YS1500s Experience Thus Far
Posted: October 5th, 2019, 9:46 amAfter three cooks on the Yoder YS1500s a few notes on what I have learned.
To keep the temp consistent on a long cook its best to keep the damper fully closed and the chimney 20% closed (largely open). My last cook I had two probes at rack level and they showed consistently 20 odd degrees over pit temp as set. That is fine by me- simply adjusted as such. Ran the Yoder at 205 and kept rack temp around 225-235 and this was generally confirmed by the two lid thermometers which showed around 220-225 most of the cook. The chimney side shows slightly cooler which is where I place the flat. When I say slightly, less than 5 degrees which is pretty perfect.
Last brisket I cooked with the lid shut until the probe in the flat reached 200 before poking around. Spot on. Pulled when the thin side of the flat a bit hotter than I would have liked but the point and core flat were perfect. I cook naked and rest in foil for at least two hours- my own spin on things- but I have been successful to my taste. Using Lumber Jack 100% Hickory and Mesquite 50/50 and find the smoke level perfect. Yes, less than my stick burner, but more balanced.
The FireBoard integration is perfect and easy to use. I wire the brisket probes to the Yoder and the rack probes to a FireBoard which is seamless and easy to set up. It just works.
Clearly, after setting up the Yoder and opening the lid to get everything hooked up you see the temp move around a lot before settling down. I don’t really think that matters once you determine what your baseline cook temp should be. After many all night briskets on a stick burning, you know that temp movement is part of the game no matter what. They key is once the Yoder is dialed in, it really keeps things very steady.
Very happy with the the smoker thus far and I like not waking up every hour to feed the fire.
To keep the temp consistent on a long cook its best to keep the damper fully closed and the chimney 20% closed (largely open). My last cook I had two probes at rack level and they showed consistently 20 odd degrees over pit temp as set. That is fine by me- simply adjusted as such. Ran the Yoder at 205 and kept rack temp around 225-235 and this was generally confirmed by the two lid thermometers which showed around 220-225 most of the cook. The chimney side shows slightly cooler which is where I place the flat. When I say slightly, less than 5 degrees which is pretty perfect.
Last brisket I cooked with the lid shut until the probe in the flat reached 200 before poking around. Spot on. Pulled when the thin side of the flat a bit hotter than I would have liked but the point and core flat were perfect. I cook naked and rest in foil for at least two hours- my own spin on things- but I have been successful to my taste. Using Lumber Jack 100% Hickory and Mesquite 50/50 and find the smoke level perfect. Yes, less than my stick burner, but more balanced.
The FireBoard integration is perfect and easy to use. I wire the brisket probes to the Yoder and the rack probes to a FireBoard which is seamless and easy to set up. It just works.
Clearly, after setting up the Yoder and opening the lid to get everything hooked up you see the temp move around a lot before settling down. I don’t really think that matters once you determine what your baseline cook temp should be. After many all night briskets on a stick burning, you know that temp movement is part of the game no matter what. They key is once the Yoder is dialed in, it really keeps things very steady.
Very happy with the the smoker thus far and I like not waking up every hour to feed the fire.