OBS Not heating above 180

MattBudd · July 25, 2010, 05:28:41 AM

Hey guys,

I purchased my smoker last week and smoked a few racks of ribs turned out pretty well, However this morning i went for round 2 with a pork shoulder and brisket. The temperature remained at about 155 for the first 45 minutes and is slowly upto 180 now and its been over an hour. I am not using an extesion cord and the heat is on high. any suggestions or reasons why the temp is not getting upto the 225 I would like it to be at??

Thanks in advance

KevinG · July 25, 2010, 05:47:35 AM

It's usually the connections. Pull them out and re-seat them.

MattBudd · July 25, 2010, 06:00:22 AM

does this involve pulling the plug out of the wall and all the connection plugs and plugging them all back in? will this reset the timer for the puck dispencer? I have a 7 pound brisket and a 6 pound pork shoulder in there, could it be the amount of meet in it that is keeping the temp low?
I plan on adding 4 racks of ribs shorlty will this only cause the heat to drop more?

I dont want to do the reset if it will cause me to lose time as the guests are planned to arrive in 7 hours i need the meat to be ready.

the heat is surrently at 190 and been on for an hour and 20 minutes

GusRobin · July 25, 2010, 08:06:38 AM

Did you give the meat a chance to warm up at room temp. prior to putting them in? If not, the meat is soaking up a lot of the "initial" heat. Also, use boiling water in the water bowl.
Is your vent open? A closed vent retains moisture, lowers temp. Some use between 1/2- 3/4. Me, I go wide open on everything.
If you haven't installed a second element, you may want to consider keeping a brick wrapped in foil in your cabinet. I have the elemnet so I don't do it, but those that have say it acts as a good heat sink in retaining temps. (put it in your oven first then add it to the cabinet.)
Finally, if all the plugs are okay, try moving your slider a bit. Sometimes when it is all the way to the right it shuts off. (not on all OBS butt some have experienced that).
Good luck

GusRobin · July 25, 2010, 08:14:14 AM

Just noticed that you said you had a 7 lb brisket and 6 lb pork. These things can take up to 2 hrs a lb. I do pork at about 8lbs and it has taken as much as 20 hrs depending on the individual butt. That is at 220F. It may reach the safe temp to eat, but the tenderise comes at about 185 -190 IT. At about 160F IT it usually stalls at this temp for a few hours while the magic happens in the meat.
You may want to develop a plan B.

classicrockgriller · July 25, 2010, 08:25:03 AM

Matt, I think Gus is trying to tell you in a nice way you may want to see what kind of pizza you guest like.

MattBudd · July 25, 2010, 10:12:18 AM

So i am now 5 hours in, smoked the whole time, but never got over 190. so i decided to take the pork shoulder out and put it in the over. measured the IT at 135, now it in the over at 245. The brisket and ribs are still in the smoker and it has reached 195. Should hopefully be ready for meal time in 4 hours. Any tips for me as to guarantee that the brisket and pork will be ready for then? i am not too concerned with the ribs as i can always just throw them on the gas grill, that and they have been in there for 3 hours already.

If the smoker has been at 190 the whole time, does this mean that the meat is not cooking and its like starting fresh?

thanks in advance for any advice

Uncle Pigfat · July 25, 2010, 11:00:39 AM

how are you keeping track of the cabinet temperature? If it's the door probe you may not be getting the best reading. You have a heavy load of meat in there and the door probe won't be accurate until all that meat starts to get close to halfway done, especially if the meat is lower than the probe. Open your vent, crank the slider, keep the door shut and hope for the best. A good smoke can't be rushed. Good luck!

classicrockgriller · July 25, 2010, 11:19:43 AM

You can turn up the oven to 250 to 260*

The pig will probably be ready.

The brisket is gonna take awhile at low n' slow.

Like you said, you can finish the ribs on the gasser.

DTAggie · July 25, 2010, 11:35:56 AM

Welcome Matt. I hate to echo the bad news, but it looks like you did not plan for enough time for such a big smoke. Get through this meal the best you can and do some serious research on here as to how long things take. This is BBQ - low and slow. It just cannot be rushed.