Bull Our Bull let us down today : (

[DenStinett]

Started the Bull at 13:00 (set on "LO") today to smoke some "Country Style" Ribs for tonight
Put the Meat on at 13:30 and the Grill Temp was 180 .... so far so good
Went out at 15:30 and the Bull was sitting at 95 .... pretty much the Ambient Temp here
Pulled the Grates, the Drip Pan and Heat Deflector .... no Pellets in the Fire Pot
Hopper was approx 1/3 full, so lack of Pellets wasn't the issue
Restarted the Fire Pot with a Handful of Pellets and it started just fine
It got up to 180, but in about 5 minutes the Temp startled dropping .... quickly
Tore it down, and again, the Fire Pot was nothing but a bit of Ash
I then noticed that the Auger wasn't feeding the Fire Pot
Looked at the Setting for the Auger (speed?) and it was still at the original Setting of "5" .... it goes up to 250 ! ? !
Question (s):
Is my Auger set at the right Setting "5" ?
What do y'all have yours set at ?
Is my Auger Motor crappin' out ?

I really need this thing working tonight
I got a Brisket waiting to go on at 22:00, for tomorrow

Thoughts ?

 

[mikeporter616]

Run the test mode and make sure the auger is working. May be jammed.

 

[Jim6820]

What pellets are you using? Are they pretty uniform in size and not longer than an inch or so? You might try using a piece of small wood dowel, stick or wire (unplug grill if using a conductive material of any kind) to probe inside the auger tube to see if you can loosen any blockage,

Good luck.

 

[DenStinett]

Hey Mike
Thank You for the Reply
Yeah, it's turning

Thanks for your Reply Jim
You were close
Turns-out it was my lack of maintenance
In the nearly two years of owning our Bull, I have never vacuumed-out the Hopper / Auger Feed even once
Big-ol' clump of Pellet Dust at the bottom of the Hopper
I'm surprised it hasn't done this before now
Guess I was a Bad Daddy:

 

[Jim6820]

Thanks for your Reply Jim
You were close
Turns-out it was my lack of maintenance
In the nearly two years of owning our Bull, I have never vacuumed-out the Hopper / Auger Feed even once
Big-ol' clump of Pellet Dust at the bottom of the Hopper
I'm surprised it hasn't done this before now

Glad you found the problem. Yes, our little cooking beasts do demand attention from time to time.

Do let us know how tomorrow’s brisket cook goes. I’ll bet it goes great now that the grill has gotten its share of attention.

 

[DenStinett]

Thanks again Jim
Forgot I cranked the Auger Rate up to 250
Set the Grill Temp to "LO"
Just went to check it out .... 335
SOoooo .... Auger Rate = 5 now .... as per original Factory setting .... which has worked great for all these months

The Brisket goes on in about ten mins
Pics and results to follow

 

[DenStinett]

Glad we're able to get these started tonight
I've always trimmed the Point off of the Flat, and cooked them separately
Point (L) Flat (R), Jar of Tallow upper right

Salt, Ground Dried Garlic, Ground Dried Onion and Pepper
On at "LO" 180 over night
Up early tomorrow for a Tallow Bath and Butcher Paper Wrap
Then back on at 270 until they're done

More Pics tomorrow

 

[DenStinett]

This AM
Ready to wrap:

 

[Beach Bum]

Looking good, that is a nice recovery! We also have a brisket in progress. Hopefully about an hour from the resting cooler.

 

[Jim6820]

This AM
Ready to wrap:
View attachment 16793
View attachment 16794

We’ll be right over; warming up the Ferrari now.

 

[Jim6820]

Glad we're able to get these started tonight
I've always trimmed the Point off of the Flat, and cooked them separately
Point (L) Flat (R), Jar of Tallow upper right
View attachment 16792

Salt, Ground Dried Garlic, Ground Dried Onion and Pepper
On at "LO" 180 over night
Up early tomorrow for a Tallow Bath and Butcher Paper Wrap
Then back on at 270 until they're done

More Pics tomorrow

I like the idea of separating the point and flat; each can be monitored individually and pulled when they are ready. I’m going to try that for my next brisket cook.

 

[Greg Jones]

I like the idea of separating the point and flat; each can be monitored individually and pulled when they are ready. I’m going to try that for my next brisket cook.

My wife keeps urging me to try this also. She really doesn’t enjoy the additional fat in the point. Otherwise, I love her unconditionally!

 

[FF Cory]

Glad we're able to get these started tonight
I've always trimmed the Point off of the Flat, and cooked them separately
Point (L) Flat (R), Jar of Tallow upper right
View attachment 16792

Salt, Ground Dried Garlic, Ground Dried Onion and Pepper
On at "LO" 180 over night
Up early tomorrow for a Tallow Bath and Butcher Paper Wrap
Then back on at 270 until they're done

More Pics tomorrow

Looks great! What is the jar of tallow for? I’ve never seen that before. Thanks!

 

[FF Cory]

I like the idea of separating the point and flat; each can be monitored individually and pulled when they are ready. I’m going to try that for my next brisket cook.

When you separated those 2 pieces are you still looking for that magical 204 number in the meat for both or are you looking at 2 different finishing temps? Just curious. Thank you

 

[FF Cory]

This AM
Ready to wrap:
View attachment 16793
View attachment 16794

3 questions… By splitting those 2 pieces, how much did it shorten your cook time? When you trimmed split them did you trim quite a bit of fat off? And finally, what temp were you looking for on them. Thanks in advance. Looks great!

 

[davidnpeggy]

Started the Bull at 13:00 (set on "LO") today to smoke some "Country Style" Ribs for tonight
Put the Meat on at 13:30 and the Grill Temp was 180 .... so far so good
Went out at 15:30 and the Bull was sitting at 95 .... pretty much the Ambient Temp here
Pulled the Grates, the Drip Pan and Heat Deflector .... no Pellets in the Fire Pot
Hopper was approx 1/3 full, so lack of Pellets wasn't the issue
Restarted the Fire Pot with a Handful of Pellets and it started just fine
It got up to 180, but in about 5 minutes the Temp startled dropping .... quickly
Tore it down, and again, the Fire Pot was nothing but a bit of Ash
I then noticed that the Auger wasn't feeding the Fire Pot
Looked at the Setting for the Auger (speed?) and it was still at the original Setting of "5" .... it goes up to 250 ! ? !
Question (s):
Is my Auger set at the right Setting "5" ?
What do y'all have yours set at ?
Is my Auger Motor crappin' out ?

I really need this thing working tonight
I got a Brisket waiting to go on at 22:00, for tomorrow

Thoughts ?

I would recommend that you take a look at your feed rate in the Adjustable Parameters menu on the controller. I turned up the feedrate to solve a low temp control issue. Everything works great both for low and high temps. I would check with more experienced users, I have only had my RT-700 for about a month. I am now very pleased with the temperature control accuracy.

 

[Greg Jones]

I would recommend that you take a look at your feed rate in the Adjustable Parameters menu on the controller. I turned up the feedrate to solve a low temp control issue. Everything works great both for low and high temps. I would check with more experienced users, I have only had my RT-700 for about a month. I am now very pleased with the temperature control accuracy.

The feed rate setting only works on the low side. In other words, turning up the feed rate only increases the minimum temp settings of the grill. If the grill will not maintain those minimum (low side) temps, then there are other issues with the grill.

 

[DenStinett]

She really doesn’t enjoy the additional fat in the point.

That's the reason I do this
We're not that keen on the Fat Ribbon between the two Muscles

Otherwise, I love her unconditionally!

I hear ya Brother

Looks great! What is the jar of tallow for? I’ve never seen that before. Thanks!

After watching a ton of Brisket Vids, the consensus is;
Adding Beef Tallow when you wrap adds-back some of the Fat that has been cooked out
Seems to work for us too
Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=beef+tallow+brisket

When you separated those 2 pieces are you still looking for that magical 204 number in the meat for both or are you looking at 2 different finishing temps? Just curious. Thank you

Each "Roast" is cooked to an Internal of 200 - 205 and pull at that time

3 questions… By splitting those 2 pieces, how much did it shorten your cook time? When you trimmed split them did you trim quite a bit of fat off? And finally, what temp were you looking for on them. Thanks in advance. Looks great!

1) It shortens the wrapped part of the Cook by a couple hours
2) I trim between them by cutting only that Fat Ribbon that lies between the two muscles
Then trim that Fat off of the bottom of the Point
I trim the Fat Cap of the Flat as even as possible to 1/4 inch all the way across
3) Out unwrapped part of the cook is at "LO" (180) for 8+/- hours or until they reach 150 internal
Wrap in Butcher Paper with the Tallow Bath, in at 270 until they reach 200 - 205 internal

I would recommend that you take a look at your feed rate in the Adjustable Parameters menu on the controller. I turned up the feedrate to solve a low temp control issue. Everything works great both for low and high temps. I would check with more experienced users, I have only had my RT-700 for about a month. I am now very pleased with the temperature control accuracy.

Thanks David
The Bull's been running at the set Temp, with the Auger Rate at "5", up 'till last night's failure .... which was entirely on me
After fussing with it, I re-set the Auger back to the factory set of "5", and the Actual Grill Temp is at the Set Temp +/-1 degree
So we're happy

Pics of the Finished Brisket(s) to fallow

 

[DenStinett]

Dinner came out just fine
Not my best, but all in all, not bad
The Flat was so tender
And the Point was quite moist
As usual, a nice Bark and Smoke Ring
And this whole ordeal was so Momma can make Her Smoked Brisket Chili for a Chili Cookoff at work this week

Thanks everyone for their Replies and Likes

 

[Jim6820]

Looks great and the Smoked Brisket Chili sounds like a winner. Does the chili cook-off need a volunteer judge?