It's 36 degrees out and I have one chicken and one rack of ribs in my 4 rack smoker. It's been going for over two hours and the temp is only 147 degrees. It got up to 160 at one time but reading this forum it said to open the vent half way, now it's back to 147. Is this normal? What should I do?
I have also had trouble with the E message and all of my wafers going into the bowl of water. To be honest I'm ready to give up on this unit. I could do better with a charcoal grill. Frustrated, with a hungry family, looks like I'm ordering pizza tonight.
try opening your vent all the way, it may heat up more. Was the meat at room temp when you put it in? Is it blocked from any wind?
Hard not to get discouraged under those circumstances. I'm thinking this may be the first time you have used the unit?
Make sure all the plug connections at the back of the smoke generator and the smoking cabinet are firmly and fully plugged in. First time I used mine I was having trouble getting 120'F out of it. Double checked the plug at the back of the smoking cabinet and found it to be not quite fully engaged. Fixed that and temp rose to 200'F right quick.
You could always finish it in the oven and still enjoy.
Many factors will effect temperature;
stone cold product placed in unit, you can pre-warm product in your oven.
Plugs loose- see above.
Vent on top not open, prevents moisture from escaping which now acts as a cooling agent(evaporation). Keep vent AT LEAST 1/2 to 3/4 open.
Frequent door opening.
Failure to pre-heat puck burner and cabinet
cold water in puck bowl, use boiling water.
Wind, shelter unit.
Smoking outdoors in the winter is not easy at the best of times, especially for us beginners. Once you get your unit dialed in and learn a few tricks you won't endure these moments.
One thing that I didn't see mentioned is whether or not you're using an extension cord. The Bradley doesn't like them and if you're using one it may be a main reason it is struggling to get up to temp. Also, poultry has a lot of moisture. It is suggested to keep the vent fully open when smoking poultry.
Hi MarkH;
Sorry to welcome you to the forum under such circumstances.
At 36°F, your smoker, with that load, should be able to obtain temperatures in the low 200°F. Other than the temperature, was it windy, and if so are you able to block the smoker from wind entering the side of the generator and/or through the top vent? Did the temperature go down when you closed the vent half open, or when you widened it to half open?
Often if the smoker is unable to get up to temperature may be caused by loose connections, so first try disconnecting and reconnecting the plugs. Below is a link that may help you troubleshoot, and find out what is causing the problem(s).
Bradley FAQ's (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?481-Bradley-Smoker-FAQ-s&p=748#post748)
Habs, I couldn't go to your link, it must be part of Olds Place. I sure hope others don't have the same problems I do with that site
I find brined chickens put a pretty large load on the smoker, but it should still hit 200. Time to troubleshoot. The bisquettes not burning would be a good place to start.
And I don't know if this is normal or not, but I find I need to keep a heater blowing on the smoke generator or I get the error message when below freezing