New to me Memphis Advantage Plus Pellet Grill/Smoker

[R Chin]

Been wondering what the pellet life was like and have been monitoring marketplace and CL for a cheap Yoder smoker. After seeing multiple listings of rusty yoders and reading about the top complaint (rust) I was hesitant to pull the trigger on a Yoder unless I got a screaming deal. A Memphis Grill popped up on my Yoder search on FB and after lots of research for durability and parts availability, I decided to take a look. Seller was motivated and I negotiated him down from $500 to $400.

Memphis moved their manufacturing to China in 2019 and has taken a big hit to their reputation and dealer network. My primary concern was keeping this thing running with proprietary parts, but other than the controller, it seems like I could probably kluge something from generic parts to keep it operational.

Everything is 430 or 304 stainless so not a speck of rust anywhere. Grates are substantial - I’d say 8mm - even the upper shelves

It’s “double walled”, but not “sealed” like the higher end Pro or Elite models - this means there are two layers of sheet between the cooking chamber and the environment, but it’s not a sealed jacket like I assumed. No matter, I’m testing at 200f and the thing is barely cycling and I can touch the exterior surfaces - only issue is I don’t see much smoke. Now running at 225f and there is some visible smoke coming out the exhaust vents in back of lid.

Hopper is only 12lb but I think that should be plenty to get through the night running low and slow with the insulation.

Any ideas for first cook?

 

[LMichaels]

I had no clue they were that type. (front hopper, center burn pot, double slant grease tray. Quite interesting. Not nearly the "generic" or off the shelf type product I'd envisioned when you first mentioned the interest in it. I.E. side mounted hopper (housing electronics, and motors), auger box running out to burn pot with igniter snaked inside it. This reminds me more of a couple of the RecTec models Very interested to see how it does. One I've had my eye on as a great candidate is the Traeger Silverton. I really like the layout of it. Looks like a run of the mill gas grill, except with the hopper on the side. Very similar to your Memphis

 

[JKalchik]

FWIW, I have a Yoder 24"x48" charcoal grill, 5+ years old now. With my high heat grilling, even stove paint takes a beating, but it does seem to be holding up well. It does have a design flaw that I'm still chasing that leads to the ash drawer filling up with water after a rainstorm.

Even if the lid double walls aren't sealed, they'll still aid significantly IMO to keeping the heat inside.

I really don't want to SEE much smoke coming out of the stack on my smoker. A very thin blue smoke is all I want.

 

[Jon Tofte]

I had no clue they were that type. (front hopper, center burn pot, double slant grease tray. Quite interesting. Not nearly the "generic" or off the shelf type product I'd envisioned when you first mentioned the interest in it. I.E. side mounted hopper (housing electronics, and motors), auger box running out to burn pot with igniter snaked inside it. This reminds me more of a couple of the RecTec models Very interested to see how it does. One I've had my eye on as a great candidate is the Traeger Silverton. I really like the layout of it. Looks like a run of the mill gas grill, except with the hopper on the side. Very similar to your Memphis
View attachment 115738

Smokin Brothers also makes a front hopper pellet grill right here in the US.

Wood Pellet Grill Made in America 30-Inch Premier Plus

Upgrade your wood pellet grill game with this American Made grill that features a welded frame, center stack for even temperature, and so much more!

smokinbrothers.com

 

[timothy]

Smokin Brothers also makes a front hopper pellet grill right here in the US.

Wood Pellet Grill Made in America 30-Inch Premier Plus

Upgrade your wood pellet grill game with this American Made grill that features a welded frame, center stack for even temperature, and so much more!

smokinbrothers.com

I like the barn style one. My Wife would even cook on that.

 

[R Chin]

Today I inspected and cleaned the entire grill starting with the burn pot and plenum.

Here are better shots of the deflector - one flat deflector above burn pot riveted to the sloped grease trays. (The lower priced Select model has a deflector only sloped from left to right)





I removed the burn pot and found the plenum full of ash (pic after shop vac)

 

[R Chin]

The seller had received an ER2 which indicated a bad RTD. He ordered an oem RTD from Memphis and installed but did not route the cable properly and had to lower the probe placement to compensate for the “short” cable

I found his “splice” using electrical tape with exposed conductors adjacent to the fan



I relocated the probe back to the original location and did the best I could to repair the wiring using crimp connectors and heat shrink tubing.

I also found some bolts with sheared heads that secure the side shelves - will attempt to extract tomorrow

First cook on the Memphis will be two racks of BRITU baby back ribs

 

[LMichaels]

Good you caught those "mishaps" in there. It does look like it may have seen some water or moisture in it's day. Looks like a could be a nice pit. Only rough thing might be is for the most part you can't just run to the Amazon page and get generic type parts for it

 

[R Chin]

And we’re off… maiden cook of new to me Memphis grill
Two racks of baby backs on the middle and upper racks with Kirkland (aka pit boss) pellets @225 for 3h



Meanwhile, I’m extracting some studs where the bolt heads were sheared off - one on each side supporting the shelves. Previous owner added some sheet metal screws but left the broken bolts…

 

[timothy]

No disposable drip pan under the ribs?

 

[LMichaels]

That is how I do my Q. I always tend to use the upper rack(s) on my pits. Sometimes I use a disposable pan sometimes I don't depends on my mood or what I am cooking

 

[timothy]

Yea with my Gen 2 EX6 I always use one because all of the grease fire issues with the Gen1.
I don't think I used my bottom rack at all except for grilling a few times.

 

[R Chin]

Wanted to try it without pans or foil to see how difficult it would be to clean the deflectors after the cook

Not much to report + here is progress pic after 1.5h

 

[R Chin]

Results:





Color looks great but…
Overcooked - I got small racks and should have checked more frequently and pulled earlier. Could also be different heat profile than the WSK

Too sweet - I usually take racks off WSK one by one as they finish and move them over to Vieluxe for glazing and carmelizing. I glazed on the pellet grill since they were already a little over cooked and did not carmelize. Could also be that I used my new ThermoWorks silicone basting brush that is larger and unknowingly slathered more sauce than I usually do.

Smokiness - very subtle and less noticeable than WSK with smoke tube


Next rib cook on the pellet grill: I will get my usual Costco ribs which are larger. Check more frequently. Use my normal basting brush and carmelize on the gasser. Add smoke tube.


Overall - pellet cooking is easy-peezy and I think with a few tweaks can get close to what I was producing on the wsk

So easy that I was able to extract the broken bolts and re-tap the threads on the shelf supports while the pellet grill kept chugging along…