Bradley Original Smoker won't go below 160 on LOW.

[ushneb]

Hi,

I'm new here. Just got my OBS last week and have been smoking anything and everything I can get my hands on. I want to smoke salmon next and the recipe I'm following calls for it to be smoked at 140F to start. But the problem I'm running into is that when I set the OBS on LOW, the temp goes up to 163F and won't go lower without me turning it off.

Outside temp was about 78-80 today.

Has anyone else experienced this and know what to do to remedy this issue?

Thanks

[gricardsimplycol]

You could just try the puck burner.  With your outside temp that high this should do it

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi ushneb;

Welcome to the forum.

With an empty cabinet and the bisquette burner going,  the temperatures you are getting are around normal. The bisquette burner is 125 watts, and will heat up to 550°F at the surface. If you are using the cabinet temperature probe, that may be accurate with the cabinet empty, but it may give an inaccurate reading when you have food in the cabinet. It is best to get a third party temperature probe, so you can place the temperature probe in a more accurate location. I like to place mine on the bottom rack, at least 2" from the meat.

Loading the cabinet with fish will probably keep the cabinet temperature down to or below 140°F, long enough for the first stage of smoking salmon - in the recipe you are using. You have the new OBS; other things you can do if you can't get the temperature below 140°F is to unplug the cabinet from the generator. That will make sure the heating element are not producing any heat. Smoke during the cooler parts of the day; such as early morning or late evening, or even during the night. If those hours are not convenient, make sure you keep the smoker in the shade as much as possible; or take advantage of overcast days. You can babysit the smoker and crack the door about the thickness of a pencil to help drop the temperature - you will loose some smoke with the heat, but there is plenty of smoke. You could also place a bowl of ice in the cabinet, but I don't like going that route. The times I used ice, it seemed to impede the flow of smoke.

If you feel you are going to do a lot of hot (below 180°) or cold (below 90°F) smoking, you may want to invest in a cold smoke setup. You can build your own, or purchase one that Bradley sells. Search the forum for cold smoke setups if you want to build your own.

[ushneb]

You could just try the puck burner.  With your outside temp that high this should do it

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Hi ushneb;

Welcome to the forum.

With an empty cabinet and the bisquette burner going,  the temperatures you are getting are around normal. The bisquette burner is 125 watts, and will heat up to 550°F at the surface. If you are using the cabinet temperature probe, that may be accurate with the cabinet empty, but it may give an inaccurate reading when you have food in the cabinet. It is best to get a third party temperature probe, so you can place the temperature probe in a more accurate location. I like to place mine on the bottom rack, at least 2" from the meat.

Loading the cabinet with fish will probably keep the cabinet temperature down to or below 140°F, long enough for the first stage of smoking salmon - in the recipe you are using. You have the new OBS; other things you can do if you can't get the temperature below 140°F is to unplug the cabinet from the generator. That will make sure the heating element are not producing any heat. Smoke during the cooler parts of the day; such as early morning or late evening, or even during the night. If those hours are not convenient, make sure you keep the smoker in the shade as much as possible; or take advantage of overcast days. You can babysit the smoker and crack the door about the thickness of a pencil to help drop the temperature - you will loose some smoke with the heat, but there is plenty of smoke. You could also place a bowl of ice in the cabinet, but I don't like going that route. The times I used ice, it seemed to impede the flow of smoke.

If you feel you are going to do a lot of hot (below 180°) or cold (below 90°F) smoking, you may want to invest in a cold smoke setup. You can build your own, or purchase one that Bradley sells. Search the forum for cold smoke setups if you want to build your own.

Wow, that's great advice! I never even thought about using the darn thing with the main cabinet unplugged. I will give that a try today.

Thank you guys so much.

Ben