I have to say I love my new silver smoker but I seem to have trouble keeping the heat low enough not the other way around. I've read a lot of posts where people can't keep it hot enough. To me that seems easy. Add more fuel. My challenge is to keep it cool enough. I end up cooking at the very high end of what you'd want for pork (240-245). Then again it's hard to tell. I installed a very nice smoker thermometer in the pre-drilled hole that came with the silver smoker. It's basically on top of the lid. Right now it's registering about 220. I also have an extra remote thermometer that I stick through a cork and wedge the cork in the cooking grate. That stays down at meat level and is currently reading 239. 20 degrees different from meat level thermometer to the lid level. It'll have to do. I get paranoid, when meat level therm drops into the 220's I add about 10-12 coals that have been cranking along in a chimney. I may also throw a chunk of dry hickory or a big handful of soaked chips on the newly added coals.
I really have to admit that the meat usually comes out great but I can't help but still feeling like I wing this every time and really don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'd love to have a system down pat but it never seems to go the same way twice. I end up baby sitting the crap out of the smoker all night. Like I am right now.
Oh well, hope somebody else is up this late. I'll be here until at least 6:30 am when I can pull her off, wrap her up, drop her in the cooler and catch a 2 hour nap.
BTW, the thermometer through the cork and the foil/towel wrapping and keeping hot in a cooler I got both of those gems from this very forum. Membership here pays off!!!
I really have to admit that the meat usually comes out great but I can't help but still feeling like I wing this every time and really don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'd love to have a system down pat but it never seems to go the same way twice. I end up baby sitting the crap out of the smoker all night. Like I am right now.
Oh well, hope somebody else is up this late. I'll be here until at least 6:30 am when I can pull her off, wrap her up, drop her in the cooler and catch a 2 hour nap.
BTW, the thermometer through the cork and the foil/towel wrapping and keeping hot in a cooler I got both of those gems from this very forum. Membership here pays off!!!
