Higher Wattage Heat Tube

[bdaugher5102]

Hi - I'm wondering if anyone has a good resource for higher wattage heat tubes for the BS.  I think the factory version is 550W, and here in PA that doesn't seem to be sufficient to push the temperature over 225 even on a 40 degree day.

Also - I've installed a Power Raptor / Competitor on my BS, but I used a seperate power cord for the heater and the smoke generator because I was concerned that the Raptor-induced power-cycling would mess-up the 20-minute puck-advance timing.  Is this the right thing to do, or should I just let the Raptor control the power for both the smoke generator and the heater?

Thanks in advance...

[owrstrich]

im wondering if 225 is heat element only or heat element and puck burner combined...

i rarely smoke above 200 smoker temp so i dont what is achievable at 40 deg... i do know that wind is your enemy... even at 40 deg with vent mostly closed... wind is your enemy...

someone will show up and have the right questions and answers... especially concerning your raptor setup...

you gotta eat...

owrstrich

[bdaugher5102]

Yes, I should have been more precise.  I was able to attain 225 with both the puck-burner and the heater on full...

[IKnowWood]

hmm, I am not far from PA (lower altittude sure, but does that matter?) and I easiy hit 275 when I was doing some ABTs the other day.  And at that temp I stopped runing it, it was about 1 hour 40 minutes by then.  Both elements on, cabinet slider maxed out.

edit:  Also it was about 40 degrees, maybe 45 at that time.  And nothing in the smoker..

another edit:  I also remember in late November-ish I was doing a Picnic (thought it was a Bu!!) and heated the setup for 1 full hour all maxed.  And thermo hit 300.  And outside temp was 19 degrees.  , most of the hour heat-up was below 20 degrees.  And nothing was in the Bradley.

Question:  Did you have anything in it at that temp?  If you did, it will reduce your temp (i.e. something colder in there cooking).

[bdaugher5102]

Hi - I was smoking a 20lb full ham, which may have contributed to the slow temperature rise, but even when the ham was cooked (170)the cabinet was stuck at 225.

I had the damper mostly closed - maybe 20% open.

BTW, I used the T-shirt method described elsewhere in this forum and mixed up Pecan and Apple smoke.  Delicious!  

The 225 was actually fine for the ham, but I had the Competitor set to 290.  This was during the cooking phase, not the smoking phase.  I needed the higher temp to decrease the cooking time, but it was worth the wait....

--Brian

[Oldman]

First I'm glad you like my T-Shirt Method...

Next smokin' foods is a slow item. The only time I ever go above 205F is when I'm doing bacon wrapped chicken breast. I smoke more items at 190 F than anything else. Things like sauage I do 155-160 F. It is normally for a (fat end) of a brisket with FTC to take 14-15 hours if the brisket is 6.5 - 7 pounds.

Once above the point of boiling water and your meat begins to lose moisture and you are on the road of shrinkage.

Olds

[TomG]

BS sells replacement heat tubes(the 500w variety)for $8.00. How difficult would it be to wire up another one right above the existing tube using the reflector that's already installed?  Can any of you HVAC types shed light on the best heating element to use with a PID-SSR setup that's cycling every 30-120 seconds at set temp.?
-Tom-

[Thunder Fish]

Let's not forget the other "DOH" ............adding a extension cord .......and of what Gauge(thickness)............+ length of cord? ? ? ? all adds up to the "load" of the Bradley...............
Happy New Year all! !! ! !
Terry

[Oldman]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><font size="2">BS sells replacement heat tubes(the 500w variety)for $8.00. How difficult would it be to wire up another one right above the existing tube using the reflector that's already installed? Can any of you HVAC types shed light on the best heating element to use with a PID-SSR setup that's cycling every 30-120 seconds at set temp.?
-Tom-</font id="size2"><hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> Call Chez, he can set you up with the whole shebang for a peanuts....

Olds

[JJC]

Just wanted to welcome you to the Forum, Brian--let us know how you make out with the second heating element.

John
Newton MA

[bdaugher5102]

Thanks everyone for your responses.  I was indeed using an extension cord but it was short and of a heavy gauge.  I'll eliminate it and run some tests today.

However, per Oldman's recommendations I will in the future plan on smoking/cooking for longer periods at lower temperatures.

Does anyone have any insight into the proper use of the Raptor/Competitor - as in, is it proper to use a seperate power feed for the smoke-generator so that it's 20-minute puck timer stays running?  The documentation just says to plug the whole unit into the Raptor, but since it is cycling the power, it would seem to me that this would cause problems for the smoke generator.

Thanks again, and Happy New Year!

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

bdaugher5102 welcome to the forum. plug your smoke gen into the wall , plug your smoker into the raptor then plug the raptor into the wall, then plug your competitor power block into the back of the smoke gen.

[bdaugher5102]

Perfect!  Thanks Smokehouse Rob!  That never occured to me, even after staring at it all for a while....

Cheers!

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

your welcome [;)] so whats next on the menu?