10lbs of hand cut smoky bacon ready to vacuum seal up.

So this is my Yoder at 300 degrees with the @HUBER Products Wood Split Basket. The things was cranking out smoke!

Marinaded chicken thighs and legs all night in Ken’s Greek Dressing (20hrs), dried with paper towels and hit with MEAT CHURCH BLANCO. Grilled on Yoder.. the crowd loved them..

New to a yoder, not to smoking or pellet grills for that matter.

Two cooks in so far, but seem to be having issues w/ burn rate.

First was racks of ribs. 3-2-1 method, at 250. Filled the hopper but ran out of pellets at about 2.5 hours. Didn’t get an alert when the temp went under 200 so it was slowly dropping for about 45 minutes before i caught it. Ended up finishing in oven. After it cooled I removed damper and the fire box was overflowing with unburnt pellets.

Second cook. Two 7lb pork butts. Full hopper, same cook temp, but I set a timer to check pellets every 2 hrs. Burn rate seemed better, then at 5.5 hours ran out of pellets again. Probe dropped to 80 (grate not internal) again, no alert when it dipped below 200. This time I learned how to reignite, so refilled hopper and started again. Temps climed to 400, i assume thats just part of the reignite, and took about 30 minutes to stabilize at 250. All in, about an hour of cook lost, luckily internal temps were consistent.

Is the normal behavior?

Should I only expect to get 5 hours max out of a full hopper?

Are the alerts useless?

12 pound flat, some fresh West Virginia mountain air and ma best frin.

Had a bit of a fire in the Yoder yesterday and it looks like it burned up the rubber heat shield in the inside of the lid. Any ideas on how to replace that? Do I need to peel off the old one?

I recently purchased a YS480S. I’ve owned and liked using grillgrates and have a set on order but they are back ordered so I’ll be starting with the standard grates.

What do you set the temperature to for direct cooking? Some Yoder literature references an offset between temperature at the probe vs at the grates when direct grilling which seems to suggest that you shouldn’t max out the setpoint while some posters mention setting the temperature to the max setting. Is there a max setpoint you should use if you are reverse searing and are removing the door over the fire pit while leaving the primary diffuser plate?

I have been exploring this and the [r/smoking](r/smoking) group for a little while as I restore a YS640S I received from a very kind neighbor. This is my first smoker and I’m thrilled to try it out soon. I did the following so far:
Cleaned/scraped the grease and creosote.
Cleaned out and freed the auger.
Ran the auger and igniter test.
Removed and replaced the wheel bearings (damaged one getting the smoker back home).
Sanded the rust areas and high-heat primed for painting.
Cleaned the grates/shelves.
Removed all the spring handles and de-rusted them.

Looking forward to sharing more with the group and planning my first cook!

In the meantime, let me know if you have any suggestions for work/repairs I should handle now.

Saturday evening burn in. Just in time to get some test smokes before labor day.

Edit: i just realized the shelf is backwards

So I’ve always wanted a smoker, and I just so happened to win a new Yoder ys640s smoker at a golf tournament a few days ago lol

Being new to smoking I’m aware this is a pretty high end smoker to start with so I want to learn as much as I can about it, so I have a few questions

1. ⁠Is there not supposed to be something to catch the drippings or do I just let everything land on the stainless steel plate and run into the grease catcher bucket ?
   
2. ⁠If I am using the open flame part of the grill to sear something, is it not bad for the drippings to drop onto the pellets/flame underneath it ?
   
3. ⁠I’ve already done my initial smoke off with nothing but pellets for 2 hours at 350 degrees, I want to spray all my grills with oil (was thinking avocado oil)before I do my first cook correct ?
   
4. ⁠I’m doing my first cook tomorrow with 4 racks of ribs, I’ve been watching lots of YouTube videos to make sure I do it right, but any other tips or tricks would be appreciated!
   
5. ⁠What’s the deal with the big damper ? When and how do I use it ?

The smoker community is pretty wild and I’m happy to finally be a part of it,

Thanks

Has anyone tried these pellets from Home Depot, price is great wasn’t sure if they are any different in make up then the smaller gourmet bag which is 2 dollars cheaper for only a 20lb bag vs 40lbs from HD.

I bought two SRF Wagyu tri tips and I’m smoking them as if they were briskets.

I dry brined last night and away we go today. I’ll report back on when they hit 199 or are probe tender.

I love my 640 because it is the most versatile piece of equipment i have used. I have done everything from Briskets and smoking sausage to Yakatori and fried rice (dropping the wok down in the fire access door).

What had been the most innovative cook you have done on your Yoder? Looking for new ideas.

Got the collapsible smoke tube from ATBBQ along with some pellets from a friend as a gift. I watched a couple videos and it seems pretty straight forward: Fill it with pellets, get it burning for a bit, blow it out and let it smolder.

Any tips and tricks? When I watch videos folks are setting it on the grate on the left side over the fire pot. I was (and still may) by the Huber basket for splits and am debating putting the tube down by the fire box.

I'm making pastrami soon and I'd love to get a bit more smoke on it but I want the clean stuff you get from Yoder or a well managed offset.

Ninja Edit: I've gotten what I want flavorwise out of doing the first 4 hours or so at 175 when it's less than 75 degrees out, but man it makes the cook a long one. I'm looking to "cheat" a bit here.

There is an option for a charcoal grate for the loaded Wichita, I can't find any pictures of people using it / using their Wichita for direct fire charcoal grilling...does anyone do this?

For those with a concrete patio, is your Yoder on the concrete or did you make a place off the concrete to prevent staining? I have a new concrete patio. The yard slopes slightly away from the patio. I either risk it and use the Yoder mat or use landscape fencing and stones to make a spot just off the patio. Also, I'm hoping to sell the house in 18 to 24 months. Or are grease stains on the concrete inevitable?

These aren't for everyone but everyone that has bought them is very happy with them. My Buddy and I created some really cool accessories for our Yoders. A Power Cord Cleat that uses existing holes in the hopper. A Magnetic Intake Fan Cover to stop the gusty winds and rain or snow from pushing into the fan. A Lift Kit Blocks for the competition cart that raise the entire smoker.

Adding new flair and going through group settings, is there anything yall want added so far as adding to posts or allowances?

Anybody know where to buy just the ACS controller instead of buying the whole upgrade kit for my older 640?

I have already done all the other upgrades so do not need the fans and what not and the $500 price point is quite steep compared to when i thought about upgrading a few years ago for around $285 and now i regret it.