for safety. Once it reaches a certain temp it will slow down the auger feed.
The auger motor- this motor only spins so fast so this limits the amount of pellets that can reach the firepot in a certain amount of time. The faster the feed the higher the temps. The trade off is you lose the ability to keep lower temps.
No insulation or double wall design- a insulated or double wall cooker will reach higher temps due to less heat loss. That is why the Memphis line is known for their higher temperatures and grilling ability.
Couple things that you can do....
Install a auger switch- this simple mod allows a switch to change power control from the thermostat to direct line voltage coming into the cooker. By flicking a switch you put the cooker into turbo mode by allowing the auger to constantly feed pellets into the burn pot. This mod will void your warranty and can be dangerous if not used properly. I had one for my junior and could get very high temps for grilling.
Install a Savannah Stoker or custom PID- replacing your thermostat with a PID will allow you to reach higher temps by simply adjusting the maximum temperature allowed on the PID.
Make a flame zone- you can remove the drip pan and install a couple flavorizer bars above the burn pot. Many people do this to create a flame zone on a Traeger.
You can also replace the auger with a high speed one but I do not suggest that unless you have a PID. This will throw off the timings greatly and the digital thermostat would be difficult to correct for this change.
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muebe, thanks for all the info. It is just for my general knowledge. I don't want to do any mods until I get to know this grill intimately. It will be a great learning experience and thanks for any help and suggestions along the way. This is going to be a great adventure. Sorry, Tommy, but hang on to those mod ideas for future reference.
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a guy that's flying in a corporate jet doesn't have to worry about such piddling things.
Just sayin '.. .
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a guy that's flying in a corporate jet doesn't have to worry about such piddling things.
Just sayin '.. .
Jaxon, the piddling thing I'm worried about today is can I afford mayonnaise for my bolonga sammiches next week. It will depend on if I pick a winner at the Derby tommorow. Wish me luck.
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Maybe Deep can loan you a couple of bucks till payday...
;-)
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Maybe Deep can loan you a couple of bucks till payday...
;-)
You are talking about Deep Pockets Stafford, right?
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Maybe Deep can loan you a couple of bucks till payday...
;-)
You are talking about Deep Pockets Stafford, right?
Careful, Don, he doesn't want folks to know his full name...but, yes, he can cover you till payday.
He's been kinda tight with his money lately, though. Seems he loaned some money to an old army buddy for a face lift... Now he doesn't know what the guy looks like - having a hard time collecting.
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Maybe Deep can loan you a couple of bucks till payday...
;-)
You are talking about Deep Pockets Stafford, right?
8)
Careful, Don, he doesn't want folks to know his full name...but, yes, he can cover you till payday.
He's been kinda tight with his money lately, though. Seems he loaned some money to an old army buddy for a face lift... Now he doesn't know what the guy looks like - having a hard time collecting.