Check Pellett message during brisket cook

[PatrickB]

I need advice……I was ready to return my Grill, but the Brisket was so good, I’m rethinking it now:

First time cooking a brisket (ever) and cooked it on my Ex 4 on October 30th. I pit it on at 235 degrees and 4 hours later received a phone message through the app that the grill temp had dropped to below the target temp and to check the grill. The Pellet bin had a concave area over the feed area, but it wasn’t empty. I moved the pellets over the concave area and the grill starts increasing in temperature, but it didn’t stop at the set 235 temp. It got as high as 400 degrees. At this point I used the app and reset the temp to 225 and it slowly started to come back town and settled at 225. Same situation occurred about 4 hours later.

I’m concerned about the temperature running away like it did. I had a drop pan under the Brisket and I suspect that the drippings would have ignited if the temp kept going up.

Anyone else experiencing similar issues? Any suggestions?

The guard is still in place. I am considering removing it prior to the next cook.

Including a pic of the meteorite….everyone loved it! 14 hour cook time, but could have used 16. I had to push it at the end by cranking the heat. I’ll definitely start earlier next time!

 

[JpsBBQ]

No brainer. Remove the stupid guard. It serves no purpose except to impede the flow of pellets. Also, fill the pellet bin whenever possible and especially when doing a long cook. A full hopper has more weight and less chance of serious bridging. These few simple things eliminate the issue.
The run away temp was a result of running out of pellets I’m sure. If something like that happens just lift the lid to let the hot air escape and it should regulate properly from there. You likely confused the programming by starving it of fuel.
Give another chance. You won’t regret it. Food is awesome and the versatility of the unit is truly u inquest in the industry. Cheers!

 

[bbqking]

Wire guard for sure.

 

[Goneincognito]

Pellet void then a pellet dump once you cleared it which caused the temp spike.
Removing the finger guard will help greatly but will not solve the issue.
It's a problem that goes hand in hand with owning any pellet grill.

 

[PatrickB]

No brainer. Remove the stupid guard. It serves no purpose except to impede the flow of pellets. Also, fill the pellet bin whenever possible and especially when doing a long cook. A full hopper has more weight and less chance of serious bridging. These few simple things eliminate the issue.
The run away temp was a result of running out of pellets I’m sure. If something like that happens just lift the lid to let the hot air escape and it should regulate properly from there. You likely confused the programming by starving it of fuel.
Give another chance. You won’t regret it. Food is awesome and the versatility of the unit is truly u inquest in the industry. Cheers!

Thank you for the information. I’m going to take your advice.

 

[PatrickB]

Pellet void then a pellet dump once you cleared it which caused the temp spike.
Removing the finger guard will help greatly but will not solve the issue.
It's a problem that goes hand in hand with owning any pellet grill.

Thank you for the information. I thought this was an issue limited to the Weber. I didn’t know other Pellet grills had this issue as well. Good information. I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of returning this one and still having the same issue with another Pellet grill. Thanks again