Smoker getting too hot?

[Argonne73]

My smoker seems to run around 250 even though I have slid the front button to medium.  My damper is usually only slightly open.   Any ideas out there?

[Tenpoint5]

  My damper is usually only slightly open.   Any ideas out there?

That would be my first Guess!!!! Try opening your vent a little bit more. A) your holding in the heat B) your also holding in the moisture which will collect and drip back down on your meat leaving black spots and a REALLY Nasty mouth numbing taste on your meat AKA Creosote from the smoke. Try running 1/2 to 7/8 open should help you out Bunches!!

[beefmann]

first Argone,

welcome to the forum.. and let me try to help. The tempture of the box  depends on the outside tempture,  How much volume of  food in the  box  etc... so if you  are  having a  75 f  day and no food  load  it  will be above 250 and a max tempture of 320  most of the  time with no food load.

if this  is the  case your  fine.. the  slider on the bottom is  used to increase or  decrease the amount  of  heat to the unit it  will take  some  practice... another Thing to stop a  suprize is  that  you  will  see a temp of the unit of  225  on your  preheat .. then you  put the  meat  in and it  drops to 130 or so.. dont worry .. it is normal.. as the  meat  cooks the box  temp  will  increase ..  just  dont  panic when the temptures swing  that you are  not use to.

with a  smoker  like the  bradley you are on a  learning  curve and will   learn that it  is  low,  long and  slow...


P.s  dont be  afread to ask more  questions  we  are here to help... we were  all  new like  you at  one  point

[Habanero Smoker]

Argone;

Welcome to the forum. You have gotten some good advise.

More details would be helpful. About the 250°F temperature are you talking about an empty cabinet or when you are smoking/cooking foods, and if there is food how much are we talking about? If it is empty 250°F with the generator on would be about right with the vent opening you are using.

Have you tried moving the temperature adjustment farther to the left? Move it all the way to the left and check to see if the element dims to completely off. If it still glows or maintains a high temperature, you may have a faulty circuit board or the wiring to the adjustment switch may be disconnected.

What are you using to measure the cabinet temperature? Is it the thermometer on the door or are you using a probe?

Any possible weather conditions that may play a factor, such as ambient temperature, sun shining directly on the cabinet and etc.

[Argonne73]

Thanks, Tenpoint and Beef.   Smoker only had one rack used - with a 5 pound beef brisket.   I will try
opening the damper further.    I thought if you opened the damper much, that you might lose that great smoke
flavor.

I guess that's what I get for thinking!

[beefmann]

Argone,

once the  smoking process is compleated the  smoke flavor is already  locked in the  meat.. all good in flovor and enjoyable

[Curious Aardvark]

I have the opposite problem - just can't seem to get the bloody thing to go over 200.
Only way I've even got close is to have no liquid in the machine.
Last smoke ran at between 180-200 with the temp slider on max and a full load. (4 fatties, ribs, salmon, sausages)

The only time it managed to crawl over the 200 mark was when ALL the liquid in the machine ran out - yep even the bisquette bowl, just had dust in that.

The heater element just seems to be way underpowered to me.

Contemplating shoving a few briquettes in as well next time.

[beefmann]

Welcome to forum Currious,,

One thing you  will learn is that the more food you have in the  smoker the lower the temp it  will be... as the food cooks the box temp  comes up... this is all  based on volume of food


hope  this helps

[smokeitall]

My last smoke was 8lbs of Canadian Bacon and I had to keep moving my slider lower because the heat kept creeping up past 235.  But if I use a 50 ft extension cord I have a hard time getting the unit up to 200.  Maybe check your power?

I have an OBS, outside temp was 45

Soon to be built into the garage to take the outside temperature out of the equation.

[Curious Aardvark]

(been on the forum for a while - just not posted much)

But if I use a 50 ft extension cord I have a hard time getting the unit up to 200

Ah - now there's a thing, by pure coincidence I usually have it plugged into just such an extension.
Hmm. Given that I could probably get away with a 10-20 foot extension for where I usually run it, this has got to be worth a try.
Thanks. :-)

[westexasmoker]

Contemplating shoving a few briquettes in as well next time.

Welcome to the forum CA!

I don't think that would be a good plan, since the BS is not really designed to have a true fire inside the tower!  :o

I know alot of folks here on the site, including myself, have used a couple of fire bricks inside to help maintain the heat!  Someone with more knowledge than I will have a better answer!  Once again Welcome aboard and Good luck!

C

[Oldman]

I could probably get away with a 10-20 foot extension for where I usually run it

I did a smoke tonight on 100 feet of cord with no problems; plus my unit has a circulation fan. The core is 12g.
Olds