Brinkman electric runs at constant 300-325

[jamesban]

I have a Brinkman electric smoker. I bought an actual old smokey temp gauge and installed it today and ran it to check temps. It runs at 325 to 350. Is it important to run at 350 the first hour and then figure out a way to scale it down like a damper or would this work?

http://www.whitmancontrols.com/ecatalog/Thermostats/T3?gclid=CKW_uvDb6rECFYao4AodSCIA4Q

Would removing all the diamond lava rocks around the heating element drop it to around 250 possibly and I could just run it at that all the time and not worry about the 350 for the first hour of smoking or is it worth money to make and install a damper to lower the temp or buy the electric control to lower it? Thanks.

 

[genek]

James, I just found your message. The controller in the link you provided only goes to 192 degrees f. and says nothing about current capacity of the contacts. I would want control from 80 up to 250 or 300 degrees. As to current I think the Brinkman  has a 1500 watt element that will draw about 12 amps. Actually most of the Sous Vide controllers will cover that range of temps and current, at least the ones I have built.

GeneK