Smoking a Turkey on a Pit Boss Rancher 1000 Xl Pellet Grill Review
The Pit Boss Austin Twoscore is a pellet grill fabricated especially for Walmart stores. With a retail cost of only under $500, is it a worthy competitor to the Traeger and Rec Tec pellet grills? Nosotros're going to dive deep into our experience with this grill and uncover if y'all can get a adept pellet grill for nether $500.
Note: Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. This doesn't cost you any more than normal. Read our disclaimer for more info.
Pit Dominate Austin Twoscore Size and Dimensions
The Austin XL is 53.5 inches wide and 49.25 inches tall. The depth of the unit is 27.75 inches, which ways that you can lay a rack of ribs from front to back and have enough of space.
An Austin Forty weighs correct at 179 pounds, and feels solid when you're working with it. I don't similar flimsy when it comes to grills, and there's a weight and heft to the grill that makes me happy.
Cooking Space
The start thing that I noticed most the Austin XL is that there is one,000 sq. inches of cooking surface. This is immediately what caused me to consider this unit as soon as I heard about information technology. 1,000 sq. in. of cooking space is plenty room for a lot of food, and since we like to entertain friends and family unit, we needed enough space to cook for parties in add-on to our family.
About 930 sq. in. of cooking space are available on the chief grate. At that place's a secondary shelf that's much smaller adding some extra room, and we left it off the unit for much of our use.
To explain the sheer amount of meat that yous tin cook on this grill, in one cook, we hands fit 8 boston butts. We've been able to cook 3 full packer briskets at a time as well every bit enough burgers and dogs to feed a party of 25 without having to melt multiple batches. Simply said, there'due south a load of cooking surface on the Austin XL.
Structure & Immovability
The Austin XL is made of heavier steel than what you'll notice in most of the competition. There'southward non a lot of documentation virtually the thickness of the steel, but if you accept a adventure to see one in person and lift the lid, you'll experience the difference.
Nosotros have our hands on a bunch of grills here at The Barbecue Lab, and when yous elevator the lid on most pellet grills you lot tin tell they're constructed of thin metal. On the GMG grills that we've used, the lid feels similar its one-half the weight of the Austin XL. I don't know almost you lot, but I want my grill to take a heavy construction and so that information technology lasts longer and keeps the fume inside.
The cart is fabricated of angular steel and connects to rollerblade type wheels in the back and 360 degree casters in the front. There'south a stainless steel side shelf that connects to the side of the unit, and the interior of the shelf is removable. This comes in handy when y'all're out at the grill and need something to move things back and forth.
Longevity – How Long will the Austin XL Last?
While this grill is fabricated of pretty heavy steel, it's yet made of steel which is prone to rust. The longevity of this grill will depend on how y'all take care of it. There'south an optional encompass for the grill that nosotros absolutely recommend if yous're going to store the Pit Boss outdoors.
We store our Austin XL in the garage when it's not in use, which volition extend the life of the unit for many years. If proper maintenance is performed on the grill, nosotros can hands see this being a 7-10 twelvemonth grill with boilerplate use.
There is a 5 year warranty from Pit Dominate on this unit, which ways that if you have problems they'll exist right there to assistance.
How Well Does the Door Seal on the Austin Forty?
In the world of smoker grills, there's always the question of how well the door seals to keep smoke from leaking out. Nosotros have tested many grills where smoke leaks out all over the cooking chamber, and the Austin XL holds up pretty well in this area.
During startup way, in that location's an excess of smoke as the pellets ignite, and it wasn't uncommon to see fume leak out through the door during this time. One time the pellet grill came up to temperature though, we rarely saw smoke leaking out where information technology wasn't supposed to.
Some bbq cooks will encourage the use of gasket seal and high temperature Permatex to lock all of the smoke inside the cooking sleeping accommodation. We don't feel the demand to recommend this for the Austin 40. As mentioned, subsequently the startup process, we only encounter fume coming out of the exhaust stack. It's an expense we recommend in many other units, but the Pit Dominate is fine in this area.
Features on the Pit Boss Austin XL
The lowest temperature setting on this unit is the smoke setting, which is believed to exist prepare to about 180 degrees. The lowest actual numbered temperature setting is 200 degrees, and the highest is 450 degrees.
At that place is a "high" setting that is believed to exist targeted in the 500 caste range, and we have seen temperatures as high as 550 in our unit at that setting.
Straight searing is something that not all pellet grills excel at, but this unit was made with direct grilling in mind. The diverter plate that sits over the fire pot has a flame broiler option that tin can exist activated by moving the broiler plate out of the style.
You tin betrayal the burn down pot for direct grilling directly over the flame with the Austin XL. The vented flame broiler panel allows the flame from the pellets to reach the porcelain coated grill racks. We love using the flame broiler for reverse searing everything from steaks to burgers.
The Austin XL comes with two temperature probes that connect straight to the command board. But place these probes in any food that you would like to rail the internal temperature of, and the probe will written report your temperature on the front end of the unit.
Portability – How Easy Is It To Move?
The Austin Xl has two 6" rollerblade style wheels on the dorsum of the grill that make it incredibly like shooting fish in a barrel to move. There are ii 360 degree hinge casters on the front of the grill that brand it easy to plow while moving.
Nosotros motion a lot of grills here at The Charcoal-broil Lab, and this grill is ane of the easiest to move around and lock in place. Similar Traeger grills only have 2 wheels and two legs on the other side. This makes information technology hard to motion around because you accept to hold one end of the grill in the air.
In case nosotros haven't pointed it out, these grills are all heavy, and having to acquit one side in the air to motion it around pretty much sucks. I love that the Austin Xl has wheels on all 4 legs and is easy to move and position.
That being said, we haven't discussed how portable the Austin 40 would be on grass or uneven surfaces. I wouldn't programme on taking this grill offroad as the smaller swivel casters aren't fabricated for grass or uneven dirt surfaces. The casters are but too small to navigate grass, but on a deck, patio or driveway they're the cat's meow.
Picking Upwardly My Austin Forty (ie: Just ship it…)
I had been reading forums and social posts for awhile that the Austin Forty was the value leader in pellet grill engineering. I heard that the metal was heavier than the contest and information technology was a swell pellet grill to start with. I knew it was time to put it to the test. I drove across the metropolis to Walmart and picked up my Austin Twoscore.
Picking up the Austin XL pellet smoker wasn't piece of cake. I managed to become to the garden department of my local Walmart, and didn't come across anyone effectually to aid me get it loaded onto a cart. After a few minutes of looking for a blue vest, a radio call eventually found someone who could help load this behemoth into a cart.
When I say the box for this grill is heavy, I mean you tin't pick it up without ii people. The team lift stickers on the exterior of the box aren't just for evidence.
By the time I got the grill through checkout, I needed another staff fellow member to help me get it loaded into the SUV. Retrospect existence 20/20, I would much rather have bought this grill online and had Fedex deliver it to my doorstep. The grill ended upwardly stuck in the back of the car for a few days because I didn't accept aid to unload it, so Fedex started sounding actually smart after wrestling the grill for a few days.
Assembling the Austin Xl Pellet Grill
In one case the grill was in the garage, information technology was time for assembly. It took correct around 45 minutes to an hr to get the grill assembled. I found that assembling the legs and cart portion on my workbench made things much easier. There'due south nothing like rolling around on the ground with a screwdriver to remind you that you're not thirty anymore.
With the grill fully assembled, information technology was time to take the stickers off and set the grill for the initial burn in. Getting the stickers off was a pain in the butt to be honest. The sticker came off pretty easily, but the remainder that it left behind was a massive pain to get off the grill.
Initial Burn-In with the Austin XL
For the burn in menses, I recommend coating the inside of the grill with some spray cooking oil. Simply spray downwards any of the interior surfaces with vegetable oil and set the grill to 450 for 45 minutes. The vegetable oil spray isn't mentioned in the manual, but information technology's what we do with all of our smokers here at The Barbecue Lab.
Our goal with the vegetable oil spray is to coat the interior surfaces with oil and so that the smoke has something to stick to as we continue to cook with it. The high estrus volition fire off any of the elements left from manufacturing that we don't desire in the grill.
The surface should turn a nice black color where smoke has adhered to the surface after the initial burn in. This makes sure that any condensation that collects inside the cooking chamber rolls off the metal and into the drip pan instead of sticking around and causing rust.
We're actually looking to create a barrier between the metallic of the smoker and water to ensure that our smoker will concluding longer. Just a trivial bit of vegetable oil, heat and smoke does the trick.
Priming the Austin XL Grill
Before your first melt, yous'll need to prime number the auger with pellets. The grill is designed to have pellets already in the auger during the startup phase, and if you haven't primed the auger to fill up it with pellets, the igniter will time-out earlier any pellets reach the igniter while its hot.
To prime the grill for the first fourth dimension, but fill the reservoir with pellets and startup the Austin XL in smoke fashion and hold down the prime push. This will plough the auger and begin feeding pellets from the pelet reservoir to the firepot.
In one case you hear the get-go pellets autumn into the firepot, y'all tin can power the grill off and the grill is primed.
Starting the Austin XL
Pellet grills aren't that circuitous to cook with, and the Austin XL is no exception. Simply set the temperature punch to the temp that you want, and the grill volition roar to life.
Information technology takes about 10 minutes for the grill to come up to temperature, and here's what you'll hear and come across during the startup phase.
You'll outset past setting the temperature dial to your desired temp, and simply press the power button. You'll hear the fan come to life as soon every bit you press ability, and this is simply the fan pushing air through the auger to provide oxygen for the burn. This fan runs a consequent speed as long as your grill is powered on and won't vary from the fourth dimension yous turn it on to the fourth dimension you turn it off.
Next you might kickoff hearing pellets drop into the firepot from the auger, just you lot won't run across fume for a few minutes. The auger will drop pellets into the firepot for a infinitesimal or ii before the igniter lights upwards to starting time the pellets.
One time the igniter starts to heat upwards, you'll start seeing smoke coming out of the smokestack. As all of the pellets start to burn, the smoke volition be much thicker than what you'll see for the residue of the melt. This is normal. During the startup stage, it's common to see 5x the amount of fume that y'all'll see during a cook.
If you're 10 minutes into the startup phase and you're still seeing actually heavy fume, bank check the hood thermometer to encounter if the grill is coming upwardly to temperature. If at that place's heavy smoke and the temperature isn't ascent, it could be that you have too much pellet residue from previous cooks blocking the igniter from lighting the new pellets.
If the pellets aren't igniting, it's fourth dimension to let the grill absurd down and sweep out the pellet remainder from prior cooks.
Competitors to the Austin Forty Pellet Grill
Many people looking for a pellet grill accept heard of the Rec Tec Bull, Traeger Pro 780, and the Green Mountain Grill Jim Bowie. They're all competitors in the mid range pellet market, and the Rec Tec Bull is the almost expensive of the group. At more than than double the price of the Pit Boss Austin Xl Pellet Grill, the Rec Tec isn't messing around.
Is the Rec Tec Bull worth two and a half Austin XL'due south? There are many bells and whistles on the Bull that the Austin XL doesn't have, just is it worth over $700 more?
Charcoal vs. Gas vs. Pellet Grills
If y'all've done whatever grilling or smoking on charcoal grills, yous know they're much less expensive than pellet grills. The aforementioned goes for gas grills, and while each grill type has its purpose, the pellet grill is a actually good combination of both grill and smoker in a single unit.
I don't know many gas grills that are keen smokers. Y'all need to set them up for two-zone cooking likewise as add some type of wood chip box for fume. Charcoal grills also demand to utilise 2 zone cooking in lodge to exist used as a smoker. While charcoal can give a scrap of a smokey flavor to food, information technology's nonetheless nothing like good old wood.
Ofttimes Asked Questions:
What pellets should I apply with the Austin Forty?
The Austin Twoscore is fueled past wood pellets. You can use whatever pellets from whatever manufacturer in this grill. I've used Traeger, Pit Dominate, Camp Chef, and more, and they all work only fine. We dear using apple tree, hickory, classic blend, fruit blend and the competition alloy when we fire upward the pellet grill.
How do y'all assemble a pit boss Austin 40?
The Austin 40 comes mostly pre-assembled except for the cart and a few handles. Yous'll need some other person to help you lot enhance the pre-assembled grill onto the cart once assembled, but with but a screwdriver and the supplied parts, you'll have information technology together in no fourth dimension.
Does the Pit Boss Austin 40 have WIFI?
The Pit Dominate Austin XL does not accept WIFI congenital into the grill. At that place are multiple options to monitor your grill wirelessly using third party wireless thermometers, but no fashion to control the temperature from a wireless device at this time.
What is the biggest Pit Boss Grill?
The Pit Dominate Austin Xl is the largest Pit Dominate grill. There are also two other grills of like size called the Pit Dominate Pro Series at Lowes and the PB1000T2 at Tractor Supply which offer cooking surfaces in backlog of i,000 sq. in.
Tin you lot grill on a pit boss smoker?
Yep, using the flame broiling slide plate grilling is possible on Pit Dominate grills. Since pellet smokers are designed to cook indirectly, the diverter plate has a slide plate that can be moved to expose the flames directly to the cooking surface.
Are Louisiana Grills and Pit Boss the aforementioned?
Louisiana grills and Pit Boss are both endemic past the parent company Dansons, but their grills are quite dissimilar. Louisiana Grills has much more than elaborate grills and smokers when compared to Pit Boss, only there are definite similarities between the construction and materials between the 2 brands.
How practise you smoke ribs on a Pit Boss?
To fume ribs on a Pit Boss pellet grill, requite the three-2-1 method a endeavour. Set the Pit Boss to 225 degrees and identify the ribs directly on the cooking grate for 3 hours. Afterwards iii hours of direct cooking, remove the ribs and wrap them in butcher paper or aluminum foil and place dorsum on the grill for two additional hours. Once the ribs have reached an internal temperature of 200 degrees, remove from the grill and allow to residuum for thirty minutes.
How does the Pit Dominate perform in cold weather?
We live in Indiana where it can get dainty and cold in the winter and we did use the Pit Dominate Austin XL throughout the season last year. I found that my cooks took a bit longer than expected because the grill did struggle to maintain heat, peculiarly if it was windy. For future winter grilling on this smoker, I programme to take advantage of the insulated blanket to reach more consistent cooks year round.
Some of the slap-up accessories for this grill include:
- Grease Bucket
- Foil Bucket Liners
- Grill Cover
- Insulated Blanket
- Replacement Meat Probe
The Verdict on the Pit Boss Austin XL
Pit Dominate has done a groovy job managing value and features in the Austin XL pellet grill. For nether $500, there's 180lbs of grill here with a calculator controlled pellet system that maintains temperature for you. Information technology's amazing to united states that at that place's a pellet grill this big at this price signal when the competition costs well-nigh double for the same size cooking chamber.
We like the Austin XL for its versatility and price indicate where many features are delivered when competitors seem to strip down their units at the same price. You could do much worse than an Austin XL as your primary pellet grill. There are pellet grills costing 3 times more with only about the same amount of features and cooking surface, so don't overlook this low priced beauty when looking for your next pellet smoker.
Source: https://thebarbecuelab.com/pit-boss-austin-xl/
0 Response to "Smoking a Turkey on a Pit Boss Rancher 1000 Xl Pellet Grill Review"
Post a Comment