Roll Call Post & a couple questions

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fuzzy

Newbie
Original poster
Sep 13, 2007
2
10
Hello everyone, this is my first post but I've been lurking around for a while.
My girl friend got me a Camp Chef Smoke Vault 24 for my birthday and I love it!
My name is Fuzzy and I live in the Albuquerque, NM area.

I do have a couple questions. I will try to give enough info.

1. I don't think I'm getting enough smoke. I have tried several different flavors; that doesn't seem to make a difference. When I first put the wood in the cast iron pan it produces the perfect thin blue smoke for about 15 minutes, and then stops unless the temperature rises to about 300. The remaining wood is not used up; in fact most of it is still the original brown. Again, if I turn it up the heat it will smoke, but stops when I turn it back down. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve also tried playing with the three vents, nothing seems to help.

2. My girlfriend hasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t liked anything Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve made. At first she says itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s not done because its still has a pink color and smells like raw meat. Do you guys have any ideas to help with that?

Happy Holidays,
Fuzzy
 
Welcome to SMF! A good place to start is to check out Jeff's free 5-day ecourse on smoking basics.

As for the questions you ask, how are you measuring the temps of the smoker and the meat? Most of us cook by the temps of the meat rather than by a time based formula. I know I had problems measuring the temps of the smoker using the built in thermo. Most stock thermos are not very accurate. I use 2 digital probe thermos for most of my smokes. One to tell me the smoker temp, and the other to tell me the temp of the meat I'm smoking. As for the vents, on my GOSM gas smoker I leave the top one open and the bottom ones only about 25% open.

Keep asking questions, the friendly folk here will make answer. I'm sure someone who uses the Smoke Vault will be along soon to chime in on this.

Hope this helps.

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey
 
fuzzy

get a meat thermometer and use it it will tell you when you meat is done enough check it often by boiling water water boils at 212 degrees

as for the smoke issue i would get a metal coffee can and use it the metal is thinner and the wood will start smoking sooner and it should smoke longer all your wood should burn up better this way if you cannot get a metal coffee can to fit into your smoker you can use a metal juice can it is smaller in diameter just lay it in the smoker on the smoke pan rack if you need more help just ask

huey
 
Hey fuzzy,

Welcome to the forum. I also own a Camp Chef Smoke Vault. The stock thermometer is usually pretty accurate but I would take Meowey's advice and get a digital as well.

How large are the chunks you are using to smoke, how many are in the pan?

What I usually do is bring the smoker up to temp of about 250, put in a couple chunks of wood and wait for the thin blue smoke. Once it's going I put in the meat and the temp usually drops from the cold meat and from opening the door to about 225-230. I then make little adjustments with the temp knob to get it around 235-240. Once the wood is almost used up I'll another another small chunk. If you are soaking the wood it will take longer to produce the smoke. I usually start with small chunks about 2"x2" until the wood pan is nice and hot, then I can use bigger chunks if i want.
 
You could cut the can down in height to fit... also, be sure to burn off the paint before putting in in your smoker!

Welcome to SMF by the way!
 
Hi Fuzzy,
Definitely sounds like a temperature issue to me. I agree that you should get a digital thermometer. Actually, get two as has already been mentioned. One for the pit temp and one for the internal of the meat being smoked. Also, as has been mentioned, be sure to check the accuracy of the digital thermo with boiling water. I also like to get my pit temp up to about 250 to 300*. The wood usually comes around pretty soon after the temp is up. Then you can put the meat in and slowly trim the temp down until you are where you want to be. Also, something that I like to do .... especially if the chunks are a little large, is to put in about a half inch layer of finer chips first. Then place the chunks on top of the chips. Good luck and keep us posted as to how it comes out.
 
Here is some more info and some results.
I did the 5 day e-course and I have 2 of the temp probes Jeff recommends. The first couple of smokes I used one in the meat and one in the chamber, the stock thermometer is right on. I'm doing a turkey breast as we speak. I increased the temp to 300 deg and am getting the good smoke with fresh chips every hour or so. Speaking of chips, they are very small chip I get at Sportsmanâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Warehouse.
Also, half way through I opened up the vent all the way. When I would take out the “used†chips they would start smoking and even catch fire in my outdoor fireplace.
Thanks for the info.
~Fuzzy
 
Welcome to SMF, Fuzzy! It sounds like you've gotten some good advice and hopefully your temp and smoke problems are soon to be things of the past. Keep asking questions cuz the folks here know what they're talking about.
 
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