Yoder Smokers Community Forum

Hey folks,
So I went ahead and started up my YS 480 for the first time yesterday to try it out on ribs. I have to say it was a disappointing experience.

I put two racks of baby back ribs on the grate after a 30 minute preheat to 225 and 6 1/2 hours later their internal temperature was still ~165-170. I suppose first off, is that "normal" to still be stalled that long into the cook? For baby backs everything seems to suggest ~4 hours but I was well on the way to 7 with no end in sight.

Second, I suppose the problem could have been related to temperature. I had a grate probe running on a Thermaworks Smoke throughout the process and even with the lid closed I was seeing big temperature swings as low as 185 and as high as 269.

This is my first pellet cooker...am I missing something here?

Best Wishes!

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If you were cooking the ribs on the upper grate, then the effective cooking temperature was approximately 200 degrees, with the controller set to 225 degrees. The timeframe you mentioned would fit the lower cooking temperature of the upper rack.

No, the ribs were on the lower grate...about 6" to the right of the Yoder temperature probe and only about 2" from the grate level Thermapro probe.

I guess, in your opinion, do those temperature swings seem too large to you?

I suggest you contact Yoder Smokers factory support, please send an email to [email protected] There are lots of unknowns and variables that need to be looked at. In most cases, the cooker is working as it was designed to. If you are spritzing/spraying/mopping liquid in the cooker, yes, you will see temperature swings because of the evaporative cooling effect inside the cooker, that the controller needs to overcome each time liquid is introduced into the cooker.

Cooking ribs at 225 degrees can take 7+ hours. This is why most people wrap the ribs in foil after a few hours, to speed up the process. At 225, and wrapping in foil, ribs can take 5+ hours, depending on the meat. I cook ribs at 275 degrees, without wrapping, and ribs take between 2.5 to 4 hours to become tender, again depending on the meat.

Here is a link to an article on temperature issues: download/Best%20Practice%20and%20how%20to/Temperature%20Issues%20Check%20List.pdf