# Anyone here own a Green Mountain pellet grill?



## cabin fever

I've read that pellet grills are 100% wood fired so if this isn't the right section to post this in then I apologize. Anyway, after comparing the Traeger Lil Tex to the Green Mountain Daniel Boone over at pelletheads.com it seems like the DB would be the better of the two. With that said, how well do they actually cook as smokers?

My main concern is smoke flavor. I've owned just about every electric smoker under the sun and I've never been satisfied with the smoke flavor or lack there of I should say. If anyone here owns a Green Mountain DB or any pellet grill for that matter or knows someone who does I would really appreciate any information you could throw my way.


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## striper

Good question, I'd like any info on them as well.  I currently own a lil tex and it has done a good job overall, just not real happy with the temp control or the companies response to some of the issues I've had.  I'll be looking at a Green Mountain later this week and am gonna ask if by any chance they have a demo unit I can try first.


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## cwp777

I have a “Country Smoker” Pellet Grill.  It is the TG-300, “The Tailgater” model.

I was needing a new grill, didn’t like the gas one I had.  I bought an older Traeger

But it didn’t get hot enough to grill.  I used it for a while, would only get to 300 degrees on high setting.  When you needed to clean out the ash you had to lay it on its side and shake it out.  Sold it to a guy that only wanted to smoke with it, O.K. with him.

I wanted a pellet grill that would GRILL, you know 400-450 degrees.  I purchased this from Louisiana Grills (www.lousiana-grills.com).  I am very satisfied with it.  It has a rheostat which controls the amount of pellets that feed the burner.  It will smoke at 150 degrees or turn it up and it will sear at 500 degrees.   Turn it back a little and it is just right to grill at 400- 450 degrees.  A couple times and you will know just where you want to set it to have the temperature you need.  When you turn it off the fan stays on to cool the unit before it shuts down.  Safety.

The flavor from using hardwood pellets is great.  Even when you grill you still get that terrific flavor.

If you get a chance to test a grill, try it out look at all the features, have someone demo it for you.  They aren’t cheap, and you want to be happy with it long after you get it.

For me taking it apart to clean it has to be simple and easy.  The Country Smoker comes completely apart and can be cleaned in 3 minutes.  Remove the grill, then the “steel arched flavor guard”.  Remove the vented stainless pellet tray and stainless pellet tray holder.  I use a wide putty knife to scoop up the ash.  Put it back together and you are ready to grill or smoke.  I only clean it after 5 or 6 uses.  Not much ash to remove.

I will include some pic’s to let you see the insides of this unit. 

Control Panel....

Electric Ignitor....

Pellet tray Holder....Stainless

Pellet tray....stainless

Dispensing shoot....stainless

Starting the grill....turn it on and press start....

Everyting removed....Lots of room for cleanup....

Steel flavor Guard installed....

Fan blows on pellets....

Pellet Hopper....

Good luck with what you purchase, sounds like the Green Mountain might be a good unit.


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## carpetride

Don't have a Green Mountain but do have a Traeger 125 and just bought a FEC -100.  I haven't cooked enough with the FEC to give you a good honest opinion but what I see so far I really.  The Traeger gives me a nice smoke flavor that everyone always compliments.  I cooked a pumpkin pie  in the FEC last night and chicken breast tonight, the pie had a hint of smoke (was done at 350) and the chicken was good as well.


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## carpetride

Stiper:  Assuming you have the 3 position switch, you can add the digital control to your Traeger, I highly recommend it.  I have cooked with both and you will wonder why you waited so long to upgrade.


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## cabin fever

Cwp777 and Carpetride, 

I'd just like to say thank you for your input. Now that I know a few members here own pellet poopers, I've just got to ask. How is the overall smoke flavor? I've been browsing the pellet heads forum and the general opinion across the board with all brands of pellet grills seems to be that they provide very little to no smoke flavor. Some even go as far as to say that every type of pellet (hickory/cherry/apple/etc.) provides the same flavor and they can‘t tell a difference.

I just don't understand that if the brand of pellet they are using is made up of 100% of said wood. Teams that exclusively use pellet grills/smokers are winning way too many comps these days for them not to provide decent smoke flavor. Something just doesn't add up so I'd really appreciate any info you guys might have.


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## carpetride

From my point of view I would say this:

It is very hard to oversmoke with a pellet cooker.
My Stumps is a very nice machine but I (and my wife) think I get better compliments about food cooked on my Traeger...could be that I oversmoke stuff with a charcoal machine, which is my fault and not the smokers.
I personally do taste a difference in the pellets.  I greatly prefer 100% Hickory from Chris at cookinpellets.com, I think that they standout from the others.
I have used BBQ'rs Delight and the Traeger pellets as well.  I believe that Traeger has went to using Alder in the west and Oak in the east with a "flavor" oil.  I use them only in a pinch.
Traegers are great little machines but they have a LOT of new competition which is really great for you and I.  I'm completely happy with mine but don't know that I would choose it with the current crop of pellet cookers out there.
I will be cooking this weekend with the FEC and will post some pics and better thoughts about it as well.  Quite a few of us Pellet Poopers here, I'm a member over there as well but spend most of my time here.


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## tallboys

Yes...I have the Green Mountain Daniel Boone model.  I am actually cooking a bone-in turkey breat and a 5lb pork loin on it as I type.  I went with green mointain over the others for temperture control.  with a digital gauge I can set to any temp I want...from 175-500.  Its been a work horse...like a crock pot.  I set that bad boy and leave the house for hours at times.  send me a message with additional q's if you need other info

Chris


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## cabin fever

Carpetride said:


> From my point of view I would say this:
> 
> It is very hard to oversmoke with a pellet cooker.
> My Stumps is a very nice machine but I (and my wife) think I get better compliments about food cooked on my Traeger...could be that I oversmoke stuff with a charcoal machine, which is my fault and not the smokers.
> I personally do taste a difference in the pellets.  I greatly prefer 100% Hickory from Chris at cookinpellets.com, I think that they standout from the others.
> I have used BBQ'rs Delight and the Traeger pellets as well.  I believe that Traeger has went to using Alder in the west and Oak in the east with a "flavor" oil.  I use them only in a pinch.
> Traegers are great little machines but they have a LOT of new competition which is really great for you and I.  I'm completely happy with mine but don't know that I would choose it with the current crop of pellet cookers out there.
> I will be cooking this weekend with the FEC and will post some pics and better thoughts about it as well.  Quite a few of us Pellet Poopers here, I'm a member over there as well but spend most of my time here.


My main concern about pellet grills before I purchase one is the smoke flavor. I know you said that it's hard to over smoke with a pellet pooper, but wouldn't using 100% hickory pellets be the same thing as using an offset that's burning nothing but hickory logs? That's what confuses me. If I bought one, 95% of the cooking I did on it would be slow smoking and I wouldn't want to buy another smoker that provided little to no smoke flavor as I've owned my share of them in the past. I'm sorry, but I just want to know the facts before I go the pellet route.


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## cdub198321

I just bought one about a week ago and I love it.  Everything i have made on it so far has had a pretty good smoke ring and good flavor.


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## cdub198321

I was also comparing.  I think with the DB you get close to 140 sq in more then the lil tex and they are both close in price.


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## carpetride

Cabin Fever said:


> My main concern about pellet grills before I purchase one is the smoke flavor. I know you said that it's hard to over smoke with a pellet pooper, but wouldn't using 100% hickory pellets be the same thing as using an offset that's burning nothing but hickory logs? That's what confuses me. If I bought one, 95% of the cooking I did on it would be slow smoking and I wouldn't want to buy another smoker that provided little to no smoke flavor as I've owned my share of them in the past. I'm sorry, but I just want to know the facts before I go the pellet route.




I think that those who say that they don't get good smoke flavor from pellets are possibly used to meat that is over smoked.  I know that is a highly subjective statement and why I stated it the way I did earlier 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





.  There is always TBS rolling with my pellet cookers and of course the fan pushing a draft.  I mainly cook ribs and rarely get over 225, low and slow works great.  Sounds like the only way you are going to know is to try one for yourself.  Could you maybe find a buddy that has one or a restaurant that uses pellets in your area?  Most of my friends have bought one after eating at our house.  Do you have to have one to turn out great Que?  NO!  But it sure does make life easier.  I'm starting to feel like a salesman here so I will step back and let others answer.


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## geaux tigers

My Memphis Pro produces a good smoke flavor. I can smoke from 180 to 650 and it keeps the temps + or - 5 degrees. It's one of the best. I think the Memphis Advantage is about the same price as the DB.


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## cabin fever

I was thinking of joining the pellet heads forum (I've just been browsing the past few months) and seeing if someone near me would actually smoke something like a pork butt and ship it to me if I covered all costs. Sounds crazy I know, but right now it seems to be the only way for me to actually try something smoked on a pellet grill.

Anyway, the Mak 2 Star General seems to be the class leader in pellet grills at the moment and I've heard that it was built to produce more smoke than other brands of pellet grills so the Mak may be an option for me in the future as well. I'm not rushing into a pellet grill purchase so I'm just trying to gather as much information about them as possible. I really appreciate the input thus far folks.


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## carpetride

I bet Bentley or someone over there could make an introduction for you to someone that has a rig for you to use/try out.  Dealers or restaurants.  Might check with someone like CookShack and ask if they have any restaurant customers in your area.


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## striper

Carpetride, thanks.  I now have 2 Traegers, lil tex and the junior with the tailgate kit.(Birthday present)  Both grills have the upgraded temp control and both cook differently.  Temp control seems to swing about 25 degrees boths sides of where I have them set.  That being said I use one or the other and sometimes both of these grills 3 to 4 timea a week and have only had 1 complaint about any of the food I've served.  Turned out those folks just don't like things smoked.  However everyone seems to love the Wood cooked flavor of everything else.  I do think it gives me a bit to much smoke when it kicks in on the low temp settings, ie 225-275 degrees.  I did a roast yesterday 2 1/2 hours on smoke then 4 hours at 225 followed be 1 hour at 300 to finish.  This piece of meat is almost BLACK.


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## carpetride

Striper said:


> Carpetride, thanks.  I now have 2 Traegers, lil tex and the junior with the tailgate kit.(Birthday present)  Both grills have the upgraded temp control and both cook differently.  Temp control seems to swing about 25 degrees boths sides of where I have them set.  That being said I use one or the other and sometimes both of these grills 3 to 4 timea a week and have only had 1 complaint about any of the food I've served.  Turned out those folks just don't like things smoked.  However everyone seems to love the Wood cooked flavor of everything else.  I do think it gives me a bit to much smoke when it kicks in on the low temp settings, ie 225-275 degrees.  I did a roast yesterday 2 1/2 hours on smoke then 4 hours at 225 followed be 1 hour at 300 to finish.  This piece of meat is almost BLACK.




 Funny, the things you don't think about, I never go down on the smoke setting, always at 225 or above.  I guess I figured with the auger cycle on the Traeger you were getting the smoke for about 25% of the time anyways.  So I guess you potentially could over smoke things with a Pellet Cooker.


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## cabin fever

Carpetride said:


> I bet Bentley or someone over there could make an introduction for you to someone that has a rig for you to use/try out.  Dealers or restaurants.  Might check with someone like CookShack and ask if they have any restaurant customers in your area.


Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.


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## striper

Carpetride said:


> Funny, the things you don't think about, I never go down on the smoke setting, always at 225 or above.  I guess I figured with the auger cycle on the Traeger you were getting the smoke for about 25% of the time anyways.  So I guess you potentially could over smoke things with a Pellet Cooker.


Thanks, I've now started using just the low setting (225?) just above the Smoke setting and seems to give everything a nice hint of smoke flavor.  Been real happy with the food coming off the grill at that setting.  Now if I can just get it to get to the high end of the spectrum in a timely manner it will all be good.  Right now it is not getting as hot as I think it should get for good Steak Grilling.  That being said, if I give the meat a bit more time on the grill is does come out good.  Just not getting that Seared look I like.


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## teesquare

If you are shopping brands - as I do see all of the others mentioned - you really owe it to yourself to look at the Yoder pellet smokers/grills/ These will hit 600 F, or hold low temps under 200F and everything in between.

They are also the heaviest built - and ALL Amercian made ( o.k. - the fan is made in Germany
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  ) All 10 gage steel. Incredibly clean and detailed construction. Best warranty around - 10 years on the body - 3 years on all other parts.  Cost is more than the small GMG, but closer on the the large model to the larger GMG and - I almost bought a GMG.....until I learned about Yoder.

All American made, much heavier built, better warranty. E-mail or PM me if you want pictures - more than on the Yoder website. They make great products - but the website development is a bit behind. But - which would we want - pretty websites - or the best pit we can afford?
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





T

T


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## mrmeatcutter

My father in law has a GM and he loves it. I have cooked on it a few times and I am sold, I will own one one day. The temp control was amazing and accurate. It would maintain within 5 degrees during the entire cook time. The GM s are also built must stronger to last longer then the tregs. 
Another up and coming pellet smoker out there is the Yoder smoker, you can google. They are very heavy duty.:grilling_smilie:


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## teesquare

Just a note about Yoder...They are not a new company - and have a well known, lengthy history in building BBQ pits. I don't remember the year they started selling pits - but seems like it was well before there was a Treager pellet grill.

The pellet grills are a recent product - but the owner of Yoder also owns a large retail BBQ store - and has sold Treager and Country Smoker for years...One can imagine that a lot was learned prior to the first Yoder pellet grill was sold  - thus it is not a new technology to Yoder.

I would not handicap Yoder for fear of the newness of their pellet pit to the market. In fact - you will find they bring much to the market previously unavailable - at any price.


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## 34698

I bought a Traeger Lil Tex last year, after being assured that their previous paint peeling issues were resolved. Now I've received a recall notice that my production run may experience paint peeling. It would have been worth the extra two hour drive to get the GMG Daniel Boone.


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## smokinbrent

EVERYBODY whinin... lol I have a traeger 075 EXTREMELY happy w/ it (cook probably 6 days a week on it)... and AS USUAL someone comes out ... COPIES someone elses stuff. What's new?? LOL Granted many will improve on things as well.. JUST the way it is, someone gets something that WORKS and others copy it lol.

Brent


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## cabin fever

SMOKINbrent, are you happy with the smoke flavor from your 075? Smoke output and flavor seems to be the biggest grey area when it comes to pellet poopers so I'd really appreciate the extra input.


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## smokinbrent

Actually I am... on smoke setting up to 225 it smokes nicely..at HIGH temps it cooks like it's supposed to w/minimal smoke. Combine the cooking w/ the smoking at different times and it does a great job. The ones that complain about NO smoke have them cranked up....drop the temp back DOWN where they're SUPPOSED to smoke and it seems fine and gives a NICE thick smoke ring.. as for flavor, I've been trying different brands of pellets to see which works the best... still workin on that one.

Brent


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## norcal q

I have a Green Mountain Grill, Daniel Boone, a WSM and a Primo XL.  In terms of smoke flavor, you can rate the WSM first, then the Primo, then the GMG.  In terms of ease of use, the GMG is the easiest.

I started with a Traeger 075 and was getting wild temp swings.  I really didn't like that I had to mess with the P settings to try to get closer to the temps I needed and anyways, Traeger recommended against it.  I finally had enough and returned it.  That's when I got the GMG...what a difference!  Temp settings are precise and swings are held to 1 to 3 degrees max.  The control is amazing.  For the money, you cannot get a better pellet grill.  Customer support is equally amazing as you have probably already read.

After a while, I thought I wanted more smoke flavor, so I added a Smoke Daddy to the GMG.  That gave me all the smoke flavor that the WSM produces.  Problem is, I got hooked on working with coals and wood in the Smoke Daddy and wanted to try my hand at more basic smoking, hence the WSM and Primo. 

Now, if I want to be assured of a great cook or I want to do a long over nighter, I'll use the GMG.  I really have to screw up to mess up a meal in it.  If I want to play or experiment, I'll use the WSM or Primo.  If I could only have one smoke, I think it would have to be my GMG.

No affiliation to GMG...just a totally satisfied customer.


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## smokinbrent

NC I can understand the swings... a LOT varies on TEMP .. TIME of day..TIME of year.. WIND etc.. I put some REGULAR red bricks in my 075..4 at the end and two by the pot.. I have NO NOTICABLE diff in tem swing whether it's 98 deg outside or 5 deg my 075 is usally w/in 5 deg of what it's SUPPOSED to be(separate thermometer). Makes ALL the diff in the world. The bricks RETAIN and MAINTAIN the heat fantastically!!

Brent


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## jake628

I have been reading this thread and found it most interesting.  One thing I will agree on is using pellets is a great way to go.  I am a Traeger fan and bought one before I know anything about them.  I started with the Junior and found after having it for almost a year how dang versatile it was versus other just smokers.  After we cooked basically an entire meal for a friend get together we upgraded to the Lil Tex Elite and just love it.  The cooking area for the Lil Tex is the same as the Deluxe and Pink Pig.  Only the Texas and XL have a larger cooking area.  I chose the LTE over the Lil Tex for the digital control and powder coating finish.  Plus it also comes with wheels on all legs for ease of moving around if needed.  I bought my LTE from a company in Anaheim Hills, CA that also sells the Green Mountain and MAK Grills.  I looked at what they had on display and found the Traeger LTE had a larger cooking area of the equal Green Mountain.  After seeing both I am glad I chose the Traeger.

As for the high temp issues I personally don't find that to be a big issue.  Even if you can get the unit over 500 degrees the heat is still 'indirect" so you won't really get a true grill type cooking.  I have cooked steaks on the Traeger and loved the flavor but without those grill and sear marks they are not overly appetizing in appearance and you have to get use to that.  As for the American Made issue I can understand how some feel but I also now to be "real" what isn't made out of the country today?  I am sure the older USA made Traegers were built better back then but what wasn't in those days?  Heck just look at the auto industry today.  Need I say more?  But I have no complaints on my foreign made Traeger.  It gets used 2 to 3 times a week. We used it yesterday to bake dessert for dinner and today I will be doing beer can chicken.  I love my Traeger and am so glad we chose it over other brands.


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## smokinbrent

Actually I get what I consider decent grill marks on my 075... flip the steak NOT because I have to (cooks on the top too) but to mark the other side LOL Like I said out of  100 days I use my traeger 90... eat out 8 and use the stove MAYBE once.. if it breaks.. I'm gonna be SOOOOOOOO mind "screwed" wont know how  use my stove.. LOL

Brent


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## dalton

I purchased a traeger after using my own homebuilt smoker for some time and then it went up in flames.  my with wouldn't let me have another smoker unless it was "safe"  I looked around the the safest option was the pellet smokers.  I am in alaska so there was very little to choose from that was local.  I found treagers her at a several local stores but no other brand of pellet pooper with out spending oodles of money in shipping.  so i went with the treager. 

I have been smoking on it for almost a year and turned out some great food!!  I would say that the smoke flavor might not be as strong as my old home built smoker but I am happy with the trade off for ease of use and consistancy.  I did add some bricks and a heat plate to mine and the temp swings got alot better.  my only complaint is the amount of pellets it uses when I am smoking a few pork butts and its 10 degress below 0 (yes that is farenhiet)  but I guess I shouldn't complain!  I can see the value of the totally variable temp control available on the GMG but again there was no local supplier for me.  I am happy with my treager and use it alot!  I just made some caribou jerky sticks this week and of the 10 lbs I made their is less than 2 lbs left!  I guess that means they wrer good.  I have smoked pork sholders for a large group lunchen 7 or 8 times and gotten great compliments on it every time. 

For me the treager works great!

dalton


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## bite me griller

just got the danile boone, smoking a 5 lb pork but and 2 racks of spare ribs,for my first cook on it. i whould like to know what size smoke daddey you put on yours and are you happy with it. thanks BITE ME aka STURGEON MASTER


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## BGKYSmoker

I have had GMG, Traeger and now a MAK II Star #46 that blows them both away, I can operate my MAK 300ft away with my remote.


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## brob62

I have had my GMG for almost a year, and use it almost weekly. A very close friend has the Treager and they both cook extremely well. My GMG has more room, and I am able to smoke more at one time than he can. At 250 and below, the smoke is wonderful and depending on what you are cooking can almost overwhelm the meat.(if that is possible).

Last night, I smoked around 100 bacon wrapped Venison/sausage balls in 15 Degree weather at 245 degrees. According to the group at lunch today they turned out extremely well. (I cured then smoked the bacon as well).

To your question about smoke. I get more and better, and more consistant smoke on my GMG than I did with my old fashond barrel smoaker. I use the standars GMG blend of wood most of the time, and add various "flavors" when desired.

The smoker has performed better that I had expected.

NOTE: I added the heat blanket to the grill, and it cut my pellet usage by almost half. In the 90+ tempature days, you have to watch the temp on the grill because I have had the fire go out because it did not use enough wood to keep it going.


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## slief

I had been debating getting a larger smoker for the last month or so. I read and read and decided I wanted a good pellet smoker that would satisfy my need for "set it and forget it" for long smokes. Pretty much everything I read about the GMG smokers was positive and any issues that I read about were remedied with great customer service from GMG. Their customer service was a major selling point for me. I had been eyeballing a great deal on a new one locally and decided to bite the bullet this last Wednesday.. I have an MES30 that I will continue to use for smaller shorter smokes.

Within an hour of the grill be delivered, I had it setup and seasoning. I spent some time over the last couple days playing with my temp probes and baffles getting it dialed in and familiarizing myself with its characteristics. My first smoke will begin Saturday night and finish sometime Sunday. Its a 14 pound pork but so I am expecting a really long smoke. I will post up a thread with pictures and the results in the Pork section Sunday..

Here is a shot of it seasoning...


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## norcal q

By the way, remember that with the GMG, you can purchase the optional remote controller that will allow you to adjust set temps and monitor pit and meat temps.  Like I said, for the money, you can't get any better performance.


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## 34698

I've owned a Traeger and now have a GMG... As far as ease of use, temp range and spot on temp control, it is far superior.


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## big smokey

I have a Green Mountain and I have had it for a year. I have never had a problem with it and it works great. The flavor for the pellets is awesome. I am very pleased with and I am glad I purchased it.


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## jjwesley

I own a GMG Daniel Boone and love it.  My only regret is that I can't afford the meat to use it everyday.


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## teesquare

They are a very good value. My only beef is that they are not made here in the USA. The old arguement of "it would cost too much"...just doesn't hold enough water for me any more. I am willing to save a little longer - to buy any product that will perform as well or better if it is made in the USA.

Thus far only the Yoder  pellet smoker/grill is almost 100% made in the USA ( only exception on it is the fan which is German made)

and they offer 2 sizes. I think the smaller one ( model # 480 ) is $1099 and the larger ( model # 640) is $1299.

But they weigh easily twice what any other unit of this type that I am familiar with weighs. HEAVY, thick steel. Longest warranty available, etc.

Worth a look if you want something that will last you forever.

T


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## chris becker

Hi All,

First off I would like to say I own 3 pellet grills, 1 woodmaster, 1 treager lil tex and 1 treager texas. Love them all, cooked on almost all brands! I have seen Yoders operation and they do make a very good unit. Just finished it late and just after I bought my last treager,

I am not sold on treager but it was more for testing and beating up. I have 4 people that beta test pellets for me when we do new things or just want to test batches of them. Their is a Green Mountain and an FE plus a MAK and a Louisiana Grill in that mix.

These are just like carts...some are better than others and you will pay for it. Some hold temps great other have a bit of fluctuation. I like the fluctuation...seems to smoke better...but thats me.

What do you want to buy ?? a Rolls Royce or Impala?

Pellets... that is another thing. Some manufactures like treager put in about 30% or so of what they say is on the bag and use either oak or alder to finish it off. Leaving alot of people thinking the pellet grill does not impart good smoke when it was a pellet issue all along. Some pellet manufactures do not use any oak or alder. Which brings out a better smoke profile.

Some pellets will not get you over 400-450 due to not having any oak or alser to get the higher temps but, they will deliver great smoke flavor.

All in all ... read ask read, try one if you can or find someone with one.

Test different pellets to see what you like. Some are great some are not but, unless you try you will not know.

Merry Christmas and Happy Smoking!

Chris


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## sammy4chickens

I have had a Green Mountain grill for 2 years now and I love it. I can raise the temp control to 400* to 450* for regular grilling or lower it to 150-180* or anywhere in between for smoking. If you ever cook a nice juicy rib-eye on a smoker instead of a regular grill, you will never go back to just grilling on your old grill again. The smell and taste are unbelievable and probably the most tender steak you have ever eaten.

I like the fact that I have the option of grilling or smoking on my Green Mountain. I put in the type of pellets I want to smoke with, then push a button and go inside to prepare my meat and when I come back out, the smoker has already heated up to factory preset of 350*. I simply raise or lower my control to the desired temperature I want and walk away. I'm a little lazy, I also have a wireless probe for my meats and it will tell you within 5* when your meat is ready so I can suck a few cold ones down and watch some football and my wife thinks I'm outside slaving away cooking.

  It takes a little getting use too and it's hard to break the habit of opening the hood to check your meat. And just like most grills and smokers, it has it's hot spots and cold spots but it's not a deal breaker and you will learn pretty fast. I used a grill temperature gage to check it but it's not really necessary. The conditions outside affect the temperature more than anything else, especially the wind, otherwise if you have ideal conditions, whatever you set it at is what it will smoke to within 5* to 10*.

 I probably clean mine a couple times a summer then again in the fall just to clean off the grease buildup and dump my ashes. My neighbor hasn't cleaned his yet except for changing the foil below his grate. He says I clean it too much but I can't help myself.

So far I haven't had any problems with it and I can smoke enough meat to feed about 30 people without to much trouble with the help of a couple of extra racks.

There are some very good smokers that cost a lot less and some that cost a lot more, it's really up to you but whatever you decide, just have a good time smoking and don't get discouraged because we were all beginners at first.

I hope this helps you a little and enjoy "Smokin"!


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## roklimo

Just bought a GMG Daniel Boone.  Temperature control is very tight.  Any temp from 150-500 degrees with little or no fluctuations.  Doing a rack of ribs today.  Using apple pellets.


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## al wilson

I've had a GMG for over a year now and it smokes meat better than ANY smoker that I have owned.  The meat probe allows you to fully track the internal temp and if you have the remote unit you can adjust the temp while drinking a bear and watching the game.


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## flyweed

I've had my GMG Daniel Boone for about 3 weeks now, and I LOVE it!  It cooks nice and even, and if you add one of the A Maze N pellet tubes to it, it's a phenomenal smoker. 

My two cents

Dan


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## dinoisgrilling

*Great question about pellet grills and here is your answer. The Green Mountain Grill excels at smoking as the lowest  temperature setting is 150 degress creating a lot of smoke and flavor Just like a camp fire, the lower the temperature, the more smoke there is. The higher the temperature, the hotter the burn and less smoke. Also keep in mind that pellets have between 5% - 7% moisture that is added to the grill/convection/smoking process. Lastly, the Green Mountian Grill is truely an industrial convection oven that uses positive air pressure to rotate the heat and smoke around anything that is in the cooking camber infusing both heat and smoke. Long story short, low temp, high smoke and great taste.


Thank you,

Dean Olejniczak*


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## ryan johnson

I do have a Green Mountain Grill  (the Daniel Boone model).  Wow I am really impressed with it!  It really gives a great flavor to the food.  I have used hickory, mesquite and oak pellets and  they all give off great smoke flavor.  However, my favorite is the applewood pellets.  The smoke flavor definitely varies based on the different type of pellets you use to smoke with.  I have smoked a ham and some Chinook salmon fillets with the applewood pellets and wow it really has a great flavor!  I guess it all depends on your tastes and what you desire your food to taste like.  But I have been impressed with all of the pellets. 

This grill is very easy to use and I have had no issues with it.  The one thing my dealer did tell me is to keep the auger unit and burn pot cleaned out on a regular basis and to not let the pellets get wet inside the auger tube or inside the pellet hopper as it will create issues with the auger turning.  I just suck the ashes out of the bottom of the gril before each use when the grill is cold.  Also I try to clean out the pellet hopper with the shopvac on a regular basis because some sawdust from the pellets accumulates in the bottom of the pellet hopper.  It is very easy to clean out  just be sure not to suck up the pellets when they are hot or you will get a fire in your vacuum unit!.  Other than that it is pretty much maintainance free! 

I have had no issues with the cooking once i got familiar with cooking on it. As with all smokers it takes a bit of getting to know your unit.  Do not expect to be a master on your first try!   The temp setting is very easy to control and the unit maintains its temp usually to within 3 degrees of the temperature setting.  Also i recommend having a second meat probe just to compare the temps with the factory unit.  That way you will know for sure that your cooking at proper temperature.


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## dinoisgrilling

We run our GMG grill from 7AM till 5PM and have done this for 3 straight months. This morning, I turned the unit on and it didn't get to temp as usual. I opened up the grill to find that I had a fire pot full of old hard ash and about a 1/4" of ash in the base unit. I used my ash vac to clean out the debris and it started like always. Reason for this post is that no one uses a grill 6 days a week for 10 hours a day and it works AWESOME. Keep grilling and for those who live in Wisconsin, stop by Earth Sense Energy Systems on October 26th for a Customer Appreciation Day with grilling expo featuring Mad Dog and Merrill from 12 to 6 PM.

Thx,

Dean

Sales Manager

Earth Sense Energy Systems


----------



## dinoisgrilling

I am the sales manager for GMG in Wisconsin and the U.P. of Michigan and looking to add dealers in strategic areas. Please email me at [email protected] to set up a meeting and discuss opportunity. Remember, we will not cross lines with other GMG dealers, we stock all GMG parts in our Dale, Wisconsin warehouse and have the best technical department in the country for diagnostics according to GMG themselves. I look foward to hearing from you

*




*

*Dean J. "Dino" Olejniczak*

*Sales Manager*

W9715 State Rd. 96 ∙ Dale, WI  54931

(* Office* 800-236-6647 ext. 3714  | (* Cell* 920-636-5603

** Email *[email protected]   | 7 *Fax* 920-779-6646

http://www.pellethead.com/

http://greenmountaingrills.com/


----------



## jlwilliams82

Chris,

I've been looking for a new grill and I came across these wood pellets grills. I've read a few reviews on a couple different types and I've seen that the GMG are pretty awesome. What else can you tell me about these grills?

I'm looking to grill steaks, smoke ribs, cook chicken and maybe try baking a pizza. From what I've read the GMG grill is capable of doing all these tasks and more.

What do you like/dislike about the grill

How does the food taste

How does the food taste compared to the other more conventional ways of grilling

How is the clean up after each use

is it durable

Anything else you think I should know?


----------



## weinnmann

I have a lil tex by traeger and now I am in the market for a stick burner. The set it and forget it function is nice but the food does not have the same flavor as a stickburner or charcoal in my opinion. For those that disagree just look at how many people are using the tube smokers at the same time they are cooking meat. The other draw back for me is the cord that is attached and needs electricity, there are times we have wanted to bbq in the city parks for a big bbq but cant with this grill without a generator.


----------



## bluto

weinnmann said:


> I have a lil tex by traeger and now I am in the market for a stick burner. The set it and forget it function is nice but the food does not have the same flavor as a stickburner or charcoal in my opinion. For those that disagree just look at how many people are using the tube smokers at the same time they are cooking meat. The other draw back for me is the cord that is attached and needs electricity, there are times we have wanted to bbq in the city parks for a big bbq but cant with this grill without a generator.



No generator needed, a deep cycle battery and a 400W inverter will run your Lil' Tex for 24+ hours.


----------



## backyardsmokin

The Jim Bowie, uses 240w for the first 20-30mins for start up, but then it drops to 60w after that to maintain the temps.  

I have email with one of their sales reps, who stated that they use the Goal Zero 400watt Adventure kit (no longer sold).  From other pellet smoker web forums (not sure if I could post the link), a 70Amp Hour battery (marine style is recommended for weather) and a 300w continuous inverter would give you about 35-ish hrs of run time before needing to be recharged.

I am saving up for a deep cycle 12v battery, 400w pure sine inverter and a solar panel charger for the battery.


----------



## susan c

I have a 2009 Daniel Boone Green Mountain Pellet Grill I would like to sell.  It is in good condition.  I am moving into a condo and do not have room for two grills.  If interested, email at [email protected]


----------



## susan c

Hi, If you decide you would like a Green Mountain Pellet Grill (Daniel Boone model) I would like to sell mine.  I am moving into a condo and do not have room for two grills.  It is in good condition.  You are welcome to contact me at  [email protected]


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## swampfox13

Yup, I've been running a DB for almost 2 years, run it almost every week. I have found that is quite economical, adjusting the dampener you can hold the temp to within +- 2 to 3 degrees, from 150 to 500, I have run all kinds of meats, make my own pizzas at 500 in about 10 to 15 minutes. working on trying to do cold smoking for cheese (150 is to hot).

PS: we use it year round.


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## russ257

Went to fire up the smoker on the fourth and no Juice. So I went to check the gfci and that was blown, so I reset it. That didn't do anything, plugged a lamp in and it works. So hmm it was the grill. opened up the control panel and the fuse holder was melted. So I called customer support and left them a message. I had a call back within a half hour of them opening. Keep in mind this was July Fourth and it could have been an empty house. They said they would mail me out a new control board and I would be good to go. Their customer support was fantastic. I will update once I get the new control panel.


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## bbq pit vulture

Swampfox13 said:


> Yup, I've been running a DB for almost 2 years, run it almost every week. I have found that is quite economical, adjusting the dampener you can hold the temp to within +- 2 to 3 degrees, from 150 to 500, I have run all kinds of meats, make my own pizzas at 500 in about 10 to 15 minutes. working on trying to do cold smoking for cheese (150 is to hot).
> 
> PS: we use it year round.


For cold smoking purchase an A-MAZE-N-TUBE-SMOKER. 

I have used this to smoke cheese,nuts and salt

http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AMNTS


----------



## dannos

I know you've had plenty of input already, but I'm a Traeger guy (Texas model). I've had some issues with temp control but most I have attributed to using off-brand pellets.  That's not a sales job for Traeger pellets, it's just a fact that when I used the off-brand I got wild temperature swings and at least one flameout.  I'm back to using Traeger pellets only with good results.

I do notice a flavor difference using, say, apple wood versus hickory.  But some of the wood types are quite close (alder, hickory as an example) and you'd have to be a real afficianado to pick out what was cooked with which.

The main thing for smoke flavor is time and temperature.  If you fire up any pellet grill to 450 degrees and grill a few chicken breasts for dinner you can't expect that same level of smoke flavor from slow-cooking a brisket or pork butt at 180 degrees for 12 hours or so.  I think the Traeger does this very well - as I'm sure other pellet models do.

There was one comment about clean up - my only comment there is this: Shop Vac and plastic paint scraper.  If you have those two tools and about 5 minutes, you're finished.  Obviously, you clean your cooking surfaces and drip pans regularly with soap and water, but the main barrel needs very little pampering to keep cranking out great meat.

Here's a shot of the start of my 4th of July smoke for all the kith and kin we could gather (26) for an outing at the lake.  Two 8-9 pound pork butts and a 10 pound brisket.  All rubbed and ready to smoke (I used Jeff's Rub on the brisket).  After 16 hours at 180-200 degrees the brisket had about a 1/4" smoke ring and the pork was coming along beautifully.  I wrapped them all in foil and cranked up the temp to 225-250 to pull the meat temps up to 200.  Then I double wrapped them and parked them in a cooler with towels to rest for another two hours before serving.  Absolutely unbelievable pull-apart meat - the hit of the day at the lake.  I never cooked meat like this on a conventional grill - I tried many times but never produced anything like this.  Yes, it had plenty of smoke flavor without being overdone.













4thofJulySmoke.JPG



__ dannos
__ Jul 9, 2013


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## packmanjim

I don't get what these "tube smokers" do.  Do they sit down by the igniter or what?


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## russ257

They sit on the grill grate and put out extra smoke.


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## bbq pit vulture

Fill the tube with pellets, lay on the grill and light. Do not light the grill.

This is called cold smoking.


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## jim k

I own 3 pellet grills  1 traeger 2 green mt.  when I  sold both when I was in business .I just bought a tail gater from green mt. really great smoker.I sold my business, so now i use it in my motor home .green mt. will run on 120 or 12 volt .traeger runs on 120 only .If you want to tail gate with a traeger you will need a long cord.I love my green mt. gril.the company is great work with.Ihope this helps


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## flyweed

I've got a GMG Daniel Boone..have had it now going on 3 years LOVE IT!  so easy to use, and produces wonderful end products no matter what you are cooking. Chicken, ribs, pork butt, turkey.  I DO have a Amaze N tube smoker that I'll light and set on the grate if I want a serious smoke to my ribs or porkbutt..or what have you...otherwise, without it you are still cooking with wood, just not a huge smoke ring, or smoke flavor. But that's easy to get by adding the tube smoker.

Dan


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## wino8310

Hey Cabin,

I own a Traeger  and love it!!! I agree with others that you can put too much smoke in a meat and overpower the meat. The Traeger does a great job with the right amount of balance. I have smoked/grilled on mine for 6 years now and have received great praise for the results and not one complaint.....even from my hard core grill mates.


----------



## flyweed

And speaking of GMG...Here's some photos of me doing a "practice run" before the BIG DAY next week.  It's cold out, so the thermal blanket was installed on my GMG this morning.  Turkey is 11.5lbs...was brined for 24 hours, dried off, then rubbed under the skin and on top with Simply Marvelous Sweet Seduction.













grill.jpg



__ flyweed
__ Nov 20, 2013






Grill with thermal jacket on













pellets.jpg



__ flyweed
__ Nov 20, 2013






Pellets in













temp.jpg



__ flyweed
__ Nov 20, 2013






Temp outside (BRRRRRR)













turkey.jpg



__ flyweed
__ Nov 20, 2013






Turkey ready to go on

More to follow . . . . . . . . . .


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## little jim

Yes I recently got a Jim Bowie. Still figuring it out like it so far....Jim


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## ernestwells

I have just gotten a GMG Davy Crockett, it is the smallest version of the GMG's units. It's advantages, for us, is its size, it fits into my car's truck, its interior cooking space, I smoked a 16 pound Hen in it without any trouble, and it ability to run on 12 volts. My wife wanted us to be able to cook during natural disasters, should they happen. This unit is 12 volts, comes with a 120 to 12 volt converter. I have hooked it up to my car battery and it ran for the whole cook, 4 hours, without draining the battery to the point that I couldn't start the car. 

Temperature control is digital  (+/- 5 degree increments) and this small dynamo has done a good job on all the bbq I have thrown at it. Just smoked salmon yesterday, my wife, who loves salmon, was afraid it would be too smokey. After 4 hours at 150 degrees, jumped to 200 degrees for the last hour to finish. Used Alder , the salmon came out with a nice crust and a flavor that my wife loved. Definitely  it will be a repeat item for our menu. 

I have kicked my DC to 475 degrees, open the direct heat plate and grilled steaks, they came out well. All in all, it is a nice small unit, great for mobility, but, short on space if you are doing a large cook. I have been looking at a Yoder or a Blaz'n Grill. Both units are work horses, both made in the USA. I am leaning in favor of the Blaz'n Grill currently, will be changing out my propane unit this coming year so the quest is on to determine what unit I get for big cooks.

If you want to add extra smoke to your cook, look at smoke tubes or like accessories. Blaz'n Grills makes a nice unit, you can see it in one of their online videos, also, A-MAZE-N-TUBE-SMOKER - 12" will help increase your chamber smoke during cooking. 

The choices are many, it comes down to your personal preferences. I would recommend you going for a digital controller. The end game is the meal, you can get that cowboy style over a campfire, all the rest is just having fun.

Newbee













photo 2.JPG



__ ernestwells
__ Dec 23, 2013


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## sandlapper

I think Pellet grills are great. I recommend that you take a careful look at the Cookshack Fast Eddie. It seems to me better constructed than the Green Mountain. I suspect they both work about as well as the other, but I am partial to an all stainless steel construction. I have a Cookshack Amerique and think it is about the best I can imagine in electric smokers!


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## smokeninja

Hey there, there's a resource guide, 10 Essential Features of Pellet Grills:

http://www.cookshack.com/store/Ten-Essential-Features-of-Pellet-Grills

that's pretty useful and product agnostic. It's helpful for anyone looking at pellet grills.


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## danoq

I have had one since September. I have the Daniel Boone version. I bought it to go to some rib cook-offs(easier than chucking wood in the smoker in the middle of the night for brisket lol). I love it. Has a nice smoke and love the digital temp. control. You wont go wrong with it.


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## phillip p smith

Cabin Fever said:


> I was thinking of joining the pellet heads forum (I've just been browsing the past few months) and seeing if someone near me would actually smoke something like a pork butt and ship it to me if I covered all costs. Sounds crazy I know, but right now it seems to be the only way for me to actually try something smoked on a pellet grill.
> 
> Anyway, the Mak 2 Star General seems to be the class leader in pellet grills at the moment and I've heard that it was built to produce more smoke than other brands of pellet grills so the Mak may be an option for me in the future as well. I'm not rushing into a pellet grill purchase so I'm just trying to gather as much information about them as possible. I really appreciate the input thus far folks.


Find one or two suppliers in your area and ask them for a referral to 3 or 4 users.  You will find them very obliging.


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## jimmy jam

Cabin Fever said:


> I was thinking of joining the pellet heads forum (I've just been browsing the past few months) and seeing if someone near me would actually smoke something like a pork butt and ship it to me if I covered all costs. Sounds crazy I know, but right now it seems to be the only way for me to actually try something smoked on a pellet grill.
> 
> 
> Anyway, the Mak 2 Star General seems to be the class leader in pellet grills at the moment and I've heard that it was built to produce more smoke than other brands of pellet grills so the Mak may be an option for me in the future as well. I'm not rushing into a pellet grill purchase so I'm just trying to gather as much information about them as possible. I really appreciate the input thus far folks.



I don't think I could bring myself to throw that much money at a machine  like the Traeger.  I did, however, want to try the user friendliness of pellets.  I just did my first run with the AMNPS and I was thrilled with the results, and the fact that I did a 9 hour smoke without having to do anything but the occasional IT check.  Maybe try throwing 40 bucks on one and see if the pellet smoke flavor is to your liking before dropping $700+ IMHO.

:sausage: Merry Christmas!


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## mikerakow

I own a GMG for about seven months now and love it. Gives food great smoke flavor! But when I really want to smoke something I add a smoke tube from A-MAZE-N-PRODUCTS. That works awesome!  Made some bacon last weekend turned out great!













20131215_112029.jpg



__ mikerakow
__ Dec 26, 2013


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## ranjr

I just purchased a Green Mountain Daniel Boon pellet grill. It smokes great with a lot of flavor. I did notice that the lid did not fit tight, so I purchased gasket material to help seal it. That is when I really noticed that the lid did not fit very well. Even the gasket could not seal it although it was better. Not too many products made in China have much quality control. In a sense, you get what you pay for. I could not afford the made in America grill, so for the money, this is a good grill.


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## bbq pit vulture

ranjr said:


> I just purchased a Green Mountain Daniel Boon pellet grill. It smokes great with a lot of flavor. I did notice that the lid did not fit tight, so I purchased gasket material to help seal it. That is when I really noticed that the lid did not fit very well. Even the gasket could not seal it although it was better. Not too many products made in China have much quality control. In a sense, you get what you pay for. I could not afford the made in America grill, so for the money, this is a good grill.


Purchase some high temp red silicone. Seal up the leaks the best you can. some leaks are ok, you will never plug all the leaks.


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## ernestwells

I have a Davy Crockett, GMG, the more I use it the more it has sealed itself. It will never reach the levels of my Big Green Egg or tightness, but then it doesn't need to. For really long cooks, a Kamato is the best.

Newbee


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## kimbrey

I have the Green Mountain Daniel Boone. 

I do like the grill for meat.  Cooking ribs low and slow you get a good smoke ring and a not overwhelming smoke flavor.  At least the way I did it.  I haven't had a lot of success with in when trying to smoke salmon.  Not enough smoke flavor by the time the fish was done.  I might be able to get a better smoke if I leave the temp low for a longer period of time but haven't tried that yet. 

Its temp range is supposed to be from 150 to 500.  It will do a decent job on a steak and give it a slight smoke flavor.  I'm a cast iron skillet type of guy when it comes to a steak so the unit doesn't get hot enough but close.


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## ernestwells

I have done several types of smoked salmon on my Davy Crockett, GMG. Setting the grill for it's lowest temp, 150 F, and leaving it for there for the entire smoke, have produced some very tasty meals using salmon. When I want more smoke flavor, with shorter smoke times, so as not to make jerky type products, I use a 6" A-MAZE-N-TUBE-SMOKER to start the smoke process, then fire up the grill after I have a good chamber of smoke enveloping the salmon for 5 to 20 minutes. Works something like the Alaskan smoke houses, lots of smoke and very low temperature. Feeling one's way along to produce the end product is half the fun, don't be afraid to experiment, it may not alway be edible, but then who cares, the next effort will be great.

Newbee


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## trevorh

I have a Daniel Boone GMG and I am really impressed. Like others have said, I don't think you can over smoke with this machine. GMG now comes out with three types of pellet flavors: mesquite, hardwood blend and fruit blend. The hardwood is my favorite for all types. The benefit to this machine is the difference in temps you can cook at, 150-500 degrees. 

I made the best turkey in my life. I've baked, fried and now smoked one on my GMG and it have to say that the GMG was the best. 

These machines make it fun. They are set and forget once you set your temp. Only thing else is time, IT and spritzing. 

The digital temp set on the control panel is nice and the thermo input is great as well. Not sure if other machines are offering that but it is standard on the GMG. The DB and JB models have a larger cooking space than Trager both in rack space and height. 

I was going to get a Trager when I first looked into these at Costco. Many stores near me stopped selling the Trager and now carry the DB due to dependability. Definitely worth it. 













image.jpg



__ trevorh
__ Mar 18, 2014


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## pkida

I own a Green Mountain Daniel Boone model and could not be happier.

It cooks the food with a nice clean smoked flavor

The smoke flavor can be adjusted by lowering the temp and cooking slow, or mixing in stronger flavor wood pellets.  The temp. control makes it fool proof to hit your mark when cooking.  I can slow cook at 150 or 225, or cook a pizza at 500

Made A Prime Rib Started at 450 for 10 minutes then lowed it to 190.  Put the built in meat probe in and cooked to 128.  It was perfect.  And by the way it was below 25 degrees outside at the time.  The thermal blanket allowed me to cook outside all winter

 Most pellet grills are not capable of getting a strong smoke flavor.  If that is what you are looking for I purchased an A-Mazing -Smoke tube for when I want to add a strong smoke flavor.


----------



## retiredjake

The lower the temperature you run a pellet smoker at, the more smoke it will create and the greater the smoke flavor. As the temperature increases, the pellets smolder less and start to burn cleaner. At 500° on my Daniel Boone, there is very little smoke. At 180°, there is a very strong smoke flavor.

Jake


----------



## c2h2s4

I've owned a DB for three years. I had no experience with smoking foods prior to that. What I did not want to do was learn how to tend a fire. That being said I compared the trager and the Green Mountain carefully. Obviously they are both good. I think the GM dollar for dollar gives you more and, for me, the ability to control the temperature in 5 degree increments seemed better than 20 for the traeger.

Perhaps for the purest the only issue might be the fact that you are locked into blends of wood. For the GM see :

http://greenmountaingrills.com/products/pellets/

I'v used other brands of pellets and they all work. Bottom line I am sooooo satisfied with my smoker and so is everyone who has eaten anything I've cooked.

I think the most overlooked issue is measuring temperature. My DB thermometer is not accurate. I now use one from Thermoworks. Spendy by very accurate and fast.


----------



## lakesmoker

Hi, I currently own a Masterbuilt and just ordered a GMG Daniel Boone.  So I'm looking forward to some of the same features you talked about, like not having to tend the fire.  Plan to use at Lake cabin where being on the water whether fishing or just cruising takes some priority on nice days.  Being able to set and let it cook sounded great to me.  Relative to the pellet comment, I did a fair amount of research on pellets and their availability prior to buying my Masterbuilt.  You don't have to use GMG pellets and there are a number of suppliers out there with all wood pellets that are like apple, mesquite, hickory etc. which you mentioned.  The last bunch of pellets I bought were Traeger Apple pellets bought at Costco when on sale there.  If you have a good source of quality wood pellets use them in the GMG.

When you say the Temperature probe is not accurate, are you referring to the one to insert in the meat?  Or the one measuring the chamber temp?


----------



## c2h2s4

The DB I bought only came with the meat probe and at first I was very pleased with it. After about a year I was getting wildly fluctuating and inaccurate readings. I called the company and there were very polite and sent me another probe. It really did not work and I presumed there might be a problem with the electronics built in. I think they would have replaced that as well but at the same time I started to compare a few of the cooking thermometers I own and found them to vary greatly.

 After that discovery I put two oven thermometers in to check the temp setting at I've found it's off by about 20 degrees and at lower temps even more

At that point I did a search for more professional instruments. Thermoworks is a popular brand and I bought a quick read (just under $100- not inexpensive but for my compulsive nature very worth the money). I am getting ready to invest in one that has cables and checks both the meat temp and the temp of the cook box. That will cost about $125 but again for all our cooking we do (Wife is an excellent cook) I think it will be worth it.

I have one more comment. From the time I bought this I found that things tended to cook faster than recipes suggested. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with an inaccurate cookbox temp ( this was before my obsession with temperatures), but a representative at GMG said that pellet smokers tended to cook more like a convection oven. I only mention this so that you are aware in the beginning.

I summery- for the smoking I do-- I think GMG is excellent and I'd buy it again.

As to the wood- I guess I'm lazy. The stock woods give me good results, but I do know other brand pellets work.

Hope this helps, Nice chatting with you- Aren't smoked meats great? Just finishing up 4 pounds of Pastrami I did for a Party last week.


----------



## lakesmoker

Thanks for the feedback.  I will check the temp sensor when my GMG shows up and see how far they re off.  Others indicate that they were pretty accurate in what I read.  I've only been smoking meats about year and half now.  Excluding years of using Weber grill and smoke box to attempt to add some smoke flavor.  At first my wife was OK with some of the stuff I smoked.  Wasn't real excited about my first two attempts at Brisket.  Partly because being the host she is.  She left everybody else go first and they took the good parts.  But with some tinkering and slow cooking thru the night.  I have now done two Briskets that she said I can do any time.  The meat was tender and very tasty.  Low and slow has become my rule of thumb for smoking now.  I did two 10lb Turkeys at Thanksgiving and when they came in the meat was juicy and flavorful.  Plus the meat about fell off the bone.  Her back up Turkey in the oven suffered from dryness.  Guests devoured the smoked meat.  She says I can smoke anything anytime for her now.  Happy Wife, Happy Life!!


----------



## tex2309

anyone having problems with inconsistent temp with the DB wi-fi model?..mine will stay at set point for about 45 minutes then jump up about 40 degrees abd then bounce back and forth.


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## trevorh

I don't have the wifi model but I've never experienced that issue. If it's new, it might be because the fire box hasn't debeloped a fuel base yet. I've had the issue slightly after cleaning the burner box out.


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## lakesmoker

I also have the Daniel Boone unit with the remote.  I have not had any major temp fluctuations so far.  But I agree it seems to cook faster then most recipes say.  Just remember its better to go low and slow.  So I just adjust the temp down from what recipes will say a bit.  Relative to pellets I also use other brands of 100% wood pellets.  I found they work just fine.  The only issue I would say is that it would be nice if you go go to 125°.  For cooking Brisket it would be nice to start out there at first for the initial few hours of cooking.  I've gotten good enough my wife says you can cook more often then ever before.  I'm also impressed with how few pellets get used.  I've done a number of overnight cooks with it on low temp around 160°.  and it only used about 50% of the pellets in the hopper.  Best thing is with the remote I didn't have to go outside to the unit in the middle of the night and see how it was doing.  Just tapped the remote button and I readily knew the meat temp and the chamber temp.

I have a 30" electric MES and it works great too but with it I have to get up and go out and reload pellets or wood chips 2-3 times a night on and overnight cook.


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## schmoab1

I have the Daniel Boone and Love it.  I have not owned another pellet smoker but have used a traeger that a friend has.  I will keep my GMG solely for the reason that i can sear a steak and his won't.


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## drewfish42863

I'm a fairly new owner of a Rec-Tec (2 months) and it's simply fantastic.  I was prepared to spend up to $3000 and researched for about 2 months before settling on this unit at $998.00.  I live in Augusta, GA so I was able to pull right up to the Rec-Tec warehouse dock and load in my truck.  In summary, high quality, excellent and personal customer service staff and 6 year warranty, perfect temp control, low and slow smoking to 500 degree grilling temps.  I lost a screw, called them and it arrived quickly in the mail.  Very helpful, and this unit is simply a great value delivering high quality overall.  With that warranty, no worries.  Best of luck whatever you end up buying!


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## paulette

I have both a Traeger Jr and a Green Mountain Tailgater. I love them both. I leave the Tailgater in our RV and use it on the road. I love it. It has some features that are superior to the Traeger. Although the size of the grills are different, the prices are about the same (~$350). But I think they are both worth it! The Green Mountain can get to high temperatures and comes with a built in food temperature gauge. Our local meat store has a guy who sells both and he usually has the best prices.

I highly recommend the Green Mountain, especially if you like to camp!


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## ernestwells

I have a Davie Crockett, got it about 10 months ago and couldn't be happier with it. I have cooked briskest, pork shoulder, a 14 lbs turkey hen and a 21.5 lb boneless chuck roast in it. Everything I have done has been well recieved when served. :grilling_smilie:


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## ernestwells

If you want more smoke flavor, try getting a Amaz'in product, your can use it in your propane grill or any of the electric box smoker. Place it on top of your firebox and take an aluminum container, inverted, to keep the drips from putting out the pellets (boy did I fill foolish when my pellets were out  half way through my cook rom the juices). 

I have a Davie Crockett, GMG, got it for its portability and size. I can do a 16 lb. turkey without any trouble. Pork shoulder, pork butts, large chuck roasts are a breeze. It has a good size for cooking for 2 or a main meat dish. If you are trying for larger meals with multiple dishes it is not the ticket. Since if fits into the trunk of my Jetta, runs on 12 volts or 120 volts, it is a great tailgater. 

I real like Blaz'n Grills for a larger pellet grill. The many details in design and manufacture are noteworthy. A Blaz'n Grill can also be order insulate, this helps with small children and cold weather.

This last weekend we smoke cheese in a Master forge used the Amaz'in box to supply the smoke, never plugged in the Mater forge and left the door lightly closed to maintain the temperature under 80 F. This is the ticket for smoking cheese for my money.


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## dstites




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## dstites

How do you sear your steaks and hamburgers and how long on what temp?  Also, how would grill sliced pork tenderloin?


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## marauderer

I have a GMG DC WiFi and absolutely love it.  It gets up to almost 500*F and I use it at the house when it is just the wife and I and it is a small cook.  I take it in the Travel Trailer when we go trailer camping and it is fantastic.  I have baked pies, frozen lasagna, biscuits, pork butt, ribs, and more.  It is very versatile and I am very pleased with its performance.


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## trevorh

I haven't done a steak on my GMG, but speaking with those who have, its at it's highest temp....500. I do steaks on charcoal. I also do tenderloins whole....I'm not sure if you are talking about slicing a tenderloin and then grilling it? I've never seen that...

IF I did a steak on my gmg, I would use a thermometer to measure internal temp. 130 degrees for med-rare. I like mine rare so around the 120 degree mark. 

Tenderloins I cook at around 275 until they're around 145-150 degrees inside. I wrap in foil and let them sit for about 20 mins at least. Then I slice them....That 165 degrees for pork business is for the birds.

Anyhow, yeah, I have a GMG and weber charcoal grill...I use the weber for steaks exclusively.  Good luck.


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## WaterinHoleBrew

Ya have some good info here, I'd suggest trying a reverse sear on steaks !  Get some nice ribeye's (I do 1 1/4" cut).  Smoke em in my GMG DB for round 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. on 150*.....  Then I fire up some charcoal in the Weber Kettle & sear them up !  Give it a try, I don't think you'll regret it !


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## dstites

:sausage:.  How do cook steaks GMG so it doesn't have smoke flavor and seared?


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## marauderer

Dstites said:


> . How do cook steaks GMG so it doesn't have smoke flavor and seared?


I am not trying to be a smart about your question but, if your goal is not to not have smoke flavor or seared use a pan on the stove on low/med low heat and cook it don't use a pellet grill.


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## trevorh

A GMG is a smoker sooooooooo..... Go buy a weber and some briquettes.


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## ol curt

Where do you place your amazing tube to get the best smoke distribution?


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## bbq pit vulture

I place it on the fire box end.

I cold smoke so no fire in the grill.


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## diverreb

If you can afford it, I would suggest a Yoder  640....  Built like a tank, Made in the US, and great customer service....  Traeger and Green Mountain hit a price point, but in the long run the Yoder's will outlast them big time.  You get what you pay for, and the value is there for the extra bucks you spend on a Yoder.

Cooked a Prime Rib last night....  Best one I ever had....













Prime Rib 2.jpg



__ diverreb
__ Dec 19, 2014


















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__ Dec 19, 2014


















Prime Rib Done.jpg



__ diverreb
__ Dec 19, 2014


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## gary s

NICE !


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## bbq pit vulture

2X on the Yoder 640













IMG_1644CROPED.jpg



__ bbq pit vulture
__ Dec 19, 2014


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## WaterinHoleBrew

Diverreb said:


> If you can afford it, I would suggest a Yoder  640....  Built like a tank, Made in the US, and great customer service....  Traeger and Green Mountain hit a price point, but in the long run the Yoder's will outlast them big time.  You get what you pay for, and the value is there for the extra bucks you spend on a Yoder.
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First off, nice PR.... Nice smoke !  Thumbs Up

That being said I think one can get very partial with their choice of smoker they chose....  I'am not here to bash any smoker, Yoder does make a fine smoker.  IMHO, so does other manufacturers....  I have a GMG and it's run flawless & kicks out some awesome Q, including a few PR that turned out great as well as turkey, chicken, ABT's, snackin sticks.... The list could go on....  I have a buddy that has a Traeger & HE loves it, just as I love my GMG !  

My point is find the smoker that works for YOU the owner, the Yoder worked for YOU & my GMG works for ME....  Now if ya wanna talk features Yoder vs other smokers then I don't have an issue with that....  I could have afforded a Yoder but chose GMG because I really liked the smoker for ME !   It's been a pleasure to use & it'll last for years I'm sure of it !  

Just saying......


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## dr dave

I've had a Daniel Boone Greene Mountain pellet grill for 4 years, and I am very happy with it.  Not a spot of rust.  It sits outside year round in Iowa weather. Temperature control is very tight (+/- 2 degrees F).  I use the Green Mountain blend pellets which have a high enough Oak content to provide heat in the winter.  The smoke flavor is not overbearing, and I would call it just right.  It has a high radiant heat component, so cooking times are shorter than almost all recipes.  I mostly cook at 225 degrees F, but will go to 250 for brisket and down to 180 degrees for back loin ribs.


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## nebraska

I have a Davy Crockett ... for six months and am now consistently having a problem getting it to start ... get the "FAL" message repeatedly ... 3 to 4 attempts required before it starts.  The support from GMG is NOT GOOD.  Unless their support changes I would not purchase a GMG.


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## WaterinHoleBrew

Nebraska said:


> I have a Davy Crockett ... for six months and am now consistently having a problem getting it to start ... get the "FAL" message repeatedly ... 3 to 4 attempts required before it starts.  The support from GMG is NOT GOOD.  Unless their support changes I would not purchase a GMG.



Where'd ya buy it ?


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## dr dave

I have a Daniel Boone.  The "FAL" designation happened to me.  I ended up putting in a new control board.  Easy enough replacement.  Not sure how they will stand by the original purchase. My local retailer stood by me in stellar fashion.


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## WaterinHoleBrew

Dr Dave said:


> I have a Daniel Boone.  The "FAL" designation happened to me.  I ended up putting in a new control board.  Easy enough replacement.  Not sure how they will stand by the original purchase. My local retailer stood by me in stellar fashion.



Yep, similar experience here... I had the low pellet sensor go bad, called the folks I bought it from & had one next day !  Simple replacement & it works great !


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## lakesmoker

I have a GMG Daniel Boone.  it has worked great for over a year now.  Also have an electric Master Built that was a great starter Smoker.  Being in Minnesota, the best thing on both is a remote that lets me monitor the temps from inside the house whether its 20° below outside or raining.  I can monitor what is going on.  I specially like the newer GMG since I can start it up early in the morning.  Head out on the lake for the day and enjoy the day without worrying about if I need to stoke the fire.  Buy what fits your needs and enjoy the food.   I'm constantly experimenting with meats, rubs and smoking times.  And my wife loves it, she doesn't haven't to cook if I am.  It might be something as simple as smoked Salsa to a tasty brisket.  The guy having trouble with the smoke have you cleaned out the pellet pot.  I make sure to clean out once a year.


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## ernestwells

I agree with getting in touch with the supplier ou purchased the unit from. My GMG has not had any problem. I have keep close contact with the shop I bought it from and they have indicated they will be there should I need them.


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## bbq pit vulture

Keep the ignitor clear of ash.


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## ernestwells

I own a GMG Davey Crockett, it fits into the trunk of my Jetta VW and runs on 12 volt electricity, great for get aways. I have done up to a 16 pound turkey in it and everything I have smokes has come out well. When smoking, the lower {150 degrees} works the best for me.

Check out the smoke ring in this brisket and the color of the large chicken. 

Tom













photo 2.JPG



__ ernestwells
__ Dec 23, 2013






Couldn't find pic of brisket right now- sorry.


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## eric r

Hey Chris, I just saw your post.  I too have the Daniel Boone and have cooked/smoked quite a few good meals on it.  Is there a way to get more of a smoke flavor.  I've tried adjusting the chimney cap, lowering the temp so it cooks longer, etc but can't get it dialed in right.  I'm wondering if I can put a few wood chunks under the burner plate near the burn pot.  ??

Eric


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## kiska95

I have a GMG DB and the smoke is very mild so an easy mod is to stick in an AMNPTS while cooking, job done. I clean my burner pot after every use


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## smokin monkey

There is a mod you can buy its called a Down Draft, I will not give the Name out here on the forum, but just Google GMG Downdraft Mod. Or PM me.

Keeps smoke in the smoker longer, evens out the temperature and can save between 30-50% on pellets.


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## chipgiii

I've been reading up on a few different ones, including those mentioned here.  The one that seems reasonable and has some nice features (easy to clean) and in the same price range is the Camp Chef Pellet Grill: SmokePro DLX  P24.  I would prefer their SmokePro Lux PG36LUX but that's a bit pricey according to my wife.  I just bought a cheap Brinkman and it is pretty good but I want something that is a little easier.  Anyway I've read some pretty good things about it, and some like it better than the Traeger.


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## newbsmoke

I recently got a traeger for my birthday from the wife.  I hate to say but I am very unhappy with it.  At the 225 setting the temperature ranges from 210-275.  I follow the proper startup procedure and have spent hours on the phone with them, adjusted the p setting but they won't admit a problem.  They told me 30 degree swings is completely normal.  My cheap electric smoker can do better then that.  I wish I had gone green mountain.


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## eric r

A coworker has a traeger and he said the only fluctuation in temperature he's had is wind related.  I also had a tough time last Sunday with my Green Mtn. due to the wind.

It sounds like the temperature sensor is faulty.


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## newbsmoke

I agree but there customer service is awful and they won't admit I have a problem!!!


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## gpb11

Do you mean Traeger?  Just checking since you mentioned recently getting one and the thread title refers to a different brand...  

I don't have any experience with Traegers but understand the P settings governing pellet delivery timeframes can have some effect (good or bad) for temperature fluctuation problems.  

I'd suggest posting a new thread requesting help over in the Pellet Smokers portion of this board.  I'm sure other Traeger owners will be glad to try to help you out.  http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/3141/pellet-smokers


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## pgamaster26

I own a Daniel Boone model.

Got it last February and have not even thought about using my Weber again. I am at best a mediocre Griller, but the Daniel Boone makes look like a champ.

I have grilled everything from Burger, Steaks, Pork Butts, Ribs, Whole Chickens and I can honestly say that its as easy as it gets when using Green Mountain Smokers

Like their slogan says " Set it and forget it"  Temperature stays regulated and you get a great smokey flavor to slow smoked meats

Highly recommend getting one. I considered a Traeger but when comparing it to the Green Mountain, I choose the GMG because it was a much better looking, built grill , The gauge of steel alone is heavier duty.

I bought mine at OOltewah Outdoor in Ooltewah, TN. Sales guy gave me a great deal 

Hope this helps


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## kiska95

Yep got one but  had a few of problem with the controllers (Chinese made) but once working is brilliant.

The smoke flavour is not as good as I would have expected in fact dissapointing but that could be due to the pellets used but they were GMG??

Its a good cooker and aftersales in the UK is good but not all work first time out of the box which is disappointing and we are paying the equivalent of $1000 here in the UK


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## eric r

I have a Daniel Boone also.  Haven't had a single problem so far. Good right out of the box. I too thought there wasn't enough smoke flavor.  I contacted GMG. You won't get enough smoke above 210 degrees. Smoke between 160 and 205. I find 195 is just right for my taste. Crank to 500 and get a decent sear at the end (certain meats).  I love mine. 













20150719_173548.jpg



__ eric r
__ Oct 26, 2015






Mac-N-Cheese and Cedar plank salmon!


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## smokin monkey

I agree with Kiska, I had the same problem as Kiska had out of the box, but this was a good 12 months before he purchased his??? So the had not corrected the controller problems, or sending the batch of defective controllers over to the UK?

Enjoy using it, just can not work out the Pellet Usage, similar days, two differant amount of pellets used?????

Asked a question on here before, about insulating the bottom of the smoker, so all the heat is radiated upwards?  I have insulated Commercial BBQ'S and a Bubba Keg, which Kiska has seen in action, with Vermiculit, mixed 5  to 1 with cement then water added until it just binds together then apply, about 2 inch thick.

Any thoughts?


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## kiska95

I was thinking about a welders mat on the bottom for insulation may be a bit less bother than vermiculite cement
Defo need the chimney mod, seal the lid and get the lid blanket IMO
I'm with Mr monkey about pellet usage never the same twice
I have a feeling the U.S. GMGs are exactly that made in the U.S. Not China


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## smokin monkey

Hi Kiska, will be looking at making the mod in the next few weeks, will let you know once I have done one.


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## vibe

I have the thermal blanket which I bought with the unit. Haven't modded anything yet. Plan to get some oven door like seals on it when I can be bothered but the down draft hood, still seems to have many different opinions so don't fancy doing anything like that yet, and even then not sure if there is anyone in the UK selling them??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## smokin monkey

Vibe said:


> I have the thermal blanket which I bought with the unit. Haven't modded anything yet. Plan to get some oven door like seals on it when I can be bothered but the down draft hood, still seems to have many different opinions so don't fancy doing anything like that yet, and even then not sure if there is anyone in the UK selling them??
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Hi Vibe looking at making a prototype


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## hoolieo

I just bought the GM DB smoker and I am wondering if I can cook (after smoking for a while) with my preselected temperature but not burning any pellets?  No where in the GM manual do they discuss this.  Please advise if yes and if yes, how do I do it?  Thanks, Alan


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## WaterinHoleBrew

hoolieo said:


> I just bought the GM DB smoker and I am wondering if I can cook (after smoking for a while) with my preselected temperature but not burning any pellets?  No where in the GM manual do they discuss this.  Please advise if yes and if yes, how do I do it?  Thanks, Alan



No, you cannot !  The pellets is where the smoke/heat source comes from !  The higher the temp, the less smoke...  The lower the temp, more smoke !


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## gpb11

Correct.  Although it's true that the GMG (as with *all* pellet grills) plugs into and requires electric power, it is used only to ignite the pellets and then run the controller/auger/fans.  The actual cooking heat comes from the burning wood pellets.


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## pharmdog

I LOVE my GMG DB.  I've had it for about 8 months.  Smoked ribs and butts with set it, forget it.  I also use it for burgers.  It takes a little longer but all of my neighbors agree that it makes the best, juiciest burgers that they've ever had.  I spatched a turkey last T'giving and it came out great.  Also did a turkey breast.  I do reccomend mojo bricks for some added smoke.  I still have to keep my vertical propane smoker to do venison sausages and summer sausages but this is a great smoker/grill.  I have the wifi version and must admit that I'm not too happy with the app that goes with it.  This grill did help me conquer  my fear of ribs.  If you chose to do burgers and such, it does have hot spots.  I find mine well built and easy to use.  I'm glad that I have it.  Good luck.


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## lakesmoker

I've had my GMG DB now for just shy of 2 years.  I should get paid for the marketing of the unit I do.  Everyone loves the food that comes off it.  Whether its burgers or Brisket.  The adage low and slow that is required for a lot of smoking is so easy with this unit.  I have the pre WIFI wireless unit and it seems to work just fine.  Its great when weather isn't conducive to smoking.  It lets you monitor from inside what's happening.  Steaks never tasted better.  A nice porterhouse lightly smoked at low heat and then temp cranked up to finish to a nice medium rare.  And cooking brisket overnight and not having to worry about the temp varying or the fuel running out in the middle of the night.  Low and slow has never been easier.


----------



## brucec

I've had my GMG Daniel Boone model for less than a year, and used it multiple times.  Yesterday's smoke I saw a huge variance in temps.  The smoker was set to 225 with a 6 lbs pork butt put in at 8am.  When I got home from church at noon and checked the Maverick remote, it said it was 280* in the smoker.  I noticed this for the rest of the smoke.  I had to set it down around 200, and still it was between 240 - 250.  This was fine for the pork butt, but I had issues later when I put some of Jeff's smoked chicken skewers in.  One rack was up on the raised rack, and the other was down on the grate with the burned ends.  The rack of chicken skewers on the upper grate were delicious after 2 hours, but the one's on the main grate were charcoal in an hour.  After the amount of work I put into those, I was a little pissed, to say the least.

I live in central Kansas, and it was a pretty mild day - lower 50's, but pretty windy.  I had the smoker relatively protected from the wind.

Anyone seen any issues like this with this smoker?  I'll call support and see if they can help me, but usually you guys are better than product support.


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## buck1949

Is your smoker wi-fi ?  If so there is a new upgrade to the controller firmware, version 6.0 and a new application update for your phone - iPad etc.  These upgrades allow you to set the variance for temperature differences between the controller and the actual temps at the grate.  Hope that helps.....  Oh by the way I did have one time where the temp in the box and on the controller spiked way up to 290 for about 20 minutes then settled back down to the preset 225 I had programmed.  Was fine for the rest of the cook.  Only has happened to me once.  Maybe the firmware upgrade addressed that also.


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## four20

Cabin Fever said:


> Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.


Keep in mind no mass manufacturer can build a smoker just for you... there are mods you can make. I gotta start by asking what do you expect to get in the outcome. With wood and smoke comes variables you may not be able to answer. Consider cutting down a tree..... seasoning it.... smoking with it... Read some stoker post about how a split burns, and how it affects their overall flavor.


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## buck1949

pharmdog said:


> I LOVE my GMG DB.  I've had it for about 8 months.  Smoked ribs and butts with set it, forget it.  I also use it for burgers.  It takes a little longer but all of my neighbors agree that it makes the best, juiciest burgers that they've ever had.  I spatched a turkey last T'giving and it came out great.  Also did a turkey breast.  I do reccomend mojo bricks for some added smoke.  I still have to keep my vertical propane smoker to do venison sausages and summer sausages but this is a great smoker/grill.  I have the wifi version and must admit that I'm not too happy with the app that goes with it.  This grill did help me conquer  my fear of ribs.  If you chose to do burgers and such, it does have hot spots.  I find mine well built and easy to use.  I'm glad that I have it.  Good luck.



Make sure you upgrade the app on your phone/iPad or similar device AND also update the controller firmware - now version 6.0.  The new firmware allows you to adjust the controller variance in temperatures by + or - 20 degrees.  I think that will be solving my issues.....that and the fact that I removed the Left heat shield.  Thumbs Up


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## oldpro

I bought a Cook Shack FE PG500 about 7 months ago. I use 100% hickory pellets from cookingpellets.com that I buy from Amazon.com and we get very good smoke flavor. The amount of flavor you get from pellets is determined by your cooking temp. Cook low and slow at 200° - 225° and there is plenty of smoke from smouldering pellets. Cook hot at 350° or higher and there is less smoke flavor from a constant fire. Cooking Boston Butts or Picnics at 250° for 7, 8 9 hours gives them plenty smoke for my taste. We have great BBQ restaurants here with real log burning pits, lots of them, and my smoked meat is as good or better than most. Butts, Ribs, Brisket, Turkey, Chicken, whatever the cook is if cooked low and slow there is plenty of smoke flavor. I've been reading a member of pellets.com since before I got my cooker and there is a lot of information there about nearly any brand you want to reserch. I did a lot of reading there about all brands and did Google searches about all brands before I decided on the PG500. It seemed to give me the features and benefits I was looking for more than other brands. We are all different and may need a different set of features.

FWIW - My advice...

Join pelletsheads.com and read about all the brand tests done by them then do Google searches for other information on the brands before you make a decision.

Good luck


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## buck1949

OldPro......Is that pelletheads.com you are referring to? Pellets.com is a pellet fuel energy company.


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## oldpro

Buck1949 said:


> OldPro......Is that pelletheads.com you are referring to? Pellets.com is a pellet fuel energy company.


Buck1949

Good catch. My bad on the typo. Now corrected to pelletheads.com 

Thanks


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## laflaone

Have a GMG Daniel Boone.  Got it almost 6 yrs ago.  Love it. When I first got it, I had some trouble with the controller.  Called their customer service, talked to a fellow named Neil.  Couldn't have been more helpful.  Sent me a new controller free.  It was also the newer model with the temp probe! I have had no problems since. Don't use the heat deflectors.  I get even heat throughout without them.  Got a grate from the Box Store and made a removable upper shelf using threaded rod, self locking nuts, and fender washers. Greatly increased the cooking area. I could have spent a lot more money for a pellet grill.  Glad I didn't.


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## buck1949

laflaone said:


> Have a GMG Daniel Boone.  Got it almost 6 yrs ago.  Love it. When I first got it, I had some trouble with the controller.  Called their customer service, talked to a fellow named Neil.  Couldn't have been more helpful.  Sent me a new controller free.  It was also the newer model with the temp probe! I have had no problems since. Don't use the heat deflectors.  I get even heat throughout without them.  Got a grate from the Box Store and made a removable upper shelf using threaded rod, self locking nuts, and fender washers. Greatly increased the cooking area. I could have spent a lot more money for a pellet grill.  Glad I didn't.



I have had the proverbial heat problems with mine..... But seems to have settled across the grates after removing the left heat shield. BUT the overall heat is still reading about 25-30 degrees off from what the controller says.  I'm hoping the brand new version 6.0 firmware upgrade will fix that problem also - what with the varying temp adjustment for the controller.

Wouldn't mind seeing some photos of your shelf, to get an idea how to do that.

Thanks for the info.


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## laflaone

Buck1949 said:


> I have had the proverbial heat problems with mine..... But seems to have settled across the grates after removing the left heat shield. BUT the overall heat is still reading about 25-30 degrees off from what the controller says. I'm hoping the brand new version 6.0 firmware upgrade will fix that problem also - what with the varying temp adjustment for the controller.
> 
> Wouldn't mind seeing some photos of your shelf, to get an idea how to do that.
> 
> Thanks for the info.


Will get out in the morning and take a couple of photos and post it.  As far as the temp, mine is always within +/- 5 degrees of where I set it,which is almost always between 220-240.  Maybe I'm just lucky with my controller.


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## laflaone

laflaone said:


> Will get out in the morning and take a couple of photos and post it.  As far as the temp, mine is always within +/- 5 degrees of where I set it,which is almost always between 220-240.  Maybe I'm just lucky with my controller.


Buck, here are photos of the shelf.  11"x22".  Threaded rod is 5/16", 9" long.  Find a stainless grate if you can.  Use a hacksaw or a dremel tool with the cutoff wheel. (Which I did) to cut the grate to the size you want.

Several comments about your grill being 25-30 degrees off.  First I would get another thermometer to double check.  If in fact it is that far off, and the software update doesn't solve the problem, I would call GMG customer service.  They are great.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if they sent you a new controller.













SAM_1571.JPG



__ laflaone
__ Feb 15, 2016


















SAM_1572.JPG



__ laflaone
__ Feb 15, 2016


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## buck1949

laflaone said:


> Buck, here are photos of the shelf.  11"x22".  Threaded rod is 5/16", 9" long.  Find a stainless grate if you can.  Use a hacksaw or a dremel tool with the cutoff wheel. (Which I did) to cut the grate to the size you want.
> 
> Several comments about your grill being 25-30 degrees off.  First I would get another thermometer to double check.  If in fact it is that far off, and the software update doesn't solve the problem, I would call GMG customer service.  They are great.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if they sent you a new controller.
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> __ laflaone
> __ Feb 15, 2016


Hi there...thanks for the photos....GRATE idea !!! GRIN.... I showed my buddy and he is thinking of doing something similar to his Traeger.

With the GMG Daniel Boone the company just put out a new firmware update for the controller that allows you to calibrate the controller up to + or - 20 degrees.  I did the update....and things have improved a lot.

I had called support at GMG and gotten 2 very nice guys to chat with.... however, both say that the tolerances allowed across the smoker are up to 50 degrees variances - this was before the firmware update.  I also updated my ipad and iphone application.

Here is what I have done...after calling tech support and after uploading the new firmware:

I am using a Maverick 733 thermometer which I checked both probes with boiling water and they were both within 2 degrees of each other at around 209 degrees.  (I am approx 1100 feet above sea level)

- I have taken out the left baffle/heat shield - leaving the center one over the firepot and the right one.....Now grates right and left are pretty stable at anywhere from 3 to 10 degrees difference which  I can easily live with and I am VERY happy with..... (before taking out the left heat shield - there was a 15 to 25 degree difference all the time)

- Yesterday I started at 225 degrees on the controller and after about 20 minutes (controller reached goal in 12 minutes)..the grates were nearly 35 degrees below the target temp  (190 on both)

- at 35 minutes I recalibrated the controller with the ipad app to MINUS 20 degrees from the controller  (shows 225 but in reality should be at 245)

- at one hour I had temps on the grates at 201 left and 221 right...but soon settled down to around 210 on right 

- at this time I moved the controller up to 230 (should be cooking at 250) and the grates showed 201 and 203 a few minutes later

- at two hours and 30 minutes I set the controller for 245 degrees (should now be 265) and got 210 on the left and 216 on the right.

- at three hours the grates showed 216 left and 237 right (but this was right after the blower and auger ran for about 3 or 4 minutes.

Anyway...this is still within the tolerances that both the GMG techs have advised are ok.......and quite frankly if I can get the grates at around 220 pretty consistantly by setting the controller at 245 or 250 I guess that will just have to work.

As I mentioned I am pretty sure the Maverick is spot on......and even the meat probe that comes with the Daniel Boone seems accurate, as I did a pork loin yesterday during my trial run....and when I pulled it...(probe said 145)... I checked it with a pen and it read 145.5 .  I wrapped it and set it aside in a cooler for 25 minutes and the internal meat temp rose to 147.8.  

As long as I can keep making some favorble adjustments I don't feel like I bought a piece of metal with a firepot.......  (by the way.. I Did not open the lid on the smoker until approx 2 1/2 hours)

I have a Masterbuilt Dual Pro - gasser and never have had these kind of temp problems.  My biggest issue with it was small space on the grates, and once in a while temperature variables with the wood igniting etc.

I really appreciate your passing along the photos and the thoughts......

Thanks again !!!!


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## backyardsmokin

I have had my Jim Bowie for about 3 years (pre-wifi model).  Unfortunately,  I have not smoked as much as I would have like to in the past year due to family, work and other hobbies, but starting to fire the ol JB back up.  My first few smokes I had issues cause some moisture got in the hopper and screw with the pellets even though I had the cover on and I live in sunny California.  Unfortunately I found this problem out when I fired it up to do the turkey for Thanksgiving last year.

The only other problem that I have been having is that it periodically trips the GFI circuit it is on (all of of my outside circuits are on GFI.  Does anyone else have this issue?

I have been running +/- 10-15 degrees from side to side at the grate, which runs about +20 degrees over set temp.  I am using the left and right baffle with all of the holes plugged.  I also run an AMPS tray so I get get extra smoke at the higher temps.

The only mods have have made are:

 - added on/off switch to low pellet alarm (don't want to piss off the neighbors in the middle of the night)

 - put a 15 amp GFI inline between the JB and the extension cord (only did this because the reset button for the outside GFI is on the other side of the house in the garage)

 - using a sonar detector on a raspberry pi to send a message to my phone to let me know when pellets are low

 - working on expanding the raspberry pi to handle up to 32 temp probes (yes excessive and may only use a few probes now, but circuit parts wise it is $5 to go from 4 to 32 probes).


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## gmgrillgal84

Well I know this reply is a bit late, it looks as if you posted in 2010, so I sincerely hope youve found the solution to your question. I personally own a DB, and I have 100% no regrets. It is the best grill Ive ever owned and will ever own. Green Mountain has their game together and its only going up from here!!


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## baja traveler

Agreed - bought a Davey Crockett for the RV, and I am definitely the hit at the RV parks when I'm on the road! Amazing how 2 racks of ribs can draw a crowd far and wide.

Last Thanksgiving I picked up a Daniel Boone to do the turkey in. Major hit with the family, everyone agreed that I would be doing the turkey every year from now on.

The Green Mountain grills are just put together so much better than the Tragers, even though they both come from China (which is unfortunate)...


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## thomps

I have a GMG DB - only have run one bag of pellets thru it so far and it was a blend of hickory, apple, hard maple, and cherry so as far as different flavors I don't how the food will taste as I haven't tried it.  That being said...to me it has more of a flavor like you cooked over a wood fire/campfire...I love that flavor.  I can get a much heavier smoke when I'm using one of my smokers but that would be just for personal preference and more so when I make sausage or something of the sort.  I highly recommend Green Mountain brand...the company I purchased it from sold both GMG and Traeger...they sold me on GMG.  Ease of use is great and the ribs and whole chickens I've done on it have been wonderful.


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## buck1949

How have your temperatures been ?  I have had variables across the grates....as well as the controller being more than 20 cooler than what it shows on the controller screen.  Just curious of your thoughts?


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## thomps

I do have some variables across the grate...right side is hotter than the left side...have not confirmed box temps yet compared to controller read out but plan to...still a new toy so working thru some of the bugs but overall very happy w/ purchase...as w/ anything need to perhaps modify some to your liking.


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## joes bbq ribs

Buck1949,  you have the DB on the heat shield you have cut the notches another 1" wider so you can slide the heat shield over the fire pit want to make sure your fire out of the fire pit is hitting dead center on the inverted V" under the heat shield,  make sure you have your 2 piece drip tray in the closed position only have it opened if your searing meats or cooking over 400 degrees.   Feel free to ask me any questions I'll do my best to answer them and help you in any way possible.  

-Joe


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## joes bbq ribs

Buck1949, 
  Here is a illustrated picture of what I'm talking about on how to notch out your DB heat shield













image.jpeg



__ joes bbq ribs
__ Mar 18, 2016


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## smokin monkey

Posted a thread up in General Discussion, but will ask on this thread.

I have a non Wifi controlled JB

I have a big variance on my temperature read out to actual 72'C (172'F).

Contacted our dealer in the UK and they are going to send me a new control board, plus a new sensor.

But, they have offered me the Wifi upgrade for £60.00 ($83.00).

So the question is, is this upgrade worth the money, I have heard some problems with the Wifi unit.

Have until Monday to make a decission!!!


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## joes bbq ribs

SmokingMonkey,   The Wi-Fi is nice! it allows you fire up your smoker while your inside your house and you can adjust the temperature all while on your phone,  you can set up your cook times for how long you would like it to cook for certain temperature and for a certain amount of hours it's just really a nice added feature to have the Wi-Fi.    It's a shame customer service wouldn't just give you a Wi-Fi controller.  Happy Smokin'


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## buck1949

I agree with Joe.... Sure is convenient!


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## buck1949

joes bbq ribs said:


> Buck1949,  you have the DB on the heat shield you have cut the notches another 1" wider so you can slide the heat shield over the fire pit want to make sure your fire out of the fire pit is hitting dead center on the inverted V" under the heat shield,  make sure you have your 2 piece drip tray in the closed position only have it opened if your searing meats or cooking over 400 degrees.   Feel free to ask me any questions I'll do my best to answer them and help you in any way possible.
> 
> -Joe



Thanks for the idea.......I saved a photo of the mod you mentioned on the center heat shield.  You mentioned the 2 piece 'drip' pan.....I only have the one piece solid steel drip pan.  Right now I'm running the the center heat shield - and the left heat shield with the right heat shield completely taken out....and the solid drip pan... This has given me the best configuration so far. Although I have not tried taking both the right and left out - just leaving the center one over the fire box. 

Do you use either or both of the  heat shields?

So the 1 inch notch really seems to level out the heat?  Wonder if this will level out the controller heat....as it seems to still be off by 15 degrees or more even after doing the -20 adjustment via the new firmware.

Wish I had time to tinker but am getting ready to leave town and won't be back until after the 11th of April, so changes will have to wait.  

Thanks for your input...... I'm am always looking for ways to improve.


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## joes bbq ribs

Buck1949, you have the newer heat shield  or do you have the 3 piece heat shield?   If you have the newer heat shield then you should have the 2 piece drip tray that slides left to right to allow you to open up the holes in the drip tray.  Get back to me when you can.


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## buck1949

Joe, I have the original. 3 pieces Heat shields - right, left, and center (which is over the pellet fire box). On top of that is the single piece steel drip plate that has a hole next to the center left edge so that the heat sensor sits below it.  As I mentioned I just have the left and center heat shields in place with the right one totally removed. 

During 2 calls to GM help desk I was told that my temperature variables were within allowable tolerances. They even told me to run it without the right and left shields, just haven't had time yet to experiment with that suggestion.  I don't mind 10-15 degree variances but 20+ degrees from what the controller says (even adjusting for -20 with the software is a bit much in my opinion)

Thoughts?


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## joes bbq ribs

Buck1949,  you are in the Phoenix area correct?  Didn't you just get this DB smoker too?  Wanting to make sure I have my messages and the person I'm talking too lol as oh ace talked to so many but,  I thought you had just gotten the DB. Anyway on the 3 piece heat shield take the left side out completely and notch the bottom cut out a little more so you can slide it over.  Get back to me as far as living in the Phoenix area if so I'll give the guys name and contact info he is one of the service reps with GMG lives in the Phoenix area.


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## buck1949

Yep, I'm in Phoenix..... I may have the local reps name....if he is The guy that Sportsman Warehouse salesman gave me.  To be totally honest, I have not had the time for the last month to do anything.......had a bout with Allergies and lower back spasms.  Did I mention getting old sucks. 

 I am the guy that got the DB about 2 months ago....it was their demo.  The 1st smoke was St.Louis ribs (3-2-1 method) where the rack on the right side grate were under done and the one on the left grate was good.  With almost 6 hours cooking at what I thought was around 230 - 235 the grill was in reality running about 190 - 200. 

The 2nd smoke was a pork loin that came out real well...(I changed sides 1/2 way through the smoke) and this time used my Maverick 733 to determine temps and make adjustments.  

Then I took out the right plate, and did an empty smoke and that is when I got a better read on the grate temps (which are not bad now/ 7 - 10 degrees variance left to right) and also by then had installed the new firmware, and after about an hour of running it I made the change to show the controller Varied by -20 degrees.  So when controller was set to 240 degrees - it really should be 220.  But was actually around +/- 210. So the variance did not help totally . I needed at least a 30 a 35 degree change to the controller I think.  I think I need to try one more experiment with out the right and left heat shields, to see what this will do.   

As I said I really have not had any time (sick) for past month and now getting ready to go out of town till Mid April.  

I will overcome the issue :yahoo: I know, just need some time to further experiment.


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## joes bbq ribs

Buck1949,   Is his name Jason ?  Hope you feel better get back to me when you get into town.


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## buck1949

Yes it is him.   When I get back, I will try the DB w/o the left and right shields and see  how it does overall.  Then if still way off I will let you know.. And will call Jason.  Thanks for your thoughts and help..


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## kevinkirk51

I have one of the older stainless steel Traegars and loved it. Had to store it due to being on the road full time in my rv. I am a writer and hunt and fish across america and blog that and also am a sydicated columnist. 

I recently purchased a Davey Crockett model from GMG and find it to be perfect in a portable application. It holds 9 pounds of pellets and is pretty stingy on use too. The grill is big enough for two hams or turkey so its not a toy. Warranty has been seamless on a few minor issues. The first one got stolen after 100 day and I now have my second of the same model. 

It is a set and forget controls with Wifi for remote adjustments. 

Great company and love the ease and portability.


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## kevinkirk51

WITH the GMG you can smoke at 150 and that is super smokey. Flavor is wonderful and use of different types of pellets makes it custom made to each person.


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## kevinkirk51

NewSmoker.jpg



__ kevinkirk51
__ May 16, 2016


















Pepperoni.jpg



__ kevinkirk51
__ May 16, 2016






HOME MADE PEPPERONI. I made a rack to hold more meat.


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## lynn gould

my son has one because his friends had one on the elk hunt last year and he said it was the best tasting food he has had off a grill.when he got his own he called and said they just had the best burgers at home so now I am going to buy one.my other smoker made great thanksgiving turkey and this should be even better because you have more control.i will update


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## totora

I have, had one Daniel Boone. I just gave it away. I bought one a year ago and had a problem with the controller. It over heated the grill and about 30% of the paint was burnt off the grill.

GMG sent me a few controllers until one of the ones they sent worked. They also sent me a can of 1200 degree spray paint and told me to sand the burnt areas and spray paint them myself. Wow I spent almost 1 k on the grill and...  So that is what I did about a week after I painted it some of the paint peeled off and the unpainted parts are rusting.. I tolerated it for a while and then wrote them saying it looked like an old grill. They told me it was from grease that had dripped and corroded the paint on the grill.

Has grease ever corroded paint on any pan or grill ever?  I think they have quality problems. Their product works and smokes great but the build quality is questionable to me. 

I have never had a grill where the paint burnt off of it.

I have replaced my grill with a Rec Tech Grill. It seems to be a better build quality, heavier gauge steel,bigger hopper, 6 year warranty,etc.

I think reviews should be after a year of use things generally work well for at least a year except for my GMG Daniel Boone which now looks like crap.


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## newbiebob

I have a Daniel Boone and love it.  As another poster suggested, the thermostat is very accurate, so you can start it up and go run chores.  I also spent the extra money for the Bluetooth capability, which allows you to program the cooker.  In the event you run overtime while running about, the cooker will shut off when it reaches target temp using the meat probe.  I also thing the GMG pellets are better than Traeger's.


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## nav39

Hello,

I own a Green Mountain Daniel Boone and I love it. Also I have had great service from their customer service.  Here is an additional tip to consider. When starting up I get a lot of smoke but then things stabilize and the level of smoke is not that much, even at its lowest setting of 150 F. After doing a lot of research on the internet I discovered an outfit called A-maZe-n smoking products.  I ordered a couple of different size tubes from then as I wanted to do some serious smoking in my pellet cooker.  At first I tried the tube in my Weber Genisis, but it seems that the smoke leakage was very much.  Then I tried it in my Green Mountain and I was really impressed. I smoked a batch of teriyaki salmon and it turned out great.!  There may be other companies that make a similar product.  Anyhow that is a good concept for  expanding the pellet cooker capabilities and I wanted to share that.

Regards

Len


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## kevinkirk51

They may not LOOK like they are smoking that much but its plenty of smoke flavor which is what you want. TOO MUCH SMOKE and you get the carcigens from the wood pellets or wood.


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## rdeanhines

​Yes.  I have a Jim Bowie.  I have owned a twin-84 Lang (Stick burner), a Backwoods Hog Cooker (stick burner w/water bath, a Stumps Stretch, and now this pellet cooker.  If you are too lazy for charcoal.  The pellet cooker does not produce heavy smoke flavor even if you run it at 180-190 for the first few hours of a cook.  I added one of the expanded metal tube smoke generators and it still does not produce the heavy smoke flavor you are looking for.  If I were you, I'd buy a Pit Barrel Cooker.  They are highly rated, great price and operation is the simplest I have seen.


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## lynn gould

I got one and when I use the Wi-Fi and step away at some time the grill shuts off ,not instantly but both times I checked the temp. and it had stopped. and the temp probe is not correct.but I have got great food


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## 1022addict

Bought a GMG Daniel Boone on Black Friday. It's awesome so far. Fired it up did the burn in and then baked cookies and later that evening bacon wrapped chicken breast


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## lynn gould

I cooked the turkey on mine very juicy delicious


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## buck1949

Sorry duplicate post.


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## buck1949

1022addict said:


> Bought a GMG Daniel Boone on Black Friday. It's awesome so far. Fired it up did the burn in and then baked cookies and later that evening bacon wrapped chicken breast



Hi there.... with you purchasing a new GM Pellet, I'm curious if your temperatures across the grates have been comparable?  I've had mine about 6 months and have been battling a variation in Temps since I got it.  Also the digital controller is off about  20 degrees from actual temps. ( I have to set the readout at 250 to get about 225 to 230 degrees on average).  I have the variation set on the controller, and have removed the right and left side plates in order to get a bit more even temps.


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## buck1949

Lynn Gould said:


> I cooked the turkey on mine very juicy delicious




Hi there.... with you purchasing a GM Pellet, I'm curious if your temperatures across the grates have been comparable? I've had mine about 6 months and have been battling a variation in Temps since I got it. Also the digital controller is off about 20 degrees from actual temps. ( I have to set the readout at 250 to get about 225 to 230 degrees on average). I have the variation set on the controller, and have removed the right and left side plates in order to get a bit more even temps.


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## lynn gould

when I cooked the turkey I used another wired thermometer because mine is off


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## 1022addict

Third cook on the GMG today. And I'm finding quite a variance in temps across the grate. The temp on the cooker is about 20 to 30 degrees off  temps in the cooker being lower. depending on the placement of the Maverick probe.   From what I've read on the GMG site this is common.  The temp reading on the cooker is an average reading. 

My cooker came with the one piece heat distribution that goes over the burner.  Still learning to use this.


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## buck1949

1022addict said:


> Third cook on the GMG today. And I'm finding quite a variance in temps across the grate. The temp on the cooker is about 20 to 30 degrees off temps in the cooker being lower. depending on the placement of the Maverick probe. From what I've read on the GMG site this is common. The temp reading on the cooker is an average reading.
> 
> My cooker came with the one piece heat distribution that goes over the burner. Still learning to use this.


I had a 3 piece...right/left/ and center which is over the burner....(I kept that one in) ...then the drip pan over the top of that.

I assume you are saying that you had a one piece that goes over the burner and also the right and left sides?

I just have not had a lot of time to play...but with removing the right and left side plates things have gotten a lot better...just can't seem to get true digital temps..... and I also have read about those issues...and have made the adjustments.  But still find the over all temps inside to vary a lot.

Still a fun piece of equipment... just wish there were not quite as many variables..


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## wayne carter

I have a chance to buy a slightly used DB for 350 or should i go for the DC sitting right next to it ?


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## stanggt24

Hi I have had a db with wifi for 6 months and love it. Now as for which model u get will depend on what your plans are that u are going to,cook. I was thinking of upgrading mine to the JB which is much bigger because at times I will fill mine up for party's but for average everyday use the db is plenty big enough so u buying the D.C. Depends on how much and how big of a cut of meat u may cook but good luck with whichever u purchase.  Rich


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## stanggt24

[ATTACHMENT=3157]IMG_0518.JPG (2,925k. JPG file)[/ATTACHMENT]


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## wayne carter

I bought the Davey Crockett Saturday and made some BBQ Chicken that was outstanding ! my first pellet grill attempt was amazing !


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## buck1949

NIce looking Q.


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## buck1949

Stanggt24 said:


> Hi I have had a db with wifi for 6 months and love it. Now as for which model u get will depend on what your plans are that u are going to,cook. I was thinking of upgrading mine to the JB which is much bigger because at times I will fill mine up for party's but for average everyday use the db is plenty big enough so u buying the D.C. Depends on how much and how big of a cut of meat u may cook but good luck with whichever u purchase. Rich


I have the Daniel Boone with wi-fi and like it also.... I still have issues with temps..but can adjust for that pretty well.  I think it is the perfect size... as there is just normally my wife and I....and sometimes I make a little extra for others.  A while back... I make a pork loin...and put some baked beans (doctored up my way) below it and caught some of the drippings... Darn good stuff.  Also made some red potatoes along side everything else.  So you can be creative and make several things at one time.  Haven't tried pizza in it yet.... but have cranked her up and cooked some burgers just to see how that would work. Think I will just use my regular Sommerset BBQ grill in the future for burgers... just seems to run too much and uses too many pellets on the DB.


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## buck1949

Wayne Carter said:


> I bought the Davey Crockett Saturday and made some BBQ Chicken that was outstanding ! my first pellet grill attempt was amazing


Good deal !!!! Sounds like you are getting the hang of it already... 

Smoke 'em if you got 'em I always say !!!


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## jack l

After using wood and charcoal for decades I decided to go electric. I purchased a Smokin-It 3D last fall that is okay but that's another story. Does pellet grills give good smoke taste. Deciding on a DC, Rec Tech or some other pellet grill.


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## buck1949

Jack L said:


> After using wood and charcoal for decades I decided to go electric. I purchased a Smokin-It 3D last fall that is okay but that's another story. Does pellet grills give good smoke taste. Deciding on a DC, Rec Tech or some other pellet grill.


I had been a propane/wood user for a long time.... Still have the Masterbuilt Dual Pro....... but went with a pellet smoker about 6 months ago.....



I love the pellet idea... pretty clean overall. and is almost a set it and forget it type cooker. (with a few temp adjustments - there is no need to constantly add wood etc). The Green Mountain (Daniel Boone) that I have does a pretty good job of smoking, and outside of their being a learning curve to get used to adjusting the proper temperatures....it is a keeper. A lot has been written about the continuity of temps across the grates.....and even the Green Mountain people have attempted some electronic fixes.  I have the Wifi version and that too is pretty cool to be able to adjust and keep an eye on the smoker without having to open the lid etc.  I am still experimenting with the various flavor's of pellets....and so far have been very happy with Applewood, Pecan, and Mesquite.  I am not a big fan of the mixed flavors, but never say never until I try it once.  As to smoke flavor - I like the amount that the Daniel Boone puts out.  I am not a lover of the real Strong smoke flavor that I believe can be gotten by continuing adding wood in the conventional smokers throughout the whole cook.


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## jack l

Buck1949 said:


> Jack L said:
> 
> 
> 
> After using wood and charcoal for decades I decided to go electric. I purchased a Smokin-It 3D last fall that is okay but that's another story. Does pellet grills give good smoke taste. Deciding on a DC, Rec Tech or some other pellet grill.
> 
> 
> 
> I had been a propane/wood user for a long time.... Still have the Masterbuilt Dual Pro....... but went with a pellet smoker about 6 months ago.....
> 
> 
> 
> I love the pellet idea... pretty clean overall. and is almost a set it and forget it type cooker. (with a few temp adjustments - there is no need to constantly add wood etc). The Green Mountain (Daniel Boone) that I have does a pretty good job of smoking, and outside of their being a learning curve to get used to adjusting the proper temperatures....it is a keeper. A lot has been written about the continuity of temps across the grates.....and even the Green Mountain people have attempted some electronic fixes.  I have the Wifi version and that too is pretty cool to be able to adjust and keep an eye on the smoker without having to open the lid etc.  I am still experimenting with the various flavor's of pellets....and so far have been very happy with Applewood, Pecan, and Mesquite.  I am not a big fan of the mixed flavors, but never say never until I try it once.  As to smoke flavor - I like the amount that the Daniel Boone puts out.  I am not a lover of the real Strong smoke flavor that I believe can be gotten by continuing adding wood in the conventional smokers throughout the whole cook.
Click to expand...

Thanks Buck.  After buying a Smokin-It last fall, I am going to weigh this decision a little more closely.  Don't get me wrong the Smokin-It 3D does what it supposed to do as an electric smoker.  But it comes no where near to competing with wood fire.  

I am always concerned about smoke flavor yes, but in the case of pellet grills there are a lot of moving parts that could break down or go awry that could prevent you from using the wood pellet after several years.


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## buck1949

Jack L said:


> Thanks Buck.  After buying a Smokin-It last fall, I am going to weigh this decision a little more closely.  Don't get me wrong the Smokin-It 3D does what it supposed to do as an electric smoker.  But it comes no where near to competing with wood fire.
> 
> I am always concerned about smoke flavor yes, but in the case of pellet grills there are a lot of moving parts that could break down or go awry that could prevent you from using the wood pellet after several years.


y

Jack.....interesting that you mention the concern about break down.....I have been following these threads here for quite a while, and have not seen very much said about breaking down with the pellet smokers. I am sure it happens once in a while but just doesn't seem to be posted here much.  I do know that some initially have had issues with the computer/wifi with the Green Mountain grills, but from what I have read the company has taken care of those problems/customers.  I also see occasionally where an auger gets clogged or stuck, usually due to wet pellets and that just normally requires a good cleaning out.  So far (knock on wood here) I have not had any breakdowns....and hope that continues. Thumbs Up  

Take care - Happy Smoking!!


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## jack l

Thanks again Buck.


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## rex1

I have a Green Mountain Daniel Boone Grill on that I've had for 3 or 4 months now and I really love it I cooked 4 chicken haves  yesterday at 275 degrees for 2 hours and the smoke was just right Internal temp was 180 and it was greatI bought amazing smoker this Square 12 inch and used it one time on a 2-inch filet mignon it really hadded a lot of smoke so I did not use it on the chicken because I was afraid it would be too much and now I'm sure it would because the chicken was just right without the amazing smoker I really love that wifi part of the Green Mountain Grill because it allows me to set in my living room and my lazy boy and control my smoker completely changing the temperature up and down and do it whatever I want to and also monitor the internal temperature of the meat as well as the temperature of the grill it is really a nice machine and I love it


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## buck1949

Rex1 said:


> I have a Green Mountain Daniel Boone Grill on that I've had for 3 or 4 months now and I really love it I cooked 4 chicken haves  yesterday at 275 degrees for 2 hours and the smoke was just right Internal temp was 180 and it was greatI bought amazing smoker this Square 12 inch and used it one time on a 2-inch filet mignon it really hadded a lot of smoke so I did not use it on the chicken because I was afraid it would be too much and now I'm sure it would because the chicken was just right without the amazing smoker I really love that wifi part of the Green Mountain Grill because it allows me to set in my living room and my lazy boy and control my smoker completely changing the temperature up and down and do it whatever I want to and also monitor the internal temperature of the meat as well as the temperature of the grill it is really a nice machine and I love it



Rex, 
Sounds like your DB is working great.  Are your temps across the inside pretty reliable to what the computer shows?  I still am having about a 20 degree difference even after making the adjustment recommended by Green Mountain.  Just curious how yours is working overall.


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## rex1

Only tempature problem i amhavin o. My gree. Mountain is tt cooks hotter on the right side a d i have to move the meat from end to end to compesate.  It is probably somethin i have  ot set up right.  My 85 year old brain doesnt function like ituse to, but i have not give up yet and eventua.ly i will fix it.  I do love this grill

Rex1


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## buck1949

Rex1 said:


> Only tempature problem i amhavin o. My gree. Mountain is tt cooks hotter on the right side a d i have to move the meat from end to end to compesate. It is probably somethin i have ot set up right. My 85 year old brain doesnt function like ituse to, but i have not give up yet and eventua.ly i will fix it. I do love this grill
> 
> Rex1


Rex..... 

That is exactly the same situation that I and others have had.  On my smoker... I took the plates out completely except for the one above the fire pot.  Some of the more recent models have one solid almost stainless steel looking plate...where I had two plus the one over the firepot.  I have tried one side then the other...but it seems like when I took both plates out it got a bit more consistent.  Anyway... I am still off about 20 degrees from what it is supposed to be.  BUT the good thing is.... like anything else....when you get a chance to fiddle with it.... you can make it work.  I am happy with my smoker over all....and the computer helps a lot.

Smoke 'em if you have 'em. !!


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## mateostyle

Cabin Fever said:


> I've read that pellet grills are 100% wood fired so if this isn't the right section to post this in then I apologize. Anyway, after comparing the Traeger Lil Tex to the Green Mountain Daniel Boone over at pelletheads.com it seems like the DB would be the better of the two. With that said, how well do they actually cook as smokers?
> 
> My main concern is smoke flavor. I've owned just about every electric smoker under the sun and I've never been satisfied with the smoke flavor or lack there of I should say. If anyone here owns a Green Mountain DB or any pellet grill for that matter or knows someone who does I would really appreciate any information you could throw my way.



Mine cooks well but quality is very disappointing. 
After three years of ownership keeping it covered when not in use there are rust spots. The pic is just one of four spots of rust on the grill. Some of the rust actually has large metal pieces flaking off. I would likely not buy again. Compared to the grills of friends made from name brand, the GMG is not as solid.


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## mmiller

I own a Davy Crockett and this is what I did to even out the temperature across the grate. I raised up the right side of the grease pans by putting a piece of flat Aluminum Bar inside the grease drain and let the grease trays rest on the flat Aluminum Bar. The Aluminum Bar is about 1 1/2" wide and 1/4" thick and about 11" long.  (It sits at an angle in the grease trap) The reason the right side is hotter is because the heat from the fire pot is not distributed evenly under the grease trays. The adjustable heat shield is suppose to correct the problem but it doesn't. By leveling the grease trays each side is the same distance above the fire pot, and if the fire pot is in the center, the heat should be distributed evenly. (At least that is my theory). It works for me on my Davy Crockett. I leave the food grates in, and place the food on a stainless steel Bun Pan (9 x 13) with a cooking rack. The pan catches all the drippings. I have only used the pan with chicken, I don't know how it will work with food that has a lot of fat content like ribs. I also installed a Down Draft Hood, but removed it because it caused the smoke to stay in the cooking chamber longer and added a creosote taste to the Food. Once I placed the Aluminum Bar inside the grease trap and raised grease trays on the right side, my temps across the food grate stays within 3-5 degrees from left to right. Give it a try.


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## rex1

I have a Daniel Boone and I will give this a try,  Thanks for posting this

Rex1


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## d4221

I bought a GMG Jim Bowie with wifi last week.  I ran it a bit without food Friday evening.  Based on my Maverick temp probe, it ran a bit hot at the lower settings but never got over 450 when I set it up to 500.  On Saturday, I put a few steaks on at 200 for about half an hour to get some smoke flavor.  I took the steaks off and cranked it to 500.  It heated up faster than I expected and even hit 570 on my Maverick.  It wasn't time for me to put the steaks back on so I turned it down to 400 to save some pellets.  When I reset it to 500 it would not heat back up.  It was actually cooling off pretty fast.  I ended up finishing my steaks on my old gas grill.  

Part of my decision to buy a GMG was the great customer service I'd heard about, so, I called the help line at 4:30 on Sunday (customer service is supposed to be open until 5:00).  I got a recording to leave a message so I did, with my call back number, but never received a call back.  I called again Monday morning and again got the leave a message recording, so I left another message.  I've now also emailed their customer service, but am yet to receive a response.  So now I have a big expensive tin can and am very disappointed in the customer service.  I was so excited about this grill one of my buddies bought one too--and the fire box fan on his doesn't work.  I think I'm going to return it and spend a bit more on a RecTec.  Anyone have issues with RecTec?


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## d4221

I forgot to mention it wouldn't heat up at all when I tried to use it Sunday evening.  My guess is the igniter rod is defective.  I had hoped to use my new GMG twice last weekend but only got about a half of a cook out of it.  It's a good thing I didn't immediately put my old gas grill out at the curb


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## buck1949

d4221 said:


> I bought a GMG Jim Bowie with wifi last week.  I ran it a bit without food Friday evening.  Based on my Maverick temp probe, it ran a bit hot at the lower settings but never got over 450 when I set it up to 500.  On Saturday, I put a few steaks on at 200 for about half an hour to get some smoke flavor.  I took the steaks off and cranked it to 500.  It heated up faster than I expected and even hit 570 on my Maverick.  It wasn't time for me to put the steaks back on so I turned it down to 400 to save some pellets.  When I reset it to 500 it would not heat back up.  It was actually cooling off pretty fast.  I ended up finishing my steaks on my old gas grill.
> 
> Part of my decision to buy a GMG was the great customer service I'd heard about, so, I called the help line at 4:30 on Sunday (customer service is supposed to be open until 5:00).  I got a recording to leave a message so I did, with my call back number, but never received a call back.  I called again Monday morning and again got the leave a message recording, so I left another message.  I've now also emailed their customer service, but am yet to receive a response.  So now I have a big expensive tin can and am very disappointed in the customer service.  I was so excited about this grill one of my buddies bought one too--and the fire box fan on his doesn't work.  I think I'm going to return it and spend a bit more on a RecTec.  Anyone have issues with RecTec?



That is a bummer...I have had nothing but good luck with customer service AND outside of some issues with temps being a little off side to side, it has been a good cooker.  We have a dealer in Arizona for the GMG and even a local rep that has helped people with issues.

Let's hope this is not a sign of something happening at GMG.... What does your dealer say?  Can they help you at all?

Hope you resolve your issues....as i really do,like using mine - a lot!


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## kirby27

When i first started looking at pellet smokers, (4 years ago), I had my mind set on a Treager. After talking with some friends that own GMG's, I decided to buy the Daniel Boone model. I've never been disappointed. The next year I bought the small Davey Crockett to take camping with me.I love both of them. They are great smokers. I added 3 stainless steel rods to the top of the Daniel Boone so I can hang summer sausages and links.Plenty of smoke for me. I just cooked 4 tri tip and 2 pork loins this past weekend for a birthday party and they were fantastic. Smoked low for 3 hours, turned the heat up to 275 for the last 1 and 1/2 hours. Killer. Also bought a wi fi digital thermometer for 30 bucks. It's great sitting around and knowing what your smoker is doing without having to check on it all the time.

I've smoked all kinds of stuff in my GMG Tons of summer sausage, whole muscle and ground gerky, salmon and steelhead, pork butts, even use an Amazin smoker tray so i could smoke cheese. It came out perfect.

Just wished it was all made in America so i could keep my money here. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Here's some Summer Sausages...

.View media item 516287
And here's a pic of the tri tip and loin...













tri tip and pork loin.jpg



__ kirby27
__ May 2, 2017


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## d4221

I finally got a hold of GMG customer service.  I went over how my Jim Bowie worked and didn't work over the weekend and they determined I probably had an auger clog.  I started it up with all the heat diffusers and racks removed so I could see what was happening in the firebox.  With the first startup, it fed a few pellets into the pot, but those few initial pellets burned up before it started to feed more to bring it up to temp--but it really started to feed more so maybe the clog had resolved itself.  I vacuumed the firebox out and started it up again.  This time it worked great.  I also adjusted the positioning of the heat diffuser and after it ran a while the temps on my Maverick and Jim Bowie were within just a few degrees.  I'm a bit irritated my first two calls and email to customer service were never returned, but it seems like my smoker is working properly.


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## buck1949

Kirby27 said:


> When i first started looking at pellet smokers, (4 years ago), I had my mind set on a Treager. After talking with some friends that own GMG's, I decided to buy the Daniel Boone model. I've never been disappointed. The next year I bought the small Davey Crockett to take camping with me.I love both of them. They are great smokers. I added 3 stainless steel rods to the top of the Daniel Boone so I can hang summer sausages and links.Plenty of smoke for me. I just cooked 4 tri tip and 2 pork loins this past weekend for a birthday party and they were fantastic. Smoked low for 3 hours, turned the heat up to 275 for the last 1 and 1/2 hours. Killer. Also bought a wi fi digital thermometer for 30 bucks. It's great sitting around and knowing what your smoker is doing without having to check on it all the time.
> I've smoked all kinds of stuff in my GMG Tons of summer sausage, whole muscle and ground gerky, salmon and steelhead, pork butts, even use an Amazin smoker tray so i could smoke cheese. It came out perfect.
> Just wished it was all made in America so i could keep my money here. :first:
> Here's some Summer Sausages...
> .View media item 516287
> And here's a pic of the tri tip and loin...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> tri tip and pork loin.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ kirby27
> __ May 2, 2017



Good looking stuff you are making there. Like the sausage set up. I'm not a big summer sausage guy but there are bunches on here that are.  Did you do anything special for your Pork Loins?  Got one I'm gonna do here in a couple of weeks after we finish off the one we have in the crock pot cooking right now.


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## buck1949

Glad you got things figured out.   Hope you get to smoke some good Q !!!

As I always say;  Smoke 'em if you got 'em !!


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## mmiller

Let me know how it turns out.


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## kirby27

Nothing special on the loin - a bottle of Lawry's garlic and herb marinade then some salt n pepper.

Tri tip I used Bullshit dry rub and marinated overnight. Tri tip was really good...loin was a little strong on the herbs but still very tasty.


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