Bradley oven temp

[Argee]

I was making some jerky in my Bradley a couple of days ago. I set the smoker time and the oven temp and time. I checked the progress after awhile and it seemed ok. Checking it again later, I find that there is very little warm air coming out of the vents on top. When I check the control box, the oven air temp is only 82 degrees but the oven temp setting is 200 degrees. I ended up finishing the jerky in a dehydrator. Just wondering if the oven heating element is bad or some other problem?

[tskeeter]

Some additional information would be helpful.  Is your smoker digital or an original?  Roughly how long had your smoker been running?  Have you checked your breakers and gfi’s so that you isolated the problem to the smoker?  How old is your smoker?

[bob15]

Was/is the heating element glowing? Do you feel any heat coming off it?

[Argee]

My smoker is a digital that I have had for about 2 years. I had a problem with the control unit when I first got it and Bradley sent a replacement. It worked fine after that. It has been 6 or 8 months since I used it last but it has been stored inside under a cover. I did not notice if the oven burner was glowing at the time. It was getting into evening hours and I just put the jerky in my dehydrator and finished the drying ,

Was/is the heating element glowing? Do you feel any heat coming off it?

The only time I felt heat was when the smoker was operating.

[Habanero Smoker]

Unplug and reseat your power cords; especially the power cord that goes from the generator to the cabinet - it may resolve your problem. If it doesn't work the first time, do it a few more times. Sometimes it is difficult to seat the power cords fully in.

[Argee]

I looked at the cords and did exactly what you suggested. I think the cord was not seated correctly on the oven end. It did seem to slide on further/better and when I turned the oven heat on, it started heating right away. Good lesson, always double check those cords and plugs!

[Habanero Smoker]

Glad to hear you are up and running again.

[timothynakaska]

I received a digital smoker for a christmas gift and am using it today for the second time.
Although I have the oven temperature set at the maximum; namely, 320. After several hours the maximum temperature in the oven has stabilized around 215 f
whereas I need about 250 f for the turkey breast I am smoking.  The ambient temperature outside is around 35 F or 1 C. 
Is my problem associated with the ambient temperature or do I have an issue associated with the element . the outside walls of the oven are cool so it does not appear that I have much heat loss unless I am loosing significant heat via the vent on top of the oven.
Comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

[tskeeter]

Tim, I suspect that you might have a few things going on.  First, Bradley really aren’t designed to run at 320.  Many seem to top out at about 270 or so.  Second, might be a combination of your ambient temperature and a breeze.  Breezes across the exhaust vent really suck the heat out of the smoker.  Protect the vent from the breeze.  Third is management of your exhaust vent damper.  For high moisture product, such as poultry, your vent damper should be 3/4 open.  If the damper isn’t open enough, it traps moisture in your smoker, which prevents the smoker from getting as hot as it should.  A last item that could cause the long heat up time you experienced is the water you used in your puck bowl.  I fill my puck bowl with near boiling water because cold water in the puck bowl will absorb a lot of the heat put out by the heating element.

Hope something here might be helpful to you.

Tskeeter