New Digital smoker won't go much over 160 deg.

dave_c · April 27, 2007, 05:29:39 PM

When I seasoned my smoker, I set it to 150 deg. It climbed to about 160 by the time it finished. All seemed OK.

Now I'm trying to smoke some chicken breasts. I have three breasts in the smoker. It's been running for about 3 hours now and has passed 162 F. It's set to 300 F. The timer has plenty of time to go. The smoker function is working well.
???
Any ideas?

Gizmo · April 27, 2007, 05:45:03 PM

Welcome to the smoker world dcoons:

Open the door slightly and look inside toward the lower back where the heating element is located. Is it glowing red? I would suspect that at 162 it should be and should be working.
Do you have the vent on top of the smoker open? Chicken is very moist and if the moisture can't escape, it can hold the box temp down. 1/4 minimun.

Did you try to preheat the box before putting the chicken in? I allow the box to get up 20 to 30 degrees over my desired temp before loading as the loading will cool it down.

Are you using an external temperature monitoring device? The built in temperature probe is not a very good indicator of actual box temperature especially during the first few hours of a smoke.

Hope some of this helps. Give us more information if possible.

dave_c · April 27, 2007, 05:49:37 PM

Thanks for the advise.

The vent was just under 1/4.

The only glow I can see is the heater under the wood bisquet.

I didn't pre-heat.

I wonder if the smoker function alone will get the temp up to 160 F?

Gizmo · April 27, 2007, 05:57:30 PM

I wouldn't have thought so but it may.
Check the power cord between the smoke gen and the oven box. I would suspect there are no error messages on the display. The unit will work with the power cord between the two disconnected but not the temp sense cord (small skinny cord). I have forgotten to reconnect the power cord before after changing from a cold smoke setup to a hot smoke setup and getting distracted in between.

dave_c · April 27, 2007, 05:59:36 PM

I unplugged all of the cords, then plugged everything back together and started it up again.

It's already at 174 and climbing pretty quickly. I'm going to blame this on operator error with the power cables. Maybe I didn't get one seated firmly enough.

Hey, I'm an electrical engineer. What do I know about this stuff?

dave_c · April 27, 2007, 06:00:55 PM

BTW - Thanks for the incredibly quick assistance!!!

Gizmo · April 27, 2007, 06:13:34 PM

Glad to be of assistance. Another benefit of the Bradley service that is free to them. ;D ;D

Consiglieri · April 27, 2007, 11:35:24 PM

How did your project turn out? I had a similar problem after putting away the machine (for like a week). I put the cables back together but didn't push the vault end in far enough. Figured out the mishap during preheating, thankfully. I think my temp was rising higher than the box at the time the machine was "broken." I was smiling, but much redder, when I figgered out how to fix the "defective device."

Welcome, by the way. And by the way, I have not had any problem with this magic box that didn't turn out to be (uhhh) due to conditions other than the mechanism. Enjoy the Bradley.

Habanero Smoker · April 28, 2007, 03:51:11 AM

I have the original, and depending on weather conditions with the only the heat from the generator my cabinet can get up to 180°F without being in direct sunlight.

If all your connections are tight, check the screws that secure the heating element. Make sure that all are secure, but don't over tighten or you may crack the porcelain.

Gizmo gave some good advice. Just want to add, let the meat rest at room temperature for 1-2 hours prior to placing in BS.

West Coast Kansan · April 28, 2007, 11:36:01 AM

Welcome dave c - forum is great place huh! ;D

Wildcat · April 28, 2007, 01:55:26 PM

Welcome dave c!

hillbillysmoker · April 28, 2007, 02:22:23 PM

Welcome aboard Dave C. Nice to have you on the forum.

dave_c · April 28, 2007, 05:33:31 PM

I can confirm that the problem was the power cord. The smoker worked perfectly after making sure it was properly connected. The chicken tasted great, but probably would have been better with a bit less smoking time.

I burned through an awful lot of bisquettes though. I think it cost me about $9 to smoke three chicken breasts. At that rate, I'd be much better off heading to one of my local barbecue restaurants for some takeout. Of course, this wasn't quite fair, since it took many hours before I realized there was a problem.

I think it might make sense to smoke larger quantities at a time to avoid excessive cost.

Regards,
Dave

Wildcat · April 28, 2007, 06:40:27 PM

4 hours of smoke is enough for anything, too much for some things. IMHO smoking for more than 4 hours is a waste of wood pucks.

West Coast Kansan · April 28, 2007, 07:29:19 PM

Chicken really absorbs the smoke flavor. Try 2 hours max and adjust from that on chicken till you hit your perfect flavor. For me the adjustment was down.

Chicken also kicks off a lot of moisture. HabS set me straight on this some time ago. Vent full open is a good place to start. Your not really wasting smoke.

Do you have bubba pucks. If not you will want to order a couple from chezbubba.com The bubba pucks are metal pucks ... put two on top of your regular pucks and a regular puck on top of that. The metal pucks will push your wood pucks off the burn plate and save you money on the 1/2 burned ones you dont use. :)