6 racks, 6 birds, how long?

[Cheech]

I have a 6 rack digital smoker.  I put 6 birds in and set the temp to 240 at 1:30 PM.  Around 8 PM I was starving and pulled two off the smoker to finish in the oven...I simply couldn't wait any longer. 

That left 4 birds in the smoker.  Around midnight I pulled the other 4 birds off because they were all stalled at 145 degrees.  I had to finish them all in the oven. 

Does that sound right to you?  Almost 12 hours and none of the birds ever finished?  Even after I took two off?

All cables were tight, no problems with the smoker.

thx

[Habanero Smoker]

You stated you set the cabinet for 240°F. Did the Bradley every reach that temperature? That is a heavy load for the Bradley, and depending on the weight of each bird it would take some time for the Bradley to recover to it's set temperature; though twelve hours and not done is a very long time. Chicken with skin gives off a lot of water vapor, and this evaporation will keep your cabinet temperature low. Did you have the vent fully opened to allow the water vapor to escape? If not this will further keep your temperature down. With large loads like this, a dual cooking method comes in handy. Such as you did by removing two birds to the kitchen oven, maybe move two more to the kitche when the birds in the kitchen oven were done.

The stall you see at 145°F, I generally see it at 140°F, is a very short stall that generally lasts for no more than an hour; often a lot less.

[Cheech]

Cabinet temp never reached the temp I set it too, but it rarely does no matter what load I use.  I thought about it this morning with a clearer head.  I loaded 24 lbs of meat into the box...which is a lot.  When I do an 8 lb shoulder it takes me 17 hours, so I should have gone into the project expecting it to take a lot longer than usual.  Usually I do two birds and it's not a big deal.

Live and learn.  The positive thing is that I now have a bunch of wonderful smoked chicken for the week, and the neighbors enjoyed the one I gave them.  It blew them away.

[Habanero Smoker]

Great!!

It's the end result that only really matters!!! :)