Yoder ys1500 questions

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brandonh1987

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Hi all,

I had a yoder 480 a while back and ended up selling it because I wanted a stick burner!

Anyways a few years have passed, and the stick burning isn't as exciting as I was hoping. The weather here can be very very hot and very very cold, so I get a few good months in, and after a long week, it's hard to want to tend to a fire all day for a fire.

I am looking at a ys1500 yoder.

My 480 really wouldn't smoke above 220 degrees. Anything above that and I was basically cooking in an oven.

Is this how the ys 1500 is? Or will I be able to get a thin blue smoke up at 300?

Also curious what the HMS?? is on that smoker the website speaks of.

So if things work out as planned, I will be hoping I can talk the wife into letting me sell my barely used lang 36 and get the yoder.
 
There are many different opinions on this topic so really it's going to be your personal preference, but luckily you have already owned one so you are ahead of the curve.

I personally have owned three different brands of pellet grills, and also cooked on three others. I really have never noticed much of a difference in the finished product in anything I've cooked on. I actually really like the flavor from pellets so I have been happy with all of mine. From your statements above though, it doesn't seem that you are excited as much about the flavor as some.

My guess is that you would be disappointed. Swap out a hms for the drip pan in the 1500, but other than that you will pretty much just have a bigger more beautiful version of what you already have owned. Firepot system and controller are pretty much identical. They may be configured differently, but a PID controller is pretty much a PID controller.

Not trying to discourage you, but especially since you've already owned one I didn't want you to think just because it's 4000 dollars that somehow it would be drastically different than what you have already used.
 
The YS1500 is a very nice PG but from reading your remarks you may want to consider going the Insulated Cabinet route. With a guru once your fire is started it's set it and forget it and some don't even bother with the Guru.
 
Here is a current thread about my YS 1500. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235101 I have owned an FEC 100, and three other pellet cookers (namely Traeger). I have also owned stick burners, and cabinet cookers. I can tell you that the YS1500 is NOT like any other pellet cooker. It provides a constant stream of smoke the entire cook. This is different from others, as they tend to have bouts of a lot of smoking going on and then a time period where it is burning so hot and clean that you see no smoke.

In all reality, it is of my opinion that people seem to think that you should be coughing up smoke when they eat, that anytime they have food cooked with a wood source that is clean burning, they mistake that for not enough smoke. If you want more smoked flavor, then all you have to do is lower the temp of the cooker, or add more wood and let it burn "dirty". For a pellet cooker, you can use an Amaze-n-tube or add Mojobricks to assist in adding a different type of smoke to your food.

In any case, the YS1500 is an awesome cooker that produces just the right amount of clean smoke. I have a gravity cooker w/BBQ Guru as well. It burns very clean, but the taste/smoke profile is different. I attest this to the charcoal being used.

The HMS is an adjustable plate that sits directly above the fire pot. You can open it completely and grill directly over flame if you like. It is also a great tool when wanting to increase the ambient temperature quickly.
 
bbqwizard said:
Here is a current thread about my YS 1500. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235101 I have owned an FEC 100, and three other pellet cookers (namely Traeger). I have also owned stick burners, and cabinet cookers. I can tell you that the YS1500 is NOT like any other pellet cooker. It provides a constant stream of smoke the entire cook. This is different from others, as they tend to have bouts of a lot of smoking going on and then a time period where it is burning so hot and clean that you see no smoke.

In all reality, it is of my opinion that people seem to think that you should be coughing up smoke when they eat, that anytime they have food cooked with a wood source that is clean burning, they mistake that for not enough smoke. If you want more smoked flavor, then all you have to do is lower the temp of the cooker, or add more wood and let it burn "dirty". For a pellet cooker, you can use an Amaze-n-tube or add Mojobricks to assist in adding a different type of smoke to your food.

In any case, the YS1500 is an awesome cooker that produces just the right amount of clean smoke. I have a gravity cooker w/BBQ Guru as well. It burns very clean, but the taste/smoke profile is different. I attest this to the charcoal being used.

The HMS is an adjustable plate that sits directly above the fire pot. You can open it completely and grill directly over flame if you like. It is also a great tool when wanting to increase the ambient temperature quickly.
Click to expand...

Thanks - yeah my yoder 480 had a clean burn and taste to it too, but that was only below 230 or so. Anything above and I really didn't taste any flavor. I really was only getting a nice stream of thin blue below 230. If I was at 250 or up, I really didn't taste anything. Is that about how your ys1500 is? Or are you getting a nice stream of smoke in the upper 200's?

Thanks
 
I have owned a 480, 2x640 and a 1500. They all use the same controller, auger system and burn pot/grate design. The burn is virtually the same. The big advantage of the 1500 over the smaller cookers is the HMS tends to have a more even cook and the barrel shape tends to circulate the smoke more symmetrically around the meat. I do think it is a better product that comes off it. I definitely liked it better than my FEC-100, but not as well as the FEC-120. It definitely is the best looker!
 
brandonh1987 said:
Thanks - yeah my yoder 480 had a clean burn and taste to it too, but that was only below 230 or so. Anything above and I really didn't taste any flavor. I really was only getting a nice stream of thin blue below 230. If I was at 250 or up, I really didn't taste anything. Is that about how your ys1500 is? Or are you getting a nice stream of smoke in the upper 200's?

Thanks
Click to expand...
The food pictured in my thread were all cooked at 275. We felt that everything had a perfect amount of smoke flavor. I have a nice stream of blue smoke throughout the whole cook.
 
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