Can I foil wrap a brick in the OBS?

[loner]

So whuts the deal with the second element and how do you do it? thanks

[freakaccident]

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?572-Additional-Heating-Element-Modification
or
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?578-Additional-Heating-Element-for-OBS-with-On-Off-Control

[loner]

Thank you, thank you kindly

[mrphilips]

sorry to reawaken a sleepy thread, but i'm curious about the foil too.... i read NOT to use foil in the OBS but haven't figured out why... any thoughts?

i want to smoke some nuts and the best way i can think of doing so is to foil-line a shelf and fork holes all through it - i can't get my hands on a small enough piece of metal screen.

[TedEbear]

sorry to reawaken a sleepy thread, but i'm curious about the foil too.... i read NOT to use foil in the OBS but haven't figured out why... any thoughts?

I believe there was a danger of grease accumulating in foil pockets and causing a fire. Either that or if the rack was covered in foil with no drip holes the grease could run off the back of the rack and drip directly onto the heating element and cause problems.

After a bit of Google searching I found where others have smoked nuts using a Frogmat, pizza screen or baking pan sprayed with Pam.  Good luck to you.

[Quarlow]

For nuts I use cheese cloth on my racks. It works very well. That said I will be posting pics at some point this morning of how I did my jerky nuggets. Cheese cloth would not have worked well for this. So I got a roll of fine mesh aluminum window screen and cut a piece to fit my racks.
As for not using foil in the cabinet they say not to cover your V-tray with foil so you don't channel grease back onto the element and cause a fire. The foil wrapped bricks are fine but be careful if you put it on the v-tray. I really should say don't do it but I do sometimes. But I set it to the side leaning against the side so any grease will run off on to the tray.

[Habanero Smoker]

If you cover the trays completely with foil, this can also trap the heat below the tray, thus creating a potential fire hazard.

[mrphilips]

ok, guys... seems like a valid safety precaution, but something that can be thought around, now that i grasp the rational.

the mesh screen seems optimal...
i smoked black pepper corns in a mesh seive (not sure how to spell that). not 100% effective, but functional enough

quarlow, what temp do you take your unit to with the cheesecloth? that makes me fearful of fire, but the "screeniness" of it seems good...

[Quarlow]

I had the temp right up with no trouble at all. There are no grease or oil and the racks seem high enough to not catch fire.  The mesh, I am looking at making little baskets by folding the edges up and then sew the corners with either thread or maybe a strand of the mesh itself. I don't like messing with stuff rolling off the sides.