Help I live in the middle of Iowa and can't get my smoker to heat up at 30 degrees out side...is this normal?? I'm cold smoking chicken so will see how that goes...
Nope, it should have no problem heating up. I've smoked in 0 degrees and had no problem warming up over 200 degrees. Does your heating element glow orange after you have it on for a while? If not, that is your problem.
Bikergirl,
No it's not normal. We can deal with why the smoker is not heating up later.
The important part of your post was cold smoking chicken. Not a good idea at all depending on how long you intend to leave the chicken in that environment.
I've used my OBS at -16 degrees and had no problem, most important is to be protected from the wind.
Are you using an extension chord. You might have to get a larger gauged chord and keep it as short as possible. It could be worth while to have a 10 gauge chord made up at just the length you need.
This is the second post on cold smoking chicken in the past two days. Why are people doing this? Chicken is not meant to be cooked cold.
If you brined it with a cure you are alright, other wise unless it was less then 40°F in the smoker, or you only cold smoke for an 1 - 1.5 hours (straight from the refrigerator) then immediately transferred it to a hot oven or grill to finish cooking, it is not safe.
If you can give more details on your smoker's problem and model, that will be helpful.
Here is a link to help you troubleshoot.
Bradley FAQ's (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?481-Bradley-Smoker-FAQ-s&p=748#post748)
30*F wouldn't that be great. Put three racks of rib on this morning at -16*F. Six hours later warmed up to -8*F. No problem keeping temp at 225. I had to have a little Irish mash to keep lmy temperature up ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Tom
I have 2 racks of back ribs on today in northern Alberta, -22C!!! My DBS6 is doing the job quite well. Marinated in Itialian dressing overnight and looking GOOD!!