Back wall temps

[dtjim]

Im new to the bradley, i got tired of the hassle from my cajun injector and so far im loving the bradley. I smoked a chicken the other day and it turned out great. I placed my redi check digital temp close to where the analog reads and they seemed to be about 5 to 10 degrees F different so i just tried to average the two temps and kept it in the middle, but when i rotated and turned the racks my digital probe was now towards the back of the smoker and read 30 degrees higher than the analog. Im guessing this is normal since the element is in the back so my question is which reading do i use? If a recipe calls for a temp of 225 should i use backwall temp or the analog thermometer on the door. Im smoking some salmon tomorrow any input would be great

[Wildcat]

Best advice I can give you is to place the probe  on the bottom of the shelf that you have the food on, but off to the side of the meat so that juices do not drip on it. You do not want it too close to the meat either as the meat temp can have an effect on your reading. I place mine on the left side of the cabinet. Keep in mind you have two heat sources. Ideally what you want is what temp the meat is actually being exposed to.

[Pike227]

Curious what you didn't like about your Cajun Injector?

[dtjim]

The cajun injector doesnt have a rheostat like the bradley, the 500 watt element is either full on or off with no inbetween. I mostly smoke fish and holding 140 temp is hard. The element would cycle on at about 125 and turn off about 155 and the temp sensor was way off so i would have to read the temp with my digital and try to figure out what temp to set the smoker at to compensate. Also it was hard to get it to smoke because the wood wouldnt burn unless the element was on and then it would burn too fast. If i soaked the wood sometimes it would burn and sometimes it would take a really long time until it started to smoke. I never did try the pellets they sell for it maybe it would work better with them. It did smoke alot better at higher temps but it was still a hassle. The meat probe is also way off. When i first bought it i thought something might be wrong and returned it for another one and it was the same way the temp sensor and meat probe are way off. On a few occasions it had a hard time holding temps too