When I first looked at pellet grills, I wanted to know which had a PID Controller or not. Some pellet grills have PID controllers and some do not.
Another question of course, should I care if it does or doesn’t have a PID controller. So let’s get into this in a bit more detail.
For anyone looking at PID in pellet grills, I wanted to give my thoughts and what I found doing the research.
So the search began, and it’s one of those questions that seems to come up, especially since there are retro-fitting PID controllers available for most pellet grills nowadays since the demand has been created.
Which Pellet Grill Smokers Have PID Controllers?
Let’s start with a summary,
Pellet Grill Smokers Which Have PID Controllers
| Brand | PID Controller |
| Recteq | Yes |
| Green Mountain Grill Pellet Grill | No |
| Z Grill | Yes (2021 model) |
| Traeger Pellet Grill | No |
| Pit Boss Pellet Grill | No |
| Camp Chef | No |
But now I want to elaborate on that bigger question, does it matter?
Recteq PID Controller Information
“Wifi enabled PID Controller – https://www.recteq.com/products/rt-590-wood-pellet-grill
GMG PID Controller Information
Z Grill Controller Information
Traeger Controller Information
D2 Drive on the Pro series and above has PID Controller
PitBoss Controller Informaiton
he P.I.D. in PID Controller stands for Proportional, Integral, Derivative. The controller adds complexity to the simple standard temperature control method of measuring actual temperature and either feeding or restricting fuel to reach the desired temperature.
Pit Boss Site
CampChef Controller Information
Gen 2 and Current Model all have PID Controllers
Do I need a PID in a Pellet Grill Smoker?
A PID controller has a more accurate feedback loop which allows higher temperature control. This does not make a lot of difference in terms of the outcomes from using a pellet grill smoker.
What I thought initially was, will a more accurate temperature cook better? Also, what impact will this have on smoke production?
So here is my research about PID-controlled smokers and which have them too.
What is a PID Controller?
Wikipedia has a better definition than what I can give,
the PID controller undergoes a process of trial and error, fine tuning the rate at which pellets are fed by learning how long and how much fuel it takes to raise the pellet grill’s temperature under the current conditions. Using an advanced algorithm, the PID controller applies this data to calculate a duty cycle that will achieve the desired temperature.[16] As the pellet grill rises toward the programmed temperature, it will continuously take readings and adjust the duty cycle as necessary.[16] Even after the target temperature has been met, these adjustments continue throughout the duration of the cook
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellet_grill#cite_note-auto3-16
How Does a PID Controller Improve the Pellet Grill, or Does it
From what I have learned, it’s not something that will make a massive improvement with the cooking/smoking.
Since the pellet grill is designed for clean burning and thin blue smoke – it’s just that kind of style you will always get, but you can influence this as well.
My thoughts on this, the big conclusion I made (make your own of course as well), is that low & slow smoking is not about precision cooking, it’s more of a craft. Keeping the temperature around the right spot is fine over 4-13 hours for instance.
In the end, it’s all about reaching a certain internal temperature when smoking meats this way. Since your goal is always rendering the fat and breaking down the muscle/meat structure, especially for the tougher cuts like cricket or pork butt/shoulder.
If you want some tips & hacks for smoke from a pellet grill, I wrote about ways of enhancing the smoke flavor at the bottom of another page I wrote about which pellet grill produces the most smoke, if you want to read about it check it out here.
I can fully understand people wanting accuracy when it comes down to temperature control.
And some people naturally like to be accurate or precise.
But every time I have used a stick burner or charcoal smoker, I have had fluctuations of 68-100°F / 20-40°C. Haven’t had issues when it comes to the finished smoked goods, all turned out great – hence my conclusion.
Remember most people are relatively boozed when Low and Slowing, so it can’t be that hard!
PID Controllers in Kitchen Ovens a Quick Rundown
PID controllers in kitchen ovens are a different story from what I know, my partner is a bit crazy about baking, especially sourdough. Certain things like sourdough bread need temperatures and then cool down periods etched slowly downwards, consistency in temperature becomes way more important.
A PID system can be of more benefit, but it all depends on what you are going to be using it for.
(I like to compare pellet grills to ovens instead of other smokers since they have more similarities – especially thermostat temperature control like a pellet grill smoker!)
Do PID Controllers Vary Between Brands of Pellet Grill
Getting a bit too technical for me, but I have heard of some Raspberry Pi (free to use open-source customizable hardware chipboards) programmers play around with this, so I guess it depends on what level of geekery you are capable of.
My brother is a software engineer if he had a pellet grill – I can imagine him tinkering around with it. Especially if you programmed independent control over the feeding auger fan and the firebox fan.
Does it Matter if a Smoker Has PID Controller?
This is the big question, my opinion –
You probably got the idea already, I think doesn’t really matter.
In certain forms of cooking like specific patisserie or pastry chef precision, I can see a need for exact control, but not a pellet grill.
The way I look at it, any celebrity pitmaster expert applying rub on u tube, there isn’t much precision. It’s kinda just more or less, depending on how they like it.
With all the low & slowing that I have done on charcoal, gas, pellet or ceramic smokers – when there were temperature swings, I can’t see how this impacted the outcome – it was all tasty goodness.
The biggest mistake I hear is that people pull the meat out of the smoker before the meat has had a chance to break down and the fat to render, hence why internal temperature is key.
Swinging Temps – Does it Matter?
Personally, I don’t think so. As mentioned above – back in the day, from having a ‘very’ lightly insulated cheap kettle charcoal grill, I would micromanage the temperature since there was no airflow control and the walls/structure was so light it didn’t really retain any heat.
Mistakes were made, lessons were definitely learned!
The point I was making, is that I still produce Smoked BBQ goodness that friends and family appreciated.
Sometimes it took a bit longer, but I was ok with that. Hopefully, they were too.
More Smoke or Less with PID Controller
The debate is ongoing, but since the pellet grill is always burning ‘clean’, I find that whether there is or isn’t a PID controller I haven’t noticed the difference.
If I want to pump out the smoke, I end up putting a pellet tube in, which is a tube filled with pellets that you light and it will burn a good 3-4 hours + (with 12″ tube). It’s what I use for cold smoking as well, I actually use it more than some of my other cold smoking gadgets. If you want to read more, here is a page I wrote about pellet tubes (and other cold smoking devices).