I got one as well and had a few problems. Will post in case it helps anyone else that buys one and runs into similar issues and a few tips I have found. 1: After removing the straps the top of the box just slides off. Makes it easier than opening the top and taking everything out. 2: Take the top of the box and flatten it. When you get to the part of assembly where you need to lift the unit onto its top to put the legs etc on use the box lid to protect the unit. I just lifted the entire bottom of the box instead of just the unit, much easier. 3: There seems to be an issue with the igniters on these usually out of the box or after a short amount of cooks. Call the customer service number in the booklet and after some trouble shooting they will send you a replacement for free. Seems shipping damage or assembly issues cause the ceramic element to crack and higher heats cause it to expand and short. When installing the new one, have it stick out by around a 1/2" instead of the rough 1/4" they come from the factory at, this solved some wild temperature swing issues I also had. ONLY FINGER TIGHTEN THE RETAINING SCREW. I mean it, just run the threads down until it stops then give it a tiny tweak, that is all it needs and over tightening can break them and is one of the "assembly" issues. 4: The bottom heat defector plate in the unit is held in with 4 screws, 2 in the front by the doors, and 2 in the back just under the grease trough. Just remove them and leave them out so you can easily remove this piece and clean the burn pot and area of ash after every cook. Don't take out the 4 screws that are on the top of the plate, they hold another piece onto the bottom of it. You want to do this because ash builds up on top and around the burn pot and blocks air flow eventually and just pulling the ash tray out does not always get the entire ash pot clean. You want to pull the screws out now before it becomes an issue and the screws are almost welded into place with smoking schmoo. 5: Don't fill the hopper up completely if possible. If the worst happens and you get a hopper fire it makes things much worse. Also a giant PITA if you get a plugged auger and need to clean out 90 lbs of pellets to clear it. 6: DO NOT UNPLUG IT WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH A COOK!!! This can lead to hopper fires. Best practice is to turn the temps down to the minimum for 10 minutes or so before powering down the unit. After you turn it off the fan will continue to run for a while to finish burning any pellets that are still in the burn pot and will turn off after it gets below a certain temperature. Once the fan turns off THEN you can unplug it. 7: If you can, try some Lumber Jack brand pellets. I like them more than the Pit Boss pellets and are comparable in price or even cheaper than the PB pellets which varies by retailer. You can go to the Lumber Jack Canada website and find a a dealer, tons in Canada and several in the Rimbey area ;) 8: You can wrap the grease deflector and water tray with foil to make cleanup easier, just make sure to cut slits into the foil on the deflectors vents. This does make the fit a bit tighter and takes a bit more force to install them, a minor drawback. Putting water in the tray also helps with temperature swings. 9: The reason for leaving the cap open so much especially during ignition is so that it lets out all the combustible gasses. During ignition the smoke (combustible gasses) can get really heavy and if they ignite it tends to cause a lot of damage to the smoker, possibly causing pieces to fly in various directions. It also lets helps with airflow to get the fire burning faster and better. For both of those reason I usually leave the doors open for a few minutes to get the heaviest smoke cleared.
These are great tip even for me. Also I am going to have to check out these lumberjack dealers for sure super good tip thank you very much. Ill be pinning this comment to the top.
HANDS DOWN, the very best sausage making instructional channel on the entire internet! I cannot tell you how much I truly appreciate everything you do for all of us meat heads out here! Thias one is a bit to alte for me as i already bought the new ProSmoker pellet smoker/cooker.
Duncan..to maximize your hanging space for the rods. I have a similar electric smoker I use for smoking sausage and I tec screwed a piece of 1" aluminum angle onto each side of the chamber about 1.5" down from the top inside and hang my rods from there, adds about 4" more hanging space and a more positive lip for the rods to sit on. Cheers from Nova Scotia !! love your channel and content!
Discovered your channel last summer trying to find some bear snack stick recipe and all I can say is your my new reference for all my sausage smoking needs! Keep up your great work!!
We bought our pit boss last year and love it. It's the smaller one to yours. We have now been thinking of upgrading to the Brunswick. Thank you for the consideration of using something more relatable to your viewers. Hope you enjoy using it.
Yeah, Grill Sargeant convinced me to buy pitt boss pellet grill. It's not bad, but I'm convinced Grill Sargeant is working for pit boss after watching more of his videos
I just made your italian sausage recipe this weekend for mother’s day. I added in garlic, and toasted the fennel and caraway seeds like a commenter wrote, but everything else was to your recipe. Really good! Thanks.
I have been using a vertical Pit Boss for a few years now, and they work great. They are perfect for someone who doesn't have the space or time for a nice offset.
I am looking forward to seeing your usage of this smoker because it is the exact one I have. I do make summer sausage with it, but just 1# chubs and not the 2.5#. I appreciate your videos!
Hi Duncan , Great video and I totally agree with Whitetailrancher , you got the best channel going The pitboss looks great. thanks for the video, looking forward to seeing it in action, Welcome back
Personally don't need 8.5 minutes of watching unboxing/assembly of something (thank GOD for 10 sec skip capability! ). LOVE the channel for everything else.😊
So.... now that it has been a few months how has that Brunswick smoker been running ? The Grill Sgt. does indeed have a good video on the Brunswick. Thanks for sharing !
Hey Ducan . Love your channel and recipes . Can you do one on honey garlic sausage fresh? It's hard to find a good recipe online. All the ones I see measurements are in cups and spoonfuls, not in grams like you do . Thanks in advance.
It would be great to see your temperature and time sequences for various snack sticks, ring bologna and others. Since this is heated only by pellets, how will you handle the drying cycle?
Would you be willing to do some side by side comparisons of the same sausage done in the pellet smoker and your big commercial smoker? I’m kinda dying to know if these vertical smokers work better than conventional pellet grills. I’d love one of these but only if they produce a good smoke flavor, which pellet grills fail at.
Pu may not need to strain your pellets. Most the issue comes from the powder in pellets getting in the auger, and then moisture getting in there and seizing the powder. Since yours is inside, shouldn’t be a big issue. When those pellets get wet the swell up, then they dry me they turn into a concrete brick, can be a real pin to get out.
Great Video, I was looking at this unit but was wondering regarding the 150deg min temp. How has that been for sausage as this would be my only smoker moving forward. At present i have a home built so min temp is as low as i want it but can only get to 200 before it self combusts.
I have pitboss 5000 sportsman it don’t have Wi-Fi and all that but it has a smoke setting and depending on temp it heats up to 120-130. Cooler days around 50 it does 90-100. Just little info. I use the racks and can do about 15lbs of pepper sticks at a time and with pellet tube with that extra smoke you’d be hard pressed to tell it wasn’t done by wood.
I have been cold smoking sausage for a couple years and have a great setup for that. Just started to dabble in hot smoking to make snack sticks and the like. I have a small home made vertical smoker, and I really struggle with it. I get a 20F temp difference from one end of the snack sticks to the other. The top of the smoker is way hotter than the bottom. I have to pull my meat out and bake them laying down to get the temp to equalize. Even then, one end will be 10F over target by the time the cool end reaches the target. Does anyone else see this issue with hanging sausages in smokers. Any advice?
Does it have a programable menu to gradually increases temps step by step in time increments? Also, does it seem durable enough for a small to moderate barbecue restaurant? Great video.
No, at least not that I have found. Pitboss recently forced an update to their new app so I am still learning it. Word or caution on long cooks, watch the ashpan. Ask me how I know, had a Brunswick hopper fire that was a total loss. As for restaurant abilities I would say this is too small depending on what you want to do/cook. Large briskets are difficult and take 22+ hours.
Hey Ted I haven't played with the app yet but the physical smoker itself isn't step by step programable. hmmm it depends on how many people your feeding. Im guessing you could get 4 briskets 8 pork shoulders in there. Check the grease pan though!
I got one as well and had a few problems. Will post in case it helps anyone else that buys one and runs into similar issues and a few tips I have found.
1: After removing the straps the top of the box just slides off. Makes it easier than opening the top and taking everything out.
2: Take the top of the box and flatten it. When you get to the part of assembly where you need to lift the unit onto its top to put the legs etc on use the box lid to protect the unit. I just lifted the entire bottom of the box instead of just the unit, much easier.
3: There seems to be an issue with the igniters on these usually out of the box or after a short amount of cooks. Call the customer service number in the booklet and after some trouble shooting they will send you a replacement for free. Seems shipping damage or assembly issues cause the ceramic element to crack and higher heats cause it to expand and short. When installing the new one, have it stick out by around a 1/2" instead of the rough 1/4" they come from the factory at, this solved some wild temperature swing issues I also had. ONLY FINGER TIGHTEN THE RETAINING SCREW. I mean it, just run the threads down until it stops then give it a tiny tweak, that is all it needs and over tightening can break them and is one of the "assembly" issues.
4: The bottom heat defector plate in the unit is held in with 4 screws, 2 in the front by the doors, and 2 in the back just under the grease trough. Just remove them and leave them out so you can easily remove this piece and clean the burn pot and area of ash after every cook. Don't take out the 4 screws that are on the top of the plate, they hold another piece onto the bottom of it. You want to do this because ash builds up on top and around the burn pot and blocks air flow eventually and just pulling the ash tray out does not always get the entire ash pot clean. You want to pull the screws out now before it becomes an issue and the screws are almost welded into place with smoking schmoo.
5: Don't fill the hopper up completely if possible. If the worst happens and you get a hopper fire it makes things much worse. Also a giant PITA if you get a plugged auger and need to clean out 90 lbs of pellets to clear it.
6: DO NOT UNPLUG IT WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH A COOK!!! This can lead to hopper fires. Best practice is to turn the temps down to the minimum for 10 minutes or so before powering down the unit. After you turn it off the fan will continue to run for a while to finish burning any pellets that are still in the burn pot and will turn off after it gets below a certain temperature. Once the fan turns off THEN you can unplug it.
7: If you can, try some Lumber Jack brand pellets. I like them more than the Pit Boss pellets and are comparable in price or even cheaper than the PB pellets which varies by retailer. You can go to the Lumber Jack Canada website and find a a dealer, tons in Canada and several in the Rimbey area ;)
8: You can wrap the grease deflector and water tray with foil to make cleanup easier, just make sure to cut slits into the foil on the deflectors vents. This does make the fit a bit tighter and takes a bit more force to install them, a minor drawback. Putting water in the tray also helps with temperature swings.
9: The reason for leaving the cap open so much especially during ignition is so that it lets out all the combustible gasses. During ignition the smoke (combustible gasses) can get really heavy and if they ignite it tends to cause a lot of damage to the smoker, possibly causing pieces to fly in various directions. It also lets helps with airflow to get the fire burning faster and better. For both of those reason I usually leave the doors open for a few minutes to get the heaviest smoke cleared.
These are great tip even for me. Also I am going to have to check out these lumberjack dealers for sure super good tip thank you very much. Ill be pinning this comment to the top.
Lumberjack for the win for sure!!!
@@duncanhenry Glad I could help. I haven't had mine for long but have been enjoying it so far.
Thanks for all of this info! I'm thinking of getting another smoker and having these tips is great. Very much appreciated.
Where did you buy yours?
HANDS DOWN, the very best sausage making instructional channel on the entire internet! I cannot tell you how much I truly appreciate everything you do for all of us meat heads out here! Thias one is a bit to alte for me as i already bought the new ProSmoker pellet smoker/cooker.
Thanks Rancher. I really appreciate it man. I'm thinking this is going to help the guys out at home quite a bit. Keep up the smoking!
Duncan..to maximize your hanging space for the rods. I have a similar electric smoker I use for smoking sausage and I tec screwed a piece of 1" aluminum angle onto each side of the chamber about 1.5" down from the top inside and hang my rods from there, adds about 4" more hanging space and a more positive lip for the rods to sit on. Cheers from Nova Scotia !! love your channel and content!
Hello Craig ya that would be perfect then you could get the long fibourous casings in there as well.
Can’t wait to see this bad boy in action.
Discovered your channel last summer trying to find some bear snack stick recipe and all I can say is your my new reference for all my sausage smoking needs! Keep up your great work!!
WOOHOO!!! Duncan's back!!!!! Beautiful smoker!
Thanks David I have a couple videos prepped ready to go for you.
We bought our pit boss last year and love it. It's the smaller one to yours. We have now been thinking of upgrading to the Brunswick. Thank you for the consideration of using something more relatable to your viewers. Hope you enjoy using it.
Thanks Jenny I hope it helps.
Hi Duncan loved the video. I wish I had room for one at home as I would definately buy one. Thank you and look forward to the next one.
Yeah, Grill Sargeant convinced me to buy pitt boss pellet grill. It's not bad, but I'm convinced Grill Sargeant is working for pit boss after watching more of his videos
Hell ya this is going to be awesome..Dunk for the win….
I just made your italian sausage recipe this weekend for mother’s day. I added in garlic, and toasted the fennel and caraway seeds like a commenter wrote, but everything else was to your recipe. Really good! Thanks.
Great to hear DingDongDaddy. Happy to hear about a guy feeding his family.
I have been using a vertical Pit Boss for a few years now, and they work great. They are perfect for someone who doesn't have the space or time for a nice offset.
Thanks Colt ya im thinking this is going to be the ticket for the UA-cam series.
A little something to help you pay for that beauty. Looking forward to seeing you use it. Thanks for al that you share!
how generous of you .
Wow this is very generous, I appreciate it and will be sure to put it towards UA-cam videos. Thanks again Erika.
I have the copper pit boss and I love it.i use it alot just make sure to clean the dust out it builds up inside
Looking forward to using it more and more.
Thanks for being back. great vid, great idea for being relevant to the viewer, i guess you just stay being AWSOME...keep it going
lol thanks Xandermander stay awesome as well.
She's a Beauty, Duncan!
Thanks looking forward to using it.
@@duncanhenry You're Very Welcome and Enjoy!
I am looking forward to seeing your usage of this smoker because it is the exact one I have. I do make summer sausage with it, but just 1# chubs and not the 2.5#. I appreciate your videos!
Hi Duncan ,
Great video and I totally agree with Whitetailrancher , you got the best channel going
The pitboss looks great. thanks for the video, looking forward to seeing it in action,
Welcome back
Thank you very much John, you don't have to wait long there should be one tomorrow.
Great video, but I don't see a link referencing the smoker in the video.
Personally don't need 8.5 minutes of watching unboxing/assembly of something (thank GOD for 10 sec skip capability! ). LOVE the channel for everything else.😊
Thanks!
Thank you very much Roy I hope your have a good one! Ill be putting this towards videos.
So.... now that it has been a few months how has that Brunswick smoker been running ? The Grill Sgt. does indeed have a good video on the Brunswick. Thanks for sharing !
Can you make a summer sausage or meat sticks video on this smoker?
Hey Ducan . Love your channel and recipes . Can you do one on honey garlic sausage fresh? It's hard to find a good recipe online. All the ones I see measurements are in cups and spoonfuls, not in grams like you do . Thanks in advance.
Where'd you get yours from? I googled and can't find any of the Brunswick available in Canada
Hi Duncan , where did you buy your Brunswick Smoker ?
Like your new toy Duncan, Missed you, but I know you have been busy!!!
Lol thank you Granny very busy. Made this video months ago.
It would be great to see your temperature and time sequences for various snack sticks, ring bologna and others. Since this is heated only by pellets, how will you handle the drying cycle?
Try some Smokin' Pecan pellets. They are made from pecan hulls, which have a significantly better flavor than pecan wood.
hmmm that sounds good I know I watch some bbq guys that smoke with pecan and say its good.
Would you be willing to do some side by side comparisons of the same sausage done in the pellet smoker and your big commercial smoker? I’m kinda dying to know if these vertical smokers work better than conventional pellet grills. I’d love one of these but only if they produce a good smoke flavor, which pellet grills fail at.
Would love to see a follow up review after say a year of use.
Pu may not need to strain your pellets. Most the issue comes from the powder in pellets getting in the auger, and then moisture getting in there and seizing the powder. Since yours is inside, shouldn’t be a big issue. When those pellets get wet the swell up, then they dry me they turn into a concrete brick, can be a real pin to get out.
Rewrite this comment to correct all the screw ups in explaining your message.
Great Video, I was looking at this unit but was wondering regarding the 150deg min temp. How has that been for sausage as this would be my only smoker moving forward. At present i have a home built so min temp is as low as i want it but can only get to 200 before it self combusts.
I have pitboss 5000 sportsman it don’t have Wi-Fi and all that but it has a smoke setting and depending on temp it heats up to 120-130. Cooler days around 50 it does 90-100. Just little info. I use the racks and can do about 15lbs of pepper sticks at a time and with pellet tube with that extra smoke you’d be hard pressed to tell it wasn’t done by wood.
I have been cold smoking sausage for a couple years and have a great setup for that. Just started to dabble in hot smoking to make snack sticks and the like. I have a small home made vertical smoker, and I really struggle with it. I get a 20F temp difference from one end of the snack sticks to the other. The top of the smoker is way hotter than the bottom. I have to pull my meat out and bake them laying down to get the temp to equalize. Even then, one end will be 10F over target by the time the cool end reaches the target. Does anyone else see this issue with hanging sausages in smokers. Any advice?
How much was it mate?
Looks awsome , cant wait to see the new videos please do aporkroll video i have a recipe if you need one
Ill have to put it on my list of to dos. Sure if you feel like sharing it dhcustomsausage@gmail.com
Does it have a programable menu to gradually increases temps step by step in time increments? Also, does it seem durable enough for a small to moderate barbecue restaurant? Great video.
No, at least not that I have found. Pitboss recently forced an update to their new app so I am still learning it. Word or caution on long cooks, watch the ashpan. Ask me how I know, had a Brunswick hopper fire that was a total loss.
As for restaurant abilities I would say this is too small depending on what you want to do/cook. Large briskets are difficult and take 22+ hours.
Hey Ted I haven't played with the app yet but the physical smoker itself isn't step by step programable.
hmmm it depends on how many people your feeding. Im guessing you could get 4 briskets 8 pork shoulders in there.
Check the grease pan though!
@@duncanhenry Thanks. Also, does it have any hanging bars/rods to hang sausage or must they be laid flat on the racks?
hello duncan henry
Hello again!