Let's Talk BBQ
General => General Discussion & Topics => Product Reviews => Topic started by: pmillen on January 11, 2014, 03:10:27 PM
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Another member here sent me a message asking about my opinion of the PG-500. In his "Thank You" reply he called it an in-depth review. I hadn't thought of it as such but after mulling it over I thought that other members may find a nugget of gold in it. (It's probably iron pyrite.)
See Cookshack Pellet Grills (http://www.cookshack.com/store/Grills)
So here are my opinions. It's the only pellet unit I've cooked on or tasted food from.
I started grilling on an inexpensive Char-Broil gas grill in December 2010. I bought my Bradley Smoker in December 2011 and my Cookshack PG-500 in December 2012. The first two were purchased without an appreciable amount of forethought. The PG-500 was selected after reading whatever I could find on Green Mountain Grills, MAK Grills, Memphis Grills and Cookshack Grills. I initially wanted a Cookshack Fast Eddy PG-1000 but purchased the PG-500 after feeling assured that it is essentially a non-insulated and reshaped PG-1000 that's $1500 less expensive.
Marcia and I originally preferred our meat cooked over charcoal. But I persistently tried to cook on the Char-Broil gasser. I finally concluded that if I cannot see the fire and cook directly over it then I'm just cooking in an oven. All I could taste when grilling meat was the meat (that's good) and whatever I rubbed, brined or marinated with (also good). But something was missing—the fire. It seems to me that most people cooking on gas grills try to simulate cooking over a fire by also burning wood chips or pellets. My solution was to go back to charcoal while researching which wood pellet grill to buy.
I chose the Fast Eddy line primarily because I wanted what is commonly called the flame zone. I figured that I already had the Bradley smoker for smoking duty even though I (1) had to install a PID for temperature control and (2) planned to replace the 500-watt heating element with one twice as large to speed up temperature recovery after opening the door. After smoking on the PG-500 the Bradley has sat idle. I may use it for cold smoking this winter.
So...That's the history. Now what I know about the PG-500 and would I buy one again.
Would I buy one again?
I don't know. I would have to conduct another long in-depth study. The playing field has changed.
- I might have bought a GMG but they were having ongoing problems with seriously uneven temperatures and warping drip pans. They may be solved now.
- Other manufacturers have developed grill/searing zones.
But...I think I would buy one again.
What do I know about the PG-500?
- It's amazingly well-made. It's high-nickel stainless steel so it isn't likely to rust like the flimsy low-quality stainless steel Char-Broil uses. It's heavy—I could barely get it off of the pallet and needed help getting it up one step and over the threasholds.
- It has wheels on one leg set. Castors are available for the other two legs to make it easier to move (did I mention that it's heavy?). Don't buy the castors 'cause they make it un-level left to right by a half-inch.
- You can adjust the delivery frequency and duration of pellets to the fire. They control the temperature swings and the amount of smoke produced. The smaller the temperature swings the less smoke is produced. Most users find settings that produce the results they want for various kinds of cooks but a new user will need to climb a small learning curve.
- There aren't many dealers so potential buyers will be limited intheir ability to see or cook on one before buying.
- The beautiful stainless steel has a downside. It shows the inevitable drippings and stains. Although getting stuff clean is a process offering scant return for the required effort I do it anyway even though I have no recollection of anyone becoming ill from a pit's lack of a sterile exterior.
- The doors that open like cargo doors take a bit of getting used to. When open they seem to hold heat in better than a roll-top. They also hold smoke in so it's often hard to see into the pit.
- The flat top blocks light making it difficult, sometimes, to see inside. I found a useful auxiliary light. Some people wear a headlamp.
- I think the optional front shelf is useful.
- I still, after a year, haven't perfected grilling over the flame zone. The steaks, chops, burgers and the like are not bad, they just don't match the taste of items grilled over charcoal. Reverse searing helps. Other users say it produces "best ever" meat.
- Quite a bit of pellet ash blows around inside the pit when it's new. As the interior seasons and becomes a bit sticky/greasy the ash is captured. I've never seen it on my food but I know it was there when the pit was new. It's just not as noticeable on food surfaces. The solution is to cook some bacon (memorable flavor) and burgers right away.
- There are definite temperature variances in the four pit zones. It's done on purpose and a number of users have become adept at using them to simultaneously cook foods at different temperatures. I maintain a comprehensive zone temperature chart, based on empirical data, that I use for multiple-zone cooking.
- The flame zone has cast iron grates. They rust. I believe that the extremely hot temperature there burns the seasoning off. Many users have opted for the $60 stainless steel grates. GrillGrates must be modified (opened up for air flow). Not everyone has a rust problem.
- It doesn't have any remote, WiFi, Bluetooth or graphing capabilities but I think some of that is in development. We get hints from Fast Eddy Maurin. I might like it.
- The warming drawer is useful.
- The flat top will be about the same temperature as the interior. That means it shouldn't be used as storage for something you don't want to warm. However, it's also handy for keeping things warm.
- I don't read about any pit failures or any other complaints like I did when I was studying other pits.
- I loved the pellet hopper emptying door until (1) I quit switching pellet flavors so often and (2) I bought a Home Depot Buckethead vacuum that snaps onto their orange buckets. Now I just store the pellets in the bucket they are vacuumed into.
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This is a very in depth review. This review will be very helpful when someone is considering a new pellet grill.
Thanks for taking the time to post this for all of us :)
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Real nice write-up Paul. I like the idea of a warming drawer and the pellet hopper emptying door on a pellet grill.
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Real nice write-up Paul. I like the idea of a warming drawer and the pellet hopper emptying door on a pellet grill.
My Mak has both those features. The door comes in handy when the auger gets stuck on moist pellets ???
I too don't use different pellets any more. But I like to throw in a tube of Milt's once in a while
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Real nice write-up Paul. I like the idea of a warming drawer and the pellet hopper emptying door on a pellet grill.
My Mak has both those features. The door comes in handy when the auger gets stuck on moist pellets ???
I too don't use different pellets any more. But I like to throw in a tube of Milt's once in a while
And - you get to deal with MAK…instead of Fats Eddie…...
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Thanks for the very good review Paul.
I have always liked the zoned cooking of the FE but felt the zones kind of limit the cooking space.
And for some reason my Memphis is almost as shiny as the day I bought it. Maybe it is the stainless cleaner I use.
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Great review Paul!
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Real nice write-up Paul. I like the idea of a warming drawer and the pellet hopper emptying door on a pellet grill.
My Mak has both those features. The door comes in handy when the auger gets stuck on moist pellets ???
I too don't use different pellets any more. But I like to throw in a tube of Milt's once in a while
And - you get to deal with MAK…instead of Fats Eddie…...
I have had pellets get stuck also. I drain my pellets now and I keep them in plastic sealed pails.
I'm also a one pellet man, keeps it simple :D
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I heard that the cast iron sear zone on many of the fe's are rusting. they have come out w/ a 304 stainless sear zone now that can be purchased.
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I heard that the cast iron sear zone on many of the fe's are rusting. they have come out w/ a 304 stainless sear zone now that can be purchased.
Sparky just like with any uncoated cast iron grates they rust because they are not coated and have to be re-seasoned after every cook. If people would just apply some oil to them after each use there would be no problems. I personally like how hot they get and the sear marks they make. Not the same with stainless grates. The stainless grates are easy to maintain however.
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Sparky just like with any uncoated cast iron grates they rust because they are not coated and have to be re-seasoned after every cook. If people would just apply some oil to them after each use there would be no problems. I personally like how hot they get and the sear marks they make. Not the same with stainless grates. The stainless grates are easy to maintain however.
I did this, Muebe. I used electrolysis to remove all of the CI grate rust and carefully re-seasoned it in my gas grill with three applications of edible linseed oil (flax oil). It was beautiful. I also protected it by removing it whenever I wasn't using zone 1.
Each time after using the grate in zone 1 I sprayed it with linseed oil from an atomizer. Over time the rust began on the bottom and the openings' sides. Once it had a toehold it spread. I gave up and ponyed up the $60 for the stainless steel grate. I treat it with benign neglect. The CI is rattling around in my garage somewhere.
To test if the high zone 1 temperatures burn the seasoning off I planned to put a well seasoned cast iron frying pan over it at 450° for about 15 minutes. But then I decided I didn't care that much.
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Another observation about the PG-500—
The pellets are delivered to the firepot by sliding down a chute, 6 inches or so. Since the auger-drop is above and to the side of the flame, it appears that the likelihood of a burn-back to the hopper is limited.
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Paul I don't know about using Flax Seed oil. I know that on my older char broil grill I had older heavy duty cast iron grates that I would wipe down with peanut oil after every grilling. I had those grates for years and never had a rusting issue.
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I have had my PG500 since March and so far have managed to keep the rust off but it is a bit more work than ss. I hit the grates with some Pam on cool down after a hh cook. I also take them and place them in zone 4 and cook bacon on them for me and the dogs on the weekends (one day bacon goes on with top side up and next day bacon goes on with bottom side up). The bacon seems to cook a bit faster on the ci grates. Right now I would say that I average about 1 hh cook per month so I am not constantly burning off the seasoning. It is nice to have the ss option if these ever get to be an issue for me.
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Paul I don't know about using Flax Seed oil. I know that on my older char broil grill I had older heavy duty cast iron grates that I would wipe down with peanut oil after every grilling. I had those grates for years and never had a rusting issue.
Yeah, Muebe, It must be me. I only know of nine people who are complaining about CI grate rust and Cookshack has probably sold hundreds of these things. I had the same problem with the stainless steel grates on my old Char-Broil Quantum while other people didn't seem to.
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Paul I don't know about using Flax Seed oil. I know that on my older char broil grill I had older heavy duty cast iron grates that I would wipe down with peanut oil after every grilling. I had those grates for years and never had a rusting issue.
Yeah, Muebe, It must be me. I only know of nine people who are complaining about CI grate rust and Cookshack has probably sold hundreds of these things. I had the same problem with the stainless steel grates on my old Char-Broil Quantum while other people didn't seem to.
All I was saying is that I am not aware that Flax seed oil works as well as peanut oil for seasoning cast iron. And also note that I would "wipe" down the cast iron grates top and bottom. If I did not do this they would have rusted for sure! I used to run all four burners to get everything burned off after cooking. I would peg the hood thermometer at 800F. Then after cooling I would need to re-season the grates.
The direct flame of the FE is going to burn off the seasoning. So constant re-seasoning each time would be required IMHO to keep them from rusting.
And relative humidity of where you live will have an effect. Also living near the ocean for example due to the salty sea air that will eat away at any exposed metals.
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All I was saying is that I am not aware that Flax seed oil works as well as peanut oil for seasoning cast iron.
That's what I thought.
I started seasoning with Crisco (thanks, Mom). I switched to canola oil so I could spray rather than wipe. The last season I did on grates was flax oil. I use it exclusively now on CI pans as I like the finish the best. I haven't used peanut oil or corn oil but I have some of both on hand.
Thinking that I could test several seasonings on small pieces of quarter inch mild steel.