Camp Chef Ran Out Of Pellets While Cooking [2 Reasons]

You’re in the middle of cooking up a delicious meal on your Camp Chef pellet grill but suddenly realize with dismay that the temperature has dipped and your pellet grill has run out of pellets.

When the LEr error code message flashes on your smoker/pellet grill’s digital control panel and your cooking is being cut short by a cold grill, it can be frustrating. If you get this message it means that your grill dipped below 125 degrees for more than 10 minutes.

It’s a common issue for pellet grill owners, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating when it happens to you. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to prevent this from happening.

In this grillcuisines.com, we’ll cover:

What to do when a Camp chef ran out of pellets while cooking

How to restart a Camp Chef when you ran out of pellets mid smoke.

And much more!

What to do when a Camp Chef ran out of pellets while cooking

When a pellet grill/ smoker ran out of pellet or fuel while cooking first, check the temperature of your grill. If the grill is still set to the same temperature, you can refill the hopper without any problems.

However, if the pellet grill was turned off and there are no more pellets in the hopper. Remove food first and place it in the oven. Before you fill the hopper with pellets, it’s best to vacuum out the firepot. Now Fill the auger with enough pellets to fill the holes in the firepot, then wait for some of them to fall into the firepot. You can put the grill back together now, and be sure to follow the normal starting sequence to get your Camp Chef fired up.

Can You Add Pellets To Camp Chef While Smoking?

Many people wonder whether they can add pellets while smoking, and the answer is yes! In fact, adding pellets during a cook is a common practice to maintain a consistent temperature and extend the cooking time.

You can add more pellets to your Camp Chef even while it’s in use, as long as the hopper and auger aren’t completely empty.

If you can still see a few pellets at the bottom of the hopper, or if the temperature is holding steady, you’re good to go. But if you wait too long and the grill starts to shut down, don’t worry.

You can still add pellets and restart the grill using the below-mentioned steps.

2 Reasons Why Camp Chef Ran Out Of Pellet

Usually, when a Camp Chef gives low pellet level notification there are two reasons.

The camp chef hopper is full of pellets but when you open the hopper and see a funnel shape has formed in the middle.
Or Oops, you seem to have run out of pellets mid smoke.

1. Camp Chef Turns Off But Has Pellets: Pellets are Tunneling/Funneling in Hopper

If your Camp Chef pellet grill has turned off but has pellets in the hopper, tunneling is the reason. Tunneling is a fairly common problem with pellet grills. Tunneling happens when the pellets in the hopper form a funnel shape while they’re being fed into your pellet grill hopper.

The grill funnels all the pellets towards the center, but then a lot of them get stuck on the sides.

More and more grills are adopting newer, more reliable designs that help to reduce hopper tunneling/funneling issues. But even so, it still happens occasionally.

Tips to resolve pellet tunneling/funneling issues in the hopper

If you find that pellets are escaping out of the side of the pot, try this.

1- One common cause for this is that your pellets are clumping together. If the pellets are sticking to one another or tunneling occasionally, you can stir them around in the hopper with a long spoon or spatula, being careful to keep your hand away from the bottom of the hopper.

2- If you notice excessive tunneling, it might be due to damage from the inside of the hopper. This will make more material fall into the chute and may explain the excessive tunneling.

If you need to replace damaged parts, do so carefully.

3- Clean the hopper and check for blockages! If the hopper is full of sawdust or any other form of debris, this can increase the frequency of tunneling. To solve the problem, turn off the smoker and wait for it to cool down completely. Then, remove any excess pellets or sawdust from the hopper and clean the area thoroughly with a vacuum cleaner.

You can use SNOW JOE ASH VACUUM W/METAL STORAGE TANK ash vacuum to clean the hopper.

2. Camp Chef Running Out of Pellets Mid Cook

While tunneling may only give a false low pellet level notification. What to do when you actually run out of fuel in the middle of a cook.

The grill may be out of pellets, but that doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your cooking! This is what you should do when the hopper runs out of pellets.

First, check the temperature of the pellet grill.

If your grill is maintaining the same temperature, just refill the hopper with more wood pellets. If there’s too much air or empty space or pockets within the auger, it can cause a small but noticeable drop in temperature for the next few minutes. Your grill should be back to a set temperature momentarily.

If your grill’s temperature is dropping or it has turned itself off, It sounds like you’re out of pellets and both the hopper and auger are empty. In this situation, you have to restart a pellet grill.

What to Do if Your Camp Chef Ran Out of Pellets While Cooking (Step-by-Step Process)

When Camp Chef runs out of pellets while cooking, restarting a pellet grill can be a little more complicated. That’s why I created a step-by-step tutorial to quickly get back to cooking!

1. Remove Your Food from the Grill

Remove the food from the grill and place it in the oven to keep it warm. To prevent the food from drying while you get the smoker working properly again, preheat your oven to the lowest temperature.

Cover the food with aluminum foil, if necessary, and place it in the oven.

2. Check the Hopper

You’ll first want to make sure there are no pellets in the hopper, and that no other error codes are preventing it from working properly.

3. Shut down & Turn Off the Grill & Wait for the Grill to Cool

Shutdown the smoker and turn off (you can power off sooner than the 20 minute countdown if you are really out of pellets)

Pellets are transported from the hopper to the firepot, where they will cook over flames. If the grill is off for a longer period of time, there won’t be any new pellets being fed into the fire.

4. Remove the Grill Grates

It’s important to wait until the grill has cooled down before touching it. Once it’s cooled, remove the grill grates.

5. Pull Out the Drip Tray and Heat Baffle.

6. Empty the Firepot to Ensure it is Not Full of Pellets

The firepot is a central component of any pellet grill. It needs to have some free space before adding any more fuel. If the firepot is full, then it needs to be emptied first, before adding more fuel.

Empty the burn pot and ash cup.

7. Clean the Fire Pot and Inside of the Grill

It’s time to clean up that ash! Take a vacuum and clean the firepot and the inside of the pellet grill. You should really clean your grill more often than you think. It can be tedious, but it’s worth it to give your grill a deep clean once in a while.

8. Load the Hopper With Pellets

Load your favorite pellets into the hopper and run a feed cycle. Now is an excellent time to change the pellet’s flavor and even switch if you run out of pellets early in the cooking process.

If you don’t have the same flavored pellets, it won’t be an issue.

9. Turn on the feed Cycle

After the feed cycle is complete, look in the ash cup. With the auger rotating, the pellets in the hopper get funneled into the firepot so they can be combusted.

If you see pellets, you’re good. If not, run another feed cycle.

10. Turn Off the Grill after the Auger is Filled with Pellets.

Wait for a few minutes until you see 5-7 pellets in the firepot. Now turn off the grill.

11. Put Everything Back Together in the Grill

Let the grill cool down and put all the internal pieces like the heat baffle, drip tray, and grill grates.

12. To Finish Grilling, Turn the Grill Back on and Resume Your Cook

The pellets will ignite and create smoke as you set the cooking temperature.

If your Camp Chef gets too hot and starts to rise by more than 50°F above the temperature you set it, wait at least 1-2 minutes to see if it stabilizes and then comes back down.

Too many pellets in the grill can result in pellet grill fires and explosions, so it’s important to know how to prevent this from happening.

If there is a larger buildup of pellets in the firepot, then the fire will start burning hotter & the temperature will rise quickly. Once the temperature in the pellet grill/smoker stabilizes, put your food back on the grates and resume cooking.

We recommend that you wait 10-15 minutes before placing the food back on the grill. This will allow the inside of it to heat up and come to the desired temperature.

Tips to Never Run Out of Pellets

Here are a few tips to follow so that you never ran out of pellet while cooking

1- Calculate Pellet Usage in Advance

Before you start cooking, always calculate how many pellets you will need based on the temperature, cook time, and size of the hopper. This will help you to ensure that you have enough pellets on hand and avoid running out mid-cook.

2- Keep a Backup Bag of Pellets

Always keep an extra bag of pellets on hand, even if you think you have enough for your cook. You never know when you might need a little extra fuel to keep your grill going.

3- Shake the Hopper Periodically

To maximize the space in your hopper, use smaller pellets or shake the hopper periodically to help settle the pellets. This will help prevent the pellets from getting stuck and ensure a steady flow of fuel to your grill.

4- Monitor Your Pellet Consumption By Setting An Alarm

One easy way to ensure that you don’t run out of pellets while grilling is to set an alarm that reminds you to check on your pellet level. You can do this by using a timer or alarm app on your phone or grill.

Simply set the alarm for a time interval that makes sense for your cooking needs, such as every hour or every 30 minutes. When the alarm goes off, take a quick look at your pellet hopper to make sure that there is enough fuel to continue cooking.

If the hopper is getting low, you can easily add more pellets before they run out completely. This simple tip can save you from the frustration of running out of pellets in the middle of a cook.

How long do pellets last in Camp Chef?

Camp Chef pellet grills are known for their efficiency when it comes to cooking. The duration that a bag of pellets will last in a Camp Chef grill depends on several factors, such as the temperature settings, the size of the grill, and the type of pellets being used.

It is estimated that, a standard 20-pound bag of pellets will last for approximately 6 to 20 hours of cooking time, depending on the grill’s temperature setting and the size of the hopper.

For example a 24-inch Camp Chef pellet grill will burn through around 3 pounds of pellets per hour. Cooler temperatures require more pellets to maintain the heat, as a result more pellets will burn.

If you want to get most out of your pellets monitor the temperature setting of your Camp Chef grill.

Conclusion: What to do When Camp Chef Ran Out of Pellets While Cooking

It is important not to let your Camp Chef run out of pellets, as this will result in an uneven cook. To avoid this, it is best to have a backup supply on hand and check the hopper before cooking and make sure they are always full during cooking.

FAQ’s

What Happens When the pellet grill/smoker Runs Out of Pellets During a Cook?

When pellet grills/smokers run out of pellets, they will stop producing smoke. The cooking process is halted as a result. There is no need to worry about running out of pellets during a cook because The grill will send a notification alerting the user when it’s running low on pellets and needs more.

When this happens, add the next size of fuel pellets to the hopper. Then the pellet smokers will automatically feed pellets when they’re needed. In order to fire up the pellet grill again, please make sure you’ve followed the right steps for starting the pellet grill.

If a Camp Chef ran out of fuel overnight is meat still good to eat?

If a smoker ran out of fuel overnight and the meat has not reached a safe internal temperature, then it may not be safe to eat.

The risk of bacterial growth increases when meat is left at temperatures between 40°F and 140°F (the “danger zone”) for an extended period of time.

It depends on how long the food was in the smoker and at what temperature.
It’s important to check the internal temperature of the meat using a meat thermometer to ensure it has reached a safe temperature.

The recommended internal temperature for beef and lamb is 145°F (63°C), while poultry should reach an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).

If the meat has been in the temperature danger zone (between 40°F/4°C and 140°F/60°C) for more than two hours, it may not be safe to eat and could potentially cause foodborne illness. In this case, it’s best to discard the meat as a precaution.

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Emma

I am a writer, editor, and publisher of Grillcuisines.com – an online blog dedicated to sharing grilling tips, accessories, and recipes to encourage more people to get outside and grill.

I’m off to find out the different types of grill foods, their seasons, and how to conduct outdoor cooking properly. I’ll also show you some of my grill-worthy cooking tools & accessories!