I bought a Bullseye 380 about 6 weeks ago. After a few sessions, I think I’ve got the hang of it. Just want to share my story for those who are struggling, or those who may be thinking about buying one.
First smoke, decided to go big and do a pork shoulder. Read the section in the manual about the auger settings, and how it should stay between 3.5 and 6, and should never go above 6. Thought it was strange that they would program it to be able to go up to 25, but tell me not to set it above 6. But whatever, they built it, I'll do what they say. Put the shoulder in, set it to 225 and walked away. Poked my head out about 15 min later, the temperature gauge said `150. Listened to the fan run constantly and watched as it fired back up to 300+, then slowly settle back down. Got to 225, the fan started to run intermittently. Sure enough, just a minute or two later, the temperature started dropping again and no smoke was coming out. \
I'll cut to the chase. The fire pot was burning out. The auger wasn't pushing pellets in fast enough to keep it going. It would burn out, overreact and shoot up to 300+, then try to settle at 225. Rinse and repeat. Needless to say, the shoulder didn't turn out great.
In the shooting community, there's something called DOPE. Data On Previous Engagements. You get a zero, you shoot at various ranges, various temperatures, various wind effects, collect the data and record it. When it comes to do something for real, you can observe what's going on in your environment, adjust your scope and your hold accordingly.
Play with your auger, and record the data. And screw the 6 setting. I tried a shoulder again a couple weeks later. It was 50 degrees outside and I wanted to cook at 225. I started the auger at 9, and I sat and watched it. Didn't take long for the temperature to drop. So I bumped the setting up to 11. Temperature settled, then dropped. BUT, this time it didn't drop as low. Almost like it was able to recover faster. So I put it at 13. The temperature settled AND held around 225 for longer. It eventually dropped, but again it didn't drop quite as low as the time before. So I set it to 14. Temperature settled at 225. Then it dropped to 224. 222. 221. 220.... 220.... 221... Couple minutes later it was up to 230. 229. 227. 225.... 225..... Found the sweet spot.
Did baby back ribs yesterday, again at 225. It was 65 out, but a little windy. Started at 10, but it eventually dropped on me. Set it to 11.5 and it settled. I left the house for 6 hours. When I came back, the temperature gauge said 224 and the ribs came out wonderfully. Did chicken drumsticks and split chicken breasts today. 55 degrees out, cooking at 275, set the auger to 13 and it held 272-280 for 90 minutes straight. Chicken was awesome.
This smoker is wonderful. But you have to play with it and get a feel for it. And don't listen to the manual when it comes to the auger setting.
First smoke, decided to go big and do a pork shoulder. Read the section in the manual about the auger settings, and how it should stay between 3.5 and 6, and should never go above 6. Thought it was strange that they would program it to be able to go up to 25, but tell me not to set it above 6. But whatever, they built it, I'll do what they say. Put the shoulder in, set it to 225 and walked away. Poked my head out about 15 min later, the temperature gauge said `150. Listened to the fan run constantly and watched as it fired back up to 300+, then slowly settle back down. Got to 225, the fan started to run intermittently. Sure enough, just a minute or two later, the temperature started dropping again and no smoke was coming out. \
I'll cut to the chase. The fire pot was burning out. The auger wasn't pushing pellets in fast enough to keep it going. It would burn out, overreact and shoot up to 300+, then try to settle at 225. Rinse and repeat. Needless to say, the shoulder didn't turn out great.
In the shooting community, there's something called DOPE. Data On Previous Engagements. You get a zero, you shoot at various ranges, various temperatures, various wind effects, collect the data and record it. When it comes to do something for real, you can observe what's going on in your environment, adjust your scope and your hold accordingly.
Play with your auger, and record the data. And screw the 6 setting. I tried a shoulder again a couple weeks later. It was 50 degrees outside and I wanted to cook at 225. I started the auger at 9, and I sat and watched it. Didn't take long for the temperature to drop. So I bumped the setting up to 11. Temperature settled, then dropped. BUT, this time it didn't drop as low. Almost like it was able to recover faster. So I put it at 13. The temperature settled AND held around 225 for longer. It eventually dropped, but again it didn't drop quite as low as the time before. So I set it to 14. Temperature settled at 225. Then it dropped to 224. 222. 221. 220.... 220.... 221... Couple minutes later it was up to 230. 229. 227. 225.... 225..... Found the sweet spot.
Did baby back ribs yesterday, again at 225. It was 65 out, but a little windy. Started at 10, but it eventually dropped on me. Set it to 11.5 and it settled. I left the house for 6 hours. When I came back, the temperature gauge said 224 and the ribs came out wonderfully. Did chicken drumsticks and split chicken breasts today. 55 degrees out, cooking at 275, set the auger to 13 and it held 272-280 for 90 minutes straight. Chicken was awesome.
This smoker is wonderful. But you have to play with it and get a feel for it. And don't listen to the manual when it comes to the auger setting.