# Pitboss 1230 pellet/gas combo review



## Bob Sanders (Aug 7, 2020)

This thing rocks!

Billows of smoke, but note in the picture the smoke stack is on the *gas side* of the combo grill. Nope... not a mistake. What makes this machine unique from the others is that there is a connecting tube between the wood side and the gas side so you can generate smoke on the smoker side and feed it to the gas grill side. This allows you to use the gas side as a double chamber smoker with lower temperatures on the gas side. You can smoke meat for longer before cooking without drying it out at the higher temps.

Smoking burgers right now. The smoker side is 170 while the gas side is sitting at about 110-120

Haven't tried the actual gas side yet (with gas) but that's to come.
Great machine though.


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## TNJAKE (Aug 7, 2020)

Not sure what your method is but I wouldn't smoke burgers at 110°


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## Bob Sanders (Aug 7, 2020)

Well, you can smoke burgers at what ever temp you want, just so long as the inner most part  hits 160 or better before eating.

Smoke for about 1.5 to 2 hours at the lowest temp I can, then crank her to 450 and cook to minimum 160.

Been doing it for years.


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## TNJAKE (Aug 7, 2020)

Awesome goodluck


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## mark561 (Nov 8, 2020)

Bob Sanders said:


> This thing rocks!
> 
> Billows of smoke, but note in the picture the smoke stack is on the *gas side* of the combo grill. Nope... not a mistake. What makes this machine unique from the others is that there is a connecting tube between the wood side and the gas side so you can generate smoke on the smoker side and feed it to the gas grill side. This allows you to use the gas side as a double chamber smoker with lower temperatures on the gas side. You can smoke meat for longer before cooking without drying it out at the higher temps.
> 
> ...



Hi,
I have 2 follow up questions:  
1) can the tube from the smoker to the gas side be closed/shut off?  The kids want their smoked meat smoked and their burgers & stakes 'not smoked'.  Not sure what's wrong with them!  This would be the purpose of having the gas/smoke combo.

2)  Have you tried the gas side yet?  Looking to get some feedback.  Would love a new update if you're able.  

Thanks - Mark


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## Bob Sanders (Nov 8, 2020)

mark561 said:


> Hi,
> I have 2 follow up questions:
> 1) can the tube from the smoker to the gas side be closed/shut off?  The kids want their smoked meat smoked and their burgers & stakes 'not smoked'.  Not sure what's wrong with them!  This would be the purpose of having the gas/smoke combo.
> 
> ...


 Yes, the tube does have a shut off so you can isolate.
Gas side is good. No complaints!


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## Inscrutable (Nov 9, 2020)

I see you have another thermo sitting there ... have you checked pit temp and know what kind of temp swings you are getting?
The new KC Combo Platinum is similar and has a PID controller, but doesn’t appear to have the smoke interconnect to the gas side, which seems like a useful feature.


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## Bob Sanders (Nov 13, 2020)

Inscrutable said:


> I see you have another thermo sitting there ... have you checked pit temp and know what kind of temp swings you are getting?
> The new KC Combo Platinum is similar and has a PID controller, but doesn’t appear to have the smoke interconnect to the gas side, which seems like a useful feature.


It depends very much on where you place the the probe but generally speaking the temp swings are not too excessive. Of course the P adjustment button is right on the front panel so you can easily change your temp swing if you think it's too far in/out.

Smoking temp on the smoker side (depending on the weather) is generally around 170-190 on the smoker side and with smoke tube open the gas side will run around 100-125 so you can almost get away using the gas side as a "cold smoker"


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## MaorU (Mar 21, 2021)

Bob Sanders

Hi,
This thread is the only one I found about the 1230 combo, and I'm interested in getting one..
Can you share please a bit more about your experience with the grill after more than a year?
I would be happy if you can share how the Gas grill is, powerful?
Does the maintenance of it easy?
Thanks!


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## Bob Sanders (Mar 21, 2021)

Still using it, and still love it. The Maintenance is like any other. I keep a small vacuum cleaner beside the machine and vacuum out the ash after it gets used. The gas side works well, but I don't think it's BETTER than any other gas bbq.... it's the same.


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## Milnesy (Apr 29, 2021)

I just got this after spending what seemed like days trying to find a good pellet/gas combo. And I'm really surprised at how well it performed. The only things I'd like to do a bit differently (guess tying to figure out how to mod) is to set the vent in the back to close more than what it does now.  This would help immensely I think when trying to cold smoke something, and also help to retain the heat a bit more.


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## JWFokker (Apr 30, 2021)

It looks like the Pit Boss Pro 1262 sq in model at Lowes has a PID controller, the tube connecting the two cook chambers AND a side burner. Interesting how many variants there are. Different look than the KC Combo.


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## RipC1ty$moker (Jun 9, 2021)

Bob Sanders said:


> This thing rocks!
> 
> Billows of smoke, but note in the picture the smoke stack is on the *gas side* of the combo grill. Nope... not a mistake. What makes this machine unique from the others is that there is a connecting tube between the wood side and the gas side so you can generate smoke on the smoker side and feed it to the gas grill side. This allows you to use the gas side as a double chamber smoker with lower temperatures on the gas side. You can smoke meat for longer before cooking without drying it out at the higher temps.
> 
> ...


At just about a year of owning, can you tell me what kind of issues you've had? Does this have a programmable meat probe that interacts with the grill PID controller? Does it maintain well at high and low Temps? How does the wifi feature work? Im in the market and this is what I'm most interested in right now. I'm switching from a traeger tailgater series that has been so much trouble over the years as far as temp maintaining, smothering the fir pit and errors all the time! Been super frustrating. I can cook at higher Temps, 350 to 45o pretty much no problem, but why have a pellet smoker if you have to cook that high all the time?


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## JWFokker (Jun 10, 2021)

The Tailgater is too small to run properly. Poor design by Traeger. Most pellet grills have no issue running steady at 200F and up. Under 200F can still be iffy on some of the non PID models. 

Generally the meat probe is not a factor in temperature regulation, except in some of the more advanced controllers that can be set to cycle down to a holding temperature once the meat finish temp is reached.


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## RipC1ty$moker (Jun 14, 2021)

Bob Sanders said:


> This thing rocks!
> 
> Billows of smoke, but note in the picture the smoke stack is on the *gas side* of the combo grill. Nope... not a mistake. What makes this machine unique from the others is that there is a connecting tube between the wood side and the gas side so you can generate smoke on the smoker side and feed it to the gas grill side. This allows you to use the gas side as a double chamber smoker with lower temperatures on the gas side. You can smoke meat for longer before cooking without drying it out at the higher temps.
> 
> ...


Hi Bob, 

Can you share your model number? I know PB has the pro series and pro series 2. I'm interested in this unit and just curious as to which model number you have.


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## Mac1953 (Aug 13, 2021)

Milnesy said:


> I just got this after spending what seemed like days trying to find a good pellet/gas combo. And I'm really surprised at how well it performed. The only things I'd like to do a bit differently (guess tying to figure out how to mod) is to set the vent in the back to close more than what it does now.  This would help immensely I think when trying to cold smoke something, and also help to retain the heat a bit more.


Just want to caution you that the vent on the gas side must be open when you use gas. It is there to prevent an explosion if gas were to accumulate with the lid closed. This is required by governments to prevent fires/explosions. so if you do modify to allow more smoke /heat build up when "cold" smoking only, then have a system whereby you do not forget to open the gas vent when using the gas grill. Maybe you disconnect your gas bottle when closing off the vent, that way you know to open the vent when you reconnect your bottle to cook with gas. Hope this alerts others.


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## Mac1953 (Aug 13, 2021)

RipC1ty$moker said:


> Hi Bob,
> 
> Can you share your model number? I know PB has the pro series and pro series 2. I'm interested in this unit and just curious as to which model number you have.


It looks like the PBCBG 1230 sold at Academy only; other stores sell the PB 1230G which I have been told by PB experts is the same machine with different cosmetics. I hope there is more differences, because I paid $200 more the PB 1230G, which is the Navigator series per Pit Boss, otherwise buy from Academy; they will ship direct to you.


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## Mac1953 (Aug 13, 2021)

Bob Sanders said:


> This thing rocks!
> 
> Billows of smoke, but note in the picture the smoke stack is on the *gas side* of the combo grill. Nope... not a mistake. What makes this machine unique from the others is that there is a connecting tube between the wood side and the gas side so you can generate smoke on the smoker side and feed it to the gas grill side. This allows you to use the gas side as a double chamber smoker with lower temperatures on the gas side. You can smoke meat for longer before cooking without drying it out at the higher temps.
> 
> ...


Did you buy this unit at Academy?


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## Inscrutable (Aug 13, 2021)

It’s always a good safety precaution and reminder to turn off the main gas valve when not in use.


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## Milnesy (Aug 13, 2021)

Mac1953 said:


> Just want to caution you that the vent on the gas side must be open when you use gas. It is there to prevent an explosion if gas were to accumulate with the lid closed. This is required by governments to prevent fires/explosions. so if you do modify to allow more smoke /heat build up when "cold" smoking only, then have a system whereby you do not forget to open the gas vent when using the gas grill. Maybe you disconnect your gas bottle when closing off the vent, that way you know to open the vent when you reconnect your bottle to cook with gas. Hope this alerts others.



The navigator doesn't have a chimney stack, but slats in the back.  I'm referring to the slats in the back of the smoking chamber. 1/2 of the smoke comes out the back when trying to cold smoke or use during grilling.   That's all.


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## RipC1ty$moker (Aug 14, 2021)

I purchased the the Pro Series 2 combo unit with 1262 Cook space. This thing is a damn champ! Lots of smoke out of the pellet side. When using the gas side as a cold smoker, the smoke migrates well to the gas side thru the interconnected tube. I've closed off the vents in the back of the pellet chamber during cold smoking, it didn't make a difference on the cheese that I smoked. I tried that on my 3rd round of cheese after watching how smoke came out of the vents. Thought closing those off would increase the smoke flavor on the cheese. It didn't, which is good to know because it means most of the smoke still moves to the gas chamber. 

The only thing i I dislike the lack of ease for cleaning. The slider plate on the pellet side needs to be cleaned often to keep it functional. I thought about getting a different style, but after using indirect heat to cook a tri tip and then reverse searing it by opening the slider for direct heat, I decided not to, the tri tip came out perfect. Cooked it to a 125 internal temp in indirect heat at 225, then I increased the grill the temp to 400 and opened up the slider grate. Ran it this way for 2 minutes, turned the tri tip over and ran it for another 2 minutes. Cooked to a perfect medium rare! 

I've had this about 3 months now and in those 3 months I have used it almost as many times as I used my traeger in the 4 years I had it. Maintains temp well, within 15 degrees is what I noticed. My favorite feature is the cold smoke ability. The best thing about a combo unit is the fact I can smoke a brisket on the pellet side all day, but if my wife and I want burgers or dogs for lunch I can fire up the gas side and get it done. Great unit and great price, purchased from lowes for 729. With the cover I paid about 800. Can beat the price for what you get with this unit!


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## JWFokker (Aug 16, 2021)

The sliding heat shield does require frequent cleaning. You can cover it with foil or just hit it with oven cleaner periodically.


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