:-[ So much for my first smoking today! I was carrying the smoker out to the patio today and sure enough I dropped the generator, did a really stupid thing, was carrying it by the wood tube. Anyway, now the oven temp does not seem to work, I set it at 200 and it doesn't heat. The smoker does still work, at least it seems to. The oven temp readout does go up when running the smoker but only to about 80 degrees.
Would a PID bypass the digital controls and solve my problems? I was thinking of getting one anyway but I would hate to get one and have it still not work. Please help me out, I feel sick, I was so looking forward to smoking today. :'(
Dont panic too much. Some senior member will probably be able to guide you on troubleshooting it. Its probably just a wire connection that came loose.
Hey GB,
All may not be lost just yet. Try these two things first. Make sure the power cable that goes from the smoke generator to the tower is securely plugged in at both ends. Unplug and then replug pressing very firmly. Sometimes they just don't get plugged in enough to make good contact. Also, do the same with the small "jumper" cable between the generator and the box. Do it several times even consider reversing the ends. When you attempt to heat the oven, is the heating element getting hot? Does it glow red? One other thing you might try is taking the perimeter screws out of the bottom of the generator and opening the generator(it opens clam shell fashion) and see if maybe the fall caused a wire or two to come disconnected. Sometimes they come from the factory like that already.
Good luck buddy! Other folks will come along soon with ideas as well.
KyNola
I will have to go with Ky on this. More than likely your smoker is ok. You did register it online right?
nepas
Thanks for the replies so far! Good news is after plugging and unplugging the power and jumpers it does appear to be heating now. ;D Bad news is some of the lights one the digital readout don't seem to work, kind of hard to read the temp but at least it seems to function. Still might buy a PID, at least then I could read the temp settings easier. Thanks all!
Yep it has been registered, just got it last Friday and registered it this morning.
;D ;D Outstanding! Glad you're up and running. Before you spend the cash for a PID you may want to reconsider depending on what you are going to be smoking. If you're not going to be making and smoking sausage or certain items where you need a very tight control on heat or stepping up the heat at certain intervals, you really don't need a PID. If some of the lights that are out on the temp readout is on the tower temp, purchase a Maverick ET-73 dual probe thermometer. Many of us use that to monitor the tower temp as it is much more accurate than the tower temp readout to begin with!
Now.....season that bad boy and get to smoking!
KyNola
Mike here again. Glad you got it going. Like kyNola said, get you a maverick et-73. Works great and simple to use. You can even set alarms in case your temp creeps up too far or too low in the smoker or in the oven. You can also set it to beep when you reach the desired IT. Great benefit becasue u can do other things and not worry about overshooting the IT.
Thanks again guys! Just a progress report......it seems to be working fine, wood pucks are progressing into the smoke chamber every 20 minutes, heat is between 190 and 205 (at least every time I've checked) so at least I'm smoking. :) The Maverick looks like a "must have", my birthday is less than a week away so I'll have to put it on my list.
One last thought about the lights being out. I recall you saying you were taking it to the patio. By chance, is the sun shining on the face of the smoke generator? The reason I ask is when the sun shines on the face of my smoke generator, it looks like the thing is not even on as the sun drowns out the indicator lights. Cup your hands around the display and see if you can see them.
Just a thought. Sounds like your functional again!
KyNola
Welcome to the fun.
Glad to here you are up and running.
So whats the madin voiage going to b?
I have a pork roast and beef roast in. Smoked them for 3 hrs. at 200, then foil wrapped and put back in at 230, shooting for another 5 hrs for a total of 8.....sound about right? Both roasts are about 4 to 5 lbs.. They sure looked and smelled goooood when I wrapped them.
We just finished our first meal from the smoker, one beef roast and one pork roast, here is a picture before smoking:
(http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx104/GBSorenson/DSC_0121.jpg)
one of the pork roast after smoking, I then foil wrapped them both for the final cooking
(http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/xx104/GBSorenson/DSC_0122.jpg)
they actually got done quicker than I had thought, was planning on a total cook time of 8 hrs but it only took 6. Both were very juicy, the beef was slightly tough though. Next time I'll set the temp lower, this was 3 hrs.(with smoke) at 200 and 3 at 230. Will probably smoke for a full 4 hrs next time too, they had a smokey flavor but I'd like it to be a little more. Thanks for all the help earlier.
Hey gb, glad to hear you got that smoker up and running and enjoyed the taste of the results. As far as being tender, what IT did you cook them to? When I did a butt roast, mine was at 203 when I pulled it from the oven. Then I did the FTC for about 2 hours and it was falling apart tender. It was about 5 lbs also and total smoke/cook time was about 12 hours. For the beef roast I'm just guessing you had a chuck roast there. Never done one yet but from what I've about others, I would think going to an IT of about 190 should work on that. Low and slow is the key. Everyone else has ya pointed in the right direction with that ET-73. Makes things a lot easier and more accurate.
Keep up the good work.
You might be right on the longer cook times, my IT was at about 165 on each. Maybe I should have taken it to a higher IT but I didn't want it to dry out, after taking it out I don't think that would have been a problem.
GB, Beef Roasts can be a quite difficult cook because of fat content. I do not even do them anymore. One will be perfect, and the other will be shoe leather using the same meathod. Try a briskit with the WTS
tutorial and enjoy some beef!
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=525 (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=525)
Good looking roasts gb.
Glad you got the pleasure to smoke something with your new tool.
Now your going to have to keep the smoke rolling so you don't need sun glass's when you open it up.
When I do beef roasts mainly chuck I will go by the fork test more than the IT to get it as tender as needed.
After the smoke I do like you did and wrap in foil till done that helps to keep from drying out.
The fun has just begun.
Glad you're up and running (uhh smoking)! As Ky and Mikecorn posted seriously evaluate what you intend on smoking - the ET73 or some other remote reading thermo is all you might need. And Smoking Soon had some great advise also - roasts are very variable, and I prefer briskets anyways - Usually less expensive, about the same shrinkage loss, and since they are bigger, you have more leftovers!!! But if you do more roasts, the IT needs to be more than 165 to be "tender", which most will say is "pull apart". Its of 185 up to 205 give pull apart, so use fork test to be sure. And as far as drying out - you can always "foil and splash" after your initial smoke time. That way the roast sets in it's own little sauna, getting tender just for you!