BFG BURN IN

[Mac7504]

Have a 1250 and it runs flawlessly.

Received my 2500 and did my burn in today, the only thing I forgot to do was open my lid upon start up. I opened a few mins after. Set to 400 but temps went to 455+ and would never really go back down. I would tick it down but wouldn't really go down until I went to 300. Only after that it slowly ticked down.

A bit worried considering I have a big event next weekend. Going to run it again tomorrow to see what is what.

Recommendations?

 

[Jtak]

I wouldn’t worry, when I did the burn in on my Backyard Beast it ran high until the end then dropped to 400°. I believe it was calibrating the computer? It’s been amazing since!

 

[Nikeguy53]

Have a 1250 and it runs flawlessly.

Received my 2500 and did my burn in today, the only thing I forgot to do was open my lid upon start up. I opened a few mins after. Set to 400 but temps went to 455+ and would never really go back down. I would tick it down but wouldn't really go down until I went to 300. Only after that it slowly ticked down.

A bit worried considering I have a big event next weekend. Going to run it again tomorrow to see what is what.

Have a 1250 and it runs flawlessly.

Received my 2500 and did my burn in today, the only thing I forgot to do was open my lid upon start up. I opened a few mins after. Set to 400 but temps went to 455+ and would never really go back down. I would tick it down but wouldn't really go down until I went to 300. Only after that it slowly ticked down.

A bit worried considering I have a big event next weekend. Going to run it again tomorrow to see what is what.

Recommendations?

By Bull will go over the the temperature and it will work its way back down to the set temperature after l open the lid.

 

[Mac7504]

Thanks for the input. Didn't get a chance to test today but hoping this won't be an issue.

 

[rhouser]

Okay, I have a BFG and I love it. I do a lot of large cooks and believe this to be the best pellet smoker of this size and price on the market.

I always do my startups with the lid closed. (Up to each person I guess)

I always plan on 40 minutes plus for everything to get up to temperature and stabilize out. Mine will run up to 50 degrees over then will start and stabilize. The BFG weighs about 600 pounds. It has a lot of mass that needs to be properly heated.

You can trick it if you need to come on line quicker. Set it for 40 degrees lower than your target, then when you get the overrun, reset your temp to your higher temp. (I think its better just to let things stabilize by waiting the 30 - 40 minutes).

Once I am at temp, I consider it good to go. Even with the temp drops when opening lid and doing foil wraps on 10 packers, it holds pretty well because of the stored thermo-mass captured by the grill itself during the preheat.

Note, there are also feed rate adjustments that can be made to maybe lower your overrun, but for me, I just give it time to preheat.

How long are you waiting for your BFG to stabilize?

 

[Mac7504]

Thank you for the information and I waited over an close to 2 I'm going to test again today at a normal smoke setting I'd use to see how it responds.

Will report back

Johnny O

 

[rhouser]

Something is not as it should be. Keep me posted (out of curiosity as a BFG owner and big time BFG fan).

Because I do large cooks (think 175 - 200 lbs at a time) I do a full cleaning after each cook to make sure I keep grease build up controlled. The final part of my cleaning is a 30 - 45 minute burn off at 450 degrees.

WARNING: Only do a Burn Off "AFTER CLEANING AND SCRAPING ALL THE GREASE FROM THE GRATES, GREASE TRAYS, TUB, AND GUTTERS." Do not do a Burn Off on a greasy BFG. If you run a grease filled BFG to 450 you will most likely have a very large, very hot grease fire.

When I do a burn off, I do expect to see it bump 500 on start up but it will generally settle back down to the targeted 450 degrees within 30 minutes.

What pellets do you use if you don't mind my question.

v/r r

 

[Mac7504]

Something is not as it should be. Keep me posted (out of curiosity as a BFG owner and big time BFG fan).

Because I do large cooks (think 175 - 200 lbs at a time) I do a full cleaning after each cook to make sure I keep grease build up controlled. The final part of my cleaning is a 30 - 45 minute burn off at 450 degrees.

WARNING: Only do a Burn Off "AFTER CLEANING AND SCRAPING ALL THE GREASE FROM THE GRATES, GREASE TRAYS, TUB, AND GUTTERS." Do not do a Burn Off on a greasy BFG. If you run a grease filled BFG to 450 you will most likely have a very large, very hot grease fire.

When I do a burn off, I do expect to see it bump 500 on start up but it will generally settle back down to the targeted 450 degrees within 30 minutes.

What pellets do you use if you don't mind my question.

v/r r

Yeah and I hope it fixes itself because I also have about 150#+ of meat to smoke.

I use the pellets below in my 1250 with no issues.

CookinPellets Perfect Mix Natural Hardwood Hickory, Cherry, Hard Maple, and Apple BBQ Grill Wood Pellets for Pellet Grill and Pellet Smoker, 40 Lb Bag​

 

[rhouser]

I do cooks that run 150 - 200 lbs each 3 to 4 times a month. I bought and sold 5 other pellet grills over a 5 year period trying the find a single pellet smoker that would run the volume I need. I was having to run at least 2 smokers at a time due to size etc. I had to rule out the CMG Beast because the 14000 dollar price was beyond means for a "not commercial" operation.

I saw the BFG on the RECTEQ site when they did one of their video unveiling things. Over the next 3 weeks I talked back and forth with the sales folks and techs deciding whether the BG-2500 would be my "next try" for a pellet smoker that fit my needs. It was during the Black Friday sale that I pulled the trigger and ordered in my BFG. What a GREAT decision.

I believe that you are going to be THRILLED with the no drama capability of this cooker. I start it up and let it stabilize, load up the grates, top off the pellet bin, and "let the big dog run".

Remember to check your buckets, I find that I have to empty them at least once during each large cook. Overflowing the buckets will be messy.

If you are doing untrimmed packers, you may find that your briskets get trapped between the base grate and the first shelf rack and again between the first shelf rack and the second shelf rack. This is caused by the shelfs being fit into the sliders. Easy solution (more or less): Place your first shelf rack On TOP OF the slider INSTEAD OF INTO the slider. This will give you a bit more height and also let you lift the grate that is trapping your meat. If the rack is in the slider you cannot get any lift. You are trapped by the slider.

This is probably more that you wanted to know. Sorry, but I am REALLY a big fan of my BFG. It is the best form fit and function that I have found for doing larger cooks. It is a no drama Real deal pellet smoker.

v/r r

 

[Mac7504]

Had no chance to test so had no choice but to throw on the stuff for my event. Flame out twice. Smh.

Not sure if the bfg just doesn't like my pellets or what's the deal. Have to call on Monday. Hope I make it through this cook. Had to bust out the 1250 and my 2 22inch Weber Smoky Mountain..

 

[rhouser]

Mac, what temp were you set at? Were you using the LO?

I have had an issue (maybe 3 times over the 3 years) with a pellet jam at the connection between the hopper and the auger pickup. I remove the hopper pellets and look down and find the pellets packed into the feeding port. Auger turning, but no pellets can flow.
My fix, turn off the smoker, and use a phillips head screw driver to "pick" the pellet jam free, vacuum out the port, then restart the grill without refilling the hopper. I watch the auger and pickup port and then feed handfuls of pellets into the port and watch them feed until the grill lights. Then I refill the hopper and off we go.

I have NO explanation on why this has only occurred three times in 3 years (and one time was a double header. Two pellet jams in a row with the second happening about 20 minutes after clearing the first and the hopper refill). I have done more than a hundred cooks to date, but only had 3 of these jams and 2 were 15 minutes apart. Demon possession? I did reset my pellet flow rate once with the help desk on the phone. It was not related to the jamming.

again, keep me posted. I am interested to see what;s up.

v/r r

 

[Mac7504]

Mac, what temp were you set at? Were you using the LO?

I have had an issue (maybe 3 times over the 3 years) with a pellet jam at the connection between the hopper and the auger pickup. I remove the hopper pellets and look down and find the pellets packed into the feeding port. Auger turning, but no pellets can flow.
My fix, turn off the smoker, and use a phillips head screw driver to "pick" the pellet jam free, vacuum out the port, then restart the grill without refilling the hopper. I watch the auger and pickup port and then feed handfuls of pellets into the port and watch them feed until the grill lights. Then I refill the hopper and off we go.

I have NO explanation on why this has only occurred three times in 3 years (and one time was a double header. Two pellet jams in a row with the second happening about 20 minutes after clearing the first and the hopper refill). I have done more than a hundred cooks to date, but only had 3 of these jams and 2 were 15 minutes apart. Demon possession? I did reset my pellet flow rate once with the help desk on the phone. It was not related to the jamming.

again, keep me posted. I am interested to see what;s up.

v/r r

250 upon starting up. Got to 160 then started to go back down. I immediately freaked out. Turned it off and as u suggested stuck a screwdrive in there and waited to see the unit feed pellets. It did. Good.

I put the meat on, went to sleep around 1230am 1. And woke up at 530am to the pit at 165. I moved the meat to a different smoker (thank god I had the forethought) and took it off, punched the feeder a few times and waited again to see if it fed, which it did. It's back and running again but I'll never sleep again without my maverick hooked up to it.

When I got the unit, I could hear the auger struggling or crushing pellets. Maybe thats what occurred? I hear it every so often in the unit. Same pellets in the 1250 and it does not produce such a sound.

Scared for my life! Lol

 

[Jgmantle]

Okay, I have a BFG and I love it. I do a lot of large cooks and believe this to be the best pellet smoker of this size and price on the market.

I always do my startups with the lid closed. (Up to each person I guess)

I always plan on 40 minutes plus for everything to get up to temperature and stabilize out. Mine will run up to 50 degrees over then will start and stabilize. The BFG weighs about 600 pounds. It has a lot of mass that needs to be properly heated.

You can trick it if you need to come on line quicker. Set it for 40 degrees lower than your target, then when you get the overrun, reset your temp to your higher temp. (I think its better just to let things stabilize by waiting the 30 - 40 minutes).

Once I am at temp, I consider it good to go. Even with the temp drops when opening lid and doing foil wraps on 10 packers, it holds pretty well because of the stored thermo-mass captured by the grill itself during the preheat.

Note, there are also feed rate adjustments that can be made to maybe lower your overrun, but for me, I just give it time to preheat.

How long are you waiting for your BFG to stabilize?

 

[Jgmantle]

I find myself in agreement with you on not rushing the Start-up. Pellets are far cheaper than meats. Plus, that extra time is good for letting the meat achieve room temperature. I've only had one anomaly on my new-ish 1400XL. I don't worry much about the lid open or closed issue. I pretty much hang out near it while it's starting.

 

[Jim6820]

Is it possible that some foreign object has been wrapped around the auger farther down than you can see?

Or, did you get a bag with a bunch of extra long and hard-to-break pellets in it? That’s one of the reasons I have standardized on LumberJack pellets; they are smaller in diameter than most of the others and seem quite uniform in length with very few over an inch long. They also snap quite easily.

 

[RattleR]

Is it possible that some foreign object has been wrapped around the auger farther down than you can see?

I was wondering the same thing.

 

[rhouser]

Not as any solution, but as management, I do the following.

I own a small thermoworks cooking timer/alarm on a lanyard.
I set it to go off at the two hour mark.
I wear it on cook nights.

I set the timer and it wakes me every 2 hours.

I simply roll over and look at my IPAD recteq app and confirm that I have fire at the temp I expect to see. I will also get up around 2 am to check my grease bucket levels and dump as needed. I also do a pellet hopper check at the same time. Only takes a second to check the pellet level.

With the cost of briskets, and doing 10 at a time, this is cheap insurance.

my 2 cents.
v'/r r