Initially, I put a 12” square concrete paver wrapped in foil on the bottom rack to act as a heat sink and help stabilize the temp. It helped a little.
The temp control problem is the wood chips burning in the cabinet. Once they get going, they add a lot of heat that you can’t control. Do a search on smoke generators (Mailbox mod).These burn the chips outside the cabinet, sending the smoke in, but less heat. I think this helps the most.
The next effective mod is adding a convection fan from an oven to the back. It nearly eliminates the hot spot at the top of the cabinet and distributes the temp and smoke evenly. Otherwise, the smoke follows up the back of the cabinet and out the rear vent without contacting the food.
If you really drop deep into the rabbit hole, and you like to tinker, look into PID controllers. I have done this and now have a very consistent and repeatable smoking setup.
When this smoker wears out, I might consider an electric with a PID and smoke generator. Very simple. Space is a concern so I need a vertical cabinet.
The temp control problem is the wood chips burning in the cabinet. Once they get going, they add a lot of heat that you can’t control. Do a search on smoke generators (Mailbox mod).These burn the chips outside the cabinet, sending the smoke in, but less heat. I think this helps the most.
The next effective mod is adding a convection fan from an oven to the back. It nearly eliminates the hot spot at the top of the cabinet and distributes the temp and smoke evenly. Otherwise, the smoke follows up the back of the cabinet and out the rear vent without contacting the food.
If you really drop deep into the rabbit hole, and you like to tinker, look into PID controllers. I have done this and now have a very consistent and repeatable smoking setup.
When this smoker wears out, I might consider an electric with a PID and smoke generator. Very simple. Space is a concern so I need a vertical cabinet.
