Ok guys,
I have smoked a few rounds of ribs and a few batches of Mallard wackers canadian bacon, and some pulled pork, all with great success! I seem to have trouble cooking at low temperatures. I.E. say when I am cooking at 200 degrees, and I need the meat to cook to 150, it never seems to get there. When the smoking part is done, I close the damper to contain the heat. For example, last weekend I smoked about 15 lbs of Canadian bacon. I smoked it for 3 hours @ 200 degrees. I closed the damper when the smoke was over, and let it go for another 4 hours@ 200 degrees. Only when I bumped the temp up to 240 did the meat come up to 150 Does anyone else have the same issues??
Chrispy
chrispy that sound about right to me. I'm not so sure about closing the damper though--especially with something like chicken. This Sat I will be doing two deckels (point end of a brisket) and I know to get them to 190F it will take close to 16 hours.
Olds
I'm with Olds that sounds right, I leave my damper open for everything though cause I look as the OBS as more of a smoke infuser and then finish in the oven simply because thats what the smoker becomes! And it takes way to much time to recover in the BS (and I usually have so much planned to smoke) with a big load it takes awhile, not saying it can't be done I know many on here that finish in the smoker! But your temps sound right, just like with an offset (god knows I haven't used that since I got my BS!) low and slow is the way to go! And of course you used mesquite! ;D
C
Chrispy, are you monitoring the cabinet temperature with an external temp probe, or just using the set temp if on a digital or the door thermometer if using the Original Bradley? The temp your meat is experiencing may be lower than what you think you are giving it.
Two points here worth noting. Giz has the first one about monitoring the temp in the box with something other than the Bradley. Second and just as relevent is from Oldman. Closing the damper after the smoking period can trap moisture in the box causing the temp in the box to not rise as much as "normal" plus condensation can gather and run down the interior walls and leak on to whatever your smoker is sitting on.(take it from a guy with an ugly stain on his screened in porch floor.) My advice, invest in a Maverick ET-73 or something comparable to monitor box and meat temp and leave your vent at the very least cracked. Personally, I never close my vent 100%. Pretty much run it 50% open unless I'm working with poultry and then it is 100% open the entire time.
KyNola
It doesn't look like you have a recovery problem (getting the smoker to the set temperature); it's getting to the internal temperature. You loins shouldn't have a problem reaching 150° while cooking them at 200°F; it just a matter of more time. It's been my experience that most meats will stall at some point, and it seems that lean cuts of meat tend to stall for a short period of time around 140°F. For loins, rather then bumping up the temperature at the end, try smoking/cooking them at 225°F right from the beginning.
Never smoke/cook with the vent closed, at least open it far enough so that smoke does not flow back into the generator.
I use a Maverick dual temp probe. One of the probes in the meat, and one hangs in the center of the smoker box. The temp probe is off about 3 degrees at all times from the DBS. I had not thought about condensation in the box, but that is well worth noting. My reasoning was to hold the temperature more steady to get the meat up to a safe IT. I can not close the dampers completely, as the temp probe wires enter the DBS at that point. On my next smoke, I will try running it @ 220 or 230 degrees for the entire time. Thanks for your replies and advice.
Chrispy