New smoker, not goimg above 170 degrees

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darrentenerife

Newbie
Original poster
Aug 28, 2017
1
10
Hi guys,

Im a newbie here, living in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. I recently bought and electric smoker off amazon and set it up today to try it for the first time, after running it in according to the makers instructions, ive put a rack of ribs in. However, the temperature is not going above 170 degrees, and it smoked initally bit has since stopped. Ita still hot but doesnt seem to be getting hot enough. The make is a Klarstein 800w electric smoker. Anybody have any pointers for a beginner?

Many thanks in advance
 
I'm new here too, but welcome! There are a lot of helpful people here.

Do you have a link to the smoker you bought? I didn't manage to find it when searching on Amazon.
 
Don't know the smoker. Is it Dutch made? (just guessing). I also couldn't find any reference to it on Amazon

If it won't heat past 170, I would suggest a bad element. Is it analog or digital? Take some pictures of it on the inside and of the controller.
 
Last edited:
He mentioned it being an 800W unit. It could be this one, the Flintstone Steel Smoker Oven?

https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Kitchen...-Steel-Smoker-Oven-800-W-Stainless-Steel.html

Manual is here:

https://www.klarstein.co.uk/out/assets/products/10031324/bda/10031324.pdf

The manual simply mentions turning the unit on or off, I didn't see a discussion of setting a target temperature.

I know there are some other smokers that simply operate at a single temperature. Like the Little Chief, at roughly 165F:


Maybe that is the case here, and it is working as-intended?
 
He mentioned it being an 800W unit. It could be this one, the Flintstone Steel Smoker Oven?

https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Kitchen...-Steel-Smoker-Oven-800-W-Stainless-Steel.html

Manual is here:
https://www.klarstein.co.uk/out/assets/products/10031324/bda/10031324.pdf

The manual simply mentions turning the unit on or off, I didn't see a discussion of setting a target temperature.

I know there are some other smokers that simply operate at a single temperature. Like the Little Chief, at roughly 165F:
https://www.amazon.com/Smokehouse-Products-Little-Chief-Smoker/dp/B000ZKZJMY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8

Maybe that is the case here, and it is working as-intended?
The top link mentions 220-240 power. I'm not sure if the power cord plug would be shaped to fit in only a 240vac receptacle.
-Kurt
 
From some quick googling, it looks like the Canary Islands use 220-230 VAC, 50 Hz. Which would be consistent with what that product is designed for.

Were you thinking that he is maybe running it at the wrong voltage, like 110V? Or something else? I confess I'm not sure how the physical plug type would impact things, assuming it's being operated in the correct voltage range.
 
From some quick googling, it looks like the Canary Islands use 220-230 VAC, 50 Hz. Which would be consistent with what that product is designed for.

Were you thinking that he is maybe running it at the wrong voltage, like 110V? Or something else? I confess I'm not sure how the physical plug type would impact things, assuming it's being operated in the correct voltage range.
Yes. I was wondering if it would be able to plug into a 120vac receptacle. One SMF member was using 240vac heating elements on 120vac and it put 1/3 the heat. So 170*f he's getting X 3=510*f. The max temp is like 662*f/350*c for the one were talking about. Just a thought if it can be plugged into an incorrect voltage receptacle.
-Kurt
 
A heater's output varies with the square of voltage (P=V^2/R). So if you cut the voltage in half, you actually get 1/4 the watts. If running an 800W 220V heater at 110V, it would effectively be a 200F heater.

(This is part of why you want to avoid using long/thin extension cords with an electric smoker, the voltage drop through the cord could meaningfully reduce your heater's output)

From looking this morning, I saw that *thermometer* goes to 350C. But in the manual, I see no mention of actually setting a desired temperature, merely turning the smoker on or off. I'm not convinced that this particular model that I found actually allows setting a temperature. If that's correct, then the 350C thermometer might be a bit like having a 200 mph speedometer in a Toyota Corolla? :)

That aside, 350C is 662F. It's extremely unlikely an 800W heater could get the smoker close to that temperature (unless it was very small, and very well insulated), so I wouldn't put too much weight on the thermometer's range. 
 
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