- Oct 7, 2013
- 5
- 10
Hey folks! I was super excited when my wife bought me an awesome smoker for Christmas. She did her homework and bought what she thought was a great model. I'm pretty happy with it overall, but I've got a few questions that maybe some other users could help me answer before I call up customer service.
I've read that the temperature sensor reads well below the actual temperature of the box... have you found this to be so?
My issues is that I am currently smoking a turkey and I'm not able to get the unit up past about 240-245 degrees even though I have the oven temp set at the hottest (360) and I can clearly see the element glowing red hot. The temp of the meat is increasing nicely however and I'm sure my turkey will turn out pretty well. The ambient temperature is 10 Celsius (that's 50 F for all my smoker owning friends south of the border) so I'm a little upset that I can't get the temperature up past where I seem to be stuck. Do you think I've got a bum unit or is this basically the coolest outside temp I can smoke at? It's windy too, but I've got the unit just inside our garage so it's not directly affecting the box (i.e. it's not right out in the elements).
I also think it might be a seal problem... there is a small patch of door seal right at the top corner that doesn't lie 100% flat and tight. I think I'm looking really hard for a flaw though; I'm not sure that something so small could make much difference. I've also got the vent at the top nearly closed... I would say I've got it a quarter cracked open.
Call customer service or just accept the limitations?
Thanks in advance.
P.S. I've only used it 4 or 5 times and the food has been excellent (ribs, chicken, jerky).
I've read that the temperature sensor reads well below the actual temperature of the box... have you found this to be so?
My issues is that I am currently smoking a turkey and I'm not able to get the unit up past about 240-245 degrees even though I have the oven temp set at the hottest (360) and I can clearly see the element glowing red hot. The temp of the meat is increasing nicely however and I'm sure my turkey will turn out pretty well. The ambient temperature is 10 Celsius (that's 50 F for all my smoker owning friends south of the border) so I'm a little upset that I can't get the temperature up past where I seem to be stuck. Do you think I've got a bum unit or is this basically the coolest outside temp I can smoke at? It's windy too, but I've got the unit just inside our garage so it's not directly affecting the box (i.e. it's not right out in the elements).
I also think it might be a seal problem... there is a small patch of door seal right at the top corner that doesn't lie 100% flat and tight. I think I'm looking really hard for a flaw though; I'm not sure that something so small could make much difference. I've also got the vent at the top nearly closed... I would say I've got it a quarter cracked open.
Call customer service or just accept the limitations?
Thanks in advance.
P.S. I've only used it 4 or 5 times and the food has been excellent (ribs, chicken, jerky).