Peeling finish/paint after first smoke on brand new smoker??

[Aran33]

Hey guys,

I got a black Bradley for Christmas, and it seems awesome so far (I've always smoked brisket/ribs/pork butt etc on my BroilKing, which has always made for a very hands-on day of making sure smoke pouches haven't lit on fire every 20 minutes!)

I used it this weekend to smoke a Pork Butt, and the food itself turned out great, but it was a bit of a struggle at first.  It was pretty cold out, between -20 and -25 celsius with the windchill (-5 to -10 fahrenheit I believe). I had the Bradley set up on my back deck, tucked in a corner, but it struggled to get above 250 before I put the meat on, and struggled to get above 205-210 once the pork was on there - And this was with the top vent not open nearly enough for what I felt was right.  I bought a thermal emergency blanket and wrapped it up, reflective side in, which seemed to help quite a bit, as I was able to maintain 230-ish degrees once I was about 3 hours in, but again with the vent not as open as I would like. I turned the smoke off after about 6 hours so I didn't find any issue with bitterness or anything, the food itself turned out great - although I did feel the bark wasn't quite as thick/chewy as what I was used to with my gas grill smokes previously (I think mainly because I was cooking more in the 250 degree range) but I'll tackle that later.

I'm in the process of deciding if I want to build a small cabinet for it, or buy a small shed and build some shelving for the Bradley and my bisquettes etc., but when I was cleaning the smoker after the food was finished, I removed the smoke generator from the side and noticed there was a ring on the side of the smoker itself, as well as on the side of the smoke generator (right around the opening/contact point), where the paint/finish was bubbling/cracking and basically crumbled off when I rubbed at it.  Is this normal?  I did notice quite a bit of condensation at this contact point, and quite a bit of drip (in the form of ice, again with the temps outside) as the smoker was cooking.  I attribute that to the top vent being too closed, as perhaps the air just didn't have anywhere else to go.

My questions are:

1. Is the peeling finish normal?
2. Is the condensation/drip where the generator/smoker cabinet connect normal (and can I attribute that to the top vent position)?
3. Anything else that you guys would suggest (before getting a shelter of some kind together) for smoking in the cold weather, other than moving the smoker itself, as I don't really have anywhere else I can place it that I think would be more sheltered from the wind.

Thank you in advance!!!

[pensrock]

paint peeling is not normal, we have had several people lately say similar problems. It appears there must be a paint issue with some of the newer models. I would call Bradley and let them know about it. You do want to keep your vent open, closing it off will not help with adding heat it will actually hurt because you will not allow the moisture to escape properly. And too much moisture can actually back up into your smoke generator and damage it. This smoker is low and slow. It takes time to recover from opening the door and putting in a large piece of meat like a butt. If you read over the FAQ section you will find many tips to help such as, allowing the meat to come to room temp before putting into the smoker, putting bricks in the bottom of the smoker to act as a heat sink and absorb heat so when the door is opened it will recover faster, using hot water in the bowl, keeping the smoker out of the wind is the one big thing you can do. I'm sure there will be others stopping in with other suggestions but do look at the FAQ section.

[Aran33]

I'm glad I asked about the peeling!  I'll give Bradley a call after the holidays and see how they want to handle this.  It doesn't seem to affect the internal walls of the smoker, it's just the contact point between the outside surfaces of the smoke generator and smoker cabinet.  I'd take a picture but it is freezing out there today!

As for the closed vent (and it was probably 90% closed, other than the round holes in each section of the vent "disc"), I had the same thought about it not helping the temp stay up, but I tried opening it to about 50% and within about 3 minutes I had lost about 7-10 degrees. I was impatient (and panicking about the pork being ready within my 12-hour window) so I didn't leave it alone to see if it would recover or continue to drop.  Do you expect I would have actually seen the temperature come up as a result of the improved airflow?

I've been reading the FAQ's and other articles on the forums pretty much non-stop (I'm kind of a nerd with this stuff) and I've seen several other suggestions that I'll definitely try out on my next smoke, including the foil-wrapped bricks and the larger foil drip pan (I always default to boiling water in the drip pan on colder days).  I try to always let the meat sit out for at least an hour but maybe I'll pull it out 2-3 hours ahead next time.

I've got my flashy red thermal emergency blanket, which when wrapped actually covers about 8-10" higher than the top of the smoker so that should help keep any wind away from the vent. I have a Maverick grill thermometer that I drop through the vent so that I don't need to unwrap the smoker to check temps. In the spring/summer I'm going to start looking at either buying or building a shed/cabinet for it as we'll be doing some other work on the backyard at that point as well.

[Habanero Smoker]

All paint problems that have been posted seem to be in the areas where the paint will be in contact with the highest heat temperature, such as the vent and around the door seal.

The vent opening depends on what you are cooking and the load; 90% close may be too small of an opening, but if you saw a 7 - 10 degree drop when you opened the vent further, then it seems your opening was fairly accurate. Just keep an eye on it, because if that was at the beginning of the cook, the meat will release more moisture later as it heats up. The more moisture that is giving off from a product, the wider the vent opening you should use. Also if you replace the water bowl with a large pan of water, that will also increase the moisture in your cabinet and require a wider opening. I still adjust my vent according to what, and the amount I am cooking. As long as you don't have condensation inside the smoker you are good, and you will not loose any additional heat. If you have it open wider than needed you will also loose heat through the vent opening.

[pensrock]

It sounds like your on the right track. I have noticed a big difference in recovery with bricks in the bottom of the smoker. Mine are not foil wrapped but they are fire bricks. I also preheat at least 25 degrees higher than i plan to smoke/cook at. I normally do butts around 220 F. So I would preheat to around 240-250 F. Then lower the temp once thing settle down after loading. My top vent is always wide open, that is just me, I know others adjust theirs from time to time but I have seen no need to do so. You do want to keep wind away from the top vent if at all possible. It sounds like your blanket is working pretty well. The remote thermometer is a great tool to have, it keeps you from opening the door. If your looking your not cooking.

Do you expect I would have actually seen the temperature come up as a result of the improved airflow?

That is hard to say. It's difficult to judge how much moisture was being trapped at the time. You also want to watch for the dreaded 'black rain'. If you have too much moisture it can collect on the roof or inside top of the smoker then drip back down onto whatever you are smoking. It is bad! It is real bitter and bad tasting. You want to try to avoid this. If it happens and your vent is open, as a last resort, you can always put a little foil on a rack over the meat so if it drips it will fall on the foil and not the meat. Do not completely cover a rack with foil where the heat cannot flow to the vent but enough to protect the meat.

[BoxcarBetts]

Hey Aran,

I got a Black Bradley for Christmas too. I've banked about 8 hours on the unit now and I'm noticing paint peeling right around the vent. It's not a lot and I'm not really concerned about it too much, but after reading your situation, I checked my smoke generator too. Mine seems to be okay so far, but most of my smoking has been cold smoking. So I'll keep an eye in it. Thanks for the post because I was wondering the se thing when I noticed my vent.

[Habanero Smoker]

BoxcarBetts

You should report this issue to Bradley. Also I would ask for a replacement. Once the paint begins to peel in one place, you don't know how wide spread it will be after the damaged area has been exposed to harsher weather elements. Plus you don't want paint chips falling onto your food.

[Aran33]

Hey Aran,

I got a Black Bradley for Christmas too. I've banked about 8 hours on the unit now and I'm noticing paint peeling right around the vent. It's not a lot and I'm not really concerned about it too much, but after reading your situation, I checked my smoke generator too. Mine seems to be okay so far, but most of my smoking has been cold smoking. So I'll keep an eye in it. Thanks for the post because I was wondering the se thing when I noticed my vent.

I took two pictures this morning but can't figure out how to post them...

[UncleAl]

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Paste the clipboard contents in a message on here and click the Preview button to see if it worked. 

[Aran33]

Has anyone else seen peeling/bubbling like this?? Everything around the top vent SEEMS to be OK - but this is after one 11-hour smoke!

[Saber 4]

It looks to me like you trapped to much heat and moisture inside your cabinet, I pulled my SG to double check and mine is factory fresh after a year of hard smoking. If you were relying on the Bradley temp gauge you may have had a much higher temp than you thought you were getting. Powder coating is generally the best paint finish available for high heat although I have seen cases where unusual heat and moisture conditions have caused bubbling on other powder coated items.

[Aran33]

I had my Maverick probe dropped to about the same level as the door thermometer (I had the food on the second-highest rack, which is about level with that thermometer). They were in agreement on temps within about 5 degrees, and I had checked the Maverick in some boiling water recently and it was pretty well dead-on accurate. I believe the smoker itself got up to about 250-255 at one point when the pork was getting above 180 IT, but for the most part I was running the element full-blast to maintain temps around 230-235 (for the first 3-4 hours it couldn't get above 210 with the smoke generator running and heating element at Maximum, until I went out and bought a thermal emergency blanket).

I suppose I'll give Bradley a call today and see what they say about the finish...  I'm just concerned that now that the finish has bubbled, even if I run with the vent wide-open from now on, the cracking/bubbling and potentially rusting will continue. 

[Saber 4]

The blanket wrapping may have helped maintain the temp and moisture and added to the issue by not allowing the heat to escape around the SG? That's just a thought that hit me as you described wrapping it, I've had issues with wrapping product to quickly out of the powder coat oven on high humidity days. As for the paint damage if you don't end up with a new cabinet, you lightly sand around the bad areas and use a spray on high temp black paint to help the look and prevent future rust.

[Aran33]

That's a very good point - going forward I'll most likely cut/fold the emergency blanket so that the smoke generator is NOT wrapped, and the bottom edge of the wrapping goes up and over the bisquette "feeder tube" into the side of the cabinet.  I think as long as MOST of the cabinet is wrapped I should still be able to maintain temps, especially once I get some bricks and a larger water/drip tray.

I'll call Bradley today or tomorrow and see what they say. 

[Saber 4]

With a couple of hot bricks and lots of boiling water you may find you don't need the blanket except in extreme cold.