weather

[biedermancooks]

Can i run my smoker in the snow and rain?

[owrstrich]

bied...

yes... sheltered of course... if the slider gets too wet... you aint smoking till you replace it... you may want to plug it into a ground fault circuit too...

it needs to be sheltered from rain and snow by a tent or plastic sheeting or plywood or something... does not have to be fancy... just a lid...



http://www.weatherunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=80001&hourly=1&yday=77&weekday=Sunday

you gotta eat...

owrstrich

[bubbagump]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by owrstrich</i>
<br />bied...

yes... sheltered of course... if the slider gets too wet... you aint smoking till you replace it... you may want to plug it into a ground fault circuit too...

it needs to be sheltered from rain and snow by a tent or plastic sheeting or plywood or something... does not have to be fancy... just a lid...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Good idea to post the pic of the GFCI Owrstrich. Biederman, plugging the smoker into a GFCI protected circuit is a <u>MUST</u> and should not be considered an option.

Bubbagump

[biedermancooks]

GFI is no problem the shelter on the other hand... Can I just put a piece of plastic over the whole thing or do i need to just cover the slider and the smoke generator? I ve got all these ribs ready to go and it is suppose to start snowing any minute for about the next three days.

[whitetailfan]

The shelter that everyone is suggesting to you has to be reasonably large.  That is, I would not toss a hunk of plastic over the smoker.  A big part of this whole project is controlling smoke heat and moisture, if you put plastic tight to the smoker you would not have any smoke/steam escaping from the vent.

If the snow is hot heavy, I just smoke under the overhang of my garage.  You only need a couple feet of reasonably sheltered space to smoke in.


<font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green">
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB

[Habanero Smoker]

You can use plastic; I do until I build a more permanent type of shelter. You just have to build some type of "A" frame that is high and wide enough to cover the Bradley, then you can drape the plastic over. Just don't enclose the front or back. I made an "A" frame out of 2x4s. If you have a few pieces of scrape plywood that are large enough that will work also. The easiest and quickest set up is to set the Bradley at ground level.

[biedermancooks]

why not enclose the front or the back?

[owrstrich]

bied...

you just want to keep an air gap between the smoker and yourn plastic... just want to keep the door clear so yous can open it... just gotta give the top some room so the smoke and moisture can escape into the air...

yous gotts toos eats...

owrstrich

[Habanero Smoker]

As Owrstrich stated, to keep the door clear, and to allow some airflow. I don't have a garage, so mine is always outside. For the longest time I've been planning to build a cabinet for mine. Hopefully I will get to it this year.

[Habanero Smoker]

I just got finished checking my outdoor outlets. One more thing about GFCI circuit protection I just learned and thought I would past it along. It's probably obvious to most, but I just found out that the GFCI protected circuits are not that obvious. My outdoor outlets are regular outlets, but they are wired in a way so that a GFCI outlet is located between the outdoor outlet and the circuit box. So the outdoor outlets are GFCI protected, and will trip if wet. The outlet in the rear is wired to a GFCI in a bathroom, one in front is wired to a GFCI in the kitchen, and the third to another bathroom.

Now I will probably have to get an electrician to wire the rear outlet as a dedicated line[V]

[bubbagump]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Habanero Smoker</i>
<br />I just got finished checking my outdoor outlets. One more thing about GFCI circuit protection I just learned and thought I would past it along. It's probably obvious to most, but I just found out that the GFCI protected circuits are not that obvious. My outdoor outlets are regular outlets, but they are wired in a way so that a GFCI outlet is located between the outdoor outlet and the circuit box. So the outdoor outlets are GFCI protected, and will trip if wet. The outlet in the rear is wired to a GFCI in a bathroom, one in front is wired to a GFCI in the kitchen, and the third to another bathroom.

Now I will probably have to get an electrician to wire the rear outlet as a dedicated line[V]<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Excellent point Habs. And one that was overlooked before now. GFCI's do have feed thru capability. In other words, a single GFCI receptacle can protect other standard receptacles downstream from them. So even though the outdoor receptacle you plug into may look like a standard indoor receptacle, it is still possible that it is protected from another GFCI receptacle.

There are two easy ways to be certain if you're not sure if the receptacle is protected. The first way is to obviously contact a qualified electrician. The other way is to purchase a relatively inexpensive outlet/GFCI tester (pictured). You should be able to find them in the electrical department of any home improvement store. Plugging this device into a receptacle will tell you if it is wired correctly and also by pushing a small button will test the the GFCI circuit. If the circuit is GFCI protected the receptacle will loose power when the button is pushed. Resetting the GFCI receptacle or GFCI breaker will restore power. If you do not lose power when pushing the button it means the circuit is not protected by a GFCI or the GFCI in not working. In either case it should be corrected ASAP.



Bubbagump

[dick621]

GFCI's should be tested monthly to be sure they are working to.
 Dick in Emmett, Idaho

[Louis]

Hi gang!

Would you believe I still have to purchase my first BS? I live in Montreal, Canada. It gets cold up here. Is it not a problem reaching temperature if the unit sits outdoors? How cold can it get out for the unit to still reach correct temperature to function properly (let's say with no wind)? Even if covered, is one unit better than the other (black vs ss)?

The reason I'm asking is (and of course I realize I cannot compare apples with oranges) I'm an amateur and I've been smoking sturgeon and catfish up here in the summer, using a little chief smoker. With the thing full, as soon as it wood get a little too cloudy, It would scrap my fish as the temperature would fall radically.

[jaeger]

Welcome to the forum Louis!!!
I live in South Dakota which has some plenty cold winters. I can smoke pretty much anytime of the winter that I want to. I usually choose not to smoke on the coldest of days. My neighbor has a little chief and has a lot of fun with it but it has major heating limitations compared to the Bradley.
I think with your experience smoking, you are really cheating yourself by not owning a Bradley. I would suggest a call to Chez and see what he has available in the scratch and dent models. You never know what he may have up his sleeve, there may even be a New "slightly used"  :o  6 rack digital sitting around waiting for you. If you buy from Chez, he will give you some extra savings on future puck purchases!
Let us know what you decide and keep posting!!!

[Louis]

Thanks very much Jeager. Incidently I already contacted Kirk by e-mail but didn't realize he may have used machines. Are you pulling my leg on the digital? I just finished reading the thread...!!