Yoder Smokers Community Forum

Well the wife and I decided to try pizza in the darth yoder. YS640

Setup, green mountain premium blend in hopper, heat plate installed, dampener full open. Stone set in bottom grill

Upon start up let it warmup to default start up 350f. Then set to 525f. This I let heat soke for over an hour.

Prep pizzas , but noticed while prep was going on the hash marks were continually horizontal and the yoder was not maintaining temp.

Hungry people waiting set the food anyways. But the average temp maintained was around 400 to 430. And control set at 525.

Is there a controller clitch or wrong setup? My wife just purchased this for my Xmas bday ( dec 21) present. Did three previous cooks on it without problems, but this was the first high temp.

More info, ambient temp 0 degree Celsius to -5 (32f to 20f).

Thanks in advance

Once the controller is set above 495, the controller stops displaying the temp reading of the inside of the pit and what mode it's in because temps can vary a lot at higher temps and with opening the door frequently. Your controller is operating normally by only showing the set temp and maintenance mode.

Also, it's recommend not to have the deflector in the cooker over 400 degrees because that will cause it to warp in time. GrillGrates are your best bet for high temp cooking.

Is there a preferred grade of pellet for high temp?

No, just good quality. Not Traeger mainly to start on pellets. High temp don't make a lotta smoke, so oak or some hardwood pellets would be fine. Don't fret it a lot, a good beef style mix would be good. No 100% apple etc, it is more for pork etc. I guess your talking steaks here too.

I use Lumberjack and Q-pellets, same company. It's what I can get locally with no shipping, $0.85 a lb no shipping or tax. They have a beef and pork blend, depending what I'm cooking.

It is hard finding quality pellets up here, especially bunk. Only can find green mountain, louisana, and bbq's delight(goes very quick). It was very hard to find a quality smoker in Canada that wasn't made in China.

BBQr's Delight is the best way to go. So when they are available, I'd stock up and see if they will give you a better deal if you buy a large volume at one time.

Check out Ian Baranesky at the Smoker Broker to see what he can do for you. He is our Canadian distributor. (306) 880-5427

Ian is the one we purchased the smoker from. His price was reasonable considering the exchange on the dollar and what it takes to get it up over the border. We did contact some distributors in the states but easier going close to local.