im new to th smoking world. please help

[smokincityboy]

i wanted to expand from my grill, and decided to try smoking, so for christmas my parents bought me a master fordge dual door smoker. and today was the first time i cooked with it. man have i been missing out. i know with everything new you have to play with it to tweek it. but over the past week i have been trying to figure out how to regulate the internal temp, and i seem to be having a problem keeping it at one temp for more than 1 min. today i made the bacon wrapped chicken and it came out awesome (well for my first time i think it did) but the recipe says to cook at 225. i tryd to keep the temp between 225 and 250 but i was out adjusting the vents every 5 min, it was either too hot or too cool. i have a digital thermometer to tell me the temp of the food and smoker. so my question is, do you have any tips on how to regulate the temp of the smoker to hold within +/- 5 degrees.

Below are my smoker and thermometer. thank you again for all your help.

Vertical Propane Smoker
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/products/master-forge-double-door-smoker

Digital Thermometer
http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et73.htm

 

[meateater]

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to  your first qview.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

   Cityboy,I'm not sure about the Propane units,but it might be that you are adjusting in too big of increments.My Stickburner does pretty good,but if you open or close too quickly,it get out of control.

   Hope that helps and...

 

[mr mac]

I have the Masterbuilt gasser and started out with a Brinkmann All-In-One (gas/charcoal smoker) and can tell you that small changes in the dial are what's needed.  I also don't try to regulate using the vent at all, just the knob and the vent stays closed (helps keep the smoke inside and there are enough places for it to escape otherwise).  When I first seasoned my smokers I parked the knob in one spot and checked the temp and then made very small adjustments until I found where 225 was and marked it for future reference and now I preheat it at that spot and it is good to go.  Just keep after it and you'll love it when you find the spot!

Mac

 

[SmokinAl]

   Glad to have you with us!

Like Mac said you just have to fool around with it until you get it right.

From then on it will be easy.

 

[africanmeat]

 

[jjwdiver]

Small adjustments, wait more than 5 minutes...more like 15.  You'll figure it out and once you do the rest is full steam ahead to smoking all kinds of things.  Good luck and Welcome to SMF!

John

 

[fpnmf]

Welcome..

This site has tons of info.

I would suggest you spend some time reading all the different forums and the WIKIs.

Then use the handy dandy search tool for specific interests!!

Take the awesome free E-Course!!!

Have a great day!!!

Craig

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/about-jeffs-5-day-ecourse
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/basic-pulled-pork-smoke
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/finishing-sauce-for-pulled-pork-by-soflaquer
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/tips-slaughterhouse-recipes-for-poultry
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/82034/how-to-post-qview-to-smf
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts
http://www.educationbug.org/a/marinate-vs--marinade.html

 

[smokincityboy]

thanks for all the tips guys. Ima goin to take another swing at it this weekend.. ill play around with it on saturday so i can smoke ribs on sunday.. ill keep you guys up on my journey.. also ill take pics this time.. thanks again for all the help..

 

[pharper1980]

I'm a total newbie as well - walking through Lowe's and saw a Master Forge Dual Door smoker that had been returned... picked it up $75, complete!  I've used mine twice, nothing big yet - I've just done some brats and I also did the bacon wrapped chicken breasts, turned out great... except I went too heavy on the rub.

I haven't had any problems with maintaining a good, constant, temp.  I had a char boil version of the ECB that somebody had given me for free, used it a total of two times... LOVE this smoker compared to that one!

  I have mine sitting on my back patio, it was about 95 degrees both times I used it, with some light wind.  I also pretty much kept my bottom vents closed, and the smoke stack closed 1/2 way.  I haven't done any mods to mine yet, but looking to improve the door seal.  I have two digital thermometers that I use.  (One to monitor box temp, the other to monitor meat temp)

I wish that I could help you with your problems, hope that you have better success soon!

 

[smokincityboy]

i spent a greater part of the day trying to regulate the temp. it took me almost 3 hours but i finally got it to stay around 225 (+/- 3). but im going to do it again when it gets cooler out, yesterday it was almost 100 out and the smoker sits in direct sun.

but i am in the process of smoking spare ribs right now, so far they smell great. but i do have another beginner question.. when i am preheating the smoker before i put the meat in, do i preheat the smoker with the wood chips in the smoker or do i wait to put the chips in with the meat ( to not waste smoke).. thank you again for all the help i greatly appriciate it.. since i use to work in a pizza shop i think i might try to smoke a pizza during the week.

 

[eman]

I would wait till a few min. before putting the meat in to add chips.

 

[seaham358]

I have a Kenmore Gasser and it is super easy to dial in on the temp. I have no vents to adjust on this unit, only the burner adjustment.

If there is an adjustment on the stack open it all the way and leave it open.

On my Kenmore I start at the medium burner setting and when it gets warm I lower it till it hear it wine, it will make a winning noise and on my unit that

gets me to 225-230.  If I do have to adjust it do it in very small adjustments, it does not take turning the burner up or down much to change the temp.

And like others have said wait 10 min or so to see where the temp is after adjustment.  I would not mess with the vents at all to control the temp on a gasser.

Good luck.. 

 

[seaham358]

I add my wood when I warm the smoker up because it takes 5-10 min to warm the smoker up and it can take that long for my chunks to start smoking.  There is no right or wrong answer on this, it's what ever works for you.  And smoked pizza is good... 

 

[lovinspoonful]

The key making small adjustments and then waiting at LEAST 10 minutes before you check on the results of the adjustment. It can take 10 minutes (or more with some smokers) for the temperature to settle and stabilize at the new temp. What you have been doing is chasing your changes, creating a "rubber banding" effect where the smoker is still changing temp when you make another adjustment.

Try getting your smoker settled to the desired temperature you want before even putting your food in. Opening the smoker and inserting food will bring the temp down a bit but it will rebound in 20 minutes. Check it then and then makes SMALL changes and let it stabilize at the new temp before you make another change.

 

[mballi3011]

Welcome to SMF. You'll like this place cause theres alot of really good folks here that would love to help you out with just about anything to do with smoking meat. So get to smoking and don't forget the Q-view cause we just love that stuff. So enjoy for there's alot of really good recipes and methods that you could learn from here.

Welcome To You New Addiction.