New BS / High Temp Problem

[oneuc]

I just bought a new bradley smoker yesterday BTIS1.  Set it all up today and put in 4 racks of ribs and a brisket.  I set the temp switch just below high and low but temp never got over 150F.  I moved it over to high and it just got above 200F.   Am I doing something wrong here?  At first, I thought I was just heating up with the biscuit burner, but both LEDs are lit and the temp did go up when I moved to high, it just didn't go very high.  I would have figured that smoker could go to a higher temperature.  I know that the amount of meat will bring the temp down, but I would figure that over time the temp would get higher.


Does anyone have any suggestions?

[West Coast Kansan]

Just some ideas, preheat on high about an hour to about 250 or 50F over your desired smoke temp.  Start with hot water in the water bowl and that will help.  Keep the vent open enough there is no sign of smoke between the tower and the smoke generator.  When you load your meat you will have a drop in temp and it will take a while to recover but nothing like having to heat the tower and the meat all together.  Hope this helps. If not a little more info about the sequence of events, meat load etc will help others comment.  I am a digital guy so this is about as far as I can go.  Never seen a slider and the markings. The above is applicable to both units though...  ;) Enjoy the smoker. After a few uses you will catch on to the personality and a lot of fun  ;D  8)

[oneuc]

Thanks West Coast, 
I just removed the meat and its dark here in phoenix so it is easy to see that the heating coil was glowing so that doesn't appear to be the problem. I didn't use hot water and I only preheated to 150F, so I will definitely do that next time.  I had the brisket on the bottom rack and the ribs split between the 3 other racks.

[Habanero Smoker]

Oneuc;
Welcome to the forum.

You didn't mention the time periods of how long it was at 150°F, and how long it took to move from 150°F to 200°F after you adjusted the slider. It does take awhile for it to recover

The temperature slider is not a thermostat, it's a rheostat. So after loading the smoker you should always move it to the highest position. Some say to back off a hair from the maximum setting to prevent the heat limiting switch from disengaging, but that will usually not be a problem when you have a large load.

WCK gave good advise. The only thing I can add is don't open the door after loading. Opening and closing the door during smoking/cooking will definately increase your time, and keep the cabinet temperatures low. As stated above it will take awhile for it to recover, and once you are at the cabinet temperature you want, you can then adjust the slider back to the left so that it will hold that temperature.

[Wildcat]

Welcome to the forum!  WCK and Habs have pretty much answered this.  All I can think of to add at this point is you should get a dual probe temp system like the Maverick.  This way you not only monitor the meat temp but also a more accurate box temp as well.  The door gauge is not that accurate to start with and it is even less accurate when you have a heavy load since the heating element is quite some distance from the gauge.  There is a bit of a temp difference between the back and front and lower and top sections of the BS.  If you went straight from the fridge to the BS then this will also have an impact on the box temp reaching the desired temp.  You should always let your meat sit out for about an hour prior to smoking.

With regard to the slider, as already stated, run almost to the far right, then back off (probably numerous times) until the temp is stable at your target temp.  It will take some getting use to.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.