Can't Hit Internal Temp

[cruiser rod]

How cold is it outside, you may need to bump up the temp, I had to do that a few times when the temp outside was below 20 degrees.

I started at around 40° in the morning then later that night and into the next morning at around 5 am it dropped to around 30°.

 

[cruiser rod]

how many times were you opening door to add chips, check temps?

I only opened the door one time to check with a 2nd therometer to make sure I was getting an accurate reading with the themp probe I was using. As far as adding wood chips I used the wood chip shut on the side of my MES.

 

[cruiser rod]

I thought I would post this, Nice smoke ring and Great taste!

 

[tpc74]

Looks good to me!! :D

 

[Brokenhandle]

I'm thinking maybe some time using your new smoker and learning how it runs will help out quite a bit. Things to keep track of if you set it to 160 how close to that temp it stays.
About as much help as I can be... maybe someone else that uses a mes 40 can help you more.
Your pic sure looks good!

Ryan

 

[zwiller]

Looks great! I like and try to keep it simple but if you're aiming for butcher/store bought quality with kielbasa, the classic approach is smoke and poach. Bite will be better too. Have not done side by side with poach vs SV but think either work but admit I prefer SV since vac sealed and I will normally throw most into the freezer for long term storage.

 

[cruiser rod]

Looks great! I like and try to keep it simple but if you're aiming for butcher/store bought quality with kielbasa, the classic approach is smoke and poach. Bite will be better too. Have not done side by side with poach vs SV but think either work but admit I prefer SV since vac sealed and I will normally throw most into the freezer for long term storage.

Thanks! I'm not at all familiar with all that but I will look into it.

 

[daveomak]

Cruiser Rod... Afternoon...
Evaporative cooling is your problem...
Moist sausage cools as the water evaporates from it...
As the water evaporates from the water pan, it cools the water pan...
Air flow through the smoker is what is causing the cooling...
With the exhaust open...
You can completely cover the water pan with foil and put a 1" slit in the foil... The foil will hold the heat in and the slit will let out steam to add the necessary moisture... I would remove the water pan after a couple hours... Kill the smoke...
that should be enough smoke... Your call...
Then close the exhaust about 90-95% to really slow down the air flow to cook the sausage...
Try to get the sausage to 135F ish and hold there for a couple hours... No fat out... Completely cooked moist sausage... All the pathogens are dead or inactive... It's called pasteurization...
Adjust times as needed... Smoking meats is something that takes practice... Take notes...

Dave

 

[cruiser rod]

I'm hearing much what you have said here but as far as water, I started out with a cup and a half in my water pan and never added any more. When my smoke was finished I noticed no water in the pan, completely dry. So as far as the moisture part I don't think that was part of my problem. I did keep the vent open 1/4 which may have contributed to heat loss. That is something I'll have to experiment with.