One of the best features of a Yoder Smokers pellet grill is the ability to cook in a variety of styles, from over-the-flame grilling to indirect cooking. This flexibility lets you take advantage of every inch of the grill’s cooking surface. Very few pellet grills have this capability.
We’ll walk you through three Yoder pellet grill setups we use often to create quick and delicious meals: the Reverse Sear setup (perfect for thick cuts of meat like steaks, burgers and pork chops), the Weeknight Multi-Zone setup (perfect for cooking an entire meal at once), and the Hot-and-Fast setup (perfect for cooking for crowds).
Setup 1: The Reverse Sear
The reverse sear method is a simple and delicious cooking technique for thick cuts of meat like steaks, pork chops and burgers. Reverse searing simply means cooking over low heat then finishing by searing over high heat. The result will be a juicy, tender center and a flavorful caramelized crust.
Follow the steps below to set up your Yoder pellet grill for the reverse sear, and you can serve up some amazing meals.
Reverse Sear Grill Setup
- With the two-piece heat diffuser in place, remove the access door. This will simplify the transition from cooking over low temperatures to grilling over high heat.
- If you have a YS640s, set your variable displacement damper 6 inches in from the outer right position.
- Place three panels of GrillGrates on the left side of the main cooking level and your standard Yoder grates on the right side.
- Set a half-depth shelf above the main grate. We recommend the half-depth shelf to give you adequate space for cooking while leaving plenty of room for positioning the steaks over the flame.
How to Reverse Sear a Steak
Steak is one of the most popular meats to reverse sear. Our tried-and-true method:
Set the grill to 200 degrees. Place the steaks on the right-hand side of the top shelf and cook cook the steaks until they reach an internal temperature of 100 degrees.
Once the steaks reach 100 degrees internally, turn the grill setpoint to 600 degrees. When the grill reaches 600 degrees, move the steaks onto the GrillGrates directly over the flame.
Cook steaks for one minute on the first side and then rotate 90 degrees. Cook for one additional minute. Flip the steak and repeat.
PRO TIP: To achieve an internal temperature of 135 degrees, cook over high heat until the internal temperature nears 130 degrees. Pull the steaks from the grill and allow them to rest for 10 minutes. The thermal inertia in the steaks will carry the internal temperature to about 135 degrees.
Setup 2: The Weeknight Multi-Zone Setup
We call this the weeknight setup because it’s perfect for preparing a quick, full meal on the grill. You can get nice browning on proteins and gently cook vegetables at the same time.
The only difference between the Reverse Sear setup and the Weeknight Multi-Zone setup is the grill setpoint. The temperature starts at a higher temperature than the reverse sear.
The Weeknight Multi-Zone Setup
- With the two-piece heat diffuser in place, remove the access door. This simplifies the transition from cooking over low temperatures to grilling over high heat.
- If you have a YS640s, set your variable displacement damper 6 inches in from the outer right position.
- Place three panels of GrillGrates on the left side of the main cooking level and your standard Yoder grates on the right side. This gives you a hot zone for grilling over the flame and allows airflow over the right side for indirect cooking.
- Set a half-depth shelf above the main grate. We recommend the half-depth shelf to give you adequate space for cooking while leaving plenty of room for positioning the steaks over the flame.
- Set the grill at 450 to 500 degrees. Temperatures over the flame will be above the setpoint and 300 to 350 degrees on the rest of the grill.
How to Cook Using the Multi-Zone Setup
With this setup, you can move food over the flame for browning and out of the flame to finish more gently at a lower temperature. The right side of the grill is a good place for roasting vegetables or warming sides as well. If you desire some char on vegetables, just move them to finish over the flame.
The second shelf can be used to keep food hot if anything finishes cooking early. The key here is timing: Food requiring a longer cooking time goes on the grill first, then the items that need less time to cook are placed on the grill later so that everything is ready at the same time.
Setup 3: The Hot-and-Fast Setup
We like this setup for filling the grill with food that needs to be cooked at a higher temperature, like burgers or chicken. It’s perfect for feeding a backyard full of hungry friends and family.
In this setup, the heat diffuser is removed and GrillGrate panels are laid across the entire grill surface. This helps extend the heat across the GrillGrates, reducing temperature differences across the grilling surface.
The Hot-and-Fast Setup
- Remove the heat diffuser.
- If you have a YS640s, set your variable displacement damper 6 inches in from the outer right position. This will create the most even grilling temperatures across the grilling surface.
- Place six panels of GrillGrates to fill the entire grilling surface.
- Set a half-depth shelf above the main grate. We recommend the half-depth shelf to give you adequate space for cooking while leaving plenty of room for positioning the steaks over the flame.
- Set the grill at 500 degrees. You’ll notice that the grill will heat up past the initial setpoint just after startup and any time you have the grill open for an extended period. This is normal and the grill will settle in close to the setpoint over time with the door closed.
PRO TIP: For larger cooks, set the grill to 600. This will charge the grates and the cooker body with additional heat, which will speed of heat recovery following door openings.
Tips for Cooking Hot and Fast
This setup is beneficial when you need to open the door often to move food around, like flipping burgers or rotating hot dogs. At a 500-degree setpoint, you’ll have temperatures well above 600 degrees near the flame and a gradual decline in temperature as you move away from the fire.
By filling the surface with GrillGrates, heat is retained and air flows along the flat bottom of the GrillGrates to distribute heat evenly. The grill stays hotter for a longer time, pellet consumption is reduced, and you’ll have a faster temperature recovery after opening the grill lid.
These three setups highlight the flexibility of cooking with a Yoder Smokers pellet grill, from a classic reverse sear to cooking an entire meal at once to using the entire surface of your grill to feed a crowd. Give them a try and let us know what you think!
