temp issues :(

kurtisbblake · February 23, 2014, 08:33:55 PM

hello,

this is my first post on this forum, but i fell like i have a pretty big problem. i can preheat my smoker to what ever temp i want, thats very easy. where the problem comes in is when i put food in it. my smoker can be preheated to exactly 200 degrees, but as soon as i put my food in, the temp drops significantly. I'm talking like 110 degrees. after 2 hours it still doesn't get back up to 200 degrees. even if i crank the knob to max, it still won't get up to 200 degrees with food in it. i have to let it run for at least 2 hours to dry some of the meat out, then close the vent on top of the smoker to get it up to 200 degrees. my smoker is only 2 weeks old, and things are getting quite frustrating. is there something wrong with me or with my smoker? please advise, anyone. my food is not turning out how i want it. today, i made 4 lbs of snack sticks. they took over 4 hours to get up to 165 degree internal temp. it should take less than 2 hours to get to that temp. please help!

kurtisbblake · February 23, 2014, 08:39:27 PM

i should probably add that I'm in wester wisconsin, but I'm in my garage, completely out of the wind. also its a bradley smoker original. the black one with the smoke graphics on the front. one thing i have already learned is that the gauge on the front is junk, and has been disregarded and I'm using a maverick. ß

TedEbear · February 23, 2014, 08:41:58 PM

OK, first thing. Never close that top vent. All that will do is trap moisture and cause the cooking chamber to be even cooler. Run it at least halfway open. Many Bradley owners have removed the vent slide completely and just run with it wide open.

Next, the temp will drop when you put a load of cold meat in it. To help with the recovery you can wrap a couple of bricks in foil and place them on the bottom of the smoker. Also, you can initially set the cooking temp to something higher than what you plan on actually cooking at while it is preheating. Then, when you add the meat you can turn the temp back down.

You didn't say if you have it connected to an extension cord. It's not a good idea to do that. It causes the Bradley to struggle to get up to temp.

Lastly, welcome aboard. :)

kurtisbblake · February 23, 2014, 08:47:38 PM

thank you for the warm welcome. i am not connected to any extensions. straight into an outlet. made sure of that from the start. i knew that closing the vent would cause problems, but after about 2 hours it did help bring the temp up. otherwise i do run it completely open. i will definitely have to try the bricks in foil. reminds me of something les stroud would do to keep warm at night. lol! I'm also going to try preheating to maybe max temp and trying to be even quicker when I'm putting my meats in. thank you for the reply TedEbear! I really do appreciate it! also, i guess another quick question would be the placement of my temp probe for the maverick. should i place it half way up, top, bottom, where is every one else putting theirs?

tailfeathers · February 23, 2014, 08:48:54 PM

TedE has you pointed in the right direction I think. I just want to also say welcome aboard from SD (the cold one that isn't a city)!

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kurtisbblake · February 23, 2014, 08:53:17 PM

how long does it take every one else to get up to 200 degrees after placing meat in their smokers?

tailfeathers · February 23, 2014, 08:53:44 PM

I put my temp probe for my maverick just below the lowest rack that has meat on it, toward the center if possible. Just make sure nothing is dripping on it. Others may have different opinions, but now you have one at least!

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kurtisbblake · February 23, 2014, 08:55:42 PM

thank you tail feathers! so far I've been had it on the middle rack rail on the right side. i just get concerned about having that wire running down the middle of it...

kurtisbblake · February 23, 2014, 09:09:24 PM

how long does it take for everyone else to get their smoker up to temp after putting food inside the smoker?

tailfeathers · February 23, 2014, 09:22:42 PM

Quote from: kurtisbblake on February 23, 2014, 08:53:17 PM
how long does it take every one else to get up to 200 degrees after placing meat in their smokers?

You could ask 20 people and get twenty answers on that one. Too many variables in play. (Ambient temp, meat load size and temp, wind direction, etc etc etc) Bradley smokers are notorious for slow recovery. Preheated foil wrapped bricks, using boiling water in the pan and vent position are all ways to speed up recovery times, as is allowing the meat to reach room temp before placing in a preheated smoker. It sounds counterintuitive but an open vent will heat the cabinet faster than a closed one because closing the vent allows moisture to accumulate as TedE pointed out in his response. Even worse than the slow recovery this causes is the "black rain" that condenses on the ceiling of the tower and drips onto your food if the vent is closed to much. I'm in the "all the way open all the time" camp on that one. You will read about modifications that can be done for faster heat up/recovery (element upgrades) or tighter temp control (pid) and in fact I have done several of these on my smoker. My advice would be to run it in stock condition and get familiar with its quirks before doing anything else. Take notes of your cooks so you know what to avoid doing again when things don't turn out as planned, but also so that when you hit that "home run" (and you will) you can duplicate it next time around. There are tons of really good people on these forums that will go out of their way to help in any way they can. Just ask and someone will have your answer. Oh and we like pictures! As the saying goes, no photos means you must have been smoking unicorn meat! Again, welcome.

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kurtisbblake · February 23, 2014, 09:31:27 PM

thank you again! I'm definitely going to try all of these methods next time, which should be later this week. I'm smoking all wild game, from venison sausages, turkey jerky, venison jerky, snack sticks, goose jerky, duck breast, and many many more. I'm done paying someone else to process "my" meat. i like to know what my food has gone through and that it is actually my food. the best part, its a lot of fun and i get to do it all myself. i'll definitely be posting pictures of my next project. probably going to be more venison jerky. thank you all for the advice!

tailfeathers · February 23, 2014, 10:54:39 PM

Get yourself a nice whole pork loin, cure it and smoke it into Canadian bacon. I like mallardwhacker's maple cured Canadian bacon recipe from the website. Pretty much foolproof and you'll have people begging you for it, it's that good.

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NorthShoreMN · February 24, 2014, 05:56:45 AM

If it's real cold or I am doing a large piece of meat, shoulder, brisket etc. I preheat foil wrapped bricks on my gas grill or in oven, put one in before adding meat. Use 2nd if needed later.