100 Percent Humidity

chubbs · Dec 19, 2007

How much can humidity affect cooking times?

I did my first smoke last week in a Big Chief. It was 20f outside. I put a cardboard box around the BC to help insulate it. cooking temp varied but then reached about 200* for last 2 hrs. or so.

I did venison jerky...outside looked a bit charred but inside was very tasty.

fatback joe · Dec 19, 2007

I would think that humidity would have an effect just as any other variable would, but in cooking in various climates and temperatures, I can't say that I have seen any noticeable difference.

I guess part of it would depend on what type of cooker you are using, but I still can see where it would make a significant difference.......unless you are just talking about cooking in a flat out rain.

flash · Dec 19, 2007

Are you talking temps or humidity. I am not sure where you live but if you are talking 20Âº out, temps are working against you. Humidity is something that controls moisture levels around the meat. I make a decision to use water in the pan or sand in the pan if the humidity is 70% or more. 70% and above, we use sand. I know if you are in cold climites and struggle to get your temps up to a reasonalbe range, you should consider trying Playbox sand, instead of water. You will see much higher temps. For moisture, spritz your meats with a marinade or your favorite spray to keep the meats moist.

homebrew & bbq · Dec 19, 2007

If you're smoking with a water pan, it seems to me that you already have a fairly high humidity inside the smoker, so it doesn't seem like high outside humidity would make much of a difference. I still pretty new at this stuff so there's probably a pretty good chance I'm completely wrong on this.

chubbs · Dec 19, 2007

Outside temp was 20 degrees
Relative humidity 100 %
Big Chief Smoker
"No Water used"

Smoking jerky should I use water?
I did use lava rocks...should I add sand?

I was hesitant to check the jerky near the end because it took so long to restore the core temp. a few times earlier.

Just wondered if I should decrease cooking times when Humidity is so high....was afraid to add water and not attain a hot enough temp. in 20 degree weather.

fatback joe · Dec 19, 2007

Unless you need the water in the pan to help hold your temps down, I would not put water in the smoker since the goal in making jerky is dehydration........seems like that would just work against you.

flash · Dec 19, 2007

boy, I will never see that in Florida

Maybe use sand in this case if you have issues with maintaining a good temp, just cover it with foil sheet. I would think you would almost be grilling without water or sand being used. Of course, you have me on jerky, never done it before. Love to eat it though.

kookie · Dec 29, 2007

I am using a little cheif smoker, just smaller versoin of big cheif. I am in ND and it's only 22 degrees out and I am smoking pheasent breasts and beef short ribs right now. What I did to make up for the short comings in the little cheif, so I could smoke when its cold out, is I made an insulated box for it to sit in. I used plywood and 3/4 inch styrofoam and panaling. I put wheels on it and such, but thats just me. I also recently installed a larger element along with the original element. So I can if need to run both elements or one or the other seperatly. The larger one is a 1000w and the smaller one is a 250w. So I can have a total of 1250watts if needed. I also made a temp control using the plug in and control from an electric frying pan. So far I am getting good temps today. When I make jerky I use the smoker outside when its smoking, but when its done smoking and in the cooking mode I move the smoker inside my garage till its done. Humditity doesn't seem to be much of an issue for me, the wind is more of an issue here. Hope this helps you out.

Kookie

bwsmith_2000 · Dec 29, 2007

Now that's what I call inovation! Bet you have some great Q. Points to you.

kookie · Jan 11, 2008

Thanks bwsmith. The Q isn't to bad, still learning and experimenting. But hey that alot of the fun.

Kookie

conrad74 · Jan 11, 2008

Hey Kookie,

I have the same smoker and would like to do something similar. I was wondering about where to get an additional larger heating element for it. If you have an pics of your setup I would be interested in seeing them

Thanks

fritz · Jan 11, 2008

Hey Chubbs, I live in Henrietta and suprised the humidity got to 100% at 20*? Maybe because you live by the lake.

Anyway, with jerkey your trying to dehydrate the meat and not cook it per say. I have a gosm and try to keep the temp down to around 150*, no water in the water pan, you can use sand, i just make large loose balls of aluminum foil and put them in the water pan.

Hope this helps.

ds7662 · Jan 11, 2008

What everyone else said....ditch the water in the water pan when smoking jerky.

richtee · Jan 11, 2008

And WOW... 200Â° is a bit high for jerky. I try to keep my smoker below 150Â°, and finish the jerky after a couple hours in the smoke by putting in the oven around 130Â°

You'll like the stuff MUCH better this way.

smokingcouple · Nov 23, 2017

Can anybody tell me for certain how to smoke in 100 percent humidity? Portland in winter is pretty warm but rains all the time. We have a Big Poppa drum smoker and we burned it for the first time today to season it. However the wood chunks never caught on fire. My guy said he put the wood under the coals.

Could that be why? Would a pan of sand work? Should we put the wood on top of the coals? We live in Colorado desert and have the same smoker and have never had an issue. We want to make prime rib on black Friday. Please help.

dr k · Nov 23, 2017

I'd scatter a couple small chunks on burning coals and unburnt coals. And use the water pan with sand in humid conditions. Since this is electric forum you may get more feedback in charcoal or UDS forum.
-Kurt

smokingcouple · Nov 23, 2017

Thank you Kurt. And sorry, I didn't realize I was in an
electric forum. I just kept searching google till I found
Something.

-Dani

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