Temperature Issues: 6 rack Digital Smoker

[renvette]

I'm having problems keeping the temp up in my smoker.  I set it to 240 and it gets up to about 220 or so and won't go higher.  Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.  I have smoked a lot of meat in the smoker and this is a recent issue.

[KyNola]

A couple of things come to mind.  One could be the size of the load you are smoking.  A large load will impede the heat rising as rapidly as one might like.  Another is the ambient temp and the wind conditions.  If your BDS is exposed to cold outside air and/or windy conditions that too can impede the heat rising.  Last question is what are you using to measure the IT of the tower?  If you are relying on the BDS temp showing on the smoke generator, you may be getting an inaccurate reading.  The BDS is notorious for not having the most accurate IT readings, particularly in the early stage of the smoking process.

KyNola

[renvette]

It was a bit cold out (30 degrees) and I was reading the unit temp on the generator.  I'm planning to smoke chicken this weekend and I'll post if problem persists.  Thanks for responding.

[Smoking Duck]

Hi renvette,

Also wondering, do you have the top vent open or is it closed?  A lot of people want to close it as they think it will keep the temps higher but it actually works to keep them down as well as putting a lot of moisture in the tower which can ruin the electrical components of the Bradley.  I always keep my vent full open, especially when doing poultry which has a lot of moisture.

SD

[KyNola]

Renvette,
Duck makes a real good point about the vent.  Make sure it's open especially for poultry.  You might want to invest in a Maverick ET-73 dual probe thermometer.  Many of us rely on them for more accurate temp readings.  It has two temp probes.  One is to measure the temp in the tower and the other is to measure the internal temp of whatever you are smoking.  It also has a remote wireless transmitter/receiver so you can sit in the house and read the temps of your smoker outside.  Well worth the cost in my opinion.

Let us know how it goes.

KyNola

[Tenpoint5]

It was a bit cold out (30 degrees) and I was reading the unit temp on the generator.  I'm planning to smoke chicken this weekend and I'll post if problem persists.  Thanks for responding.

My unit temp on the generator almost always reads 20* warmer than what the Maverick says. The spread is larger when the ambient temp drops. I adjust for this with the temp setting but then you have to watch the maverick alot closer, Spend more time in the garage with an adult beverage. So it all works out fine for me.

[Gizmo]

When I start out, I have the DBS set to 320 degrees until the unit temperature comes up to 260, then I load up the meat.  Once the box recoveres up to my desired temperature of 210 degrees, I will adjust the set temp down by 20 degrees at a time to maintain the 210 box temp.  Once the meat reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees (sometime around 3 hours and these times are very subjective) the set temp of the oven and the box temp will be close to each other and usually an hour or so after that, the set temp and box temp will be right on top of each other.  I use a remote probe to monitor the box temp as well.  The probe is just under the rack of meat or right along side of it (but not touching).