Quick question everyone...How easy or difficult is it to hot or cold smoke during the winter in COLD weather? Living in Chicago, the winter months are a little chilly. For example, when I woke up this morning (8:00AM) it was 0 with a windchill of -18. Thanks in advance for your answers. I do have a garage which will make it a little warmer.
Thanks,
Drew
Im in wyoming and if you can get out of the wind it will help but i smoked in a blizzard with a umbrella
I've only actually done a couple of smokes but both in some pretty frigid weather...made sure I stayed out of the wind and snow and only smoked at lower temps. Looking forward to warmer weather for easier temp control
The garage should help
I am in Minnesota and smoke in the winter a lot,I just keep it in the garage and open the window. Main thing is to keep it out of the wind. I have a buddy who just told me he wrapped his Bradley with a moving blanket and his recovery temps were fast so I am going to try that super bowl weekend when I do 3 butts.
Wind is your enemy, not so much the cold temp. Wind blowing across the top of your Bradley will literally suck the heat right out of your Bradley. Block the wind and you should be good to go. Don't try closing the vent. That causes a whole different problem in addition to knocking down the heat in your Bradley.
I'm just 90 miles north of Chicago, and I smoke all winter long, just finished 20 pounds of bacon and the outside temp never went above 10 F.
Wind is your biggest problem.
Glad I am in California ;D
I agreee with the earlier posts. The cold is no problem, it's the wind that will get you.
"The cold is no problem, it's the wind that will get you."
That sounds just like those folks (including me) that say something about it being a "dry heat" - claiming the heat out west is not as hot as the heat in the South and East! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Naw, they are right, the cold will affect you more than it will the smoker. Wind is another thing. Some controllers have trouble with the cold. Not that they don't work, but their programs don't know what -5 degrees is!
I'm from Montreal and I can tell that the cold is not a problem!
Keep the smoker out of the wind and you won't have any problem.
But this morning it was really cold here, -20F and with the wind -36F (ouch!) !!! :'(
Caney- as far as heat everyone says "but it is a dry heat so it's not bad' well put your head in an oven at 110 and keep it there,tell me that is not bad?
I live in Manitoba and am finding that it is the wind that is the problem as well. I smoked some tenderloin a couple weeks ago when the temperatures were running at about -28C and my smoker had no problem until the wind came up. I had also wrapped it in an insulated blanket and have a brick on the bottom.
Amen Watchdog!!! Amen... :(
I smoke in winter in Central Ontario,and it get's pretty cold here!
The garage helps alot.
Just a suggestion - in cold temps,take your SG in the house overnite before you smoke.
I've had mine be a bit "cranky" re advancing the pucks,and this seemed to solve the problem.
Jim O :)
I will start mine about an hour early, but won't advance any pucks until ready to load my items. That way everything is warmned up and ready to go.
I recently read some posts about the Auber PIDs not working properly in colder temps if you use one.
I have had my PID over 1 year now and it has seen temps down to zero in Minnesota. Smoke in the garage and have not had a problem.
I have definately had issues with my dual probe PID when it gets really cold. As long as you can keep the temp probe and the meat probe above that 32 degree mark, then you are fine and it works great. But, I've tried it when it was 0 degrees and had all kinds of issues until I realized the PID doesn't recognize such low temperatures. I've just been not using the PID when it's so cold because of the issues it creates. I'm sure others have had the problem as well.
You'll want to keep/bring the probes inside during the frigid weather. Plug them in when you have a pan of hot water in the bottom of the smoker, and they will stay above 32° and keep the Auber happy.