cold temps outside

[Stevie Y]

I new to the Bradley Smoker. Is there anything special that I have to do to smoke in the cold weather of PA. I like it cold for smoking cheese, pepperoni and eggs for deviled eggs. I haven't used for my meats yet. I have the 4 rack digital smoker. I would like to do a pork butt and I don't want to ruin it.

[dave01]

I guess I would just try and keep it out of the wind and you should be ok

[dman4505]

I guess I would just try and keep it out of the wind and you should be ok

x2
Keep the wind off her and she'll do just fine, may take a little longer for temps to rebound
I have mine out in the garage and have used it throughout the cold winters of Iowa

Don

[cathouse willy]

I found a roll of the metallic insulation used for hot water heater blankets and made a suit for the bradley. We don't get cold winters here but I'm sure it would help.

[waycoolcat]

Hi Stevie Y, welcome to the forums.
   I live in central PA. During the nicer months I smoke and cook the whole time in the Bradley. When its cold and windy it gets harder to keep the temps up (especially after you open the door to rotate, glaze, whatever). That in turn makes it harder to guess when dinner will be actually served.
   What I do is pre-warm the smoker 30 degrees above my goal temp because the opening the door and the cold meat in will drop it. I also keep two bricks that I washed and wrapped in aluminum foil in the bottom. Obviously, protect it from the wind as much as possible.
   When the Bradley just can't keep up with the wind and cold, I'll finish the whole smoking time in the Bradley then bring it inside and finish it in the oven at the prescribed temp. That way I can control it and know when dinner will be ready. It took a couple of 9:00 suppers until I finally acquiesced to transferring meat to the oven.

[Stevie Y]

Thanks guys. I did a test run in my garage and it came close after 30 minutes. But to finish off in the oven never came to me. After the smoke I guess you want to just cook it slow. Great idea! Thanks

[mevswild]

Waycoolcat said it right
I found that battling cold temperatures through the winter last year that smoke in Bradley and finish in the oven is one way to prevent the anxiety if if things will turn out properly
The bricks and boiling water help but they just cant seem to compete with what Old Man Winter delivers up here