Ceramic briquettes

[Plumeja]

So I'm new to the world of pellet smokers. I have a pitboss 700fb1 with a few cooks under my belt. My question is about adding ceramic briquettes to the smoker to act as thermo mass. Was wondering what everyone's ideas are on that. I live in the cold north Calgary Alberta so it will be getting cold here soon.
I will be adding a welding blanket to the set up as well.

 

[bigfurmn]

I have a cover for winters here in Minnesota and have never used them. I think you'd be ok with the set up you have.

 

[JWFokker]

Some people put firebrick down in the bottom of the smoker, under the drip pan around the firepot for the purpose of thermal mass.

 

[JWFokker]

You'll definitely want the blanket. Pellet burners are thin metal and cool quickly in the winter with any air movement. Doesn't help they're pushing cold air through the firepot either.

 

[bill1]

Adding thermal mass has some value if you'll be opening the lid repeatedly. But super cold winters probably preclude your going out and doing that much anyway. So I see no value in adding firebricks, etc to the inside of a closed smoker. But reducing the heat loss out the walls can help a lot when cold. Blankets, boxes, etc, all slow down the heat loss there.