Pit Boss grills have been around for a long time and are some of the commonest appliances among BBQ enthusiasts. However, getting familiar with the settings and intricacies is critical to getting a good performance from a grill. When you look at a Pit Boss grill temperature control, you might wonder what the Pit Boss P setting means and what it does. Let’s take a look at what it means and how it can help you enhance your.
How Do Pellet Grills Work?
Pellet grills are quite popular for the unique smoky flavor they add to food, but not many people know how they work. Pellets are loaded into an attached hopper compartment from which the wood pellets are fed into the smoker’s firebox. The pellets are ignited and burnt, while an induction fan brings in the air to promote the combustion process and cause the temperature increase needed to cook food.
When the grill reaches the required temperature level, the fuel supply is automatically reduced. However, the supply automatically resumes when the temperature drops so that the grill can remain hot enough for cooking.
What Is the Pit Boss P Setting?
The P setting is simply a pause setting that allows the user to control the timing between each pellet cycle. Perhaps if the P setting was printed out in full, people wouldn’t have such a hard time figuring out its meaning and use.
Temperature control is very important when grilling, and the P setting feature makes it much easier to control temperature and make up for variations when you’re grilling. You get to reduce and increase the rate at which pellets are loaded into the smoker.
Cutting down on the supply of pellets to the smoker will reduce the ambient temperature in the grill. It would also cause the firebox to produce more smoke because whatever pellets are already in will have the chance to smoke when the flame goes down.
On the other hand, setting the P setting to a lower number will increase the supply rate of pellets and increase the ambient temperature in the grill because the combustion rate will also directly increase.
How Does the P Setting Work?
The P setting has a range of numbers 1 – 6 that represent the timing of auger feeding pellets into the firebox. These numbers signify how long the auger stops before loading more pellets into the grill, with 4 being the default setting at which the internal temperature ranges between 160°F – 200°F.
The point at which it may get confusing is when you adjust the P setting. The higher the setting, the longer the auger pauses before releasing pellets, and the lower the temperature. However, reducing the P setting minimizes the interval between the pauses, and the auger feeds the pellets faster for a higher temperature effect. Check out the Pit Boss P Temperature Chart below.
| P Setting | Auger On | Auger Off |
| P0 | 18 seconds | 55 seconds |
| P1 | 18 seconds | 70 seconds |
| P2 | 18 seconds | 85 seconds |
| P3 | 18 seconds | 100 seconds |
| P4 | 18 seconds | 115 seconds |
| P5 | 18 seconds | 130 seconds |
| P6 | 18 seconds | 140 seconds |
| P7 | 18 seconds | 150 seconds |
Pit Boss P Temperature Chart
Recommended Settings and Adjustments
Although not always a factor, environmental temperatures can affect grilling and smoking processes when it’s in the extreme high or low. The P setting was incorporated into Pit Boss grills to help with temperature control in these conditions. The setting also helps to manage temperature fluctuations when using the SMOKE mode.
When cooking in normal environmental conditions where the temperature is neither extremely high nor extremely low, it’s recommended that you leave the P setting at the default setting of 4. In this setting, the auger releases pellets for 18 seconds every 115 seconds.
In a situation where the environmental temperature is extremely high, you can expect the ambient temperature in the grill to reach levels higher than your set temperatures, overcooking or even burning your food. To make up for this, you should adjust the P setting above the default setting of 4. This will reduce the rate at which pellets are fed into the firebox.
Similarly, when the environmental temperature is very low, it could directly affect and reduce the grill’s internal temperature. In a situation like this, you would want to set your P setting below 4, so the auger feeds pellet into the firebox at a faster rate to keep the internal temperature relatively consistent.
How to Adjust P Setting for a Smoky Flavor?
If you’ve not figured out how to get your grill to produce more smoke, you can do that easily with the P setting. When you increase the setting, the pellet release rate is reduced, the pellets have more time to burn in the firebox and smolder. This will reduce the internal temperature of the grill and increase the cooking time, but you’ll get more of that special smoky flavor infused into your food.
How to Adjust P Setting for Maximum Heat?
To achieve a higher internal temperature in a grill, you should lower the P setting. That would reduce the time interval of the pellet feeding cycle and cause more pellets to be fed into the firebox per time. This will, in turn, lead to an increase in the grill’s temperature but will also burn the pellets much quicker.
Tips for Temperature Control
Although the P setting has proven to be a very important temperature regulating feature in Pit Boss pellet grills, there are other things you could try out for optimal temperature control. Here are some of them.
Meat Probe
Pit Boss grills come with internal temperature sensors and readouts to keep the user updated about the internal temperature of the grill. However, meat probes can give a more accurate reading of the internal temperature of your food. If your Pit Boss unit does not come with a meat probe, you can buy one from online retailers.
Grill Blanket
Grill blankets can be very effective at maintaining consistent internal grill temperatures. As the name implies, a grill blanket is a cover that insulates the grill cavity and prevents heat loss to the environment as you cook. In addition to maintaining a consistent temperature, grill blankets also ensure improved fuel economy.
Keep Grill Closed
It may not seem significant, but opening and closing the grill door can lead to inconsistent temperatures. The urge to visually assess the progress of your barbecue is understandable, but you should avoid opening the grill as much as you can.
Conclusion
The Pit Boss P setting is a cool feature to have on your grill. When used correctly, it can significantly enhance your pellet grilling experience. Sure, the feature can take some getting used to. Still, once you figure out how it works and understand how to control it, you can always ensure comparatively consistent internal temperature regardless of external factors. We’ve also discussed additional tips that can help you with temperature control. Hempen Hill BBQ hopes you found this article helpful and can now adjust your Pit Boss P setting for the perfect barbecue.