Pucks not burning completely

OU812 · May 27, 2009, 07:38:05 AM

Quote from: 3rensho on May 27, 2009, 06:19:30 AM
QuoteYeah that kinda hurts huh Giz, I have done that too

Done that too. It does kinda smart.

Good to see I'm not alone on that dumb a** move. Now I have put another step in my start up roughteen.

#1 Remove the Bubba pucks
#2 Remove the product from the frig, place on the drying rack
#3 Fill water pan with Hot water, put in tower
#4 Fire up the cooking tower, set temp to product being cooked
#5 Load up the puck tube with flavor of choice top with Bubba pucks
#6 When the tower is up to temp load the product, insert the temp probes
#7 Adjust the damper to the type of product being smoked
#8 Start the smoke generator (do not advance any pucks)
#9 When smoke time is done empty the water pan, refill with Hot water
#10 Get the prep table ready for the finished product

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Tenpoint5 · May 27, 2009, 08:21:32 AM

Quote from: OU812 on May 27, 2009, 07:38:05 AM
Quote from: 3rensho on May 27, 2009, 06:19:30 AM
QuoteYeah that kinda hurts huh Giz, I have done that too

Done that too. It does kinda smart.

Good to see I'm not alone on that dumb a** move. Now I have put another step in my start up roughteen.

#1 Remove the Bubba pucks
#2 Remove the product from the frig, place on the drying rack
#3 Fill water pan with Hot water, put in tower
#4 Fire up the cooking tower, set temp to product being cooked
#5 Load up the puck tube with flavor of choice top with Bubba pucks
#6 When the tower is up to temp load the product, insert the temp probes
#7 Adjust the damper to the type of product being smoked
#8 Start the smoke generator (do not advance any pucks)
#9 When smoke time is done empty the water pan, refill with Hot water
#10 Get the prep table ready for the finished product
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I would suggest changing the order by making step number 8 step number 5

OU812 · May 27, 2009, 09:50:38 AM

10.5 I agree with your logic but the reason I do it this way is to let the puck burner heat up for 40 min (one puck drops when I turn it on and 40 min later its on the burner) and to let the product surface dry a little. I started doing it this way when doing summer sausage and just kept doing it with every thing.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

DaBeef2112 · May 27, 2009, 10:06:49 AM

Quote from: OU812 on May 27, 2009, 09:50:38 AM
10.5 I agree with your logic but the reason I do it this way is to let the puck burner heat up for 40 min (one puck drops when I turn it on and 40 min later its on the burner) and to let the product surface dry a little. I started doing it this way when doing summer sausage and just kept doing it with every thing.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

I do the same think except I advance the puck to one spot before the burner. I find that 20 minutes is plenty of time to preheat the element and ensure that the first puck is fully consummed.

IKnowWood · May 27, 2009, 10:10:15 AM

Moving #8 up starts the puck burner to warm up. The burner is not warm till the generator (that heats the burner) is on. by heating it up, the smoke is starting when the product is loaded.

But you logic is to dry the eat some before smoke gets rolling (40 to 50 minutes after loading)? Would have figured that reduces smoke penetration. hmm. Anyone else with research on this?

Caneyscud · May 27, 2009, 11:42:03 AM

Quote from: deb415611 on May 27, 2009, 04:23:16 AM
Quote from: NePaSmoKer on May 27, 2009, 04:11:03 AM
Quote from: Gizmo on May 26, 2009, 09:12:52 PM
Absolutly yes, no pucks during the preheat, although I have been known to leave a bubba on the burner from the previous smoke. When that happens, I always have to remember that they will be hot and cannot be picked up by bare fingers. :o

Yeah that kinda hurts huh Giz, I have done that too :D

nepas

I see I'm in good company :D

I haven't done that fun thing yet! Maybe I'll try it next time, if there is ever a next time. So much rain the last few months, not much chance to use the Bradley - and it is raining now, and expected to rain into the weekend. I tell you what I have done though that was fun, picked up the CT probe with my bare hands to move it! Guess I wasn't paying attention to the readout! I needed those racing stripes on my fingers!

Up In Smoke · May 27, 2009, 06:14:01 PM

I seared my finger and thumb so bad that it didn't blister.
oh... and i had to go into the woods and find my bubba puck.

Up In Smoke · May 27, 2009, 06:18:57 PM

It's not that they are hot....it just doesn't take long to look at them ;D ;D :o

jeff_smoke · May 31, 2009, 11:32:06 AM

Funny; I just did the bubba puck mistake today. Those things stay hot for a long time too. This post jumped out at me because I noticed the incompletely burned pucks for the first time last week. I've always seen them black on both sides, but this time one side looked almost like a new biscuit. I doubt that it has anything to do with preheating, the temp setting of the unit, or the weather though...at least not in my case. Reason I'm saying that is that I bought my unit in the winter and it never did that. I could see the first puck having the problem if I didn't preheat, but that doesn't explain that all of them would be less than fully consumed.
I'll check mine after my chickens are done today. My burner is kind of black and crudded up at this point. I'm betting more on that or moisture in the biscuits being the reason. I'll clean and see what happens.

Habanero Smoker · May 31, 2009, 02:09:57 PM

Quote from: jeff_smoke on May 31, 2009, 11:32:06 AM
Funny; I just did the bubba puck mistake today. Those things stay hot for a long time too. This post jumped out at me because I noticed the incompletely burned pucks for the first time last week. I've always seen them black on both sides, but this time one side looked almost like a new biscuit. I doubt that it has anything to do with preheating, the temp setting of the unit, or the weather though...at least not in my case. Reason I'm saying that is that I bought my unit in the winter and it never did that. I could see the first puck having the problem if I didn't preheat, but that doesn't explain that all of them would be less than fully consumed.
I'll check mine after my chickens are done today. My burner is kind of black and crudded up at this point. I'm betting more on that or moisture in the biscuits being the reason. I'll clean and see what happens.

Jeff;

Is that happening to all types of bisquettes? The reason I ask is that I find it only happens to me when I use the JB bisquettes.

Gizmo · May 31, 2009, 08:50:28 PM

Quote from: jeff_smoke on May 31, 2009, 11:32:06 AM
I doubt that it has anything to do with preheating, the temp setting of the unit, or the weather though...at least not in my case. Reason I'm saying that is that I bought my unit in the winter and it never did that. I could see the first puck having the problem if I didn't preheat, but that doesn't explain that all of them would be less than fully consumed.

Actually the winter time may have contributed to the pucks burning completly. With the temp outside being cold, your heater has to be on longer and hotter to keep the same box temp at the sensor. With the heater being hotter to maintain temps, the puck and puck burner will experience more heat and therefore burn more fully.

jeff_smoke · June 01, 2009, 01:45:36 AM

Jeff;

Is that happening to all types of bisquettes? The reason I ask is that I find it only happens to me when I use the JB bisquettes.
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Sorry Habenaro, I don't know what JB bisquettes are. I can't remember which ones I used three smokes ago. I have to check the ones from yesterday's smoke, but it's 4:45am right now, so I'll have to wait on that.

Gizmo,
what you say might be true, but I thought the bisquette heating was a 20 minute, time-based thing rather than temperature/sensor controlled. It would seem we would have heard lots of other folks reporting that phenomena by now.

Gizmo · June 01, 2009, 08:25:14 PM

JB are Jim Beam.

The bisquette heating is 20 minutes. The oven heater however fluctuates greatly to maintain the box temp and I have defiantly noticed a difference in the amount of burn on bisquettes with hot smokes as compared to bisquettes with a cold smoke. This is the primary reason I state that the oven temp can affect the quality of the burn as the briquette burner is just hot enough to smolder the wood and not ignite it.

Habanero Smoker · June 02, 2009, 01:58:30 AM

Hi Jeff;

I responded yesterday, but it was at a time, so it looks like my post didn't go through.

I smoke during the winter months with temperatures in the low 20's and never had a problem with bisquettes not burning completely. I've never check the bisquettes after a cold smoke, so maybe the burner plate needs assistance from the heating element to burn completely; as Gizmo has mentioned. The JB bisquettes still won't fully burn when I am hot smoking, and I have always preheated the cabinet and the generator at the same time.

Here are some other issues that may effect the bisquettes from burning completely.
Bisquettes do not burn completely.

jeff_smoke · June 03, 2009, 01:05:51 PM

Thanks guys.
I'm about to smoke another turkey breast with ribs...the ones that are pre-brined. I might never cook a whole turkey again because I don't like dark meat anyway and these come out fantastic.
But, regarding bisquettes; my issue is almost surely that I had some crud on the burner plate such that the bisquettes would not have been sitting flat on the plate. I cleaned it and I'll check it again after tonight's smoke, but I'm pretty sure that's all it was. I used the Jim Beam's before but don't remember them not being completely burned through.
About cleaning though....how do I remove that grill that protects the heating element so that I can clean the element ? It's pretty black, so maybe I'm not getting all the heat I should be? Or does that not matter? In any case, I also want to clean the catchpan below the element. How do I get to all that?