Brand new to the forum and the Bradley Smoker. I am smoking several racks of pork ribs for the first time. I preheated the smoker to approx 225 but after putting the four racks of ribs in the smoker the temp dropped to 150 and slowly climbed to about 190. It's been approx 3 hrs and the temp seems to be staying at 190. Are there any tricks to get the temp up quicker? and does the vent affect the temp at all?
leave the vent half open .No biggie and no 190- 205 is a great temp so leave it there. ;D
What a great forum discovery. Thanks Icerat
You are going to loose 25%-50% of your cabinet temperature due to meat load and loading time. I usually preheat 50 degrees or more higher then I intend to smoke at. The larger the load, the greater the drop in temperature will be, and the more time it will take the BS to recovery to you set temperature.
The vent will have an effect on temperature, but you need to keep it at least 1/3 open or more to prevent the smoke and moisture from backing out into your generator, and to keep moisture from building up and running out of the door.
Slappy Joe,
You're going to become familiar with a different time scale after you smoke for awhile. Things happen very slowly in BS cooking. I wouldn't want it any other way. I think a big mistake is to expect your supper magically to be ready at 5 PM. It doesn't work that way. I never expect my smoking project to be tonight's meal. In fact, I think anything still warm from the smokehouse is too overpowering, preferring the mellowed taste of at least 24 hours removed.
Smudge has it right re the time. I'm doing boston butt right now, for Sunday's dinner. I did throw in a few oysters for tonight's dinner, but they don't take long.
T2
Thanks for all the info....the ribs turned out great....I left them in about 1 1/2 hrs longer than I expected but well worth it. Damn they were good.
QuoteSmudge has it right re the time
Yep tis' so true.
Quote from: Oldman on May 07, 2006, 05:18:45 AM
QuoteSmudge has it right re the time
Yep tis' so true.
Yes it is ;D.
Try putting bricks in unused areas. When preheated they hold large amounts of BTU's. Your temps wont drop as much and it comes back quicker.
Brad
I agree pre-heating with bricks helps when I know I am putting in a lot of material. It helps recover. I have not done that in some time. normally one or two things. Like 2 ot 3 racks of ribs and some corn. or a Small Roast alone. no need for the extra bricks.
i will be doing some larger stuff soon and will indeed use the bricks I have reserved and seasoned for the smoker.
i follow Olds approach to Pre-heat, cranked for 1 hour, add material and then every 20 to 40 minutes, cool it till it sits at steady state.
Thats what I love about this forum...I've been doing big feeds lately, and have the problem of getting the temp. back to form. That bricks idea is great...will be doing that next weekend, with 4 racks of babybacks and probably a pork shoulder....
Thanks again all....
Swany
This thread got me to do some thinking. I sometimes use a aluminum roaster pan of water like others have pointed out vs. the standard water bowl. Do you suppose this allows for better heat retention? I figure once you get that large amount of water up to temp. it must hold better and make the unit easier to reheat.
If you do this and use bricks for more heat rentention, maybe it is even faster? Also, are there better items than bricks? thoughts?
Swany777 quote: "Also, are there better items than bricks? thoughts?"
I use a "brick" that puts out an extra 350 watts of heat 8)
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b241/xlb/heater.jpg)
yep...i guess that would do it! I might give the standard "brick" a try this weekend. Time for some babybacks I think...
Quote from: Swany777 on May 15, 2006, 08:47:18 AM
Thats what I love about this forum...I've been doing big feeds lately, and have the problem of getting the temp. back to form. That bricks idea is great...will be doing that next weekend, with 4 racks of babybacks and probably a pork shoulder....
Thanks again all....
Swany
You will have the opposite effect. Water pulls a lot of energy (heat) out of the air during the process of evaporation, so you will find that it will keep you cabinet temperature lower.
Quote from: Swany777 on May 23, 2006, 07:15:44 AM
This thread got me to do some thinking. I sometimes use a aluminum roaster pan of water like others have pointed out vs. the standard water bowl. Do you suppose this allows for better heat retention? I figure once you get that large amount of water up to temp. it must hold better and make the unit easier to reheat.
If you do this and use bricks for more heat rentention, maybe it is even faster? Also, are there better items than bricks? thoughts?
I suggest you start with boiling water in the bowl/roaster pan. That way you don't have to heat it up in the BS, and it (the water) will help heat the air inside the smoker. Just get a stovetop tea kettle for efficient heating of your water. It will heat to a boil very rapidly, in much less time than water will warm up inside the smoker.
well, so much for my knowledge of basic science...thanks for the info. Babybacks coming this weekend, man I can almost taste them.
Quote from: Swany777 on May 24, 2006, 06:45:22 AM
well, so much for my knowledge of basic science...thanks for the info. Babybacks coming this weekend, man I can almost taste them.
Swany777,
Hang around long enough and you will learn the steam tables :D :D :D
Arcs_n_Sparks
Steam Tables...I'm guessing that has nothing to do with that little cubbie in my gym's locker room.
Quote from: Swany777 on May 25, 2006, 06:38:57 AM
Steam Tables...I'm guessing that has nothing to do with that little cubbie in my gym's locker room.
Well, in an indirect way, it does. The steam tables are what engineers (mostly mechanical) learn in thermodynamics. It is a table of various thermodynamic parameters of water at various temperatures and pressures. Most of the areas of interest are when water is in vapor conditions (thus the moniker: steam tables).
As an aside, steam is invisible. What you normally see is when you think you see steam is some water that has condensed out.
Arcin' & Sparkin' 8)
Hello,
Just bought my Bradley couple days ago. Temp seems to be inaccurate. The inside is extremly smoky and temp 190. Wondering about the bricks. Will any brick do? How do I season them? Would I place them alone in the Bradley for how long?
Appreciate all responses,
David
Quote from: Sleepydrakos on June 09, 2006, 02:33:01 PM
Hello,
Just bought my Bradley couple days ago. Temp seems to be inaccurate. The inside is extremly smoky and temp 190. Wondering about the bricks. Will any brick do? How do I season them? Would I place them alone in the Bradley for how long?
Appreciate all responses,
David
I'm not quite sure what you mean by extremely smokey inside. Are you referring to the wall of the cabinet. If so, that's a good sign. Your BS is seasoned and it will get much darker as you use it. About the 190 degrees, are you saying that is as high as your BS will go? If you are using the door thermometer that is not the most accurate thermometer to monitor the cabinet temperature. You should invest in a probe thermometer.
As for the brick, I would guess any brick would do, as long as it fits. I found a brick that was small enough to fit beside the water pan, and the cabinet wall. The brick will not increase the cabinet temperature, but helps the cabinet recover from loss of heat due to load time, and load amount. I just gave my brick a good scrubbing with soap and hot water and placed it in the cabinet.
It seems to me the best brick to get would be one with a high capacity for storing heat. If you know any local potters, or have a local supplier for potters, ask for a couple of "hard" kiln bricks (as opposed to insulating bricks). The hard bricks are very dense while the soft bricks are are much lighter (containing more air in a looser structure). Ordinary house bricks are sort of intermediate between those two as far as hardness is concerned. They should hold more heat than soft bricks, but not as much as hard kiln bricks. I'm guessing that most people who use bricks in the smoker use ordinary house bricks. I suggest that if you can find them, kiln hard bricks might perform even better at maintaining temps. And starting with boiling water in the bowl should help things heat up faster too.
Quote from: Sleepydrakos on June 09, 2006, 02:33:01 PM
Hello,
Just bought my Bradley couple days ago. Temp seems to be inaccurate. The inside is extremly smoky and temp 190. Wondering about the bricks. Will any brick do? How do I season them? Would I place them alone in the Bradley for how long?
Appreciate all responses,
David
Welcome to the forum Sleepy!
Good idea regarding the brick and it sounds like you were given some good advice.
I would not use the brick method until you are sure your temp is working properly. Check over your break in/seasoning instuctions and try again. I would either borrow an oven thermometer or pick up a $5 dollar version at the supermarket and give the temp test again. NO PEEKING!!! DON'T OPEN THE DOOR! Everytime you open the door you lose a lot of heat and it takes a while to build back up. If you opened the door to much during your first test you may have had a faulty report.
Try it again. I would put the thermometer on a shelf close to the door thermometer so you can have an accurate comparison.
Let us know your results.