# My New Pit Boss Electric Smoker - long post



## tlcasper (Dec 4, 2018)

Pit Boss 3-Series Vertical Electric Smoker

I asked around and read as much info on this smoker and Pit Boss as I could find. There really isn’t much info on this model, so now that I have one I’ll try to fill in that space a bit with my opinion. 

I have over 10 years with a Bradley Original Smoker, it’s been a good dependable unit. I have a couple of months with a well used MES 30, it works as it’s supposed too. Both units struggled to get over 200F in winter, but were good for my needs, sausage, jerky, fish, and pork are my main uses. 
I have been very happy with the size and vertical style of theses smokers, they suit my needs. The Pit Boss 3 Series Vertical Electric really caught my eye because of the design layout. The design has many of my wants in a manufactured smoker. So I pulled the trigger, and now have a Pit Boss smoker, here’s my first impressions. 

First thing I noticed is how heavy the box is, I looked on the shipping label and found it weighs in at over 70 lbs. Upon opening the box and removing everything, I found that the smoker itself is similar in weight to the other units, most of the weight is the integrated stand that comes with the unit. That is the first of the design features I really like. Not only does it come with a stand, the stand contains all of the working parts, leaving the whole smoker space for food. From the bottom up the stand contains the grease tray, the 1600 WATT burner, the chip tray, the digital controls, and the water pan.

Assembly needed!  The stand and working parts are all packaged neatly in boxes inside of the smoking unit. Assembly is easy, but it will take some time. The instructions are OK, but not terrific. You really don’t want to start a couple of hours before dinner time with a hungry family waiting for food. Put together it’s very solid, and seems well built. The final step of assembly is the four shelves, which are fully adjustable. This is the second great design feature. You can put the shelves individually at any height, the brackets can be moved up and down in about 1 inch steps, or removed altogether. 

Now to plug it in. This smoker has some electric needs, no cheap extension cords are recommended. With everything powered up, I played a bit with the controls and the included meat probe. The panel has spots for two probes, but only one is included. Everything is working as it should and I’m ready for the necessary burn in. It’s well below freezing here, and I’m very surprised at how quickly it hits 250F no issue at all. I took it up to 300F with no trouble and left it there, it seemed locked in pretty good, the element came on as needed. I had my own probe in the unit too, the temperatures were within a few degrees of each other. 

I let it go back to 250F, and added wood chips to the front load chip tray. This is another design feature I really like, it’s quite large, slides out of the front, and is heavily constructed. I also like that I can empty the ashes out and add more chips without opening the door, rather than just add more chips onto the old ashes. The smoke at this temperature started after about 5 minutes, at 10 minutes it was rolling pretty good. The smoke lasted about 2 hours, but was pretty light for the last half hour. I might experiment with wood chunks, or a mix of chips and chunks. I think with the lid off of the chip tray an A-MAZE-N might fit right in for low temperature smoking, as long as there is enough air flow. 

Pit Boss says this unit works between 100 and 350F, I don’t know if it could make smoke at 100F, but I’ll try at some point. 

The burn in went fine, temperatures were good, and I’m quite impressed with the build quality, design, and function. It’s price puts it in with the Bradley and MES smokers, I believe it competes very well in functionality. For me at least, it betters them on design features. Time will tell if it has durability, but my initial impression is very good. I have read that customer service is good, I called with a question about the warranty length, and was greeted by a friendly knowledgeable person.  The Pit Boss vertical smokers bought after September 2018 have a 5 year warranty. Very nice. 

My first smoke was pork tenderloin that turned out perfect. The time it took to get to the internal temperature I wanted was what I  had estimated. Clean up was pretty easy as the racks are coated, another nice feature. The window is smoked up but I expected that. 

My second smoke was a brined chicken, it may have been the juiciest bird I’ve ever had. I could have left it on a little longer, and not sure if hickory is the best wood for chicken. But the smoker did its job. The outside temperature was well below freezing with a good windchill, I was sheltered a bit, but it was cold to be out. It held temperature good, the element came on a lot to keep it up. 

All in all I’m very satisfied. I’ll add some photos at the end. 

Now, I can’t wait for the hard water to get some fresh trout in the smoker.






































The perfect beer was pictured in this post :)


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## hoity toit (Dec 4, 2018)

I have 2 MES 40's and one MES 30. The 40's have been good butr are junk after 4 yrs. The 30 is the best one. I am ready to make a change to the PIT BOSS. I like the 1600w element, that is a BIG PLUS. Thanks for posting your review, I appreciate it.


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## tlcasper (Dec 10, 2018)

Just a follow up.
I have done a few more smokes in the Pit Boss, one at -18C, and all has went well. I'm still very happy with this unit.
I have been using an Inkbird to see how the built in probes, and box sensor compare. The built in probes are very good, the box sensor can have trouble when the smoker is loaded with something like this pan blocking air movement, good to account for. But on smokes with just meat on the shelves the box has stayed within around 7% of the digital readout compared to the Inkbird ambient readings. With the top shelf averaging slightly warmer than the middle shelves. I feel I can trust the readout on the unit, but will still use the Inkbird for the extra probes and the phone app.
I've ordered the cover for this unit, and it appears Pit Boss has a Canadian warehouse to speed up shipping for us up here.

Some snacks for all day football yesterday. :)


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## Winterrider (Dec 10, 2018)

Your smoker is still waaayyy to clean !  :D 
Glad it has worked well for you. I have looked at just for another toy.
What did you season your mix with ?


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## tlcasper (Dec 10, 2018)

New smokers do look embarrassingly clean. 
The snack mix just has melted butter and SPOG on it.


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## AP514 (Dec 10, 2018)

nothing bad about a clean Smoker..I clean mine w/ denatured Alcohol every time..still looks new.
This also keeps that hickory smoke from last time from being in apple smoke for my beer can chicken this time.


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## SecondHandSmoker (Dec 12, 2018)

Glad to see you pulled the trigger.  Outstanding review btw.  That is one good looking smoker too.


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## Halibut Chaser (Dec 14, 2018)

Now I am rethinking the Masterbuilt... 2 questions: does it really make any difference that the vents are on the back, as opposed to the top like Masterbuilt? Is the digital readout difficult to see? As I researched the Pitboss after reading your review, I discovered that they have a service center in Salem, Oregon...big plus.

Thanks,
HC


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## tlcasper (Dec 15, 2018)

I have used both a Bradley and a MES with the vent right above the heat source, in those units I found I was regularly  moving the racks because stuff on the bottom was cooking faster than the top. It wasn’t until I was researching a new smoker, and reading on this site about people adding a diffuser to a MES that I started thinking about vent placement. 
After purchasing this Pit Boss I started moving a probe around in the box to get ambient temperature readings between the shelves. I never tried this with my other smokers so I have no comparison to make, but the Pit Boss stays pretty consistent as long as I don’t totally overload it. The top shelve is usually a little warmer over time. The vents on the back seem to be a good idea, but I have no real verification that they are better. It does keep smoke and moisture away from the electronics. I should note that you can’t close them right off, a tab keeps them slightly open. The Bradley and the MES closed completely. 

As for the display, yes it’s hard to read on bright outside days, I wish manufacturers of products used outside would use brighter displays. I’m in northern Ontario and it’s getting dark around 4:30pm these days so getting close to dinner time it’s no problem:) when summer comes that will be different.


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## ab canuck (Dec 15, 2018)

Great review and info on the unit. I am a fan of pit-boss, waiting for my last bradley to crap out before I get another vertical. Appreciate the post and review. Like


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## Bat119 (Mar 30, 2019)

To add to your review Pit boss customer service is excellent I bought the Silver 3-Series Vertical Electric Smoker a few days ago mine would not go above 250 deg. no matter what it was set at it would tap out at 250, phoned Pit boss talked to the friendly service guy and they are sending a new control panel should be here next week. Good to know they stand behind their products.


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## BPCR (Mar 30, 2019)

Rick Kloss said:


> To add to your review Pit boss customer service is excellent I bought the Silver 3-Series Vertical Electric Smoker a few days ago mine would not go above 250 deg. no matter what it was set at it would tap out at 250, phoned Pit boss talked to the friendly service guy and they are sending a new control panel should be here next week. Good to know they stand behind their products.


Rick, Like you I just purchased the same smoker a couple of weeks ago.Mine wouldn't go over 260* according to the readout on the smoker,but using the meat probe and a separate ThermPro showed the actual temps 100* higher! Pit Boss is sending a new smoker temp probe. We'll see if this cures the problem,I'm glad this thing has a 5yr warranty.--Mike


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## Bat119 (Mar 30, 2019)

When I assembled my unit I noticed the temp probe was very low and in my opinion too close to the burners I used a Thempro to check temps held on 250* with no food inside. I think mine is out of calibration the new control panel should fix the problem.


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## tallbm (Mar 30, 2019)

Interesting thread I had not seen before.
I may be looking for used or "broken" ones to rewire and run with my PID controller to improve my electric smoker setup


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## Inscrutable (Apr 14, 2019)

Bat119 said:


> When I assembled my unit I noticed the temp probe was very low and in my opinion too close to the burners I used a Thempro to check temps held on 250* with no food inside. I think mine is out of calibration the new control panel should fix the problem.





BPCR said:


> Rick, Like you I just purchased the same smoker a couple of weeks ago.Mine wouldn't go over 260* according to the readout on the smoker,but using the meat probe and a separate ThermPro showed the actual temps 100* higher! Pit Boss is sending a new smoker temp probe. We'll see if this cures the problem,I'm glad this thing has a 5yr warranty.--Mike



Either/both of your issues cured?
Wondering how hot will they go? (Think website says 350)


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## Bat119 (Apr 14, 2019)

It was the oven temp probe on my Thermpro causing most of my troubles it was reading 60 deg. low. I put both probes and a dial thermometer in a pot of water to test, the dial and the meat probe read 190 the oven probe was at 130. Thermpro is sending a new probe under warranty excellent customer service.
Now onto the smoker changed control panel and installed a dial thermometer, I did some salmon the temperature held  at 170 only varied about 10 deg. I set the smoker to 325 after an hour the readout reached 325 my dial thermometer said 290 although its located high in the cabinet could fudge results when my new Thermpro probe gets here I'll try again. I was lucky to find a thermometer that replaced the Pit boss logo perfectly.


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## SecondHandSmoker (Apr 14, 2019)

Bat119 said:


> It was the oven temp probe on my Thermpro causing most of my troubles it was reading 60 deg. low. I put both probes and a dial thermometer in a pot of water to test, the dial and the meat probe read 190 the oven probe was at 130. Thermpro is sending a new probe under warranty excellent customer service.
> Now onto the smoker changed control panel and installed a dial thermometer, I did some salmon the temperature held  at 170 only varied about 10 deg. I set the smoker to 325 after an hour the readout reached 325 my dial thermometer said 290 although its located high in the cabinet could fudge results when my new Thermpro probe gets here I'll try again. I was lucky to find a thermometer that replaced the Pit boss logo perfectly.
> View attachment 393302
> View attachment 393304



I never trust those bimetallic dial thermos since they can be off upto 50* either way.
When you get the the new oven thermocouple, put it at grate level on the grate your are cooking on since that is the temperature you are most concerned with controlling. 
You'll notice that when you place the oven thermocouple up by the the exhaust ports, the temp reading will be close to the controller setpoint since heat rises. 
Good looking salmon fillets.


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## Bat119 (Apr 15, 2019)

Pit boss digital 3 heat test

Set temperature 350 degrees

Thermpro probe in the center of unit ½ pan of wood chips water in the pan

Start 54 deg. Ambient

20 minutes 256 deg. Digital readout 281

40 minutes 287 deg. Digital readout 320

60 minutes 309 deg. Digital readout 332

80 minutes 302 deg. Digital readout 325

I could not reach the advertised temperature of 350 however for my smoking needs 300 is enough it could be possible on a warmer day to hit 350.


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## BPCR (Apr 15, 2019)

Inscrutable said:


> Either/both of your issues cured?
> Wondering how hot will they go? (Think website says 350)


I'm still waiting on a new probe. They originally said 5-7 days,after 2 weeks I called back and they said they wouldn't have any until May. I don't handle getting the run around well!


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## Inscrutable (Apr 15, 2019)

Ok thanks. 
Yes, this sounds good enough ... couldn’t ever get this high with my Bradley ... probably wings/poultry finishing the only time/thing I’d like to get higher. A bit of a PITA but can always transfer to gas grill for that.


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## Inscrutable (Apr 21, 2019)

Ok, after peppering PB with questions and getting pretty quick reply - even today (and hope I fare better than you BPCR if/when problems arise) going to pull the trigger on one of these. 
At this point just weighing digital vs analog. PB said not much difference in the controllers, and have a 4-probe Inkbird on the way and a 2-probe ThermPro here anyway, and identical otherwise (if you don’t mind electric blue )
Only a $40 diff ... not much, but would stock the maiden voyage. 
Any thoughts on analog vs digital? Leaning to digital as just a little easier to develop repeatably-used calibration curves for various temps on controller set point.


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## jnorth (Apr 28, 2019)

I'm partial to digital.  I'm also looking at replacing my old MES40 with a Pit Boss.  Just trying to figure out which version to go with.


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## Inscrutable (Apr 28, 2019)

I ordered the series 3 analog version. Controller pretty much the same anyway, and if it swings too much will put the extra $ toward an Auber PID controller.


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## sigmo (Apr 30, 2019)

I've posted about this before, so I won't go into great detail here.

But the thing to realize is that is extremely hard to get accurate temperature control throughout the entire chamber of any oven.  The air stratifies and fails to circulate in corners.  Wet, cool meat cools the air next to it.  Hot air rises directly off of the heating element, and "short circuits" through the chamber, etc.

Even in fancy laboratory ovens, we often found variations of 15 degrees C (27 F) from place to place.

The only way to improve this is to employ rather vigorous stirring of the air with a fan system.

So be careful how you measure and interpret temperature readings in any oven or smoker.

I ran across a Pit Boss series 3 smoker at Wal Mart here tonight. and that's why I came back to this forum... to see what people's experiences were with these.

(EDIT to say that what I saw was a 5-Series model)

The unit seemed sturdy and the fit of the door and various parts seemed good.  It had a huge pellet hopper (holds 60 pounds of pellets or some such).  And as with the unit reviewed here, had all of the guts underneath, which left a huge open area in the cooking chamber.  It also had adjustable holders for the racks, which would be really handy!

The pellets were fed by a motorized corkscrew affair.  The vent was a stovepipe coming out of the middle of the top.  And it supposedly has a circulating or air-feed blower.  That all seems nice.

But!

The only heating element was a mere 200 Watts.  And the temperature was only supposed to go up to something like 215 degrees F.

I'd like to find a unit with all of the features of this one, but with that 1600 Watt heater so I can cook at higher temps, and have it be reliable when it's cold and windy outside.

I don't want to derail this thread, bit does anyone know more about this series 3, or know if there is a model that has all of these features in one unit?

I could modify this unit by adding a high power heated good control.  But I'd be afraid that the insulation and other parts of this unit are not designed to handle higher temperatures


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## Inscrutable (Apr 30, 2019)

No, the 1600w (will see 1500-1650 in literature) element is only in the all electric ones, the pellets only need the lower wattage to achieve ignition - the heat comes from the pellet combustion. And those pellet-fed ones are rated to get to 450* and the all-electrics to 325* (will also see small variations in literature).

And yes I know there will be variations horizontally and/or vertically on all grills/smokers - that’s why I’ve gotten a 4-probe monitor in addition to my other 2-probe one - and the variations are also temporally as the heat source cycles. So don’t really rely on any of the built-in gauges or monitors, and can develop something of a calibration curve spatially, and at least recognize the temporal variation and judge/adjust the average/setpoint in light of the frequency/duration of the excursions. And all of this is probably way over-thinking it 


WRT your cold weather concern, at least in my moderate climate I’m not anticipating with this element not being able to sustain at least 250-275 (which exceeds any of my smoking temp needs) and will just finish/crisp as may wish on my gas grill.  Guess I’ll find out in about 8 months


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## sigmo (May 1, 2019)

Thanks!

I was wrong in my post above about what version of Pit Boss I saw at the store.  Looking at the photos I shot of it and its instruction manual, it is a Copperhead Wood Pellet Vertical Smoker (5-Series).  Model PBV5PW1.

It must be one like you described, designed to achieve the heating by burning the pellets.  And that's why it had such a huge pellet hopper: "60Lb, Rear-access hopper allows for 18-24 hours of uninterrupted smoking time".  That makes a lot more sense now, because 60 Lbs of pellets, in my MES40 using the trusty AMNPS, would last me a year!

The 200 Watt element would just be used to ignite the pellets, and the feeder would operate much as the feeder in a pellet stove operates, maintaining the desired temperature by feeding the pellets at a rate required to achieve the desired temperatures.

I've got a heavily modified MES40, and love it.  But the size of this Pit Boss unit was impressive, and I really like the fact that you can adjust the positions of the racks, so it really caught my eye.

However, I do not want one that's heated by the pellets.  So I'd be looking for one of a similar size, but with the high-wattage electric heating element.  Probably one like yours.

Also, according to the manual for this unit that I saw at Wally, it doesn't go to a high enough temperature.  I think it said 215 degrees.  I normally smoke pork butts and ribs, etc., at about 225, and I'd like to be able to go higher, plus, it gets very cold and windy here, so I want something that can easily heat to whatever temperature I want.  So again, this unit that I saw at the store would not be suitable.

I have done precision temperature control, logging, and monitoring for 40 years with my own company as well as for a chain of environmental laboratories.  They have various incubators, coolers, and precision ovens, and what you've said is true.

You see wide variations from point to point within the same oven, and even fan-stirred ovens are not as uniform as you'd like.  And as you say, if the oven, incubator, refrigerator, etc., cycles on and off, the temporal variations can be huge, as well.

For the purposes of cooking, cycling isn't a problem as long as your monitoring method lets you see the average.  Still, I always try to use a PID type control with a fairly short cycle time along with fan stirring if the application is critical and I don't want to see any thermal cycling.

What I'd like to find is a reasonably priced, electrically heated smoker that is good up to a fairly high temperature, with plenty of room, adjustable racks, and ideally, a circulating fan already installed.  Then I'd control the unit with a remote I/O "brick" connected to the PAC system I have at my house.  Not that any of that is really necessary, but it's fun, and gives me something more to play with along with the smoking.  Why not combine a few hobbies!

So I was hoping that the unit I stumbled across might be a good "carcass" to start with, but I didn't see any of the all-electric units on display there.  The one you got sounds a lot more like what I'm after.

Like jnorth above, I, too may replace my MES40 with a Pit Boss, mostly for the larger capacity and heavier-duty build.

Thanks again for your good review and explanation of the model you got!


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## Inscrutable (May 1, 2019)

sigmo said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I was wrong in my post above about what version of Pit Boss I saw at the store.  Looking at the photos I shot of it and its instruction manual, it is a Copperhead Wood Pellet Vertical Smoker (5-Series).  Model PBV5PW1.
> 
> ...



Correct on the Copperhead, except the temp ... if you saw 215* it has to be Celsius, which translates to about 420*F which is about right. 

PB should come in soon, may be able to get together this weekend and will start a new thread after maiden voyage.


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## sigmo (May 2, 2019)

Well that would make a lot more sense.  215F seemed ridiculously low.  215C would be fine for anything I would be doing!

I'll try to get back to that store and peruse the manual more carefully, but I'm sure you're right.

If I happen across one like yours, with the 1600 Watt electric element, I am going to be seriously tempted to get it.  The one I examined seemed to be well made.

I'll be interested to hear how the new unit performs for you.


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## BPCR (Jul 14, 2019)

Inscrutable said:


> Either/both of your issues cured?
> Wondering how hot will they go? (Think website says 350)


I thought I'd give an update on my Pit Boss series 3 Digital . I've now replaced the internal temp probe, control board, and am waiting for a new meat probe which went belly up after the first time I used it. The temp readout on the control panel is now off by 50* instead of 100*. Believe it or not I still like this smoker! Just don't rely on the control panel temp for an accurate reading! Pit Boss has good customer service IF you can get someone to answer the phone! I can't tell you how many times I was on hold for over 1/2 hr waiting for a pick up. I have a hard time believing their recording that they are with another customer when I call them at 4:30am.


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## Bat119 (Jul 14, 2019)

BPCR said:


> I thought I'd give an update on my Pit Boss series 3 Digital . I've now replaced the internal temp probe, control board, and am waiting for a new meat probe which went belly up after the first time I used it. The temp readout on the control panel is now off by 50* instead of 100*. Believe it or not I still like this smoker! Just don't rely on the control panel temp for an accurate reading! Pit Boss has good customer service IF you can get someone to answer the phone! I can't tell you how many times I was on hold for over 1/2 hr waiting for a pick up. I have a hard time believing their recording that they are with another customer when I call them at 4:30am.


Mine is exactly the same temp off by 35-50* I use my temp pro to monitor the temp I do still like the smoker it works well but with the temp offset my max is 315* really not a problem I never go that high when smoking. The first thing I noticed when assembling is the temp probe is to low and close to the heat source if it had a longer wire I would move it up to the center of the cabinet.


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## BPCR (Jul 14, 2019)

Bat119 said:


> Mine is exactly the same temp off by 35-50* I use my temp pro to monitor the temp I do still like the smoker it works well but with the temp offset my max is 315* really not a problem I never go that high when smoking. The first thing I noticed when assembling is the temp probe is to low and close to the heat source if it had a longer wire I would move it up to the center of the cabinet.


I don't know,that might make it worse! At this moment I'm double smoking a ham.The internal probe close to the heating element reads 170*, my ThermPro mounted on the middle rack next to the ham reads 225*!


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## Bat119 (Jul 15, 2019)

Confirmed my Pit boss series 3 is out of whack 3 thermometers a therm pro a dial inside and an analog all agree the control panel is wrong. Not a big deal if you know the correction my first shoulder took 16 hours to reach 195* the crowd was getting unruly from hunger so I had to pull it I bought the Thermpro and found out why I was cooking at 200* instead of 245.


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## Omnivore (Jul 17, 2019)

BPCR said:


> I thought I'd give an update on my Pit Boss series 3 Digital . I've now replaced the internal temp probe, control board, and am waiting for a new meat probe which went belly up after the first time I used it. The temp readout on the control panel is now off by 50* instead of 100*. Believe it or not I still like this smoker! Just don't rely on the control panel temp for an accurate reading! Pit Boss has good customer service IF you can get someone to answer the phone! I can't tell you how many times I was on hold for over 1/2 hr waiting for a pick up. I have a hard time believing their recording that they are with another customer when I call them at 4:30am.




Just curious how long it took to receive those parts and if it were fairly easy to replace the control board. I'm on the fence with the Pit Boss electric vertical and other MES smokers but if the warranty is solid and customer service is legit, I'll gladly go with Pit Boss. 

Couple other questions - have you been using an a-maze-n tray with pellets instead of wood chips? Also, do you feel like the temps are swinging a lot or just off by a predictable amount for most of the cook? (I really don't want to be out there fussing with temps every 45 min).

Thanks for taking to time to report on your smoker, it's been super helpful.


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## BPCR (Jul 18, 2019)

Omnivore said:


> Just curious how long it took to receive those parts and if it were fairly easy to replace the control board. I'm on the fence with the Pit Boss electric vertical and other MES smokers but if the warranty is solid and customer service is legit, I'll gladly go with Pit Boss.
> 
> Couple other questions - have you been using an a-maze-n tray with pellets instead of wood chips? Also, do you feel like the temps are swinging a lot or just off by a predictable amount for most of the cook? (I really don't want to be out there fussing with temps every 45 min).
> 
> Thanks for taking to time to report on your smoker, it's been super helpful.


Omnivore, The internal temp probe took 2 months,the control panel took 1month and the meat probe I'm still waiting on,although they did say it may be awhile. Replacement of the panel is relatively easy,plug and play. The hardest part for me is getting a hold of a rep,expect 1/2 hr or more of hold times. I'm using a a-maze-n tray and it works great,funny thing is one of the reps told me the reason my control panel temps were so far off was because I wasn't using the water pan or their smoker tray! I told him that the probe doesn't know if there are chips or water in the pan or not!--Sheesh!


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## Omnivore (Jul 18, 2019)

BPCR said:


> Omnivore, The internal temp probe took 2 months,the control panel took 1month and the meat probe I'm still waiting on,although they did say it may be awhile. Replacement of the panel is relatively easy,plug and play. The hardest part for me is getting a hold of a rep,expect 1/2 hr or more of hold times. I'm using a a-maze-n tray and it works great,funny thing is one of the reps told me the reason my control panel temps were so far off was because I wasn't using the water pan or their smoker tray! I told him that the probe doesn't know if there are chips or water in the pan or not!--Sheesh!



Thank you for the response! I actually called them yesterday to ask a warranty question - Dansons picked up immediately, sounded like they didn't really know what to do when someone calls with a Pit Boss question, and then transferred me to an agent. I was on hold for a little while but then my 7 month old woke up and it was time to go lol. Not a big strike against them but not a huge vote of confidence.

Again, thanks for all the info!


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## Inscrutable (Jul 20, 2019)

Since seems most smokers built in probes and controls are off, I just saved a few bucks and got the analog version, and ignore its own thermometer.
Maybe lucky with mine ... swings in temps as it cycles isn’t too bad, usually 10*, maybe 15* sometimes. There’s more variation at different places than the cycle variations (eg always X amount cooler or warmer at this rack position vs that, and front vs back, especially near the vents.
Again, seems I pretty much hear/see this in most smokers, but easy to manage with a multi probe Inkbird or equal, and placement of the meat.
I’ve been really happy with mine and have done ribs, butt, chicken, meatloaf, beans, ... lots of different time/temp requirements and all came out good.


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## BPCR (Jul 20, 2019)

Inscrutable said:


> Since seems most smokers built in probes and controls are off, I just saved a few bucks and got the analog version, and ignore its own thermometer.
> Maybe lucky with mine ... swings in temps as it cycles isn’t too bad, usually 10*, maybe 15* sometimes. There’s more variation at different places than the cycle variations (eg always X amount cooler or warmer at this rack position vs that, and front vs back, especially near the vents.
> Again, seems I pretty much hear/see this in most smokers, but easy to manage with a multi probe Inkbird or equal, and placement of the meat.
> I’ve been really happy with mine and have done ribs, butt, chicken, meatloaf, beans, ... lots of different time/temp requirements and all came out good.


Inscrutable, I think you've got the gist of it.My replacement control panel is off by 50* instead of the 100* the original panel was. I just use the temp readout as a reference number and read actual temps with my ThermPro. Like you I do like the smoker!


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## Bat119 (Nov 11, 2019)

Just an update I smoked some sausage sticks, the outside temperature was -21 C -29 C windchill  the cook went well.  The 1600 watt element kept up even in extreme conditions although the cook temp dropped from 180* to 130* quickly the burner kicked in and was able to keep up, looking into making an insulated blanket or cover for the future.


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