Original smoker temp issues

[UNKYFUNKY]

Over the weekend, I had smoked a pork shoulder for some friends during our camping trip.  I was not able to get the cabin temp over 205 degrees.  I starter early at about 9 am where it was about 70 degrees outside.  Throughout the course of the day, the temp never climbed.  I did not let the shoulder reach room temps but I have never really done this in the past.  It dipped once I put the meat in but never regained over 205. Most of the day the cabin temp was in the high 100's. The afternoon temp outside reached 88 degrees and I had surrounded the smoker with towels to make sure drafts were not entering the cabin as it was a little windy outside. I removed my auber PID controller thinking this could be the issue but it was not.  I did not have any other means to cook my shoulder other than the smoker and a bbq grill (which I was too scared to do).  Serving time was 7 pm and the shoulder got to 180 degrees.  I was trying to reach 185-190 and then ftc for a couple hours but ran out of time.  I have had issues with my smoker heating element in the past but Bradley said they were aware of this and corrected the problem. I have changed the element about three times over the last couple of years and I smoke about 4 times a year.  The weird thing was that when I decided I had to look inside to see the element, it was glowing red.  The seal for the door was also tight and no smoke was leaking.  I am ready to throw it out and start over with a new smoker.  Am I just cursed? I thought maybe a mod with an additional heating source but then my pid controller would not work properly.  It seems I never have luck bringing my smoker temps up. What am I doing wrong? Should I change the element again? Any advise would be appreciated.

[beefmann]

you may have two issues that you  are  dealing with  one is  having a  lot of  moisture in the box during the cook.. solution is  open the top vent  all the way... the other  is having a larger  cut of meat then  normal causing a  lower box temp .. if you are  use to an  8 lb cut pf meat and  doing 15  lbs  the  temps  will be  lower  like you  have  indicated,,, just  be patient and  let it cook   

[tskeeter]

UNKYFUNKY, it sounds like you always have difficulty getting the smoker up to the temp you set.  Since this is an ongoing problem, and you have done several heating element swaps, I suspect that there is something going on that happens every time you smoke.  Here is a checklist of things to consider.

Is your vent damper wide open?  Or very nearly wide open?  Not having the vent open wide enough traps moisture in the smoker cabin, which holds the temperature down (water can absorb a tremendous amount of heat).  It seems counter-intuitive, but having the vent open can actually increase your cabin temperature because the moisture can escape.

Is there anything else on the electrical circuit that the smoker was on?  A stock Bradley will draw about 5.25 amps.  That's a pretty good chunk of the capacity of a "15 amp" circuit, which is really rated for about a 12 amp continuous load.  Put anything else on the circuit with the smoker and you may not have enough power available to get the smoker to the temp you set. 

Are you using an extension cord to connect your smoker?  If you need to use an extension cord, it should be at least a 14 gauge cord.  A 12 gauge cord would be even better.  And the cord should be a short as possible.

Wind seems to suck the heat right out of a Bradley.  If you regularly experience a fair amount of wind (like we do, here on the eastern slope of the Sierras) some kind of a shelter to house your smoker might make temperature control a bit easier.

How big was the pork shoulder?  A shoulder is a big mass of meat.  To take it from refrigerator temp to about 190 takes a long time.  When I make pulled pork, I plan on at least 16 hours to get it cooked (I usually do several shoulders at once).  The last time I made pulled pork, I had about 20 pounds of shoulder in the smoker and it took about 20 hours.

To shorten your cook time, try putting a couple of foil wrapped bricks in the bottom of your smoker.  These will act as a heat sink.  The bricks will heat  up while you preheat your smoker, then release their heat to the pork shoulder when the cold meat is put into the smoker.  The thermal mass of the warm bricks will also help reduce the temperature swings you experience when you open the smoker to check how things are going.   

[UNKYFUNKY]

Thank you for taking the time and helping me with this problem and quite possibly putting an end to my agony! I was using a cheap super long extension cord that pluged into my RV. I assumed if the smoker was drawing too much current it would just blow the breaker. I also figured that closing the vent would keep the heat in (who would have thought). When at home I also use a long extension cord however I do have a homemade shelter for my smoker that keeps the wind out. I have smoked a larger briskets and although the temp did not get real high it didget hot enough for my satisfaction. I will try wrapping some bricks and putting them on a rack and use a shorter higher quality extension cord. I can't wait until my next smoke!