I just purchased my first smoker which is the Masterbuilt Sportsman Elite 40 inch this morning from BPS for Black Friday. Great price I must add. Surprisingly they had plenty and a lot of people were there buying them. Orlando, FL should be smelling good from today until after Christmas with all of these smokers being purchased. Enough of that.
The reason for this is I am now in the middle of seasoning the new smoker as I type. I have noticed that there seems to be about a total of 30 degrees fluctuation at the highest seating at 275 deg. I have a calibrated Fluke thermometer and with the smoker set at 275 my highest reading was 292 and the lowest was 260 so the avg is actually 275. But the smoker showed 289 for the high and 269 for the low avg 279. So I guess can't ask for too much more accurate than this except for if the thermostat had a closer cycle range.
The out side of the smoker as far as the right, left, top, back and the front door as far as the silver part is cool to the touch. Very well insulated. But the front glass will burn the Hell out of you. This smoker seems to loose a lot of heat through the glass. Maybe that is where the large temp cycle comes into play to make up for the heat loss through the glass.
I will check the temperature range at different temp settings to try and get an accurate idea on how far the thermostat fluctuates.
Ok so I have read somewhere on the forums here and noticed that most use foil on certain parts inside to help with the clean up. This seems like a great idea. So I line the water pan, the large drip pan underneath everything. But should I also place foil on the drip reflector?
I am going to try and smoke a couple of slabs of Pork Loin Back Ribs tomorrow.
If there are any tips that anyone is will to share I will be all ears since I am very new to smoking meat. I have used a propane grill for the past 25 years so I know a little something about outdoor cooking. But using a smoker is going to be a learning curve.
Anyway wish me luck in this new adventure.
The reason for this is I am now in the middle of seasoning the new smoker as I type. I have noticed that there seems to be about a total of 30 degrees fluctuation at the highest seating at 275 deg. I have a calibrated Fluke thermometer and with the smoker set at 275 my highest reading was 292 and the lowest was 260 so the avg is actually 275. But the smoker showed 289 for the high and 269 for the low avg 279. So I guess can't ask for too much more accurate than this except for if the thermostat had a closer cycle range.
The out side of the smoker as far as the right, left, top, back and the front door as far as the silver part is cool to the touch. Very well insulated. But the front glass will burn the Hell out of you. This smoker seems to loose a lot of heat through the glass. Maybe that is where the large temp cycle comes into play to make up for the heat loss through the glass.
I will check the temperature range at different temp settings to try and get an accurate idea on how far the thermostat fluctuates.
Ok so I have read somewhere on the forums here and noticed that most use foil on certain parts inside to help with the clean up. This seems like a great idea. So I line the water pan, the large drip pan underneath everything. But should I also place foil on the drip reflector?
I am going to try and smoke a couple of slabs of Pork Loin Back Ribs tomorrow.
If there are any tips that anyone is will to share I will be all ears since I am very new to smoking meat. I have used a propane grill for the past 25 years so I know a little something about outdoor cooking. But using a smoker is going to be a learning curve.
Anyway wish me luck in this new adventure.