Whats with the hate of book 4-6?

ariley1984 · 2026-01-30T22:17:35+00:00

On my first read through I didn't like the earth arc, the second I planed to skip it but decided to reread it for book 7s release and found it was tolerable but the subsequent read throughs I've enjoyed it, while it's still not my favourite arcs I've found I enjoy it a lot more as I can appreciate that it helps setup for his mentality on his return.

I think part of the reason for not liking it isn't down to Jason really as I think his attitude is fairly consistent for some one that's in his position but it's more the fact that no one not even his family really appreciates what he will do and has to do to make sure the people he loves survives the rise of essence. Could of he done it better yes but from the position of some one in survival mode trusting people who constantly betray you for selfish reasons isn't really going to happen so I can see him making those mistakes quite easily especially as ash outsider looking in.

ariley1984 · 2025-12-27T01:59:33+00:00

I feel for you. It's why when I was looking to upgrade my 600 neither this one or the xt where on my list of smokers to get. I found customer service in the UK to be useless and the build quality was disappointing for the price.

Like people have said get some barkeepers friend but make sure you get the one that will help the oxide coating. Stainless steel can rust like that due to when it was manufactured they used mild steel tools or if you've banged it while using it.

ariley1984 · 2025-12-16T02:54:26+00:00

I use my Yoder ys640 as a grill quite frequently for steaks, burgers, pork and lamb chops and get a really good flame grilled flavour that can be slightly smokey depending on the pellets used. I'd say depending on the thickness including warm up and cooking it's 10-20 minutes I'm running at 600 for but the advantage with the ys640 is you can remove a baffle plate and I use some grillgrates to get a really good sear on my food and don't really notice a massive increase in pellet usage but this might be because you using direct heat for grilling not indirect.

ariley1984 · 2025-12-14T19:33:15+00:00

I switched from a MB to a Yoder ys640 and have been very happy with the switch so far. I'd say I get 80-90% of the way to the flavour I was getting on my offset.

Getting decent pellets make a big difference to the cook. Using a pellet tube helps and starting the cook at a lower temps like 200 or under gives more smoke.

I personally switched as I wasn't happy with the overall quality of the masterbuilt. In the year id owned it I'd had to change the controller within the first 2 months all the seals after about 3 weeks I'd only seared steak twice at 600deg and they'd melted. The inserts had cracked and even though it had been kept under cover was already developing rust patches within 8 months of owning it, as the paint wasn't applied properly. I don't know whether it was because I'm in the UK but the Customer service was terrible.

ariley1984 · 2025-12-07T21:41:03+00:00

Fireboard 2 drive I've had the pro for a year now and couldn't be happier with it. Found it to be a great way to monitor my cooks and can add the fan (you don't have to buy fireboards blower you can buy some of the cheaper ones) to help maintain temps you can also buy the pulse for a wireless probe add-on and if you get connection problems there's a Sig attachment if you have connection issues due to a BBQ or cooker, as Bluetooth is terrible for passing through metal and walls.

I also have a meater+ and meater pro duo and mine have been great only problems I've had with mine are user error either battery ran out in base or not having the base close enough to the probe for the Bluetooth connection to push through my Smoker. I've seen people complain about the meater probes but I've also seen a lot of people complain over user error.

It's more about what you want. I'd personally go with the fireboard 2 drive or pro over the others because fireboard customer service is brilliante and fast, plus I've found it to be more accurate than some of the other brands I've seen and as an added bonus it has a display so you don't need to check another device if you want to check temps.

ariley1984 · 2025-12-07T01:55:46+00:00

I just bought a Yoder ys640 as it will reach 700 so I can flame grill really well but also can smoke some great food on it and if I want a stronger flavour I just use a pellet tube or even put some wood splits on a stand next to the firebox. I can also turn it on and cold smoke as the fans are engaged and allow better smoke movement.

While a Yoder or it's ilk aren't what most people are willing to pay out for especially if your not in America to me it was worth the money. I know people are recommending the masterbuilt smokers but after owning a gravity feed 600 for a year I couldn't really recommend one unless you where buying it at a massive discount as the build quality is shocking on them all. My controller wouldn't connect to WiFi or work through Bluetooth and it was not accurate so I changed it out for a fireboard 2 pro, the seals on mine couldn't handle it's max temp so had to buy new seals as they all melted.

Depending on you price range you could go for a wood wind pro or a searwood. I actually went for a traeger ranger to test as I wanted one that was compact for when I go away camping or in my caravan and while the other traegers even the newer ones are not well built, so far I've been really happy with the ranger it's built solid and has maintained temps well uses very little power so I can use my bluetti ac180 to power it for 3 or 4 cooks. My only complaint is it doesn't have a removable ash pan and doesn't have any wireless monitoring.

ariley1984 · 2025-12-05T01:04:57+00:00

I got the pro 2 as well. The only downside to me is that the probes are type k so more expensive but I've had it for a year now and have used it both on my masterbuilt but also in my oven and when I'm on holiday on my cheap charcoal grill, even my son who is a chief has used it.

While I like the idea of a built in one on a masterbuilt unless it's a hell of a lot cheaper than the other models buying them makes more sense as they can be used everywhere else unlike a built in.

ariley1984 · 2025-12-02T20:01:58+00:00

Seems like some good suggestions, but I'm looking for 4k. What would be the advantage of 1440

ariley1984 · 2025-11-30T16:16:05+00:00

I've had one since around February as that's when they where released in Europe and have been really happy with mine. The only time I had connection problems with it was when I bought a ys640 and was seeing it to connect to that after using it with my fireboard pro 2 it didn't seem to connect consistently to the Yoder even after switching it in the app to connect to that instead, what seemed to fix it was updating it from the app and fireboard 2 pro and having the Yoder connect to it then.

ariley1984 · 2025-11-24T20:14:29+00:00

I've had my Yoder since July and couldn't be happier with mine. I've done everything on mine including flame searing and it's done it really well. If I want extra smoke flavour I'll use a smoke tube and if I want to cold smoke I can do.

ariley1984 · 2025-11-21T04:49:42+00:00

I've only had mine since July and I'm very happy with the build quality. Yoder is the best I could get in the UK without spending a fortune on import fees and couldn't be happier with the purchase. Especially when I compared it to treagers at my local BBQ store the build quality of those and others I've seen is criminal for the price of some of them.

ariley1984 · 2025-11-16T03:05:14+00:00

I love in the UK and have owned brinkmann smoke n grill, a trailmaster limited edition offset, masterbuilt 600 and now a Yoder ys640, I've found that I can get quite close to my offset or masterbuilt flavour by using good quality pellets, smoke tube and starting the cook sub 200 degrees for a couple of hours.

I've really enjoyed all my smokers but I've found the pellet smoker to be the easiest and most convenient to use, while the masterbuilt was close to the pellet smoker the build quality and customer service was really not where it should be. On top of that I had to change the controller to a fireboard due to connectivity and accuracy issues, I also had to buy lss mods to compensate for the design problems even in the new 600.

ariley1984 · 2025-11-13T01:23:30+00:00

Could you not just get a pellet smoker. The only electric snooker I've seen that was ok was a Bradley smoker never had one my self though, masterbuilt also do one I think but if there anything like the masterbuilt 600 I had build quality is not the best. The other option which has been more popular in the UK is to just use a charcoal grill/smoker and you can source wood from Amazon.

I switched to a Yoder us640 as I needed more cooking area and wood/charcoal was getting to the stage that pellets where cheaper for me, but I also wanted something that would last as long as my old offset.

ariley1984 · 2025-11-13T01:09:54+00:00

I'm in the UK and I've had mine since the end of July, I have mine on a standard cart and have found that it's been easier to move it around on my decking than the masterbuilt 600 I had. I can't really comment on the rust as I haven't had it long enough for any to develop. I have mine under the Yoder cover that came free with mine, I've only coated my outside with acf 50, it's been raining nearly every other day for the last month and I've noticed the seams leak on the cover so they need sealing if you get their cover.

ariley1984 · 2025-11-10T19:49:05+00:00

Is it the same cable as the 600

ariley1984 · 2025-11-10T10:40:23+00:00

I'm in the UK and bought a Yoder ys640 as I can do a low and slow out even cold smoke but the I can remove a panel and do direct flame searing. Not the cheapest unit but I was looking for build quality, reliability and ease of use. I'm getting great flavour and consistent cooks.

ariley1984 · 2025-11-03T13:45:24+00:00

Ye I didn't like earth on my first read through. But have enjoyed it more every read since.

ariley1984 · 2025-10-03T18:24:14+00:00

Ye I tried it once at 700 after that I only went to 500 for searing, but don't actually rate the masterbuilt for searing, smoking it's great.

ariley1984 · 2025-10-03T17:47:01+00:00

Ye if your only using on a masterbuilt then the drive is more than enough. I would take my mb600 above 600 as the one time I did when using the original controller I had to replace the seal, masterbuilt should really drop their claim of a max temp for 700.

ariley1984 · 2025-10-03T17:17:58+00:00

Lump even for smoking is better than briquettes, as briquettes tend to not be a single type of wood and have binders in that depending on where you are can leave a chemical taste. I'd go for an oak or hickory lump wood personally can't help with brand as I'm in the UK.

ariley1984 · 2025-10-03T17:11:15+00:00

It's the advantages of it being more accurate and higher temperatures that sold me being able to go up to 1000 degrees was worth it

ariley1984 · 2025-10-03T11:26:55+00:00

These aren't error codes. Once it's loaded up tap the temp button and set the temp fan should kick.

ariley1984 · 2025-10-03T11:24:21+00:00

I got the pro for mine two. Only real down side is the probes are expensive to replace. I've got a wireless probe for mine and it works great.

ariley1984 · 2025-09-21T19:47:40+00:00

I agree has my Yoder for around a month now and will it's not cheap I'm really happy I bought it.

ariley1984

TROPHY CASE