- Oct 3, 2010
- 2
- 10
Hey all, I am brand new to this forum and "Smoking". I have played with some smoking techniques on my gas grill (with very good results) But yesterday I bought a dedicated smoker at Home Depot (Brinkmann Charcoal Smoker Heavy-Duty Charcoal/Wood Smoker & Grill) and after curing it like the directions stated I was ready to try my first meat product. I chose a 4lbs+ whole chicken. I did a nice brine soak recipe the I found online and I also prepared a nice rub for my smoking session. Here is where the problem starts. Whe I was curing the grill, I was easily able to get to 200 - 250 temp in the smoker, but the next morning when I fired up some coals and put my bird in, I could never get over 150. No matter what I did...add more coal, more wood chunks, open side vents....my temp just hoovered around 150. Finally after 5.5 hours (all my recipes called for 3.5 to 4 hours) I could not get the internal temp of my chicken to get over 142..the temp of my smoker....so I pulled it off and finished it out in the oven. Don't get me wrong 5.5 of smoke and low heat made it one of the beast chickens I have ever had, but how do I get the grill to get hotter? Is this grill broken, wrong charcoal bricks? I am at a loss, any help would rule!