First smoker, chimney install, couple of questions

[MDM]

Santa brought me my first OBS.  I installed it in my unheated attached garage, so I could smoke whenever I wanted.  Temp never gets below freezing.  I used a dryer vent kit to vent it outside.  I did a test run to season it and it worked perfect.  Question - I currently have it running off of a heavy duty extension cord.  Temp in garage was 50, temp outside was 30.  I was able to get the temp up to 215 on the door temp gauge, running the vent wide open with a max temp setting.  I could get it up to 235 with the vent half closed.  Is this normal?  Considering most say the temp guage runs about 20 degrees cooler than actual, I was thinking I could do alright with the extension cord.  Will I see a big difference if I install and outlet to plug directly into?  Thanks.

[FLBentRider]

If you can get to those temps I would say your extention cord is good.

You may want to consider insulating your vent hose to prevent condensation.

[TestRocket]

Pick yourself up a digital temp probe and use if to get a better idea of your inside temp.

And beside they come in handy in lots of ways! Good Luck!

[MDM]

I'm in the process of smoking 4 boneless, skinless ch. breasts - my first smoke.  I'm about 2 hrs in.  If I leave the vent full open on max temp setting, the highest i can get the temp is 210.  I had it preheated to 260 with the vent closed.  How hot should I be able to get this thing with an ambient temp of 50 and a temp of 30 outside where I'm venting with the vent full open?  I may just have to run some electric to it so I can ditch the extension cord.  Thanks for the help.

[FLBentRider]

How are you measuring the temp and if you are using the door thermometer is your food below the probe?

This can have a cooling effect on the reported temperature.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

MDM, first welcome, and congrats on your new food toy tool.  Santa was good to  you !  Must've been a good boy!  ;)

A couple of months ago there was a thread showing a similar setup to yours and noted a similar effect on upper temp.  At the time several of us thought it might be a result of a chimney or stack effect.  Here is a link to that thread.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=18555.0

Next  since you are new to the Bradley smoker and you've placed your smoker indoors and you're already doing poultry, and probably have some meats in mind, I strongly encourage you to read a recent thread on placing a smoker indoors.  Many do it and have done so without any problems or issues.  But I just want to encourage you to understand the risks.  So long as you manage the risks well and have a plan should something should go wrong you should be fine.  Please take the time to read through the entire thread, see differing opinions and viewpoints, and to follow the links within the thread.  Here's a link
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=18510.0

Just so you you don't miss it, this can and does happen, and I doubt you would want it to happen in your garage.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=19808.0

Good smoking !

[MDM]

I actually put an oven thermometer on the lowest rack and it pretty much reads the same as the door thermometer.  The food is on the next to lowest rack.  It's been 3.5 hrs and the IT is at 165.  Smoker temp is right a 220 with the vent half open.  I'm going to give them 20 more minutes.  I've got an 11lb turkey to do on new years day.  I'm guessing I better start it early cause it will probably take 10 hrs or so.

[GusRobin]

How often a re you opening the door to read the thermometer? That has a big impact on heat loss.

[OU812]

Just a thought.

With that much of a vertical rise in your vent you might be creating to much draft.

And with to much draft even though your thermometer says its 220 in there its just passing through and bringing in cold air with it doing so not heating/cooking the meat.

[MDM]

First off, those threads with the grease fire scared the crap out of me.  I will keep a close eye on it for sure.  I may just have to experiment with the draft.  I've opened the door every half an hour, just an inch or so for a couple of second to read the thermometer.  The temp only drops 10 for 5 min or so.

[MDM]

Well, the chicken is gone.  It was dry, but had a real good flavor.  I'm going to have to figure something out for brine so stuff doesn't dry out -  I try to limit my salt intake to almost none because of high blood pressure. Thanks for the help.

[FLBentRider]

Boneless skinless breasts are going to get that way, even if you brine them, at least mine do.

I would try some regular chicken breasts with the skin on, I put rub under the skin and then throw the skin away.

You could also try wrapping in bacon.

[MDM]

I decided to clean everything up this morning.  I was surprised to se that the water bowl was completly dry after 4 hours.  I will have to pay closer attention to that next time.  I only smoked for 1hr, so I should have emptied the bowl after that I guess.  I see most guys are using disposable cake pans. I will have to pick some up.  I think I will run to the store and get a whole chicken to try before I do the turkey this weekend.  My wife picked me up a remote thermometer, its not a maverick, I think Hamilton beach is all she could find.  It will have to do for now.  I've heard guys say to "spatchcock" a chicken.  What does that mean?  Does Walmart have a good dry rubs?

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Spatchcock, also called butterfly, is a way of preparing a bird for cooking that involves removing the backbone and the sternum so the bird will lay flat.

Tenpoint5 had a video demo of how to do it, but it appears that video is gone.  So I'll pass along a couple of other links that show/describe how it is done.

http://www.cookthink.com/reference/4162/How_to_spatchcock_a_chicken

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGKLtbiUflk

[FLBentRider]

Does Walmart have a good dry rubs?

I'm more of a "roll your own" rub person, try this recipe on chicken, it flat out rocks -

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?467-Jan-s-Dry-Rub&p=718#post718