Heating up smoker

[Mindifismoke]

I have the Cheyenne smoker by Yoder smokers it is my first offset and I can't get the temperature up I started with a full chimney of charcoal let that heat up for a bit and then put a wood chunk. It's been an hour and getting a very thin blue smoke but the temperature is still only 160degrees, in that time I've added 3 more chunks of wood (about the size of one and a half baseball's each)
Left the door to the firebox way open

Any advice or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks!

 

[smokerjim]

is exaust vent open, if not open it up and maybe close your firebox vent a little and see if that works,is your wood dry and seasoned, what thermometer are you using, sometime factory thermometers are off, is it windy where your at, are you using enough wood i'm not familiar with your smoker so i'm not sure how much wood you need, but i'm sure someone who is will be around. good luck

 

[daveomak]

Very nice looking smoker... I think you are gonna need more wood... Splits probaby... about 2x4 size about 12" long... Takes a lot of wood to heat up all that steel...
Also, exhaust wide open... adjust air inlet on the FB so it's open about 1" on the wide end of the pie cut-out.... Check to make sure there are no air leaks around all those doors... If there are, depending on how big the leak is, wood stove gasket will solve the problem, or High temp silicone sealer for the minor leaks... Put the silicone on the clean lid sealing surface, place saran wrap on the other surface.... gently close the door and wait 24 hours for it to cure... the saran will not stick to the silicone.... Air leaks are a killer when it comes to trying to control your smoker.... Air tight is a must...

Aluminum foil should seal the leaks for now...

 

[Dantij]

You're not using enough wood for that size smoker. I cook on an Lang 48 offset and I usually burn 4 -5 wood splits along with 10 briquettes to bring the temp @ 300°. That's a

 

[Wasi]

You can check out this video. Very similar cooker and how it gets it up to temp quickly.

 

[Dantij]

...that's a lot of steel that needs to be heated up so taking the temp up to 300° will help give you more even temps across the chamber. Is it new? That's a well made smoker. I doubt you are having trouble with leaks.

 

[Mindifismoke]

The exhaust vent is open all the way open and wood is dry and seasoned 2 years I was using the thermometer on the cook chamber and now I got the one from my oven (thermopro) and it reads about 30 degrees higher.

I used more wood had to make another chimney of charcoal since it was dying out but got the temperature where I wanted now at 250. I think placement of the fire was important too in the back right where people suggest it was staying cool moved it forward a bit and changed a lot.

I noticed leaks from the cooking chamber didn't think much of it but I looked closer by the handle the metal is warped..

I bought it new from a BBQ shop in Canada

 

[Dantij]

Post some pics please.

 

[Mindifismoke]

Its hard to take a picture of the warp but you can kind of see it the last one

Thanks for the replies and tips!

 

[daveomak]

I noticed leaks from the cooking chamber didn't think much of it but I looked closer by the handle the metal is warped..
The smoker relies on natural draft... ANY air leaks screw up the draft and make temp control VERY difficult....
Seal up any air leaks with foil and see how it goes....

..

 

[daveomak]

...that's a lot of steel that needs to be heated up so taking the temp up to 300° will help give you more even temps across the chamber. Is it new? That's a well made smoker. I doubt you are having trouble with leaks.

Even new smokers come with some imperfections... Builders of these smokers don't have a clue as to what's important when building them...

..

 

[daveomak]

Put a block of wood under each lower corner of the door... Then one on outside lower part of the door, where the bulge is and hit it hard with a big hammer... Might be enough to put it back in place... Worth a try... I'd do it to my new smoker...

 

[Mindifismoke]

Put a block of wood under each lower corner of the door... Then one on outside lower part of the door, where the bulge is and hit it hard with a big hammer... Might be enough to put it back in place... Worth a try... I'd do it to my new smoker...

I'm doing my first brisket on it now I'll give it a try and do my best once it's out. About the draft and leaks that makes a lot of sense. Didn't cross my mind just thought it would go in through the firebox make a nice trip through and out the stack.
Thanks

 

[Dantij]

Wow, I'm shocked to see that door bulging like that. Send that pic in to Yoder. See what they say before trying to "fix it" yourself. You might be creating more problems if not done right.

 

[Mindifismoke]

Heard back from Yoder a while ago they told me that it is normal that's how they make them because after a few uses the metal will "cure" and tighten to make a proper seal. It seems about right since the first time I did a practice smoke to maintain temperature and a real smoke and the gap became smaller.

Also I was able to get the temperature up much faster and produce clean smoke and not light more chimneys mid cook I think it's all about practice and learning thanks for everyone's help and input I really appreciate it!

 

[daveomak]

Good news...

 

[Mindifismoke]

Wanted to give an update, Dave you were right. Leaks are not good and definitely what Yoder replied by "it will cure as you use it" was not true. I recently made a trip to Texas and visited lone star grillz while there. Very nice people and the quality of their products seemed fantastic. They think about the design. First thing I noticed all of the doors are perfectly sealed the way I understood their explanation: without a proper seal heat management becomes an issue and the air won't pull properly from the firebox to chimney. This made a lot of sense with my smoker I can't close the firebox door without having the fire smoulder even if the vent is all the way open very rarely can I close it, sometimes if the wood is starting to become part of the coalbed and I close the door (vents wide open) the fire will go out. I tried 12" splits down to 6" splits and thickness from a quarter split to half inch by half inch. Believe this is the leak. Wood is 16% to 22% moisture depending where i got it from coal bed is hot. Size found 8" split 2"X2" worked the best so definitely not adding too much wood just can't close the door and because of that go through about 1 split in 14 minutes on average. Contacted Yoder about this again now, hopefully they will remedy the problem.