moisture in smoker

[kiyotei]

how about posting a pic of what is above the smoker showing the outside area of the vent.

[Gizmo]

Noticed you have the digital.  What was your oven temp setting?

[pensrock]

I'll take a pic of the vent when I get home from work tonight. It was wide open during this last run and the temp was set to 150 degrees F. Yes I had seen smoke coming out of the area between the generator and the smoker, only briefly, I seen it then it was gone. I thought it was odd that there was smoke coming out there, it happened after rearranging the product and closing the door. I even thought that maybe there should have some kind of gasket there to prevent the smoke from coming out, but it stopped coming out after a few seconds so I never thought anymore about it. The cover is not on the unit, I have not even opened the cover yet. There is at least four feet of clear space the whole way around the unit.
Thanks, Greg.

[Habanero Smoker]

When you said there was moisture build up on your sausage, was it just on the side you see the pooling, or is the moisture build up on all the sausage?

Looking at the pictures that does look like condensation. If the vent is not blocked my thought is your seal on the top may not be tight enough or you door may be not aligned properly. Have you notice any smoke escaping from the door seal in that area? If heat is escaping from the door seal, when it comes in contact with the cold air (24°F ambient temperature) condensation will build where there is not a proper seal and drip down the inside of the door and pool at the bottom. Or the condensation could be from frequently opening the door and checking on the sausage.

Just one other thought. There are vents on the side of the generator that helps provide a draft. Make sure that those vents are not blocked.

I'm still at a lost for why your bowl is drying out so fast.

I noticed you posted while I was writing this. It may be your camera angle, but is your smoker level? From the pictures it seem the right half is lower then the left. That seems to be the area of the pooling. If it is not level, you should level it.

[Smoking Duck]

Pen,
I noticed that when I opened my door during the smoke that the smoke would come out between the unit and the generator as well.  As soon as I closed the door, that stopped.  Habs might be on to something.  I am certainly no expert....could it be that there is way too much moisture in your sausage when put into the smoker?  Not sure if that could be a cause or not to be honest with you but just trying to help you figure it out.  I really doubt that would be a problem as I've never done sausage.  Hope you find an answer to your dilemna.

Marc

[pensrock]

I posted more pics today, I think you can see them using the links in my earlier posting, if not please let me know and I'll post more links. One of the new pics shows the vents on the side of the generator, they look clear to me unless they are blocked from the inside somehow. Another pic shows the damper vent on top of the unit, there is no blockage there and it was wide open during the run. I have not seen smoke or heat escaping from around the door. The moisture on the sausage was everywhere in the top three racks of sausage (on top of the sausages only). The bottom rack was only slightly wet. Also note I dried the sausages with paper towels and in front of a fan before putting into the smoker and allowed to sit in the smoker @ 150 degrees for 45 minutes before turning on the generator. Just a little history about me.... I may be a newbe to Bradley smoking but I have been smoking cheeses and sausages and a few other meats for about ten years now. I have always had great success. The smoker I did my sausages/turkeys in looks like an outhouse and works very well. I just do not like to have to tend the wood chips to keep the smoke going, reason one I wanted a Bradley. The smoker I do cheese in is an old gas grill converted into a small cold smoker, I have a hotplate under the grill and stove pipe to run the smoke into the grill area. This also works very well but I am limited to 15 pounds of cheese at a time and it takes about five hours depending on the type of cheese I'm smoking. The wood chips here also need to be tended every 1/2 to 3/4 hour, reason two for the Bradley, reason three... I hope to be able to do larger quanities in the Bradley and not have to worry about the abient temperature as much. Cheese has to be kept under 100 degrees. I was disappointed when I unpacked the Bradley, I never seen one in person and was expecting the trays to be larger. I was hoping to be able to do 40 pounds of cheese at a time but now it looks like that will drop to 20 or so pounds. But I hope it does it faster. All my prevoius smoking has been cold smoking (under 165 degrees) reason four for the Bradley, hot smoking. I'm really looking forward to finding and correcting this problem. From looking through the forums I can see many things I want to try and hope I'll be able to come up with a few of my own to post for everyone else to try.

[smokin stu]

I use the ET-73 and just run the wire through the vent on top.

[West Coast Kansan]

I am stumped. Condensation when cold meets warm. All that should happen outside the tower.

Generator louvers are clear
Vent is open
Puff at generator when shutting door is normal
How do you use a lot of water in a short time at a low temperature and the water forms droplets inside the tower.  ???

I think we need a contest to figure out this one...  ::)  :-\

[West Coast Kansan]

a lot of streaks down the door. Door seal at the top ok? Door insulation? Making me crazy  :'(

[Stickbowcrafter]

I'm wondering if this is an insulation, or lack there of, problem. I had my Original apart when I installed a digital temperature switch and it was filled with foam insulation. I'm wondering if there is a problem with your unit not being properly insulated. Say for instance your door or top of the cabinet got cheated on insulation at the factory, it would cause the kind of condensation you are seeing. Maybe take the door panel off or the back panel and see if the foam insulation is there and in good condition...

Maybe I'm reaching here...trying to brainstorm and help you get this fixed...

-Brian

[pensrock]

That is what is driving me crazy, Bradley has such a good reputation I would hope they have good quality for the price they charge. I hate to have to pay to send the unit back to get looked at by the factory. Shipping is quite expensive for something this size. Do any factory people visit this site? Maybe they can do some brainstorming as well? The other factor is: Why is the water drying up in the bowl? If the water turns to steam it could collect on the walls of the unit as well as the sausage? Does the heating element look like it is positioned properly? The guard/deflector is located above the heating element, should it be on top or bottom? Like Stickbow said, I may be reaching but thats how you come up with ideas. Well it 4:30am, time to go to work. I'll check back in when I get home. Thanks again.

[Habanero Smoker]

EDITED:

I thought your reflector was installed wrong, but I can't get a good view of it. Can you remove the drip pan ("V" pan) and show us how the reflector is insalled. You may have a picture of that already on Flickr but I'm not finding it. If you can post a seperate link in your reply.

PS
Photobucket is what I use, and it is easy to post pictures on the forum using Photobucket.

[Wildcat]

I think the problem may have been found.  That is the only thing that would explain the water bowl evaporating.

[kiyotei]

I noticed the V pan is not resting on the back mounts.  I doubt that is your problem but you probably ought to correct it.

[kiyotei]

I assume you mean the reflector that is attached to the heating element.  It looks fine to me.