Need more heat??

[brohnson]

Well the element that I got from an Old Smokey Smoker that is electric is working fine when it gets to temp but I've noticed that like doing ribs and stuff (when I open the door) it takes a while to get back to temp as I think it takes to long and I'd like it to go faster so do you think I could just get another element and double it up. Would this help me out or not. I'm thinking if I had 2 elements I could get to temp faster than kick one element back when I got to the temp I needed. Thanks

http://cgi.ebay.com/OLD-SMOKEY-ELECT...item414cfee645

 

[mballi3011]

Now I cann't see any reason why you couldn't use more then one of those elements for I have heard of many folks here using double hot plates in smokers before.

 

[travcoman45]

Sure ya can add another element. Ya can also add some thermal mass in the form a concrete pavers er bricks, I did that in my gosm an made recovery lots faster when ya opened the door fer somthin.

 

[brohnson]

Never thought of that, great idea on the bricks.

 

[mgnorcal]

People using the Brinkman Electric, which has an element like yours, often put a few pieces of charcoal near the element.
If you've got a heavy pan under the element, just toss a few pieces of lump charcoal or all-natural briquettes in there about 1" from the element and that will give you some heat and you might like the flavor too -I do this every time for those reasons.
It might take a little more air intake to get the charcoal going.

 

[denver dave]

I put some pave stones wrapped in tinfoil on the bottom of my smoker. It recovers much faster now.