Can't get above 210

zueth · January 19, 2014, 01:06:47 PM

Smoking two racks of ribs in my 4 rack digital and can't get cabinet temp above 210.
I have bricks in bottom and on top rack.
Doing 3-2-1, should I increase coking time do to mowed heat?
Any suggestions for getting heat up? Shooting for 225.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fireguy06 · January 19, 2014, 01:08:29 PM

What is the outside temp and is it windy where you are that will give us info to help figuring out the problem and is your vent wide open

zueth · January 19, 2014, 02:23:29 PM

Outside temp is 40, it is not windy it hit up to 218 at the three hour mark. Just wrapped ribs and back in smoker.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BigRich · January 19, 2014, 03:46:48 PM

The smoke generator can help with the heat if don't already have it on. Also make sure your vent is open.

zueth · January 19, 2014, 07:55:27 PM

Generator is on and vent is open

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

GusRobin · January 19, 2014, 08:08:40 PM

how and where are you taking the cabinet temp? you using the bradley probe or some other thermometer?

Saber 4 · January 19, 2014, 08:10:55 PM

You can use heated foil wrapped bricks or boiling water in the water bowl/cake pan to help with heat recovery. Are you using the digital display/temp sensor on the Bradley or a separate probe thermometer to get your readings? The Bradley digital reading is notoriously off due to it's placement on the back wall above the element and meat position and evaporation can give false readings compared to what the meat is actually receiving in heat.

zueth · January 20, 2014, 07:25:55 AM

Eventually it got to 225 throughout the cook, but never higher had the oven temp set to 320 for the whole cook. Ended up cooking them a extra hour and they turned out fantastic.

I am using my Maverick for the temp reading.

I have bricks wrapped in foil on the bottom by the water bowl and on the top shelf.

I put boiling water in the water bowl.

Smokesmore · January 20, 2014, 07:57:48 AM

I have similar problems around 5 degrees. I would think with boiling water, and temps in the 40's you shouldn't have a problem. I've noticed that the Bradley is just not ideal for cold weather smoking unless your actually cold smoking.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Saber 4 · January 20, 2014, 08:02:44 AM

Glad things worked out for your ribs, the hardest thing for me to get used to was cooking to temp or doneness rather than time, it has improved my patience some though. Another thought is to protect your smoker from wind when it's that cold, wind can suck the heat right out of the unit.

zueth · January 21, 2014, 09:43:16 AM

I thought the problem might be my extension cord that the unit is plugged into, so I replaced it with a 12 gauge cord. Ran the unit with puck burner on for 4 hours and it never got over 215. I don't remember having this problem in the past, wondering why i can't get it to 225.

tskeeter · January 22, 2014, 02:54:59 PM

Quote from: zueth on January 21, 2014, 09:43:16 AM
I thought the problem might be my extension cord that the unit is plugged into, so I replaced it with a 12 gauge cord. Ran the unit with puck burner on for 4 hours and it never got over 215. I don't remember having this problem in the past, wondering why i can't get it to 225.

Zueth, a couple of thoughts and a few more questions.

Am I safe to assume that you're running the stock heating element configuration? If so, the problem reaching the temps you would like may simply be a function of your low ambient temperatures. Even with the puck burner running, a stock Bradley is heating with 625 watts. When you consider that most hand held hair dryers draw between 1,250 and 1,500 watts, and many toasters are in the low end of that range, you don't have a ton of heating capacity available to compensate for low temps.

Are you using a 15 amp circuit to power your smoker? Is it possible that since the weather turned colder, something has been plugged into the circuit that your smoker is plugged into that wasn't there before?

Even though I've done the dual element mod to my smoker, when I'm doing large amounts of meat (like 30 pounds of pork shoulder), I smoke it in the smoker, and then move the meat to the oven to finish cooking it. Being able to take advantage of the heating capacity of the oven transfers more heat to the meat in a shorter period of time. This shaves an hour or two off my cooking time. Lets me monitor what's going on through the glass in the oven door. And shortens the distance from the Lazy Boy when I go to check on things.

zueth · January 22, 2014, 06:03:12 PM

Original 500 watt element, it is a 15 amp circuit with nothing else plugged into it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

zueth · January 22, 2014, 06:04:58 PM

I did a test today, the ambient temp was 45. Let the Bradley run for 4 hours with a empty cabinet, just the bricks and water bowl. I had the vent full open and the highest it got up to was 235. I was using my maverick for temp, the Bradley said 215. I was thinking that I would at least be able to get up to 250.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Saber 4 · January 22, 2014, 06:07:03 PM

Quote from: zueth on January 22, 2014, 06:04:58 PM
I did a test today, the ambient temp was 45. Let the Bradley run for 4 hours with a empty cabinet, just the bricks and water bowl. I had the vent full open and the highest it got up to was 235. I was using my maverick for temp, the Bradley said 215. I was thinking that I would at least be able to get up to 250.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I always smoke at 220-230 so for me that looks good, but I'm not looking for high temp cooking with my Bradley, I use my SRG or BCS for that.