How airtight should the smoker be?

chronos · July 24, 2005, 09:43:20 PM

Everyone,
How airtight should the smoker be? I've had the stainless steel smoker for a week now and have had it on about 13-15 hours. I'm smoking now and I have been having problem with the temp. It's 90 degrees outside and I've had the smoker on high for 2 hours and it's just hitting 220 degrees.
While looking closely at it I see that the smoke generator is not flush with the smoker. there's about a 1/2 inch gap between them on one side (near the little nob on the right that hold it attached). Smoke is coming out of it and also up the chip stack.
Is this something I should be very concerned about? If it needs to be looked at, how would I even do it?

Thanks,

Jerry

car54 · July 24, 2005, 09:55:24 PM

Check to make sure that the smoke generator is attached correctly. It should be flush to the smoker. That could be part of the problem. Have you had any temperature problems before? Are you loaded with meat or is this just a preheat? If you have a lot of meat in , it does take a while to come back up to temperature. The top vent should be about 1/3 open. If it is closed too much smoke can back up in the generator. If you are smoking meat 220 seems high.

Brad

chronos · July 24, 2005, 10:07:49 PM

It's not entirely flush but can't do much to check why, since it's on and hot. I'm smoking ribs and the recipe on bradley's site says to do it at 220F for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. So I've been following that guideline.

It's only got 2 of the racks with meat on it, so it shouldn't be having problems getting up to temp.

I'll mess around more with it when it cools down.

Thanks for the response,

Jerry

car54 · July 24, 2005, 10:35:55 PM

Jerry,

Check out this site of recipes by people who use the Bradley. There are a lot of people with much experience on these sites. Generally long cooks and low temperatures are the way to go. Temperatures between 200 to 210 degrees. It could take 6 hours or longer to smoke ribs at low temps. I don't think many people use the Bradley recipes, I may be wrong.

http://susan.rminor.com/forums/

Brad

nsxbill · July 24, 2005, 10:59:53 PM

Reset your generator on the pegs, and then open the top vent about 1/3 of a slot. That should end the smoke coming out the side problem. As for the temp, are both the heater and the smoke generator still on, even after using up the bisquettes? If not, leave them both on. The generator offers about 175° temp to the cabinet.

Bill

<i>There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.</i>

BigSmoker · July 24, 2005, 11:15:27 PM

3 hours will not produce fall off the bone type ribs(not even close) even at 220f. 6+ hours will be more like it.

Jeff

Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

chronos · July 25, 2005, 03:19:34 AM

Thanks for the responses!

After the smoker cooled down, I took it all apart and put it back together. It still tends not to be flush, but if I give it a gentle whack the smoke generator gets in the right position. That's just a small annoyance, I can live with it.

Also, I had opened the vent up some and the smoke stopped coming out of the stacker. I had thought I was supposed to leave it completely closed to get the right temp and smoke density. How much open should it normally be?

Thanks,

Jerry

chronos · July 25, 2005, 03:22:39 AM

I was told that, when smoking, that the goal is to have the food hit the right doneness tempature and then take it out. I.E not to have it sitting in the smoker for an hour or two after it's done because that will just dry it out.

If that's the case, how do I figure out what cooking temp to maintain to get my meat done at say 5 or 6 hours as opposed to 3? Is there a chart somewhere by type of meat and lbs?

Thanks,

Jerry

nsxbill · July 25, 2005, 05:11:35 AM

A good thing to pick-up would be a thermometer like the Maverick ET-73 Remote. I don't cook myself with time, but cook to internal temp only. With time you discover how long that will take.

Glad the rest was ok. I just leave my vent at 1/4 to 1/3 open all the time when hot smoking.

Bill

<i>There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.</i>

MallardWacker · July 25, 2005, 02:46:29 PM

Bill and Jeff probably said it best. You do cook for a target internal temp of the meat. And it does take TIME to creat good tender products with smoke flavor.

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...