Question on operation

[phack]

Okay, I'm a newbie. I bought my smoker about 2 weeks ago and smoke some salmon and yellowtail that came out great. This weekend had the wife's family over and smoked some ribs and burgers but the smoker would not heat above 175 degrees, even with the tempature slide all the way over. I wanted it in the 200-225 range but it would not heat up above the 175 level. So my question(s) is(are) is this normal? is my smoker working properly? Is there a secret to getting it to heat up above 175?

[BigRed]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by phack</i>
<br />Okay, I'm a newbie. I bought my smoker about 2 weeks ago and smoke some salmon and yellowtail that came out great. This weekend had the wife's family over and smoked some ribs and burgers but the smoker would not heat above 175 degrees, even with the tempature slide all the way over. I wanted it in the 200-225 range but it would not heat up above the 175 level. So my question(s) is(are) is this normal? is my smoker working properly? Is there a secret to getting it to heat up above 175?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
phack

You should not be having this problem. I  have had to replace the temp. slide control twic on mine. Call Bradley direct and tell them your issue. They should send you out another control slide. Hope your hanly cause you will have to install it yourself. Not hard just alot of screws. Keep the power off because you will get a shock.

Good luck!

BigRED

[bsolomon]

Other things to consider:  How are you judging the temperature?  If you are just relying on the door thermometer, there have been several posts discussing that this can be considered a weak point in the Bradley design, and people have noted that it just does not read accurately.  It is also in a fixed location and does nothing to tell you the internal temperature of what you are cooking.

Before going through the effort of replacing the temp control board, you might want to get another thermometer in there and double-check.  Search here for Maverick ET-73 and you'll find some good reviews and advice.  Many people consider their electronic thermometer mandatory equipment, and even if it does prove the Bradley thermometer accurate, a dual-probe will probably give you much better results since you can control where in the cabinet you are measuring the cabinet temperature, and the second probe gives you the food temperature, which can be essential depending on what you are preparing.

If you already double-checked the door thermometer, disregard this and follow BigRed's advice!

[phack]

No, the door thermometer is entirely inaccurate (it read 240 sitting in my driveway with the door open. i have requested a replcaement from Bradley. I bought a thermometer from Bar-B-Ques Galore and stuck it in the vent at the top. So i was reading the tempature at the top of the unit.

[bsolomon]

If that's the case, 175 degrees near the vent is proabably not too unusual as the highest temperature will obviously be closest to the ehating elements near the bottom of the cabinet.  With my dual probe, I usually set the cabinet temperature probe just below the second lowest rack, since this gives me the temperature reading nearest to where the food actually is.  

You will see that many people recommend rotating racks top to bottom during longer smokes to make sure all of the food cooks throuh evenly.  Alternatively, you will also find discussions of people using the cabinet temperature gradient to their advantage when cooking multiple differnt items at the same time, specifically the items that need the most heat stay on the bottom and those requiring the least near the top.  Cold smoking techniques include putting the food in the uppermost racks, if possible, and a tray of ice on the lowest rack to minimize the effect of the burner element.

[phack]

Well, yes the heating element is on the bottom but heat rises. i thought that hottest part of any confined space is at the top.

[whitetailfan]

phack,
No, the top is the coolest here, because the heat source is in the cabinet at the bottom.  While the heat rises, the area closest to the source will still be hotter.  See some of the replies I got on this topic in the help and feedback section regarding hot spots.
http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=594

<b><font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green"></b>
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB

[Habanero Smoker]

Another consideration is your vent. The more you have it open the lowwer your cabinet temperature will be. I keep my vent as closed as much as possible. I only open it enough to prevent smoke from coming back out of the smoke generator opening. Also if you have it loaded full of meat, that will keep the temperature down.

[Chez Bubba]

Also to consider, how often did you open the door? That alone can easily suck 50-60F out of the cabinet which is why the rule of thumb is add 45 mins-1 hr total cook time for every time you open it up.

As others have already said, location of the probe within the smoker is key. Meat is obviously denser than air and will actually cool the air as it rises out the top. I position my cabinet probe directly under the meat thanks to the litlle clippy thing that came with the ET-73.

I do agree though, I pay little attention to cabinet temps, internals are the truest indicator.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[n/a]

Weber makes a wireless remote thermometer # 32908,pretty neat !
 I followed Bradley instructions for jerky (" no water in the water pan "),the door thermometer rose to 200+,without the heater element on and the vent open!,50 degree ambient.

[phack]

Thanks for the response.

I only opened the door 1 time n 4 hours and the vent was about 50% open.

I actually talked to Bradley, they said its not right and are sending a new heating element. They have great customer service....I'll keep you posted.

[nsxbill]

It is good to see people continually having their problems solved with Bradley's good customer service.   Best case scenerio is that people never have problems, but glad they stand behind their product.

Bill