My setup

Kane · January 12, 2008, 09:20:22 AM

hey guys,

well I finally had a lil time to go to menards and get my DBS vented. The 4 inch vent hose from the top of the unit to my roof peak is about a 15 foot run to a adjustable elbow and out. I burned a puck and everything is working great as is. Ill smoke something tomorrow and get a better test. it was working so good during my short puck test that Im thinkin I may not even need a inline fan. we shall see. spent about $25 on this project.

Mr Walleye · January 12, 2008, 09:30:16 AM

Excellent Kane! 8)

The only other thing you may want to consider is if you open the door to do a rack rotation or spritz/mop during the "smoke" time you will still get a burst of smoke in the garage. This was one of the reasons I used a range hood. I guess the solution is not to open the tower until the smoke portion is complete.

Keep us posted!

Mike

Kane · January 13, 2008, 01:37:03 PM

Got some sage and onion stuffed chicken breasts going right now and the setup is working great. Got the doors all closed up with My heater on, NFL playoffs on the tv and icey cold beer in the fridge. no smoke in the garage at all and no moisture leaking from the door. all I need is a bed and Ill have no reason to leave the garage. ;D

Kane · January 13, 2008, 04:01:36 PM

hey guys,

just got done eating some chicken. I hit these breasts with a hour of cherry. didnt really care for the flavor. I liked the pecan smoked breasts I did last weekend alot better. I had trouble getting the temp above 220 for some reason. I dont believe it was any electrical issue. I kept the unit running after I pulled the chicken and hit 300 with the vent closed in a matter of minutes. does adding a brick help maintain temps while cooking???

Gizmo · January 13, 2008, 06:54:58 PM

How many racks of chicken did you have?

Kane · January 14, 2008, 01:53:53 AM

just one rack with 4 Big pieces on it

Habanero Smoker · January 14, 2008, 02:53:43 AM

Chicken with skin will produce a lot of moisture. So if your breasts had skin on them, and they were four large breasts, that is almost equivalent to 2 small chickens. A lot of moisture will be release, when that happens it takes a lot of energy (heat) to convert the water into a gas; this will keep your temperature down. If you do not have the vent open enough, most of the moisture will be trapped preventing the cabinet from heating up. The moisture will also worsen the texture of the skin. When smoking/cooking chicken with skin, you should have the vent 1/2 - 3/4 open when you start. After a while when most of the moisture has escaped, you can move the vent opening to a smaller setting. I generally start with the vent about 2/3 opened.

Also if you don't open the vent wide enough, a lot of that moisture will collect and flow out the bottom of the door. If you have the digital, you only need to worry about staining your deck, or floor. If you have the original, you need to worry about moisture seeping into the heating circuit. Some of us raise the front of the smoker about 1/4" to prevent any possibility of moisture flowing out of the front of the cabinet.

Kane · January 14, 2008, 02:46:37 PM

ok, I did some adjusting to this exhaust setup today. It seems I had such a strong wind pull from my roof vent that it was sucking the heat right out of the unit. I right away thought about Mike's setup and how he has notched PVC. I raised the vent hose up about 1 1/2 inches off the BDS . I still have perfect ventilation with no heat loss.

Mr Walleye · January 14, 2008, 02:53:58 PM

Right on Kane....

That's exactly how I figured it out! ;)

Mike

Kane · January 15, 2008, 05:53:49 PM

thanks Mike. Im sure glad I did this. Im entertaining this weekend. smoking a pork butt and a turkey. its suppose to be very cold here. single digits but I have a nice heater in there so its all good.

Kane · January 20, 2008, 01:23:35 PM

tweaked things a bit. was getting smoke in the garage from down drafts to my roof vent. added a 80CFM vent fan and completely enclosed it against the vent. solved that issue.

Kane · January 20, 2008, 01:26:55 PM

.

Kane · January 20, 2008, 01:29:14 PM

venting raised up 1 1/2 inches off the unit to prevent heat loss

Mr Walleye · January 20, 2008, 01:47:39 PM

Ingenuity! 8)

Looks great Kane! And I see you kept your fluids up during the build! :D

Mike

Kane · February 05, 2008, 01:44:51 PM

Has ordered a BBQ Guru - DigiQ II and a Raptor for my setup. I just had to do it. :D

Ill keep the thread updated with pics and reviews once I get it up and running. As most of you know the 2007 Bradley has a different plug than previous models. I have talked to BBQ Guru on the phone and also through email. They have no solution to the connection problem as I speak. Im gonna use a computer power cord as was suggested here. BBQ Guru actually asked me what I was gonna use and where they could get em. I did give them a link where power cables that will work could be ordered.