Considering Pit Boss products are sold all over the world, with direct-to-customer sales in over 30 countries, there’s a lot to know about them. So, just in case you have any questions, or if you’re just a grill brand enthusiast, here’s 15 Pit Boss Grill facts that you absolutely must see.
If the cool chill of winter has got you dreaming of warm summer days and backyard barbeques, it’s safe to say that you’re not alone. As the days grow colder, there’s just about nothing that sounds as good as a homemade burger, straight off the grill.
If you’re anything like my father, grilling is your specialty, and you’ve probably got some preferences to go along with it. From having the perfect grill, to using only the best fuel, your process is extremely important.
Which is why you’ve probably heard of Dansons Inc.’s Pit Boss Grills. Pit Boss Grills are the ivy league of value-engineered, innovative combination-fueled grills, barbeques and smokers.
They do more than just manufacture grills, you can actually get just about every grilling accessory under the sun from these guys; pellet fuel, cooking accessories, griddles, even spices and sauces!
Find out more: Can you use a Pit Boss without Pellets?
1. How To Start A Pit Boss Pellet Grill?
The simple answer on how to start a pit boss pellet grill is to plug in your grill, fill the hopper with pellets, open the lid, and hit the power button. However, if you’re a bit antsy about your first time powering up your fancy new grill, don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it.
Firstly, Pit Boss Grills, like just about every other grill you’ll find on the market today, are electric. So step one is to plug your grill in. Once it’s got electricity running through it, you’re going to want to fill up the hopper with pellets; this is what we’re going to be burning.
One thing we all know about fire is that it produces smoke, so do yourself a favor and open up the lid of your grill. This will make sure that the smoke it’s going to emit doesn’t get trapped and combust when the fire ignites.
Okay, so the hopper’s filled, the grills all plugged in, and the lid is open; step four is powering on your grill. Hit the power button on the control board to power it up, then set the grill to its smoke setting. You’ll know that you’ve done this when you hear the fan start running.
Your Pit Boss Pellet Grill is going to begin its automatic startup procedure, and you can leave it to it, or you can speed up the process by holding down the prime button. Not all Pit Boss Grills come equipped with a prime button, but if yours does, it’ll be located near the power button on the control panel. Holding down the prime button will continually turn the auger motor, but you can absolutely let the grill do this automatically.
During the initial startup, it’ll take about 20 minutes for the pellets to reach the burn pot and start smoking. If it exceeds 20 minutes with no changes, you may have to restart the startup cycle depending on if any pellets have made it to the burn pot. If there are no pellets in the burn pot, turn the grill off and start again.
If everything goes according to plan, you’ll hear the pellets drop into the burn pot, and after a few minutes you’ll see heavy white smoke. That’s completely normal during the initial startup, and after a few more minutes you should be able to hear the fire ignite. Once the white smoke clears, you can shut the lid.
If this is your first time starting the grill, you should set the grill to 350 degrees and leave it for about 30 minutes. This “burn off” cleanses the grill of any residue from the manufacturing process and preps the grates for cooking. Once a half hour has passed, your grill is good to go.
If you’re more of a visual learner, you can check out this video on the Pit Boss YouTube channel to walk you through it: grill startup guide.
2. How Long Does A Pit Boss Take To Heat Up?
Unless it’s your first time starting up your grill, Pit Boss grills light up relatively quickly. From hitting the on button to ignition, it only takes about 3 minutes in total. So if you’ve got to duck inside to grab your burgers, you’ve got the perfect window.
If it is your first time starting up a brand new Pit Boss grill, you’re going to have to spend a little more time on the startup process. You’ll have to give the grill a good half hour to “burn off”, which basically just translates to priming the grates for cooking and searing off any nasty residue that may have carried over from the manufacturing process.
Once that’s done, every other ignition should be quick and easy, so you never have to stress about a too-long prep time before a backyard barbeque.
3. Which Pit Boss Grills Have Wi-Fi?
We hope our older grillers are enjoying our Pit Boss Grill facts – but you’ll find this one pretty wild!
For a long time, Pit Boss grills were amazing on every front except on connectivity which had become a modern standard for grills. In 2020, Pit Boss finally began releasing grills offering wireless connectivity, and today many of their grills and most of their pro series have WiFi. To name names, the Pit Boss Lockhart Platinum, KC Combo Series 4-in-1, and all of the Pro Series Pellet Grills come outfitted with wireless connectivity.
However, if you’ve got an older model Pit Boss that’s been a mainstay of your grilling game for years, and you’re just not willing to part from your loyal machine, worry not. You can actually add a WiFi upgrade to existing Pit Boss grills.
With an after-market accessory sold by Pit Boss (which you can pick up right here on Amazon), you can enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and control your grill with your phone through the Pit Boss Smoke IT app.
The upgrade is compatible with most Legacy Pit Boss grills and goes in place of the controller that came with your grill. It’s extremely convenient, and even has temperature probe ports that you can add to your grill so you can actually monitor the temperature of your meat in real time from your phone.
The installation process is quick and painless, so you’re not going to spend hours agonizing over it. So whether you opt for a newer model, or grab the wireless upgrade, your grilling game is about to get a lot more high-tech.
Do note that there are two versions of the upgrade, so make sure you’re getting the one that’s compatible with your grill before you check out.
4. How Often To Clean A Pit Boss Pellet Grill?
Assuming you’re not into reusing dirty dishes, you probably know to thoroughly scrub the grates of your grill before and after every use. However, other components of the grill don’t need to be cleansed quite as frequently, but a general rule of thumb is to clean out your grill every three to five sessions.
Grills can become grease traps really quickly, and if you neglect cleaning them for too long, you’re going to have layers upon layers of the grossest build-up to scrape through. To stay on that, it’s best to scrub the grates of your grill with every use. It’ll make sure that your food isn’t picking up any residual flavors and it’s also just a lot cleaner to do so.
For other components, such as the grease drip tray, burn pot, and smokestack, it really depends on how often you’re grilling. If you’re absolutely obsessed with your Pit Boss and every single dinner is made on it, a weekly deep cleaning would be best. If you’re only reaching for your grill every few weeks, you can keep the more thorough cleansing for after every three to five sessions.
During these deep cleanses, be sure to clean out the grease drip tray and burn pot, which can be tedious but I promise it’ll improve your overall grilling experience. No one wants to eat off a nasty grill. The smokestack is also a really crucial place for pellet grills, as a clean smokestack allows for better airflow.
Find out more: How to clean a Pit Boss Grill
5. How Long Do 20 Pounds Of Pellets Last In A Pit Boss?
Let’s do some math. On average, a pellet grill is going to burn between one to three pounds of wood pellets per hour. Multiply that by twenty, and that means 20 pounds of pellets is going to last between 6 to 20 hours in a Pit Boss grill.
Of course, pellet burning is not an exact science, and your use time is going to depend on a whole host of factors from the humidity of the area, to the day’s temperature and wind speed. Weather conditions will affect the time it takes to burn through pellets.
The most relevant factor, however, is your cooking temperature. Lower temperatures burn less pellets an hour than higher temperatures. If you maintain a solid 225 degrees throughout, you might get 20 hours of grilling, but if you’re pushing 350, you’re going to be burning through fuel faster.
Different wood will also burn differently. For instance, you’ll get more hours out of a dense hickory than you would a lightweight apple wood.
6. How Long Will A Pit Boss Run On A Full Hopper?
There is a wide selection of Pit Boss grills which come in a variety of sizes. Naturally, hopper capacity is subject to change. Generally speaking, though, the average Pit Boss hopper holds around 18 to 19 pounds of pellets with no issue, so you can get anywhere from 6 to 20 hours of grilling from a full hopper.
Of course, all of this varies depending on pellet type, weather conditions, and cooking temperature, but that’s the average estimate.
If you’ve got something like the The Pit Boss Vertical Smoker, which has a hopper with a capacity upwards of 40 pounds, you can aim for more than 24 hours of use. Considering you’re probably not planning a 24-hour non-stop grilling extravaganza, the average Pit Boss grill should last you just fine with a full hopper.
7. Are Pit Boss Grills Waterproof?
We’re about halfway through our Pit Boss Grill facts, so let’s talk weather.
To put it simply, no, Pit Boss grills are not waterproof. Pit Boss grills are electrical appliances, and if you’ve made it this far in life, you know that electricity and water are not a great combination.
The official manual that comes with Pit Boss grills, and their website, strongly advise against exposing your grill to water, even just a light drizzle. While all of the electrical components are technically water-resistant, they’re not waterproof. Damage can still be done, and an exploding grill from an electrical failure is definitely not something you want to deal with.
8. Are Pit Boss Smokers Electric?
Although the fuel for the actual smoking part of the process is your choice between pellets and gas, all Pit Boss Smokers are electric and require electricity to function.
The electricity powers all of the internal components of the smoker, such as the control panel, auger and fan. The smoke itself comes from burning fuel, most typically wood pellets when it comes to Pit Boss.
9. Who Makes Pit Boss Grills?
Pit Boss Grills are a subsidiary of Dansons Inc., who are a leading manufacturer of grills and grilling accessories. All Pit Boss grills are made by Danson Inc., as well as Pit Boss smokers, wood pellets, and any other Pit Boss products.
10. Who Sells Pit Boss Grills?
If you’re in the market for a Pit Boss grill, hunting one down is going to be a very easy task. They’re sold just about anywhere, from Walmart to Bed, Bath & Beyond.
If you’re looking for the most convenient way to secure a grill, however, you can head on over to their Amazon store. There, you can pick up just about any Pit Boss product with a few clicks, such as the Pit Boss Austin XL 1000 sq. in. Pellet Grill.
On the Pit Boss official website, you can find a “Where To Buy” section at the very bottom of the page that features 14 retailers that sell Pit Boss products.
Considering Pit Boss sells direct-to-customer in over 30 countries, however, their products can likely be found at more stores than just those listed on their website.
11. Which Pit Boss Pellet Grill Is The Best?
It’s no secret that Pit Boss has tons of products to choose from, especially when it comes to grills. Unfortunately, that can be kind of intimidating when it comes to actually picking one out, I totally get it. To make things easy for you, the best reviewed Pit Boss pellet grill available right now is the Pit Boss 820FB Wood Pellet Grill.
The 820FB Wood Pellet Grill comes outfitted with LED digital controls, a 19 pound hopper capacity, and can reach a whopping 500 degrees Fahrenheit. It is insanely cool (or hot, I suppose), and an extremely reliable grill.
This model comes with an expansive cooking area, durable construction, and it’s just so damn pretty.
12. How Many Watts Does A Pit Boss Grill Use?
On average, your grill is going to use roughly 300 watts in the first five or so minutes, after which the ignitor will be hot and the flame will be active. Beyond the initial ignition, the grill will pull around 50 watts of power continuously while in operation.
13. Are Pit Boss Grill Grates Dishwasher Safe?
Grill grates are the part of your grill that are going to get the greasiest after use. While it’s definitely not appealing to have to slug off all that build-up by hand, chucking it in the dishwasher can actually clog the appliance with all the grease and grime. So, unfortunately, Pit Boss grill grates are not dishwasher safe.
Fortunately, however, the cleaning process is not a long and arduous one. In fact, you can follow the simple steps detailed in the official Pit Boss Grill Cleaning Guide. And because I like you so much, I’ll even write it out here for you.
Scrub the grates with a grill brush before removing them from the grill. Then, place the grates on a solid surface and spray them with some degreaser and leave it to soak for a minute before wiping off the degreaser and rinsing the grates. Finally, wash the grates with some mild detergent and set them aside to dry.
Once you’re done with all of that, your grates will be clean enough to eat off, which is ideal considering they’re essentially cooking surfaces.
14. How Often To Clean A Pit Boss Pellet Grill?
Grills are huge, so let me put your mind at ease right now and tell you that you don’t have to wipe down the whole thing after every single use (though you absolutely can). Generally speaking, you’re going to want to scrub down the grates before and after each use, but other components can be left for after three to five grilling sessions.
Scrubbing the grates, which your food actually touches, is equivalent to washing your pots and pans after use. It’s hygienic, and it stops your food from picking up old residue and weird flavors.
Components like the drip tray and burn pot can be left for after roughly three to five uses, but you are going to want to clean them semi-frequently to stop insane levels of build up. The smokestack also deserves your attention every few uses to maintain optimum airflow.
If you’re especially prone to putting off cleaning stuff like the drip tray, try lining it with aluminum foil before a grilling session. That way you can just toss the grease-coated foil once you’re done, leaving a spotless drip tray beneath it.
15. When Do Pit Boss Grills Go On Sale?
There’s sales happening all the time, especially around the holidays with stuff like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Amazon in particular is always having sales, particularly in the winter season which tends to bring the best deals.
You can add items like the Pit Boss Portable Pellet Grill to your cart or wish list and be notified when it goes on sale, so you can snap up all the best Pit Boss products for the best prices.
To Conclude
When it comes to brands as big as Pit Boss, there’s tons of stuff to know. I hope this article has helped you with at least a few questions you may have had, and filled you in on any grilling curiosities that may have crossed your mind.
