Temp Swing on New 4 rack unit

[Tbone54889]

Hello All,
I just received my new Digital Smoker and "seasoned" it last night. I set the temp to 150 as instructed and got everything rolling. As I checked in on the progress...I noticed the temp had gone to 190 within the first 20 minutes. I set the unit at 140 to see what would happen and it then dropped to 120 after about 20 minutes...I set it back to 150 and it was at 170 when the unit shut off after an hour??? I'm hoping that temperature swing isn't to be "expected"...Help?!?!?

[KyNola]

Temps swings are very common in the BDS, particularly when the BDS is empty or the load has just been put into the smoker.  Remember that the heating element is either off or on.  The swings lessen as the load comes up to temp.  Also, if you are relying on the readings directly from the BDS, you may want to invest in a separate monitor such as the Maverick ET73.  It is much more accuarate than the BDS in temp readings, again particularly early on.  Having said all of that, unless you're going to be smoking fresh sausage or something where temp is critical, the temp swings aren't that big of a deal.  The ultimate solution is to purchase a PID that will typically hold the temp to within +/- 2 degrees of the setpoint.

Before I forget, welcome to the forum!

KyNola

[canadiansmoker]

I have the same problems with my 4 rack digital unit as well. Whether my unit is full or empty I still get temp swings of 20 degress above or below my set point.

As Kynola said for most things you'd be smoking it should be okay. I ended up buying a PID because I do a fair bit of smoked salmon and needed to have much better control over the temperatures (particularly for the first 3-4 hours).

And welcome, you'll enjoy your smoker and the crowd here on the forum. There is a lot of great advice and experience from the folks here.

[missourismoker]

Mine did the exact same thing when i seasoned it, oven temp at 150, digital temp gauge went to 190 and my digital probe went to 200, i was freaking out to say the least. I read everyone had that problem so i did a whole chicken, smoke on 3 hours and cook until IT was 165, everything evened out and it was great.
last night i did 15 pounds of deer sausage, 3 hours smoke on and cook at 200 until i got a IT of 165 and no wide heat swings on either smoke after it got going everything stayed within 10-15 degrees.

[oakville smoker]

Once mine is loaded and the temp recovers, its seems to stay within a few dgrees of the set point
You just ahve to get over the initial temp crash and wait for recovery to happen

[MPTubbs]

I put in a couple of foiled up bricks in my smoker to give it mass.

It helps with heat recovery when you open and close the door.

[Caneyscud]

Its not a problem.  It's part of the life of a smoker.  From the smallest to the largest big iron - they all have temperature variances.  So does your oven - bet you've never checked that before - or worried about it either.  The variance in the BDS is due, IMO, to temperature sampling rates or the algorithm used in the controller.  As KyNola stated the element is simply controlled by being fully off or fully on.  There is no variance in the power supplied to the element.   This is magnified by the fact that the Bradley has very low heat mass - i.e. capacity to take in, store, and emit heat as needed.  When I fire up a big smoker made of thick steel, once it is heated up, I can open the door to work on the meat and the temperature does not take a nosedive - because of the heat stored in the thick steel.  Unlike the Bradley - when you open the door, all the hot air falls out.  Since there is little heated mass in the Bradley, the element has to heat up more air to replace what was lost.