Everything has changed

[flwc]

Well, as I am slow to build my custom smoker, I bought a bigger one to hold me over. The little one I started with was just too small. I just got a Brinkman charcoal smoker from Home Depot. Got it home and "seasoned" it then set out to cook my first meal of 2 picnics and some spare ribs. Now it took me a little while to get the hang of temp control on my first smoker but after a few trials I think I had it down. Now that I am using a smoker that is about 3 times the size I have to learn all over again. When the smoker reached 250 I put on the meat but soon after my temps were all over the place. Near the firebox was about 275, in the middle it was about 200 and on the far end about 180. I had the vent and stack open all the way and what I thought was a pretty good fire but the heat would just not move through the smoker. The ribs got done but the IT of the picnics never exceeded 134. After 9 hrs, 3 bags of lump charcoal and 1/2 bag of apple wood chunks I put them in the oven to finish. It was pretty windy out yesterday but I can't believe this is the reason. I need help

I would like to ad better but have not figured that out yet. Guess I need help with this too.

 

[DanMcG]

I'm not sure I'd want to eat them if they never got over 140 after nine hours. the rule of thumb is above 140° within 4 hours and with a whole muscle like a butt you can extend that time some, but 9 is a long time.
With and uninjected intact muscle you need to get the outside 1/2" to 140 in four hours and I doubt that it happened. Sorry

 

[shooterrick]

Not familiar with your smoker but being a Brinkman I would imagine that there are a few mods you need to do to get the performance you want and need. Check out the threads under charcoal smokers for the model and mods recommended.

 

[mballi3011]

I have never smoked on a brinkman but I would either thrown them in the oven or the regular grill but I would be alittle werry of eating those ribs.

 

[richoso1]

What he said about the zone, does not seem to have reached the safe zone it time.

 

[nate_46]

I have an older version of that smoker that is a heavier gauge steel and I still have problems on windy days. One thing that helped was bringing the vent pipe down to grate level. What this did was even out the temperatures along the grate. I think it was like having a cool draft next to the far side of the smoker. Make any sense?

One thing I didn't do is make the vent extension a super tight seal in the lid. I felt that it would vent off small amounts of stale smoke that gets trapped in the uppermost lid.

Just an idea.

 

[meat hunter]

Yes, be careful of the temps as you do not want not want to get sick. Finish off in the oven or grill. On your particular smoker, firebox on one side, the chimney on the other, thats pretty much what happens, the smoke and heat come in, rise to the top and exit thru the chimney. Like was mentioned below, check out this site for some modifications to be made to that unit. I would look into "tuning plates", to solve your uneven temps. They are small strips of moderate gauage steel that lay across the bottom of the main chamber about the level of the hole in the firebox. They serve 2 purposes. One, the absorb and retain heat and help "cook" so to speak by way of convection. 2, lined up properly, they will prevent the majority of the heat/smoke from going directly to the top, instead, it travels below and escapes according to the size of the gaps in the plates. Those should help you big time.

 

[bmudd14474]

I would check for leaks. Do you have a charcoal basket? Is there alot of soot built up in the coals. If it is then the coals arent able to heat up enough. Have you done any mods?


As for the PP. 9 hours under 135 kinda scares me. I dont think I would be able to serve that. I would take the $20-$30 loss just to be safe.

 

[ddave]

You have what looks to be a Brinkmann Smoke N' Pit (SnP). By the pics is looks to be very heavily loaded, too.

The newer SnPs are thin walled and yes, the wind will KILL temps on them. They also benefit from several mods.

There are lots of ways to do the mods but here's how I did mine.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=75110

Also, a wind break really helps on windy days.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=71462

Hope this helps.

Dave

 

[pigcicles]

Most all thin walled offsets need mods out of the box. Lower the stack, add the tuning plates to even out temps, and seal the lid. You will be glad you did.

You went through way too much fuel not to make these mods. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[flwc]

Thanks for the advice and info, it all makes sense when you really think about it. I am going to add a baffle and some heat rope around the lid as it has a pretty big gap. I will also lower the vent.

FYI - I trashed the picnics

, not my choice ( I'm just a dumb guy) but my wife is a nurse and she made me throw them out. The ribs went into the oven after a couple of hours. They actually turned out pretty tasty so it wasn't a total loss.

I don't get on the forums as much as I would like so my response to posts may not be quick but I do read them and need the wisdom of of the veterans. Thanks again and I will let you know how it turns out.