Smoking in 40 mph winds

Smoking Duck · December 23, 2007, 02:40:00 PM

Well, I need all the luck I can get. I got tapped to do about 14lbs of pulled pork for Christmas Eve dinner. Going to start it in an hour and smoke throughout the evening. Unfortunately for me, the outside temp is about 20* and we have 40 mph winds blowing from basically west to east. Luckily for me, my house faces to the east and I have a front porch that is covered. If my luck holds out, the wind will stay that way and I should be okay. I'm hoping to pull the butt off around 1 or 2 pm for the 1.5 hour ride to my wife's relatives house where it will be FTCing for the ride and then until dinner time. The only thing I'm asking Santa for is no shift in winds.

Hope everyone elses Christmas Smokes go off without a hitch.

Merry Christmas all!

bullhead · December 23, 2007, 03:23:28 PM

Smoking Duck what I do when smoking in the cold and wind I use a coffee can with both ends cut out. place over your vent so the wind is not hitting, and blowing down your vent.I found this works well.

Smoking Duck · December 23, 2007, 03:26:40 PM

That's a great idea Bullhead. I'm gonna cut a can right now. Thanks for the advice.

Marc

car54 · December 23, 2007, 04:28:05 PM

Smoking Duck,

I just did about 20 lbs of butt yesterday when it was a beautiful 40 degrees. Today was rotten miserable, much like your weather. My smoker is in an enclosure and the weather does not affect it as much. Tomorrow I am going to smoke some salmon. There is suppose to be less wind . For your information, I am from Milwaukee.

Smoking Duck · December 23, 2007, 04:36:09 PM

Hey Car54,

That's some nasty weather up there. We've had a bad wind all frigging day long from about 3 am this morning. When I woke up, the temp was 56 but really windy. Now it's about 19 with the same wind. I live in northern Indiana. I've found the colder temps don't really affect the DBS that much but the wind sure does. Right now, because of the wind direction, it isn't affecting the DBS at all and this way, I just open the fron door and I'm right there at the smoker. Quite convenient actually. I plan on building something this spring that will permanently house my smoker or I plan on doing something like Mr. Walleye has done with his garage. Course, if I do that, I'll have to get my DirecTv wired to my garage. If I did that, I'd only need to go to the house for one thing ;D

Kane · December 23, 2007, 04:54:25 PM

hey Marc.

good luck! Im right on the Wisconsin/Illinois border and its nasty out there. I wanted to try my DBS out for the first time today but decided I can wait.

Arcs_n_Sparks · December 23, 2007, 06:37:29 PM

Quote from: Smoking Duck on December 23, 2007, 02:40:00 PM
Well, I need all the luck I can get.

Remember, if you get desperate, you can always finish in the oven after your smoking is over.

Arcs_n_Sparks

Smoking Duck · December 23, 2007, 06:53:42 PM

Actually, I'm doing pretty good so far. Keeping a pretty steady temp and the house is breaking up the wind quite well. I should be done with the smoke in about an hour and fifteen minutes from now. I'll change out the water at that time and try and get some sleep. I'll have the Maverick close by to wake me should I run into any problems, but I think I'll be good to go.

When the in-laws think about me smoking in this kind of weather, they'll elevate me to a demi-god status. I'll just try to act as humble as possible without them realizing how easy it is to do it in a Bradley. Now, I just gotta find a way to keep the wife from talking......that is definitely harder than trying to tame the wind ;D

begolf25 · December 23, 2007, 07:03:59 PM

The coffee can is a great idea.

I am on a hill and wind is a frequent problem. I use some extra pavers I have laying around to form a chimney of sorts.

Mr Walleye · December 23, 2007, 07:41:47 PM

Good Luck with the wind Smoking Duck!
Hopefully the Smokin' Gods are on your side! ;)

I starting 6 racks of ribs and about 6 lbs of chicken thighs tomorrow morning for a family gathering on Christmas Eve.

Hope you guys have a Great Holiday Season!

Mike

Smoking Duck · December 24, 2007, 05:15:36 AM

Hey Mike,

Good luck with your smoke....at least with your amazing set up, you don't have to worry about the ambient conditions as much.

The smoke went well through the night....the DBS didn't veer off of my set temps once while I was sleeping. The butt is now sitting at 169 (has been for some time). Now, if I can get the meat to just hold off getting to 190* for another 4-5 hours, I'll be golden.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

Marc

Mr Walleye · December 24, 2007, 07:07:11 AM

Marc

Sounds like your timing will be right on! ;)

Ribs just went on here. Once they have about 4 hours on them (2 hrs & 40 Min hickory/apple) they are going into a foil pan with AJ and into the oven so I can get started on the chicken thighs. I'm Reveo'ing my thighs right now for 20 min. so I will just have to dust them with rub and they will be ready to go. If my timing is right everything will be ready to get sauced (me too) on the grill at the same time, then I will just hold in the oven until time to eat.

At least that's the plan! ::)

Good Luck

Mike

KyNola · December 24, 2007, 08:00:13 AM

Duck,
I'm in W. KY and we had that same 40 mph wind and 20 degree temp night before last. Really wicked. Fortunately it is past so tomorrow morning when I put the 18.5 lb turkey on the DBS I won't have nearly so much wind and an ambient temp of about 27 degrees. Turkey is in the brine now. Will remove it from the brine before going to bed tonight and air dry it in the frig until morning. Surely I can't screw this up! I have a really bad sinus infection and have enough drugs in me that I'm not 100% on top of my game.

Merry Xmas all!
KyNola