Remove pellets after wrap

[Emery S]

I am a brand new Recteq Backyard Beast (my first pellet grill) owner and currently in my first cook. I smoked a brisket over night and now have it wrapped. Is it ok to remove the pellets from the hopper at this point to save them since the meat is no longer getting the smoke? Will it effect the cooker in any negative way? Thanks for any advice!

 

[Greg Jones]

Once you wrap a brisket, you can finish it in your home oven if you wish. Nothing to be gained by continuing to keep it in your grill, other than it keeps your kitchen cooler in the summer.

 

[Jim6820]

I am a brand new Recteq Backyard Beast (my first pellet grill) owner and currently in my first cook. I smoked a brisket over night and now have it wrapped. Is it ok to remove the pellets from the hopper at this point to save them since the meat is no longer getting the smoke? Will it effect the cooker in any negative way? Thanks for any advice!

I don’t understand what you are asking here. If you “remove the pellets from the hopper,” the fire goes out soon after and the cook stops. Now, if when you wrap the brisket, you are done with the cook, then I guess you can remove the pellets though not sure why.

OTOH, if you are wrapping at the stall point, you will need some heat source to complete the cook. As @Greg Jones pointed out, you can finish the cook in your home oven. Otherwise, you will need to do it in the grill, so don’t remove the pellets.

 

[Emery S]

Beginner, I learned the hard way! I ran out of pellets and didn’t refill… lost heat. I didn’t realize the heat was dependent on the pellets burning, I thought the fire from the cooker would keep the barrel hot. Just finished 16 hour cook on a brisket. Planning to let it rest 5 hours, excited to test my first cook.

 

[Mozekian]

Am I the only one who wants to see how this brisket turned out, when they did not know you need pellets for the pellet grill to work?

Just busting chops Emery, but this is pretty darn funny
A pellet grill without pellets is like an ice maker without water.

 

[Emery S]

Bust all you want, I’ve never used the “easy bake oven” of smoking before. I thought the fire alone would make it work like a smokeless oven.

 

[Jim6820]

Bust all you want, I’ve never used the “easy bake oven” of smoking before. I thought the fire alone would make it work like a smokeless oven.

@Emery S, we love you, man; we’ve all been on the bottom end of the learning curve. And, the folks on this forum are a great support group to help you get a handle on things.

The thing is, there is no “fire” or heat without pellets. They are what create the fire and the fire provides the heat. No pellets, no fire, no heat. It sounds like you think there is a separate heat source besides burning pellets.

There is no separate heat source in these grills; just the pellets burning in the fire pot. The electrical connection is there just to provide power for the control board that regulates temperature control/pellet feed plus powering the auger and fan.

 

[TheRicker]

…and there’s no need to empty the hopper after each cook unless you like to use different flavored pellets each time.

 

[Emery S]

@Emery S, we love you, man; we’ve all been on the bottom end of the learning curve. And, the folks on this forum are a great support group to help you get a handle on things.

The thing is, there is no “fire” or heat without pellets. They are what create the fire and the fire provides the heat. No pellets, no fire, no heat. It sounds like you think there is a separate heat source besides burning pellets.

There is no separate heat source in these grills; just the pellets burning in the fire pot. The electrical connection is there just to provide power for the control board that regulates temperature control/pellet feed plus powering the auger and fan.

Thanks, I get it now. I thought there was an element which got hot and burned the pellets and if no pellets.., the element would still be hot enough to heat the barrel.

I smoked the brisket 12 hours with mesquite pellets at 200 then wrapped in foil and raised temp to 235. Pulled at 202 then rested it in a cooler 5 hours. The moistness and tenderness were spot on. The flavor was not as good as I usually get when I cook brisket on my Egg.

 

[Jim6820]

Thanks, I get it now. I thought there was an element which got hot and burned the pellets and if no pellets.., the element would still be hot enough to heat the barrel.

I smoked the brisket 12 hours with mesquite pellets at 200 then wrapped in foil and raised temp to 235. Pulled at 202 then rested it in a cooler 5 hours. The moistness and tenderness were spot on. The flavor was not as good as I usually get when I cook brisket on my Egg.

There is an “ignitor” element that starts the pellets burning when you first turn the grill on. It does not provide enough heat to keep the barrel hot, however. And, if there are no pellets to be ignited, the control board will turn the ignitor off after a few minutes protecting the element from damage.

As for the brisket, I’m glad it turned out well, even if the flavor was down a bit from your previous cooks. Pellet smokers don’t provide the same level of smoky flavor as charcoal or stick burners. That said, different brands of pellets can provide different smoke profiles. You might experiment with some different brands and/or flavors. Mesquite pellets usually provide a fairly strong flavor profile but that may vary from brand to brand. I use mostly Hickory and like the profile I get with them, but everyone's preferred flavor profile can be different.

Good luck moving forward. If you got the moisture and tenderness right on your first pellet grill brisket, you did well.

 

[Jvonberg72]

On my 1250 the left side is the coolest, center is closest to the reported temperature and the right is the hottest. The more meat the more even the temperature…. So I try to cook more meat per cook!

 

[Pizza_Smoker]

First off... pics... Gotta see that brisket..

2nd off.. personally i never take my pellets out of the grill.. In fact-- i always keep it full.. Just in case i brain fart on a cook-- i dont want to run out of pellets..

 

[KSM]

As Jim6820 has stated try a different brand and type of pellet. Also, you can increase smoke flavor by reducing the temp down to 200-220 range for the first couple of hours (lower temp = more smoke) then bump up the temp - though this will extend the cook time a bit. I switch wood pellet flavor all the time so I purchased a small cheap shop vac from one of the big box stores for about $50 that I use exclusively to vacuum out the unused pellets and store them in their respective airtight buckets. I also run the auger for a few minutes in the test mode (see control board instructions) to remove any pellets in the auger tube that cant be vacuumed out. Right before I re-fill the hopper, I take a handful of pellets and place in the burn chamber to speed up the start up process. You should also consider keeping your hopper empty when not cooking for a while if you live in a wet/high humidity part of the country to prevent pellets swelling from moisture absorption that leads to auger jam that is hell to clear. A lot depends on where you live, how often you fire up the smoker, and the if your smoker is protected from the elements or not when not in use. Some food for thought.