Too Cold?

[frepar]

hey all,

tried my hand at a fatty this weekend, which looked like a 6 year old put together, but tasted great!  anyhoo, i fired up the OBS set the temp at 220 on my PID and did my fatty fixins.  About 45 minutes later i was out there ready to throw it in the smoker and the cabin temp was only 180 something.. no big

threw the fatty in, put my maverick in the meat and rolled the smoke.  i checked it two hours later and still hadnt gotten to cabin temp... the pid was calling for constant heat (from what i could tell) and the cabin NEVER cleared 213.

Here is my question...

it was probably 20 some degrees outside, would/should my obs be able to hit 220 when it's only 20 degrees out?  there was no wind whatsoever.

and to piggy back that question, if i were to retro a 900w element in my obs, do i HAVE to do a fan mod?  if so, is it possible to make an easily, readily removable fan?  My smoker is my right hand man.... it goes with me EVERYWHERE, so i'm concerned that if i throw a fan on that sticks 4-5" out the back that it will get bumped/ripped out/bent when i transport the unit.  If i havae to put a fan on.... is there a clean way of mounting it so it dont look so out of place?

[devo]

You didn't say if you have the duel element mod or not but lets go with you don't. One element when its cold out will be pushed to it's max and the temp you reported sounds about the max you will get. I have the duel element mod and my cab temp can go 260+ in -20 weather, not that i would want to go that high. Some say the 900 watt fin needs a fan but others say no. I don't have one so I can't coment on that. So if you go with the duel 500 watt mod yes you can have a temp fan as I did in mine and it works great. Just make sure you have the room to put it. I have lots of room as I use my cold smoke adaptor all the time so the smoke generator is not in the way. This gave me the room to mount the fan on that wall of the smoker.

[JZ]

Mike check this out .... it worked great on my DBS and it can probably be done for less than $10.
I would like for someone else to try it to see if they get the same results. And note that the outside temps when I did this were in the same range as what you are talking about.

Make sure you check out the second page that is where the second test results are. Note that these are only preheat tests but since then I have used the Snuggie for some smoking and the recover time after the door is opened is Waaaaaaay better than before.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=25568.0

[Habanero Smoker]

The insulation jackent by JZ is a good idead.

What was your vent opening?

With a single element I have had fairly good success smoking/cooking in the 20's. It takes longer to get to your desired temperature, but once there it will hold that temperature; unless there are windy conditions. Just avoid opening the door as much as possible.

Here is link that may provide more ideas:
FAQ's

[Tenpoint5]

I am with Habs on this one. I have had my DBS4 cooking in the single digits without any problems. The biggest thing to remember is If your looking you aint cooking. I like to use the analogy that your cooking with a 500 watt light bulb. This is low and slow cooking we are doing here. For that the Bradley does perfectly fine since that is what it was designed to do. Cook Low and Slow. We have to remember to slow down and smell the wood smoking. I guess I am just LAZY. Because when I am smoking something I aint never in a hurry. I like to spend my time going out and looking at the Probe temps of the meat I am cooking. I do have the Maverick ET-732 So I could just look at the remote display. It is a lot more fun to grab a beer while I am out there in the garage and watch the world pass on by. Cooking in the Bradley is an experience for me and I like that so relax and Learn how your Smoker does what it does and roll with it and enjoy the ride without all the fancy upgrades and modifications.

[frepar]

i appreciate the input guys...

Devo, no, i'm pretty stock as far as the cabinet goes.... just an Auber PID... and lots of stickers :)  i'd like to see how you hooked up that SG remotely... if you have any pics, would you please post em??

JZ, may have to try something like that next time..... i just hope my nerdy neighbors dont come over with their intergalactic space club members to take sampes of this space nugget with hidden goodies inside..  ;)

habs and 10.5 vent is always full open... easier for me to just leave the vent at one spot and change things elsewhere if needed...  and i never look.... the joys of a maverick i guess..

another question i had was electrical... cuz last year, while living at a different residence, i was super proud of my obs cuz she was hittin temps when it was single digits/below zero... my element is clean no buildup on it... but is there potential that the outlet i'm using is a lighter outlet (10a vs. 15-20a)?  i'm not using an extension cord and i was the dufus that didnt plug things all the way in ONCE... so i always make sure that the plugs are jammed into where they need to be

thanks again!!

[devo]

This should give you a good picture of how I have it set up

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=25175.0

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm one that still finds vent openings helpful. Next time you have a similar load, try closing the vent a little to see if there is some improvement in heat.

[frepar]

This should give you a good picture of how I have it set up

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=25175.0

that is the coolest setup ever!!!!

I'm one that still finds vent openings helpful. Next time you have a similar load, try closing the vent a little to see if there is some improvement in heat.

ill have to give her a try, i have a couple decent venni roasts that i'm lookin to smoke.... i'll let you know if that helps... anybody have any tried and true venni roast recipes?

[duncanshannon]

I live in MN and smoke (some) over the winter. The big thing for me is to protect it from the wind.

Consider adding (Foil wraped?) bricks to the bottom of the smoker to help increase the thermal mass.