too cold to use smoker?

SuperDutyScaler · January 24, 2013, 01:38:38 PM

i received a BradelyOriginal Smoker for Christmas and im finally using it today. Its 18* outside and i made a plywood box to block the wind etc but its not working. Smoker will only get to about 80*, so i moved it inside my shed. My shed is 14'x18' and i put a piece of scrap sheetrock under the smoker just in case. Im running a electric heater also and its about 40* in the shed right now. The smoker has been running on high for 45minutes and its only 168* give or take...... Am i just wasting my time or should i wait longer for the smoker to get up to temp??

Waltz · January 24, 2013, 01:48:15 PM

Is the main oven element glowing red? I use mine at around 40 degrees F OK so perhaps you have a loose connection or low voltage on your power to the smoker. 168 degrees may be the temperature from the smoke generator only. Check the power cord is fully in its socket at the back of the smoker and do not use a long extension cable to supply the power.

SuperDutyScaler · January 24, 2013, 02:37:08 PM

the element is glowing red, and the plug is all the way in. I have the power cord plugged directly into a outlet and the outlet is 12ga wire on a 20amp breaker

SuperDutyScaler · January 24, 2013, 02:41:50 PM

i turned the heater control all the way up first for an hour and it got to about 150* i then turned on the smoke box and its now almost 200*. Its been on for an hour and a half so ill cook my quail for four hours instead of three like the Bradley book says.

Also i decided to smoke some bacon and ham steak on the top rack while im using it for the first time, should i remove them after three hours or four hours?

And whats up with this verification words with EVER reply? Seems WAY out of control for a cooking forum?

devo · January 24, 2013, 02:48:38 PM

verification words will go away after a few more post's. We where getting a lot of spamers posting to the forums so this is the route they had to take.

RedJada · January 24, 2013, 03:05:40 PM

Quote from: SuperDutyScaler on January 24, 2013, 01:38:38 PM
i received a BradelyOriginal Smoker for Christmas and im finally using it today. Its 18* outside and i made a plywood box to block the wind etc but its not working. Smoker will only get to about 80*, so i moved it inside my shed. My shed is 14'x18' and i put a piece of scrap sheetrock under the smoker just in case. Im running a electric heater also and its about 40* in the shed right now. The smoker has been running on high for 45minutes and its only 168* give or take...... Am i just wasting my time or should i wait longer for the smoker to get up to temp??

If you are running the Bradly and the heater on the same circuit, that could be the problem. You should plug into its own circuit. Also are you relying on the thermometer built into the door? They are very unreliable. Another thing, where do you have your vent set at? I can reach 250 in about 45 minutes in 30 degrees, vent wide open always. A lot of people use the Maverick 732 thermometer, you just drop in down the vent under the lowest rack with food. I have found the the temp on the Maverick can be 30-50 degrees + than what the built in door thermometer reads. Hope this helps.

SuperDutyScaler · January 24, 2013, 04:06:59 PM

im using seperate outlets for the smoker and the electric heater. The smoker is in my air compresser outlet thats all by itself. And all im using right now is the factory temp gauge, id figure after my girlfriend spent all this money that the temp gauge would work, but i guess not....

Gafala · January 24, 2013, 04:35:54 PM

It's been in the 20's here for almost two weeks and I'm not having any problems holding temp,

cathouse willy · January 24, 2013, 07:38:18 PM

See this thread. pics of a smoker blanket that will make a big difference

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=24699.msg297265#msg297265

Tenpoint5 · January 25, 2013, 08:25:04 AM

Another trick to help it warm up a little faster is to turn on your smoke generator without any pucks. You can heat up some foil wrapped bricks in the oven and put them in there to help with the temp, The bricks will also act as a heat sink and help with temp recovery from opening the door and such. Put as hot of water as you can in the water pan this also helps heat the cabinet up.

Of course the new norm around here is to tell everyone they need to make modifications adding elements and fans and such. You don't need it! I have had my 4 rack digital since '07 and the ole girl does just fine as she sits without any mods.

tskeeter · January 25, 2013, 12:21:43 PM

Quote from: SuperDutyScaler on January 24, 2013, 04:06:59 PM
im using seperate outlets for the smoker and the electric heater. The smoker is in my air compresser outlet thats all by itself. And all im using right now is the factory temp gauge, id figure after my girlfriend spent all this money that the temp gauge would work, but i guess not....

Scaler, it probably isn't that your temp gauge is way off. It's that Bradley smokers have definite temperature zones. Since the main heating element is in the bottom of the cabinet at the back, the temperature inside the cabinet tends to warmer at the bottom and cooler at the top. And warmer at the back and cooler near the door. So the warmest spot is the bottom back and the coolest spot is the top front of the cabinet. Your door mounted temp gauge is in one of the cooler spots in the smoker. You could use another thermometer to determine how much warmer your smoker is in the middle of the smoker as opposed to where your temp gauge is mounted. Then you will have an idea how much the real temperature offset is from what your door gauge reads.

Some people compensate for the temperature variation by rotating their racks from top to bottom every hour or so of cooking time. They also rotate the racks 180 degrees as they do the vertical rotation. I'm lazy, I compensate by trying to put the meats that I want to cook at a higher temperature (bigger or thicker cuts of meat) closer to the bottom back of the smoker and thinner, smaller cuts of meat more toward the top of the smoker.

In general, the variations in temperature distribution don't cause me problems. What does cause some challenges is the wind. I live in an area where a light breeze is 20 mph. Use of preheated heat sinks helps to delay the heat loss. And I'm in the process of equipping a "smoker house" to provide a place to store my smoker in a ready for use status, provide storage space for my smoking supplies and accessories, and to shelter the smoker from the wind a bit. Well, I guess the real truth is that I just want a cool smoker house. The other stuff is excuses to rationalize the money I'm spending.

too cold to use smoker?

devo