Go camping with your Smoker

[gerryf]

We went camping for the Canadian May Two-Four weekend. Invited some friends to come visit and used the Bradley Digital Smoker to do two trays of chicken wings and one tray of chicken drumsticks.

This was a nice warm day with lots of sun. For the last hour or so I could barely keep the temperature above 200F, even with the smoker oven set to 280F. I think the temperature control is quite "wonky" in my unit but I don't know if this is "normal" or not.

Last time I used the smoker was in the garage on a crappy day and I thought it did a good job, but again, during the latter half of the smoke I had to keep going out and increasing the temp 10 degrees to stop it from falling below 200F again.

I can preheat in 30 minutes no problem with both the smoker generator on and the oven on.

It seems to take forever to recoup when you open the door to sauce them up, so I'm not convinced this is a problem with the unit yet, but will keep an eye on things.


May 24 Weekend 2011 008 by gtfreymann, on Flickr


May 24 Weekend 2011 007 by gtfreymann, on Flickr

[GusRobin]

potential solutions:
1) Make sure your vent is wide open when cooking poultry.
2) Make sure you put very hot water in the water bowl.
3) where are you taking the temp? If you are using the Bradley probe you probably not getting the true temp depending where the meat is in relation to the probe.
4) consider putting a brick in the bradley to act as a heat sink.
5) add the second element

[jiggerjams]

If you do not mind investing to make things easier for you I recommend getting a PID.

[gerryf]

potential solutions:
1) Make sure your vent is wide open when cooking poultry.
2) Make sure you put very hot water in the water bowl.
3) where are you taking the temp? If you are using the Bradley probe you probably not getting the true temp depending where the meat is in relation to the probe.
4) consider putting a brick in the bradley to act as a heat sink.
5) add the second element

I leave the vent at 3/4 or more all the time. I don't touch it at all, I just leave it open.

I boil water and add that to the bowl but I do include a bit of cold beer but that shouldn't bother it. I could have emptied the bowl of bisquettes and refreshed with more hot water perhaps?

I have the Maverick digital thermometer, and put it below the lowest rack of foot, near the front. In this case I was using the top 3 racks.

[devo]

gerryf
I too had the same problems till I did the duel element mod. Sorry to say your temp will never stay stable with one element. The duel element mod is very easy to do and costs less than 14 bucks. Now the hard part is buying the PID. Not that its hard to get but convincing the better half that you need one might be  :)
Here in Canada we don't get those hot days all year long like our southern friends so I am a firm believer in the duel element mod for us cunucks.  ;)

[Tenpoint5]

I would suggest getting closer to the power source. So your not having to use an extension cord.

[gerryf]

Yes, the dual heater elements seems like a cheaper way to go for the time being.

[gerryf]

I would suggest getting closer to the power source. So your not having to use an extension cord.

Yes, that was also the first time I used an extension cord, but that cord has very thick wiring and can supply the trailer with 15AMP service no problem.

I like to smoke in the winter, so I can see needing a second element and/or a PID.

I'll be cooking outdoors at my parents in 3 weeks but I think I'll direct access to an electrical outlet. I'll change out the water half way through and see if that helps on the second half of the cook.

[Wildcat]

Wind can also make it difficult to maintain a good temperature.

[Tenpoint5]

It seems to take forever to recoup when you open the door to sauce them up, so I'm not convinced this is a problem with the unit yet, but will keep an eye on things.

That is another thing to keep in mind. Every time you open the door it adds approx 30 minutes to the cook time. So if your adding sauce every 30 minutes you are basically stalling the cooking at the temp it is at when you opened the door the first time. The old saying is if your looking you aint cooking.

[gerryf]

It seems to take forever to recoup when you open the door to sauce them up, so I'm not convinced this is a problem with the unit yet, but will keep an eye on things.

That is another thing to keep in mind. Every time you open the door it adds approx 30 minutes to the cook time. So if your adding sauce every 30 minutes you are basically stalling the cooking at the temp it is at when you opened the door the first time. The old saying is if your looking you aint cooking.

When I'm cooking I don't open the door regularly.

For chicken, I wait for the final hour and then brush on the final BBQ Sauce with about 50-55 mins to go and another brushing of sauce during the last 15 minutes or so. I pay attention to the meat temperature probe and that lets me know that things are cooked before I go brushing on the final sauce.

When we do ribs we do the 3-2-1 method so you have to open the door 3 hours in, and again at 5 hours in, but otherwise the temperature holds fine. The last hour is a little lower because I'm brushing on the sauce after removing them from their foil pouches.

It could very well be because I had so much meat to brush that just having the door open, and a good load of meat, didn't allow it to raise the temperature back as fast as I would like during that last bit of cooking.

Internal meat temperature was fine before opening the door, and they stayed in the smoker a little longer than I expected while we prepared the other parts of the meal, so as usual the final results were excellent and everybody enjoyed! :-)

[_Bear_]

It was probably having the door open for a long period. For camping maby you should try the propane smoker. I have taken my digital 6 camping with me, but found it was a pain to move around. We are heading out for a month long tour of the Alberta Rockies (Glacier, Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise ect.) Thben over to Northern Saskatchwan for somne trophy walleye fishing. Going to give the new propane smoker a good work out and I will post my thoughts .