How fast do I bring up the temperature

[zeek]

First smoke today. I am cooking half chickens the Bradley book says to preheat smoker to 220. When I put in the chicken the temp goes down and takes a long time to come up. Should I move the temperature control to HIGH to quickly bring up the temp or leave the control where it was at for the preheat? Overall, do I try to quickly bring up the temperature?

Thanks in advance[:)]

[Habanero Smoker]

First you should preheat higher than you plan to smoke at; I would say at least 250 degrees F. When you open the door you will loose a lot of heat and adding meat will drop your cabinet temperature. For that reason you will need to adjust your temperature anyway, so slide the temperature control all the way to the right to bring the temperature back up to 220 as soon as possible. I and some others, use a brick, or ceramic tiles in the BS to help the BS recover to temperature sooner.

Do a search on "brick" to get full details on how this is done, and why.

[zeek]

Thanks for the information. Can not wait to taste the end product. Also, thanks for your quick reply.

[Bad Flynch]

<Overall, do I try to quickly bring up the temperature?<

Go ahead, that's what I do when needed. It seems to do no harm at all. If my oven is already well heat-soaked from long cooking, I will not try to play catch-up, but if it is relatively cool (as when first starting) I will.

B.F.