New to Bradley - Questions before I buy

Mr Walleye · December 16, 2007, 11:46:09 AM

My vent hood is located on a exterior wall so the vent just passes through a 2 x 6 wall. I'm not sure I fully understand the run your talking about. Is it mostly vertical? I would think if the run was mostly vertical opposed to horizontal it should be ok. I do think the longer the run the more restricted it will be though. Hopefully others will comment on this as well.

Mike

Kane · December 16, 2007, 12:45:58 PM

hey Mike

basically Im looking at maybe 2 feet of vertical pipe from the Bradley smoker vent to the range hood and than vent pipe out of the range hood on about a 45 degree angle 12 feet to the vent opening at My roof peak.

Mr Walleye · December 16, 2007, 01:47:22 PM

Kane

I don't see why it wouldn't work. It may take a little tinkering to fine tune it. You may want a damper in the pipe to have the ability to close it when not in use, otherwise, depending on your climate you may have heat escaping from your garage. Do you know what the CFM rating is on the range hood? I believe mine is around 250 CFM. Mine works fine but if I did it again I would look for one with 300 CFM especially with your extra long run.

At first I had some smoke in the garage (not much) until I realized that a range hood with a standard fan (not a drum style blower) actually only sucks air from the very centre. So I added a piece of 4" PVC pipe and that just sits on top of the BS over the vent. It worked very well but tended to draw too much air through the unit causing it to cool down. My solution was to notch the 4" pipe at the bottom to allow it to draw room air as well. I have found that I tend to have the vent slightly more closed now due to the assisted draw on it but I have no problem maintaining temps.

Mike

Kane · December 16, 2007, 02:26:42 PM

Ive noticed the lil details of your setup. Im not exactly sure what hood Im gonna get yet. these plans of mine came together after a case of Miller lite. laughs, but this is gonna be My next weekend project.

Mr Walleye · December 16, 2007, 03:59:53 PM

Good luck Kane. Make sure you keep us posted as it proceeds.

Mike

Kane · December 16, 2007, 04:24:44 PM

oh yea. Ill take pics for sure

Kane · December 19, 2007, 04:41:17 PM

cool. got my Bradley today. all set up in the garage. starts building a shelf to get it in position for venting

Mr Walleye · December 19, 2007, 05:07:22 PM

Congratulations Kane!

Let the fun begin and the smoke roll! ;)

Mike

Kane · December 20, 2007, 11:20:17 AM

Im seasoning my smoker as I type. smells good! I ran a temp probe from my Maverick down and from the center of the cabinet its reading about 20 to 25 degrees hotter than what the digital reading says.

I assume the Mav is gonna be the more accurate reading? I just wouldve thought the temp swing wouldve went the other way.

Tiny Tim · December 20, 2007, 11:33:17 AM

When you have a load of food in there, it very well could be the other direction.

Kane · December 20, 2007, 11:36:03 AM

thank for the reply. so basically your saying to trust the ET73

Mr Walleye · December 20, 2007, 11:36:24 AM

Yes it usually does!

I wonder if it's just because you are seasoning it and the tower is empty right now.

I know typically around the meat on a rack the temp will slightly lower than on the display. I think this is simply caused by the sensor picking the heat up from the back of the smoker. As the meat starts to get up to your target temp, the variations in temp will become less.

At least that's how I have found it to work.

Mike

Tiny Tim · December 20, 2007, 11:39:35 AM

Quote from: Kane on December 20, 2007, 11:36:03 AM
thank for the reply. so basically your saying to trust the ET73

Yes and no. The oven temp doesn't matter as much as the finished Internal Temp of the meat. The Maverick will give you a better reading of what temp the meat is actually seeing, provided the probe is near the level of the meat.