Oakford(Nexgrill)580 Assembled


 
LMichaels said:
Yeah, I did not realize you were using that XFinity system. I tried one of those. Total trash IMO. I went with my own, Motorola modem, into the mesh system. It's top notch. I put a node out back in my other garage to handle needs out there, one in front of house and one in basement. Good blanket coverage. Even almost a half block away :D
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I did similar at our beach house. I bought a Motorola modem and a TP-Link router and just buy the high speed Internet from Comcast. Saves at least $125/month.
 
Bob Erdman said:
If you thought the burgers were great, you should try some chicken thighs marinated in Lawry's Signature Italian Marinade. You'll thank me later. That's my go to quick meal. Happy smoking with your new pellet grill.
🍻
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I'm going to look for that Lawry's Marinade today. Looks like we're going to try chicken on this machine tonight. My wife insist on split breasts...always, but no harm in throwing a small pack of thighs on too!
 
So I cooked 4 thighs...bone in, skin on. 2 large breasts...same. First I emptied the hopper and then put a mix of Bear Mountain hickory and Tractor Supply house brand. I started it at 220 to get some smoke going and after playing around a bit, smoke was consistent. I put the chicken on when it was about 250 or so. At this point, I had some reservations about the app and controlling temps from my phone. Seems it reads the temperatures OK, but it doesn't we work consistently to adjust the temps. I think I'm better of with my Inkbird Wi-fi thermometer. After about 15 minutes of consistent smoke , I cranked it up to 380. Another 20 and I cranked it to 430 and the internal temp of the bigger breast hit 165. About an hour all in. Oh, I prepped with some rub on the breasts and I marinated the thighs in that popular Japanese BBQ sauce because they were hawking the big bottle at Costco for $7.00.

The chicken came out great. I question the accuracy of the controller as it relates to food temps. Said it it was 170... Thermapen said 157.
The Thermapen will be part of every cook and I'm using the Inkbird in place of the dpp. Nexgrill has some work to do on the app.

I do see a great future ahead for this pellet grill thing though!
 
Too bad about the inaccuracies. On both the MM and the Z they agree perfectly with my Thermoworks Smoke and my ThermoPro units. As far as the remote apps working on Big Z works perfectly. I can actually change things on my phone and watch it on the grill panel. So I truest it when I am away from it.
I don't have the WIFI controller installed on the MM yet but once I do I will report on how it works as well
 
LMichaels said:
Too bad about the inaccuracies. On both the MM and the Z they agree perfectly with my Thermoworks Smoke and my ThermoPro units. As far as the remote apps working on Big Z works perfectly. I can actually change things on my phone and watch it on the grill panel. So I truest it when I am away from it.
I don't have the WIFI controller installed on the MM yet but once I do I will report on how it works as well
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There might be some user error on my part. Plus, it was cold so I was back and forth house, fireplace, grill. Be a lot easier to dial things in when it's warmer and we get some light back in the PMs.
 
I did a piece of pork shoulder (what some places call "Boneless Country Rib" I'd bought at Costco a while back. Had been tossing around going to Sam's yesterday and buying a bone in pork shoulder, but then I remembered I'd bought a package of this. (Basically Costco takes a whole boneless shoulder and cuts it into slices about 2.5" thick. Was contemplating taking a ride into McHenry to see my dad at the Assisted Living place. So used the Z Grill so I could monitor the cook remotely. Turned out my nephew was there so I stayed here, and used Big Z anyway. Nothing fancy, just the Sam's Club pellets (Smokehouse brand, with 4 wood blend). But Big Z did a very nice job. 235 until the stall point. I bumped it up to 250. Still rolling plenty of smoke BTW, cooked to 190. Let rest a bit, and tucked in. Delish! Simple prep. Just my S&P rub.
 
Reviewing things in the daylight and now much warmer temperature, I will say it was user error on my part for 85% and a less than stellar Nexfi app for 15%. I'm also admittedly guilty of not RTFM as thoroughly as I should have. But even with my rookie blunders, it was stellar chicken. Better than what I've done before on the Akorn with less prep of any sort.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Jay D - Still need to see some pictures of the new pellet pooper.
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Will do, Sir. I'll grab a few after I clean it up today. I've just been told that it's to be pressed into service for dinner this PM...marinated flank steak.
My son is staying for dinner after he and I spend some time at the gun club today.
I've noticed the quality of the dinner menu increases exponentially when he has dinner with us. It's baffling.
 
LMichaels said:
Looks good. IMO Nexgrill can put out a pretty darn nice product
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Not my first Nexgrill grill. They've been making Costco and Sam's Club grills off and on for years.
Fairly good customer service...you speak to a human in under 60 seconds when you call. So far my biggest issue is the grill overshooting the set temperature but I'm thinking it's likely the Tractor Supply house brand pellets. The word "hardwood" is nowhere to be found on the bag...so maybe that $13/40lbs. is better spent for Costco pellets? All the major player websites say pellet quality is the #1 reason for higher temperature swings. I'll burn through what's in the hopper and use the Bear Mountain Hickory next.
 

Jay D in Jersey said:
Not my first Nexgrill grill. They've been making Costco and Sam's Club grills off and on for years.
Fairly good customer service...you speak to a human in under 60 seconds when you call. So far my biggest issue is the grill overshooting the set temperature but I'm thinking it's likely the Tractor Supply house brand pellets. The word "hardwood" is nowhere to be found on the bag...so maybe that $13/40lbs. is better spent for Costco pellets? All the major player websites say pellet quality is the #1 reason for higher temperature swings. I'll burn through what's in the hopper and use the Bear Mountain Hickory next.
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Most of these newer temp controllers will “learn” and get better with whatever pellet you stick with.
 
Over shooting the temp is normal. The PID will "learn" the swing and then settle in, finally running "on the nose". IDK how a non PID would act. My guess is it would be quite inconsistent and way more variable especially with varying pellet types, whereas the PID will "learn"
 
How does one know if it's a PID controller?
The user manual is a bit lacking regarding the controller. It touches on basic functions but that's about it.
 
Jay D in Jersey said:
How does one know if it's a PID controller?
The user manual is a bit lacking regarding the controller. It touches on basic functions but that's about it.
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If it’s not stated in advertising, manual or a review online, I’m not sure how you would know except to stick with 1 brand of pellets for a few cooks and see it it preforms better.
 
Darian Hofer said:
If it’s not stated in advertising, manual or a review online, I’m not sure how you would know except to stick with 1 brand of pellets for a few cooks and see it it preforms better.
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I think I'll do exactly that. The Bear Mountain explicitly states hardwood. The Tractor Supply has no such wording. Surely if they were hardwood, they'd put it on the bag/
 
I am quite sure of 2 things. One I am pretty sure I saw they were PID in their advertising on their own web site, and 2 I would highly doubt they would bother to add BT and WIFI if it wasn't PID
 
OK. So I had some time to play around a bit and I'm learning something about these machines.

- It takes a few minutes to settle into the optimal smoking temperature of 225, which is one of three preset modes, the others are 500 and 180.

- upon startup in order to settle in to 225, it will shoot up to 295-300 and then steadily come back down...10-15 minutes total from startup.

-depending on outside temperature, it holds your set temperature within 3-5 degrees

-there is very adequate smoke in the 225-230 range... obviously that's why 225 is one of the presets.

-the Tractor Supply brand pellets are just fine but I'm shooting for hardwood pellets... Costco, B&G, Kingsford.etc..

I think I'm getting this down now. Not the instant response of a gasser. But not the lengthy process of the Kamado to control temps.

Generic probes for Traeger, Pitt Boss on Amazon are identical to the probe that came with it and work perfectly. I bought 2 @ about $7 each.

Thanks to you all for the advice and answers along the way. Looking forward to some great food from this grill.
 
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