Yesterday (Saturday) I prepared to 8 full racks of Spareribs (4 cryopacks) for an event on Sunday. I spice prepped them at 8:30AM and planned to load the smoker once at 10AM and again at 4PM.
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh147/photo_casket/ribs-rub.jpg)
The Smoker came up to temp by 10 as planned (210). I loaded up and checked the digital readout at 11:30AM, showing 207. Great. At 12:30 it was time to physically check the meat. After 2.5 hours it looked like a 45 minute sweat???? I then placed 2 oven thermometers on the racks. At 3PM I checked the digital readout again, 215. The oven thermometers both showed 155.
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh147/photo_casket/smoker1.jpg)
At 7:30PM and cranking the temp to 320, 9.5 hours later the first batch was ready for a 20 minute glaze. At 8PM the FIRST batch of ribs came out.
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh147/photo_casket/ribs-done.jpg)
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I believe that simply loading the smoker equals "Over Loading" the smoker. Probably too much steam in too small of a space. I don't understand why the digital temps lies, that really doesn't make much sense. As anyone who has been smoking for a few years knows, you never trust the built in measurements but still why so dramatic?
Caz
btw, the second load (only 2 racks) cooked as planned and the event was cancelled today. :-\
Hi cazg, looking at your second pic, I think your v-rack is upside down. Turned over, those dripping should go into your water bowl. That might make some difference on the heat also. But would be safer for sure by not allowing grease to fall on the heating element.
I see that, if you look to the left of the bradley, you can see the v rack is in upside down.
Thanks for the response. You are right the drip plate was upside down. I just checked the heating element and it was clean so no drippings hit it. I am glad that I posted a picture because I never would have known about the plate :)
I hope this doesn't not over-ride my main point about too much meat. I like the smoker and hope to do alot with it, but as Det. Inspector Harry Callahan once said: "A smoker must know its limitations." or something like that. ;D
Caz
Nice ribs
mike is right on the v-tray, thats why you have liquid on the bottom pan. Turn your v-tray the other way like this V
nepas
A couple other things you can try, preheat the smoker to a higher temp. I crank mine all the way up along with the smoke generator on (no pucks) for about an hour before I start smoking. Found that helps on the heat recovery time. After loading the smoker and temp recovers to what I want to smoke at, then I turn the temp down. Make sure that the vent is open so moisture can escape as that will hold the heat down. You can try adding a couple foil wrapped bricks by the water bowl to. That seems to help.
yep, keep that top vent 1/2 to full open. Mine is almost always full open.
Did you rotate the racks at all ?
And dummy me, I forgot. :D No peeking cuz when your peeking your not cooking. I got to where I don't even open the door until the smoke is done.
:) pensrock: my vents were 3/4 open the entire time.
:) HawkeyeSmokes: Foil wrapped bricks? Good idea.
:) FLBentRider: I used two oven thermometers to watch the temps. Never had a variation that made it necessary to rotate the racks. Everything cooked evenly just waaaaay to slowly.
;) HawkeyeSmokes: I'd still be smoking tonight if I didn't look :)lol
Anyone have any ideas about why the digital thermometer does not work correctly?
For a large load, you may want to consider doing the smoke part (up to 4 hours) in the Bradley and then move meat to your kitchen oven. I personally never have that large of a load and do it all in the Bradley, but it is an option.
One other thing about temperature variance. I don't have the DBS, so I don't know where on the back it is located, but I can see where you placed the oven thermometers. The smoker is always hotter at the back wall, because the heating element is placed there. Secondly, you have your thermometers next to and very close to the meat. The temperature near the meat (especially at the beginning) can be 40°F lower than the actual cabinet temperature. This is due to water evaporation from the meat as it cooks.
The sensor on the 6 rack is just below the 3rd rack on the back wall. As already mentioned, the back wall reads a higher temperature due to the heating element being on the back wall. For that large of a load, I have the set point at 320 for most of the 3 to 4 hours of smoke. I do NOT go by the digital readout on the smoker for what temp the meat is seeing. I use an external remote thermometer with the probe located under the 3 rack usually toward the left side a little depending on clamp space (try to stay away from being directly under dripping meat). When the remote probe reaches 210 deg, I turn the heat down by 20 to 30 deg, then continue to adjust until the 210 degree mark is maintained. This usually takes in the 4 to 5 hour range as the meat warms up and the final digital set point is 210 to 220 deg. With that being said, you may have to rotate the racks after 2 to 3 hours since the bottom rack will be exposed to a higher temp than the top rack, a draw back from any smoker or oven whether it be horizontal or vertical that is not also a convection oven. After the smoke I usually wrap the ribs in foil or put them in a foil pan and place them in the house oven. I have a pure convection oven that finishes them off with even heat. It can be done in the Bradley with foil wrap as well, but you will need to rotate the racks a few more times to keep them evenly heated.
Thanks for all the responses guys.
Caz