Cold weather smoking

[icerat4]

Hey guys i live in illinois and the weather here is about 20 degrees.with a little wind.Will this bs hold the temps for me to smoke a couple chickens this weekend or is there a certian temp this thing cant handle.In other words what is the lowest temps outside this bs will smoke and still do a good job.there is not to much wind but just dam cold.I did a search before i posted this but didnt find anything.Sorry for all the newbie questions i am a eager beaver for knowing what i can get away with when it comes to my toys.Thanks for the help.[:)]

[Phone Guy]

I can't help you. My BS has never seen 20 deg. It was 81 yesterday. A record high. Record again today. Sorry.

[owrstrich]

it was only 90 here yesterday in socal... not a record...

anyway... we just got in from work and it looks like another 2 hours of sun at the pool...

bye bye...

owrstrich

[Habanero Smoker]

I have smoked chickens when the ambient temperature was in the mid-twenties a couple of times. Chicken with skin tends to bring the cabinet temperature down, and with the low outside temperature my cabinet temperature averages about 190 which is good enough, you just have to allocate a longer time for the finished product. If possible try to protect it from the wind.

At one time I was thinking of purchasing a space blanket, to insulate the cabinet, but never got around to it. I couldn't tell you what the lowest practical temperature you can smoke at.

[ChefBill]

We're going to find out. Supposed to be 27º here Sat Morning and I'm doing Summer (summer[:(] hell) Sausages. I ain't worried, may just take longer than normal but it'll get there.

ChefBill
If you can eat it, you can smoke it.

[icerat4]

So maybe just smoke it 3 -4 hours and let it just cook after that point til it gets to 165.maybe thats my ticket.It might just take longer. ill give ya my results on sat or sunday.Man is it cold here in illinios.[:(]

[gary_CO]

That's a great question IceRat4.

I just recently acquired my Bradley, so I've done some testing. I live a tad west of Denver and it gets pretty stinkin cold here. So far, knock on wood (pun intended), the unit has been able to *maintain* a temp.

Emphasis on "maintain". Not to mean it can't get up to the appropriate temperature - I've had no problem with that in my tests. I just have some concerns about overnight smokes where the ambient temperature drops a lot overnight here. The problem, to my point of view, is that the temperature controller on your smoke box (tower) is a rheostat. That's like a dimmer switch on a light bulb. So you set the heating element to run at some certain amount of it's wattage and then it justs runs at that rate. If ambient heats up, or drops down, you'll either overshoot or lag-behind. Then, trips outside to make adjustments, wait, possibly readjust, etc.

There are some alternatives to this. One is something called a PID controller. It's a glorified thermostat. There are simplier thermostat setups, too. They rely on a measured temperature inside the tower, then make adjustments. The former adjusts the thermostat very precisely and anticipates overshoot. The latter is more like a true thermost. There are a lot of posts on this subject here, you'll just have to hunt around. Cost and "complexity of installation" are factors to consider.

Back to your question at hand, though...

If you haven't acquired a digital, remote thermometer - you need to consider that your first purchase. Run, don't walk, to buy one. I would before I even considered doing anything more difficult/expensive than beef jerky. A huge favorite is the Maverick ET-73. There are many threads about them here. You should be able to pick one up for about $40. It may take a little time to find one locally, but don't settle for a different Maverick model. If you can't find one in-town, go online. They allow you to monitor both the tower temperature and the internal meat temperature remote, thru something that very much resembles a pager. They have alarms too; so when your internal meat temperature has reached the desired temperature, your "pager" goes off. Absolutely fantastic feature (no more staying awake all night worrying about that expensive meat you bought, much less less all the time you've invested and the potential of having a table full of disappointed people, yawn...). They're a must have.

Personally, I own an Oregon Scientifics model. It only has one temperature probe, so not near as functional as the Maverick 73. Whatever you do, don't buy a Weber model. They fail frequently and the warranty sucks. Dealers won't stand behind them. My OS model is obviously the same thing as the Weber one which has been rebranded to their name. At least mine comes with a decent warranty (I was too impatient to get the Maverick).

I've own(ed) several little smokers including gas & electric water smokers, and some Luhr-Jensen models. I wouldn't even consider using those here, in these winter temps. But the Bradley has done well.

So, to your question - try to get it out of the wind as much as you can. Then run somewhere and get a decent remote thermometer. Preferably the Maverick ET-73. Run some tests while you TV, music, sleep. Geesh, life is so hard. Be sure to always also measure internal meat temps. When you get some confidence, guaranteed you'll be "the whiz" with all your friends. You may find everything is great as-is, in your harsh conditions. Or, you'll have the testing to steer you into some course of further action (however complex/simple/obsessive that might become).

Damn sorry for such a long post, I got carried away. Monitor those temps!
Gary_CO

P.S. Pork shoulder roasts (butts and picnics) are good pieces to get your brisquettes-legs with...

[Thunder Fish]

gary_CO  Thanks for a GREAT report I enjoyed it,good learning
Terry

[icerat4]

Thanks alot .I bought one of those temp probe from chez bubba the one on the web page i hope thats ok im sure it is being chez sells it.I dont plan on doing much more then just a couple chicken and small stuff so nothing more then 4 -5 hours smoke.I am going to keep it simple until i have  a party which by the way is far in between.So my smoker is going to have very low product in the smoker at most time so low and slow with just a few things in it should be a breeze right.THANKS again for the insight.

[3rensho]

I did some BB bacon last week and the outside temps were in the 10-12F region.  Had the damper half open and had no trouble holding the smoker temp.  The PID controller on/off intervals were like it is when the temps are a lot warmer.

Smokin' in Switzerland