Heating problems, something to watch for...

[HCT]

Yesterday I smoke some canadian bacon and 2-6lb. pieces of shoulder for pulled pork. The bacon had maple syrup and maple sugar on it, the shoulder, yellow mustard and rub over it with a applejuice marinade injection. They came out great, but the temp didn't go over 210. When cleaning up after the smoke I noticed the drip pan had alot of the sugar, syrup and marinade burnt onto the drip plate thus clogging the drip hole and several of the vents were semi clogged thus preventing the heat to rise up through the smoker. Just something to keep your eyes on.   

[icerat4]

Thanks for the heads up. ;)

[kiyotei]

When I talked with Bradley about my heating issues they recommened I widen the heat vents in the shield to allow a better air flow.  I did it by sticking a screw driver in the vent openings and then sliding it sideways to force the vents wider.  I also regularly clean it to help keep the vents clear.

[Habanero Smoker]

Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking about following your suggestion on applying a layer of maple syrup to the Canadian bacon just prior to smoking. If I have an empty rack I still may do that and place a drip pan under the bacon.

[SKSmoker]

Yes, the gooey real pure canadian maple syrup will clog that bad vpan up. I just ran a spatula over the slits while the butts were cookin to get the heat out and up. Good post to let everyone know. It might be one of those "ah ha!" posts :)