Proud owner of a New DBS

Wildcat · March 25, 2008, 05:49:24 PM

See Tiny Tim's post above.

Wildcat · March 25, 2008, 05:50:38 PM

Sorry Arcs, posted just after you did and was too fast with clicking the mouse.

smashraj84 · March 31, 2008, 10:38:00 AM

Just made the leap and the DBS 4-rack with a cover. Looking forward to it!

smashraj84 · April 08, 2008, 08:08:00 AM

So my smoker came in the mail on Saturday along with the bubba picks and wood. I was out of town so I just got to opening it last night. I put it together (that was easy) and registered it online. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on which wood to use when seasoning the smoker. Does it really matter?

Tiny Tim · April 08, 2008, 08:22:51 AM

Doesn't really matter. I send a 12-pack of Special Blend with sales of new smokers just for this purpose, but if you don't have any, just use whatever you have the most of.

smashraj84 · April 08, 2008, 11:57:22 AM

Quote from: Tiny Tim on April 08, 2008, 08:22:51 AM
Doesn't really matter. I send a 12-pack of Special Blend with sales of new smokers just for this purpose, but if you don't have any, just use whatever you have the most of.

special blend it is! i'll get around to it sometime tonight.

smashraj84 · April 08, 2008, 04:18:31 PM

Ok, I'm home and seasoning my smoker with the special blend. Everything's going great so far!

smashraj84 · April 08, 2008, 05:03:44 PM

Two Noobie questions...

After pressing "^V" to set desired smoker timer set, do I have to press the "Smoker Timer Set" button again to start the 20 minute automatic advance or will it start automatically?

Related to that question...I put 4 special blend bisquettes in and two bubba pucks on top of them. I put the smoke time at 1:20 and then hit the >>>WOOD three times. When the machine turned off after 1:20, there were two bisquettes in the water bowl, 1 bisquette smoking on the burner, and 1 bisquette partially singed. Shouldn't all four bisquettes have been in the water bowl or did I do something wrong? My two explanations are either a)I didn't push the "smoker timer set" button a second time to start the 20 minute auto advance or I didn't push the >>>WOOD hard enough the 2nd and/or 3rd time. Any suggestions as to what I might have done wrong?

Thanks for all the help!

Gizmo · April 08, 2008, 10:06:51 PM

Smash,
You have pretty much diagnosed the most common causes that could explain why. I usually give a quick visual check inside after I think I have the first puck on. It is possible there may be another problem but you will need to watch more carefully on the next couple smokes.

One suggestion, add an additional wood puck on top of the bubba pucks and an additional 20 minutes to the puck time to smoke gen. This will push a bubba onto the burner and therefore pushing off the last spent wood puck.

smashraj84 · April 09, 2008, 06:04:09 AM

Quote from: Gizmo on April 08, 2008, 10:06:51 PMOne suggestion, add an additional wood puck on top of the bubba pucks and an additional 20 minutes to the puck time to smoke gen. This will push a bubba onto the burner and therefore pushing off the last spent wood puck.

I'm guessing the error was purely human and not the machine.

So if you don't mind could you just walk me through this? Say I want to smoke for 1 hour and 20 minutes. I'd put 4 wood pucks, followed by 3 bubba pucks. Then I'd set the time for 1 hour and 40 minutes, hit the smoke timer set button again to start the auto advance, then hit the >>>WOOD button three times? Basically, I just want all my wood pucks to be in the water bowl when the smoking time is done and I'm a little confused on how to set up the timer, bubba pucks, etc. so that this happens.

Thanks for the help!

KyNola · April 09, 2008, 06:48:07 AM

Given your example, here is how I do it. First, I use the smoke generator to aid in preheating the smoker box. When ready to begin the smoking process, I turn off the smoke generator to allow it to reset itself, put the 4 wood pucks and the 3 bubba pucks in the tube and turn the generator back on. Set the time as you described. Watch your pucks as my DBS will sometimes automatically advance the first puck. Wait until it cycles through, press the wood advance button once, wait until it cycles through, then press again.

Hopefully, I didn't confuse you and I'm sure that guys with much more experience and knowledge than me will give you better advice. One thing I think I have learned from this forum is it appears no two DBS's will react exactly the same way each and everytime. Still really like mine though.

KyNola

smashraj84 · April 09, 2008, 07:02:05 AM

I think I just hit the >>>WOOD button three times really fast instead of letting it cycle each time. I'm pretty sure that's where I messed up. Lesson learned!

Is it bad for the food if you leave a bubba puck on the burner for 20 minutes? or does it not matter?

This is a great, friendly forum and I'm glad there are so many people here willing to help me out. Thanks again!

iceman · April 09, 2008, 10:01:16 AM

Quote from: smashraj84 on April 09, 2008, 07:02:05 AM
I think I just hit the >>>WOOD button three times really fast instead of letting it cycle each time. I'm pretty sure that's where I messed up. Lesson learned!

Is it bad for the food if you leave a bubba puck on the burner for 20 minutes? or does it not matter?

This is a great, friendly forum and I'm glad there are so many people here willing to help me out. Thanks again!

Doesn't hurt a thing leaving the bubba puck on the burner. In fact it helps burn some of the resins off the burner plate. Just watch out if you go to remove the bubba puck. Those puppy's stay hot for awhile. :o :D

smashraj84 · April 09, 2008, 12:48:54 PM

Quote from: iceman on April 09, 2008, 10:01:16 AMJust watch out if you go to remove the bubba puck. Those puppy's stay hot for awhile. :o :D

That's a lesson I'm glad I won't learn first hand. (knock on wood)

EDIT: I did some more testing tonight with the tips in this thread and everything worked out great this time. All the wood was in the bowl and the bubba puck was on the burner. Curiosity got the best of me....damn those b-pucks get hot!

Rookietoo · April 09, 2008, 06:30:53 PM

If I want to smoke for 2 hours (6 wood pucks, 3 bubba pucks) I usually will add an hour. I push set smoker time, adjust the the time I want then push the smoker time again. Then I set the cook time push cook time again and set the cook temp and push cook temp again. Then I advance the wood just once. The reason I do this is I like to let the burner on the smoker heat up before I have the first wood puck set on it otherwise I don't get a complete burn of the first wood puck. The extra 40 minutes let the bubba pucks push the wood puck into the water. I doesn't hurt to leave a bubba puck on a hot burner and it usually helps my DBS to maintain heat better. Remember what was said earlier though those pucks get real hot. My husband grabbed one and will not make that mistake again but he learned the hard way.

Good Luck this forum is a great source of information. :D