Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill Review

If you are looking for a reliable and high-performing pellet grill, look no further.

This Yoder smoker YS640s pellet grill review will own all the features and their performance in depth in the following article.

This affordable pellet grill comes equipped with improved adaptive control and WIFi/ Bluetooth connectivity features.

Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill

Made in the USA, this sturdy pellet grill is constructed with ten gauge steel. This 335 pounds grill features robust construction that is thick and heavy enough to hold the heat which the pit generates. That’s why you won’t lose any heat when you open the lid because it holds on in the steel.

The board resides in a custom-built ABS composite to minimize the heat transfer from the grill to the board.

Additionally, it comes with aluminium grates as the front shelf and side shelf. However, it’s entirely up to you to upgrade them to stainless steel.

The handles remain cool during the cooking, thus preventing your hands from getting burned while opening or closing the grill.

Cooking Chamber

It offers 640 square inches on the main cooking surface. Moreover, it comes with an additional 430 square inches on the secondary level or the slide-out shelf. In this way, it offers a total of 1070 square inches of cooking surface.

You can slide out the top shelf to place the briskets on the top and slide it in. In addition to that, it also comes with stoppers so that the meat doesn’t fall off when you slide it out. Another advantage of the slide-out shield is that you don’t need to bend too far over the cooker.

On the other hand, the bottom shelf comes with four cooking grates.

The burn grates come with enhanced rigidity to maintain the shape and create a perfect airflow.

You can see a trapdoor and diffuser at the bottom after removing the grill grates. After opening the trapdoor, you can directly access the firebox to enable direct heating.

Furthermore, you can enjoy the Yoder standard over-the-flame grilling functionality. Meaning, you can enjoy grilled food along with a low-and-slow smoked barbecue with your friends and family.

Inside

If you want to see the grill’s interior underneath, you can remove the heavy-duty diffuser plate. By the way, you can remove the firebox for deep cleaning the grill.

It comes with a short auger that delivers the pellets from the hopper to the firebox. One of the advantages of a short auger is that it’s virtually jam-proof.

Variable Displacement Damper

The variable displacement damper is present on the right side underneath the diffuser plate. It is responsible for distributing heat in the pit between the firepot and the chimney end.

You can easily slide in the damper to keep the heat on the left side of the grill. Conversely, you can slide out to ensure the even distribution of heat throughout the grill.

Moreover, you can place in halfway to create a hotter zone on the left and a cooler zone on the right.

Adaptive Control System (ACS)

One of the key features of this innovative pellet grill is the state-of-the-art adaptive control system. 

As the name suggests, the ACS learns and adapts according to the required temperature settings. Meaning, it anticipates almond regulates the fuel pellet required to optimize the temperature. Not only that, but it also reacts according to the temperature swing if you open the lid or place cold meat on the grill.

Moreover, you can also calibrate the pit using this controller. It includes two food probes to measure the temperature of two types of meat simultaneously.

Functionality

It comes with a simple, user-friendly design with minimalist controls and a large, readable, backlit LCD in the middle. Other features include pit calibration and component testing.

You can find a selector knob to the display’s right, while three selection buttons are present on the left side. Moreover, the three buttons correspond to start, menu, and prime.

Once you click the start button, the LCD shows a message initially in heat up mode. Furthermore, the default temperature setting is 350F degrees. At this stage, the grill starts to add the pellets to the firebox from the hopper.

You can adjust the cooking temperature accordingly using the selector knob. Turning the knob towards the left will decrease the temperature while turning it right will increase it. Moreover, the temperature changes i.0n increments of five degrees.

Built-in Food Probes

Additionally, a built-in probe port in the grill allows you to pass the probes through the port. All you need to do is remove the silicon plug and rotate the guard out of the way. Later, you can insert the probes into the grill.

Induction-Style Igniter

It includes a high flow burn grate couple with the modern ceramic induction-style igniter. In this way, this ignites lights up almost twice as fast as compared to the previous igniters of the same S series. Consequently, it eliminates any chances of failed ignitions.

Furthermore, the lifespan of a ceramic igniter is five times more than a regular lighting mechanism.

Additionally, the all-new thermocouple wire guard ensures that thermocouple wire protects from damage during the cooking cycle. Not only that, but it also safeguards it during the cleaning process.

Silicone Bumpers

To secure the grill’s finish, high temp silicone bumpers are attached to the counterweight. These bumpers protect the grills from any accidental paint damage.

Wheels

It comes with two eight inches wheels and two three-inches casters to enhance the grill’s mobility. Furthermore, you can also lock the casters to keep the grill stable in one position while grilling.

Super High Heat

It’s also known as direct heating, in which you can cook food in a lesser period. You can light up the grill and place the chicken thighs and other vegetables directly over the flame.

Additionally, you can see the grill marks along with a nice char that renders the fat. By the way, the cooking area is spacious enough to place salmon fillet by the side for indirect heating.

Once you achieve the chargrilled color on the meat, you can transfer it to the indirect grilling side.

Don’t worry about the fat sizzling on the grill grates. You can conveniently clean the grates after use with warm, soapy water. Moreover, the food doesn’t stick on the grills.

Yoder Drive App / Fireboard App

If you want to monitor the temperature remotely, all you need to do is install the Fireboard app on your mobile phone. Basically, Yoder has partnered with a well-renowned temperature-monitoring company, Fireboard labs, to guarantee to elevate the wireless monitoring experience.

In addition to that, you can enable wireless connectivity either via Bluetooth or WiFi.

You can easily change and monitor the temperature via the easy-to-use app interface. Moreover, you can also receive alerts and save custom recipes.

For your safety, you can’t start the grill from the app. However, you can turn it off from the app. Other than that, you can enjoy complete control over the cooking process from anywhere in your home.

Custom Program

You must be wondering how to generate a custom program with alerts on the app after setting the grill. First, you need to insert the meat probes inside the meat.

Next, add a custom drive program in the app and write down the name of the meal you are cooking. The next step is to set the internal temperature and target temperature.

Furthermore, you also need to tell the grill about the hold temperature. For instance, if you set a target temperature of 200F degrees, you can set a hold temperature of 165F degrees to prevent the meat from overcooking.

Don’t confuse the hold temperature with that of meat temperature. You need to maintain a target temperature of 200F degrees, which is actually the meat’s temperature. However, 165F degrees is the ambient temperature.

The final step is to generate an alert once the cooking cycle is complete. Another exciting feature is that you can choose different notifications via the app, email, or SMS. Furthermore, you can set the custom start and stop time as well.

By the way, you can generate an alert for either maximum temperature or minimum temperature based on your cooking requirements.

Hopper Capacity

This extra-large pellet grill features a spacious hopper capacity of 20 pounds. Meaning, this capacity is enough to facilitate slow cooking at 225F degrees for 10 to 12 hours. 

Pros

• Adaptive Control System
• Two food temperature probes
• Ceramic induction-style igniter
• High flow burn grate
• American-made heavy-steel construction
• Consistent heating

Cons

•  Unable to turn on via the app
• Lesser hopper capacity
• Moisture drips from the chimney

Conclusion

To sum up, Yoder Smokers YS640s pellet grill outperforms the gas grills by adding the natural wood flavor to your grilled meals.

Moreover, it’s a versatile pellet grill that allows you to barbecue, grill, chargrill, smoke, and slow-smoke.

This durable pellet grill comes with all the necessary features to automate the entire grilling process. All you need to do is to customize the settings on the app and relax.