help

[duncan pj]

My 6 rack digital takes forever to get to temp and when it does once I put the smallest amount of meat (4 chicken breasts) it goes back down and then takes at least an hr to get to 220. That is w/ my thermometer inside the cooker. The digital is totally inaccurate. I can have it set on 320 and it will say the cooker is at 230 when it is barely 200.

[classicrockgriller]

Pre-heat your Bradley higher than what you are going to cook at.

Like if you want to smoke/cook at 220*, pre-heat the Bradley to say like 260*

Leave the door shut!

Take food out of COLD fridge about an hr before you want to cook it to allow it to warm up.

When you put your food in the Bradley leave it at the higher temp for about an hour or so

and then adjust it down.

Open your vent to 3/4 to full open for chicken. They have a lot of moisture and it needs to excape.

Leave the door shut and don't peek.

It has been said, everytime you open the door it adds 30 minutes to your cook time.

Welcome to the forum.

[duncan pj]

Thanks for the tips. I have pre heated smoker and put meat on after it sat for a couple hrs. I have yet to get a readout on my remote thermometer of more than 220 despite what the readout on the control box says. I have a yard full of wood smokers that I have built over the yrs and I can control the heat on them better than this. Sorry if I sound frustrated. I wonder if my heating element is defective.

[ArnieM]

Hi duncan and welcome to the forum.

CRG gave you some good advice.

Please define "forever" to get up to temp.  What was the ambient temp?  Was it windy?

The more info you can give us, the better we can respond.

[classicrockgriller]

Well you should get a higher temp reading than that.

I have a 6rk and an OBS and I have had temp readings of 280 plus out of it.

Give Bradley a call and talk to them.

They are nice people and will help you out.

[duncan pj]

It is 75 degrees right now. I started pre heating at 3 pm. It was probably 80 then and no wind.  I set the temp to max (320) and by 4:30 my remote read 220. I put on 3 cornish hens this time and my temp dropped back to around 190. It was 6 before my temp got above 210 and it is now 218 on bottom rack(7:35). All of these tmps are off my remote. I have cooked 4 times and now do not trust the control box. For ex. it says I am at 237, my remote reads 218.

[OU812]

Are you running with an extention cord, or on an outlet with other things on the same breaker?

I run mine on a delegated outlet and have no troubles.

I also have a DBS 6 rack.

[Tenpoint5]

It may sounds simple and silly but is your vent wide open? If your doing chicken it puts out a lot of moisture and that will hold your temps down. Unlike your stick burners closing the vent won't hold the heat in on a Bradley with all that moisture in there.

[FLBentRider]

Where is the problem probe on your remote?

Above the hens? below the hens?

ps - Thanks KyNola!

[KyNola]

I think FLBR means where is your probe on your remote, above the hens or below?