6:53 - "Out of Sight, Out of Mind!"

Have owned a pellet grill for 9 years now. My biggest mistake, that I only realized a few weeks ago, was not cleaning the exhaust stack. Was actually about to get rid of the grill due to poor performance. Sure I cleaned the grill maybe every 3 or 4 cooks but checking the stack? Never. Well while doing my normal spring cleaning on my reverse flow stick burner I noticed a buildup in the smoke stack. Man the chunks that came out of that thing! Got me thinking, could the pellet grill stack be choked as well? Took the cap off of it and was utterly ashamed to have overlooked cleaning it out. Hell not even checking it for 9 years. Chunk after chunk plopped out while cleaning it. Fired the grill up for a test run and it ran like new. And just think, I was about to kick it to the curb. Next day I threw on a couple racks of ribs and she ran like a champ. New grill purchase avoided.

Not a mistake but a tip…I keep a plastic dollar store colander in my pellet pail. I use it for scooping pellets to add to the hopper. All pellets with no pellet dust.

A good way to test the hot spots on the grill is the bread test. Take a loaf of bread and it on the grill turn it on 225 for 10-15 minutes. You will easily be able to find the hot spots by the toast  on the bread. Burnt = hot spot.

When you start up your Pellet grill, make sure nothing is in there that shouldn't. Cleaning out a melted plastic spatula handle is not fun.

Every hour or so, churn your pellets in the hopper. Sometimes the pellets interlock and a cavity can form under the surface and your auger runs dry and interrupts the cook.

Great video Ricer. I have a couple of suggestions. First suggestion is for those guys who have trouble tossing questionable pellets. If they have a cat toss the bad pellets into the litter box. They actually do a great job there. Second and this is advice I've been giving folks who are new to bbq regardless of what type of cooker they have use a stop watch. Everytime they open the smoker start the stop watch. When done and close the smoker stop the stop watch. Do that every time through the entire cook. At the end write down the entire time it was open. Learn to keep it closed as much as possible. They are amazed at how much time it's open the first time and begin to get better. I also tell them every time they open it it lengthens the cook another 15 to 30 minutes. They learn quickly. Have a great day 🌤.

Out of Sight out of mind is the phrase you were looking for.

You made a good point on searing. Can I sear on the pit boss? Technically; yes. Speaking from experience, after a grease fire on the first one and having to replace it because I was lazy and didn’t clean the traps before a high temp cook, I just don’t sear on it anymore. Multiple tools for multiple jobs. I’d rather have it be really good at one thing, and extend its life, rather than trying to be a jack of all trades and running it into the ground.

Careful where you place the water pan inside the grill as it will tell you the grill is running alot harder then it actually is as all the stream makes the grill think it is hotter then it actually is

*Outta sight, outta mind* - hidden grease trap

My pellets go into a plastic bucket with a sealing lid and I scoop them into the smoker, not pour so no dust issues

I remember the days of worrying ab out temp swings. Now, I really don't care, just be somewhere close and I'm good. Good advice Ricer!

I take my Pit boss camping to the central Ca coast.  I'm about 100 yards from the ocean and cook for about 20 family members, grill is big, old and price was cheap so its perfect for camping, there's always a grip of family returning late from Monterey Aquarium, Santa Cruz Boardwalk ect ect....  The winds pick up toward the end of the day and supercharges my temps, straight up flame thrower, it's a wild ride cooking something greasy like Gilroy Chicken.  I'm setting a time deadline for dinner now.

My biggest problem is that my Traeger Jr. will not die so I have an excuse to buy a newer bigger unit. I have had it for over 15 years and the darn thing will never die. (I am hoping to jink it by making this post but i doubt it cares) . Will it out live me, I began to wonder!!!

I’ve been using a knock off Traeger Ranger and I run into Hella problems all the time this video helped explain a lot of the issues that I encounter. Hopefully, this will resolve some of them.

They have charcoal pellets..... and if you get a Camp Chef Woodwind Pro, you can use charcoal, wood chunks or chips in the smoke box. I have one and it is awesome. Went from an offset to a pellet grill 13 years ago because I got tired of tending to the fire. Would never go back, and on a pellet grill overnight cooks are a breeze.

Nice vid! 2 min in and now I know why I had so many pellet hopper fires🔥 please! If you are new to this don't unplug too early I never stopped having this problem once it happened. Then my controls got fried. Now I have a charcoal grill🎉 which i may replace with another charcoal grill😂

I see you showed the Oklahoma Joe's..best pellet grill i have owned

I live in frozen Northern New York and I got the blanket on my pellet grill so it does not have to work as hard when it is windy and 10 degrees or less out. Best accessory for using it all year round