ECB Temps

[goodwyne]

I'm using an ECB and having success with it however, I want to smoke some wings on it. From what several others here have said I think I need more heat to do them right. If I take the water pot out can I expect to get higher temps in the smoker? Like maybe 300-325 degrees? Or is that unrealistic?

 

[jlloyd99]

goodwyne, you will most definatly get higher temps in an ECB without the water pan. If it's anything like ours (the bullet type verticle smoker) the water pan helps to control the heat. However, as we learned this weekend, without the water pan you will get extremly high temps. I was "baking" apples in the smoker and took the pan out to get a higher temp of 350 and it sure didn't take long to get up and over temp. I would suggets trying to up the temp with the water pan so you don't end up burning your wings, or if you do remove it watch them carfully because they will probably get done much quicker than you think, I know my apples did.

 

[goodwyne]

jlloyd99, do you know what your temp went up to? I know the wings would cook pretty fast and I need to control the heat but I don't think I can get it hot enough with the water pan in it. Maybe I just need to be careful about how much wood I add. Yes, mine is the bullet type.

On another note, I didn't want to put my wood straight on the heating element in the lava rocks so I added a small pan in the bottom for the wood this worked out great until I did an all day pork roast on Saturday. That pan was aluminum and it melted through! So I need to find a smal, round steel pan for my wood. The pork roast was great though!

 

[jlloyd99]

I'm not sure what the temp got up to. Unfortunatly that's one mod we havn't made to our smoker yet. We've only got the factory gauge that reads warm/ideal/hot. As the needle was well into the ideal/hot area I'm guessing it got up to 350-375 and kept rising. Like I said earlier just keep a close eye on it and you should be fine.

 

[gortiz]

you might have just solved my beer can chicken problem Lady J! I wanted to cook at higher temp and couldn't get my chamber temp over 250, I'll use less water or maybe no water next time. I want the higher temp to crisp the skin . . .

nice pic by the way!

 

[bluefrog]

Goodwyne, get you a small cast iron frying pan to use for your wood chip smoker pan...works great.

Scott

 

[goodwyne]

What I'd like to find is a small cast iran skillet with no handle. That's the problem. The handle of even a small skillet sticks out too far.

 

[Dutch]

Ron, check your local grill and BBQ store, they usually sell heavy steel or cast iron boxes designed for use with wood chips and chunks. I saw a cast iron one at my local Lowe's, but I didn't see a price on it.

Okay, I just did a search on Lowes.com-It sells for $9.97- check the link for a picture. Smoker Box

 

[goodwyne]

I saw the one at Lowe's but it is small and difficult to load from the side of the ECB. At the moment I'm using a rectangular, steel baking pan but it isn't going to last a long time. It's degraded quite a bit in 10 or so smokes. Cast iron seems the way to go but I need something that comes close to filling the bottom of the smoker, preferably round. That way I can just dump in the chips as need and not worry about whether I'm hitting the box or not.

 

[bob-bqn]

If you or anyone you know likes flea markets or garage sales, put out the word that you're looking for a cast iron skillet "any condition". You can probably pick one up for next to nothing (especially if it's rusty) and snap the handle off. Just make sure it's not an antique collector's item that can be restored.

 

[Dutch]

Ron, I think I have a solution for you and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner (Not living up to my nickname "Dutch")

Texsports sells dutch ovens, the smallest is a 2 quart unit -if I remember right I think it's 5-6 inches accross, the cost for the small one is about $10.00.