Beyond Frustration Need Help

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I bought this smoker because I wanted to get away from the inconsistant heat of a home made upside down fridge smoker. I have ruined two batches of sausage and other things. I am fed up!!!. I try to make cooked sausage and to get the internal heat up to 160F, the sausage is in the smoker for 10 hours and the result is a dried up piece of meat that looks like a three day old piece of dried up Dog Turd. I have a six rack smoker. Is this smoker not able to make cooked sausage or should I just stick to cold smoke? The digital controler has already failed and I have the heater plugged in directly. The highest temp I can get out of this thing is 210F. By reading this rant you should be able to tell that I am throwing away 10 pounds of sausage again

[NePaSmoKer]

I bought this smoker because I wanted to get away from the inconsistant heat of a home made upside down fridge smoker. I have ruined two batches of sausage and other things. I am fed up!!!. I try to make cooked sausage and to get the internal heat up to 160F, the sausage is in the smoker for 10 hours and the result is a dried up piece of meat that looks like a three day old piece of dried up Dog Turd. I have a six rack smoker. Is this smoker not able to make cooked sausage or should I just stick to cold smoke? The digital controler has already failed and I have the heater plugged in directly. The highest temp I can get out of this thing is 210F. By reading this rant you should be able to tell that I am throwing away 10 pounds of sausage again

I use my 6 rack for all my sausage. Are you using a PID?

If your taking your sausage IT to 160 thats to high.

[Tiny Tim]

NePaS has you pointed the right direction, and I would defer any question regarding sausage, to him...he knows his stuff.  I agree that a PID is mandatory for sausage, but for "forgiving" items such as butts, briskets, pretty much any chunk of meat you want smoke on and a certain IT, the smoker will work fine.

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No I am not using a PID controller. The digital controler on the unit failed yesterday and I just plugged in the element into an outlet. What internal temp is required? Most meats need to be cooked to that temp.

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•Keep the temperature inside the sausage smoker between 160 and 165 degrees F.Max
If I do this I can't get the IT over 110 in this smoker
•Take your sausage out of the smoker when it reaches an internal temperature of 152 degrees F.
How can I do this when I can't even get the smoker temp to this unless I turn on the element full on

[Tiny Tim]

First order of business, call Bradley Customoer Service, and if possible, speak with Brian...otherwise anybody there should be able to help you with the Smoke Generator/Digital control issue.

Are you by any chance using an extension cord, or an outlet on a circuit with another load source on it?  Either of those could be part of your heating problem.  If you do need to use an extension cord, use as short of one as you can get away with using, as well as it being as heavy gauge as you can.

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Outlet is right behind smoker and geting 120v to the smoker

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Second time trying to make cooked sausage and both times now had to throw it all away. First time I thought it was because it was cold outside yesterday was 75f and still took so long to cook that it was dried to a crisp. I think just make a cold smoke with this and go back to old school fridge

[Kahunas]

Second time trying to make cooked sausage and both times now had to throw it all away. First time I thought it was because it was cold outside yesterday was 75f and still took so long to cook that it was dried to a crisp. I think just make a cold smoke with this and go back to old school fridge

Hi,
I would guess that it is getting so dried out due to having the element on full all the time. Basically you fried it rather than cook it. If you can get your PID working properly it will act much better. Hopefully customer service at Bradley can help you.

[KyNola]

What are you using to measure the heat inside the tower?  If you're relying on the info from the smoker, that may be part of your problem.  If you have the element plugged directly into the outlet it is running full blast 100% of the time.  If you're taking the internal temp of the sausage all the way up to 160, you have rendered all the fat out of the sausage, making it dry as you described.  At 152 internal temp the fat begins to render out so you need to stop just shy of an internal temp of 152 in the sausage.

[viper125]

I do lots of sausage as others here do too! It comes out better in a bradley then any I ever had. But:

Sausage is a little tougher then doing a ham or butt.
You need a good wireless thermometer to keep an eye on Internal temps of the meat and also the cabinet. Then a pid is a great help as it also watches both temps,and regulates a program of temperatures allowing you to control it all. We usually ramp temperatures up by starting low and raising temps slowly as it gets further along.
Check out the forums for enough  info to make you an expert. And feel free to ask questions.

[NePaSmoKer]

Call Bradley

If your smoker is struggling to get to the temp then there is a smoker problem.

[Tenpoint5]

•Keep the temperature inside the sausage smoker between 160 and 165 degrees F.Max
If I do this I can't get the IT over 110 in this smoker

The temps that you are quoting are correct and they are achieved by ramping the cabinet temps up over time. You have to keep in mind that your heating that cabinet up with basically 5 100 watt light bulbs. It is going to take some time to get temps up especially when you just stuck ten pounds of sausage in there that is probably at 38-45 degrees. Not to mention that the sausage WILL go through a stall at about 135 degrees. It all takes time.

•Take your sausage out of the smoker when it reaches an internal temperature of 152 degrees F.
How can I do this when I can't even get the smoker temp to this unless I turn on the element full on

Right here is why your sausage is dry and tastes like sawdust. You have the element running full bore right? Well at the bottom of the sausage the temp is probably right around 280 degrees.(At those kind of temps you are melting all of the fats out of your sausage.) I don't care what the digital readout says. Besides it is located half way up the unit on the back side and will be getting different readings due to the meat. Also YOU said the digital portion of the unit quit working. WHY would you trust anything that it says if it is broke?? Give Bradley CS a call and explain the broken digital unit. Get that fixed if it is truly broke and not just operator error. Hey loose cords happen when moving these things around.

Then you will want to ramp your sausage something like this:

120º for 1 hour
130º for 2 hours while you apply smoke
150º for 4 hours
160º or 170º until your IT is 152º

[viper125]

x2 on what Ten Point said.

[dman4505]

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First off I'd like to welcome you to a great site with lots helpful people
Second take heed to the advice you've recieved these guys and gals know what they are talking about, don't give up on the Bradley just yet. Don't take what they have said personal, they're trying to help and get you to the point where you'll be the envy of your neighborhood with all the great tasting food you'll be making. Give customer service a call they're the best in the business and will get you up and running again.

Again welcome and as the Bradley motto goes "Savor the Flavor"

Don