Temperature Fluctuations On New Silverton XL

[Stephen]

( Silverton XL IS WORKING VERY WELL NOW, Please read my post from June 9. )
I am very alarmed. Should I take this Silverton XL back to Costco and get my money back?
I Seasoned my new Silverton XL to 300 degrees, then to 500 degrees, just like the instructions said. It got up to 500 degrees just fine with no problems.
So I ran it though the Shut Down Cycle. No problem. Then I let her cool down for an hour then put in some New York Strip Steaks and set it at 180 degrees with some Traeger Gourmet Blend Pellets.
The heat fluctuations went from 140 degrees to 230. Hours later, the internal temperature of the steaks was only 140 degrees according to some ThermoPro Heat Probes. These ThermoPro Heat Probes are very accurate.

My gosh! Everything I read about BBQ says that consistent temperature is important.

Do you guys tolerate near 100 degrees heat fluctuations in your Pellet Grill?????????????

And I want to BBQ whole brisket, slabs of ribs and pork shoulders. My wife and I were so happy while assembling this thing, anticipating great smoked meat.

And the pressure is on me to start producing good smoked meat or take it back. My wife and I are not rich. This $1,500 Pellet Grill is a big, big investment for us.

What should I do? What should I do?

 

[Smoke_and_Joke]

Having owned a Traeger Texas Elite for several years, I "upgraded" to the Silverton XL from Costco. My experience was similar to yours, only my shakedown smoke was a 13.5 lb Brisket. I took the Silverton back to Costco this past week. Also, it took a long time for the Silverton to get up to the set temps both during the seasoning and the actual cook sessions. Not to mention the flame out. The salesman hyped up the Silverton was faster and had a more even temp, blah blah blah. Said he lived in Minnesota and had no problem with his with 12 feet of snow on his. I live in Southern California. Did not live up to the salesman's hype so back it went.

 

[Stephen]

I take it all back. My Silverton XL is holding temperature at 280 degrees within 3 or 4 degrees.
I texted the Traeger Representative from the Costco Traeger Show. He told me there would be no wild fluctuations after I connected the grill to WIFI. I did not believe him, but I tried it, and I am glad I did, he was right.
I was getting ready to take it back I was getting some some long 2 X 6 boards ready to make a ramp to load it into my pickup truck! But I carried those boards back to storage, now.

And right now, those baby back ribs on my Silverton XL are starting to bend easily for that fall-off-the-bone style and I am a happy man, indeed.

It looks like the temperature gauge on the Silverton XL is showing about 30 degrees less than the actual ambient temperature, according to a temperature probe, Therm Pro. I have tested these heat probes previously and they are very accurate.

No matter, I can adjust the temperature setting on my Silverton XL.

My wife and I made our own BBQ rub and no doubt, I will be searching this site for good recipes.

We are having the time of our life with this Silverton XL !!!

 

[Manannan]

When I bought my Gen 2 Ironwood the salesman told me to be sure to connect it to WiFi to ensure the software was updated to the latest version, I did and it was!

 

[Mathis]

According to Traeger, "On a typical, good-weather day, your grill should fluctuate no more than ±25°F/14°C.".
A 50 degree swing is normal.

https://support.traeger.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407213012379-Temperature-Swings

 

[Manannan]

On a typical, good-weather day, your grill should fluctuate no more than ±25°F/14°C.".
A 50 degree swing is normal.

When I first started using both my Pro575 and Gen2 Ironwood I would say this represented the maximum swing but purely anecdotally it appears the fluctuations have got less the more I have used the grills and are less the higher the set temperature. Again only anecdotally whilst the ambient temperature variations within the grill (as measured on the Meater probes) can vary to a modest degree the higher the set temperature the less the variation or so it seems?

 

[Mathis]

According to Traeger, the fluctuation will become less the longer the grill is on also.

 

[NoGood Traeger]

On the Silverton 620 I have, the temp swings vary during a cook. Sometimes the high/low swing is symmetrical and other times very lopsided. Sometimes small, sometimes large. As little as plus/minus 5' or larger and then other times
-5'/+50' or the other way around.