Stampede Auger

[ehirst]

What speed do you have your auger set on? When I called tech support for something else, the tech had me change mine from 60 to 30. On a 6 hour cook, I went through a lot of pellets - approx 5lbs. What has your experience been on hours to lbs of pellets?

 

[dsandersus]

@ehirst That's about the rate I'm going through pellets at the "low and slow" method, about 1 lb per hour at 250 and below (roughly). Of course the hotter temps will burn pellets at a faster tick, but it has been rare for me to push over 425 (unless it's Papa Muphy's Pizza night). So I think you're on par of what the usage rate is.

Also, as for auger speed, do you mean feed rate? If feed rate, then, If I'm trying to achieve low temps (sub 225), I'll lower the feed rate to 3%, otherwise I just keep it at the factory default of 6.5%, especially in this heat (105+) the lower feed rate helps immensely to keep those temps low and steady.

 

[ehirst]

Yes I think it was the feed rate. Whatever unit of measurement it was, factory was set at 60 and he had me change it to 30.

 

[dsandersus]

Yes I think it was the feed rate. Whatever unit of measurement it was, factory was set at 60 and he had me change it to 30.

Sounds about right for this time of year, especially in the hotter climate areas. The lower feed rate will help keep the low temps steady.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

In my observation ...the auger speed needed will depend on a few variables...Ambient temp, make and type of pellet, sealed lid or not just to mention a few. If you understand how the system works you can adjust as necessary to keep the pit right where you need it given the conditions you are experiencing.
It may need 3.5 with X brand pellet...but Y brand will need 4.5. At 90 deg ambient 3.5 may be gold while 6.0 may be needed at 32 deg. And so forth.

Just my .02

 

[ifican]

Fair points but i believe min feed rate solely affects lowest possible temp and is directly related to hotter ambient temps. When its really cold out the lowest feed rate has no impact because the unit will need to feed faster to keep up with the temp loss from the outside temp.

 

[DesertRat]

For the second time early in a Cook at 225 my 590 began turning on and off. And the temperature indicated it was way up there, around three hundred. I made a call to support but since it was already dinner time Eastern I didn't even leave a message, just hung up. A short time later Support called me back. Obviously they had captured my phone number. These guys are great. We live in the Mojave and while it was only about 90 degrees, the tech told me to go into settings, hold the settings button down for 5 seconds and numbers would appear. Turn the number down from 60 to 30 to lower the feed rate. Voila!

 

[BoostLife]

I have read that as well. It might be in the 90s but the dark color of the grill will heat it up just sitting there. This is a bigger issue at lower desired cook temps. They have to feed in a certain amount of pellets to maintain the fire so it is a bit of a balancing act.