1st smoke

[acords]

Smoking ribs this afternoon.  Smoked for 4 hours, then wrapped in foil and turned on high.  I had planned to cook for about 2-3 more hours until tender, but it won't go above 250. The temp. is 65 degrees outside.  Anybody know what's up?

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

is you vent wide open? close your vent down to about 1/8 open that will raise the heat.

[acords]

It was closed

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

hmmm, ok next ? do you have the smoker and the genarator on the same exstension cord? how long of a cord and is the cord a heavey duty one at least a 12/3 cord?

[Habanero Smoker]

You did not mention how much food you had in the BS; with food in the smoker 250 degrees F is fairly high; so I really don't see this as a problem. What temperature did you expect the BS to get up to?

Have you tested the BS without food in it, to see what is the highest temperature you get? If so what is the highest temperature you get when it is empty? What were you using to monitor the cabinet temperature; the gauge on the door, or a digital thermometer? If you were using a digital thermometer, was that thermometer near the foil?

Where the foil wrapped ribs, placed on the bottom shelf. The BS has a safety switch in it that will temporarily shut the unit down to prevent it from over heating. Using foil on the bottom shelf will overheat the unit (at least that happened to me once when I used an aluminum pan as a drip pan on the bottom shelf).

[manxman]

Habanero Smoker said:

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">at least that happened to me once when I used an aluminum pan as a drip pan on the bottom shelf <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Just bought some disposable aluminium trays to try in place of the drip pan, they are grooved (vvvvvv shape) on the bottom and vented at the top of the V but it sounds from your comment that I may be letting myself in for trouble if I try anything other than the drip tray.[][]

Perhaps the fact that they are vented like the drip tray will means that I will be ok to try them? []

They only cost around £0.25p / $ 0.50 each and I figured it was a small price to pay for not having to clean the drip pan as it seems to be the hardest bit to wash, even the dishwasher doesn't do very well in this area![][]

Has anyone come up with a suitable disposable alternative to the drip pan??[][]

Would wrapping the drip tray in aluminium foil with slits cut for the vents and a hole for the centre drainage channel work and stop excessive heat build up ??

Thoughts anyone?! [8D][]

Manxman.

[MallardWacker]

Hab has a good word on this, his explaination is correct at least from my stand point.  I have hasd the same exact experience as him.  

Somethig you have to think about here, the door thermometer is in the front and the heat sorce is in the back.  I bet you that you are heat safety switche kicked on and cyled off and on.  I noticed when I have nothing or just foil wrapped(already been cooked) items I have seen cycle like that.  That safety switch is on the back wall of the smoker and it probably has a tendancy to get hotter quicker that the front door thermometer.  If you want to see if that is it, cut a tater in half-stick your remote probe through it anf let it set back towards the back wall and see what the ttemp is at that point.


SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[Habanero Smoker]

manxman;
What happened to me was that I place an aluminum tray on the first shelf, just above the heating element. The pan was almost the same size as the tray. My guess is that the pan blocked the flow of heat in addition to reflecting a lot of the heat back down causing the temperature build up. Since your pans are vented, they may work.

[psdubl07]

If you're going by the thermometer on the door, there's a good chance it's reading too low.  Mine is consistently about 20 degrees too low, others here have had the same issue.  Do a search on Maverick ET-73 and you will see what many forum members use to monitor temps, both pit and meat.

Wrappend in foil, 2 hours at 275, or even 250, should be plenty to finish those ribs.

[acords]

Thanks for all the help.  I found that 250 was plenty.  I was reading a thread saturday that someone had smoked, then wrapped in foil and baked in BS @ 300.  I just expected that it would get there.  I did have it on the bottom shelf FYI.  Probably the best ribs I've ever had by the way. I'm looking forward to trying something else.  Thanks again for all the suggestions!!

[JJC]

Welcome to the Forum, Acords!  You've already seen what a great crew we have here and how forgiving/flexible the BS is.  Keep us up to date on your experiences!

John
Newton MA