Almost a firebox

[lesdom]

Newbie here. Tried my first smoke last night with disastrous results. Did the break-in for an hour thing and then was all excited and filled tower with 3 racks of ribs right out of the fridge which were rubbed down 2 days ago. After about an hour I checked on them and the power lights were out and there was a puddle of muck on the deck. Opened the door and it was as if someone hosed down the innards with a garden hose. Fuse had blown (try finding one at midnight). After dismantling the tower today found the mucky stuff found its way to the AC power connector on the inside and was shorting out. Burned up some insulation and toasted the connectors. Replaced connector and patched up the insulation. All is OK now - but - what happened? Temp outside was about 50F and smoker gauge said 200. I had the vent closed all the way. Is that the culprit? This could have been a real disaster.

[nsxbill]

Ouch!  I would definitely call Bradley to discuss.  First time I ever used my BS, and not knowing any different, had the vents closed.  As I waited nearby, smoke started spewing out of every open orifice<font color="red"> (to Chez and Fuzzybear-I am talking about the smoker cabinet)</font id="red">.  I cracked the vent at the top, and problem solved.  

Too late now, but I try to let my meat warm up close to room temp after a night in the refer.  The puddle on the deck you refer to is outside the BS, I assume.  Must have had a load of moisture and condensation coming off the meat!

I have never had to call Bradley, but understand they really give good service!

Terrible first experience for you.  Stay with it!  It really does a fine job on everything.  The only "failures" I have experienced were caused by my mishandling of the rub..putting on too thick.  Even that was recyclable by throwing in a chili pot.

Good luck!

Bill

[Bassman]

Les,
first of all welcome,I see you are from Phila. One of my kids lives in center city And I am about 2hrs north of you.
Anyway, In my opinion, putting meat from fridge right in smoker not good, also it's a good idea to leave the vent open all the way for at least half an hour to let out all that moisture.
Keep at it though, once you get the basic idea you will be eating mighty fine![:D]

<i><font color="blue"><b>Jack</i></font id="blue"></b>

[lesdom]

Thanks for the info guys. Of all the do's and dont's that (the vent opening) doesn't show up anywhere in the manuals. Anyhow, all is well now with my BS. Thanks again.
PS to the Bassman, work in Philly, live in Horsham next to the Air Base. Maybe by the time I get the hang of this... up for a smoke off?
Thanks for the input Jack.

[MallardWacker]

lesdom,

Don't feel bad, did almost the same thing.  Stuff-goo on the porch-wife mad.  I keep my vent open about 1/4 of the way for just about anything I do and open it all the way when I'm trying to crisp  some chicken up.  NEVER had a problem since.  Don't worry you will find nervana.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[msiler]

Is it possible that you may have had too much water in the pan??? causing it to overflow? The most i have gotten before was a spot about the size of a quarter on the deck..

When in doubt smoke it.

[Bassman]

Les,
that would be Willow Grove air force base I assume. I know exactly where it's at. I just accepted a position in Doylestown, Actually Central Bucks School District in the IT department as a systems technician. That is probably 30 min. from you.
a smoke off, that would be fun! But I must warn you, I have been having some very impressive successes with my smoker.In fact my son-in-law-to-be ask me to provide the pulled pork for his party next weekend, I just smoked 4 pork butts,combined weight is 30 lbs.came out awsome![:D]They are now vaccuum sealed and frozen.

<i><font color="blue"><b>Jack</i></font id="blue"></b>