Higher temp with DBS

[mtim]

Hi all I'm new to this but anxious to get started with a new way of cooking.  I went to Cabela's yesterday and bought the 6 rack DBS.  Came home set it up to season it following the directions.  I had no problems getting smoke but the temps were always higher than the settings.  I set it for 150 and 15 minutes later it was 169.  I lowered it to 140 and it lowered to 165.  I lowered it to 120 and it fell to 149.  It was always 19-25 degrees hotter than what I had it set for.  Is this normal for the seasoning or do I have a problem?  Thanks for any help

Tim

[RAF128]

I'd say it was normal for a digital.  The temp sensor is on the back wall and right above the heating element.  I've alway got reading higher than the actual temp inside the smoke chamber.  I've checked and confirmed this with a temp probe hanging in the middle.   What you're describing seems to level out some if you have meat in the smoker that is getting up in temp.  You'll also find the bradley digitals have a temp swing.   In mine it was +/- 20º.   I got around it with a PID.
And welcome.   You'll have more questions I'm sure, so ask away.

[mtim]

Thanks,  I plan on doing a chicken later today so will see what happens.  Also I noticed that the word meat in "oven meat temp"  did not light up during this time.  Just oven temp.  What is a PID and where do you get them Where do you hook them up?  Thanks Tim

[classicrockgriller]

This is from Aubers web page:

This plug-and-play PID temperature controller is for controlling the temperature of the Bradley Smoker and other electric smokers. The original temperature control mechanism of the Bradley Smoker is unstable and inaccurate. For the same dial position, the smoking temperature can vary significantly depending on content in the smoker, the ambient temperature, the wind speed, the ambient humidity, and even the direction of sunshine. This controller uses a PID algorithm to automatically adjust power to the heater, in order to compensate for these disturbances. This temperature control can hold the smoking temperature within one degree precision.
Operating the temperature controller is easy: plug the smoker to the socket of the controller on the back, drop the sensor into smoker from the top venting hole, turn on the controller and smoker, and set the cooking temperature and timer. When finished, the alarm will tell you the food is ready.
This model has a 6-step programmable temperatures function. It can set each step of smoking to different temperatures and duration. The duration of each step can be set from 0.1 hour to 99.9 hour.  This function is useful for recipes that need to start at low temperatures and finish at higher temperatures. For example: You can program the temperature to start at 120 °F for 1.5 hour of smoking, rise to 132 °F for 2.5 hours and finish at 175 °F for 1 hour for smoked salmon (see pictures of my results below). It will save you time waiting by the smoker to change the settings manually when each step is finished.

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8&zenid=3c421a7690814ad1a6facdfa63bd5321

[beefmann]

i would add the auber pid and  also might  consider the timer as well , just   got  done  using a timer /  pid controller and it   worked flawlessly

[RAF128]

Thanks,  I plan on doing a chicken later today so will see what happens.  Also I noticed that the word meat in "oven meat temp"  did not light up during this time.  Just oven temp.  What is a PID and where do you get them Where do you hook them up?  Thanks Tim

What I noticed with my 6 rack before I got the PID was food took longer to cook.   IMO it's because the smoker registered a higher temp that the actual temp inside.   You would think you were cooking at 210 for instance and the actual temp was lower.   Again that was my opinion.

[mtim]

Well the chicken was absolutely delicious.  But should it take a 5lb chicken 8 hrs?  Today  it would never get up to temp.  I started at 220 and it would get to 220 then fall to 205 and then 1/2 hour later work its way back up .  At the end I was at 270 for the last hour and it never got past 250 and a lot of that time it was at 245.  I only smoked it for 2 1/2 hrs so I closed the vent to 1/2 thinking I was losing heat but that didn't seem to make a difference.  No wind conditions it was under my patio outside temperature was about 65.  Being the first time I thought the temp should have been more consistent.  Also is it usual for the last 3 briquettes to stop advancing?

[KyNola]

8 hours seems excessive but part of it was because you closed the vent to half on a chicken.  Poultry holds ton of moisture and you want it to get out of the tower asap because moisture trapped in the box will actually hold the temp down in your tower.  It will also eventually condensate and rain this black icky stuff on your meat so keep that vent wide open.  One thing I will add is if you're doing chicken, you may want to think about smoke/cooking at a higher temp that 220.  250 is where many of us start from.

How many times did you open the door to check on your bird?  That causes heat loss worse than anything and it takes the BDS quite some time to get back up to temp.

[mtim]

Thanks for the tip on the vent.  I was a good boy and never opened the door though after I got done with the smoke (first 2 1/2 hrs)  and then only opened twice to change water.

[ArnieM]

Also is it usual for the last 3 briquettes to stop advancing?

Yes.  The number of pucks you need are ((hours x 3) + 3).  The last 3 are 'pushers'.

You can get "Bubba Pucks", aluminum pusher pucks here: http://www.yardandpool.com/Bradley-Smoker-Bisquettes-s/52.htm and save three wood pucks.