Masterbuilt propane double door model # 20051311 Temperature issues

[timberjet]

160 is way way way way tooo loooooow. You want like 225-250. Crank up the temp until you get there. DID YOU CHECK THE OXO THERMOMETER FOR ACCURACY?

 

[timberjet]

Before your next smoke I would say you need to take jeff's free 5 day e-course. It is free and you can eat what you practiced on as well. You will be way ahead of the game as you are now after doing that.

 

[richdm]

It was only 160 because the door was open. Once I closed the door it rose right away. It has been in there for 2 hours. The temp is at about 225 right now. It's been there since I refilled the chips and took those pictures. It seems to have leveled out now.

 

[timberjet]

Good, You just might get this under control after all. Hahaha..... Now that things are going pretty good crack a beer and relax. Watch for when your chips run out and keep on keeping on. Butt's, which is what we call shoulders, take 2 hours per pound or more at that temperature. so you are in for a long day/night. I have no idea where you are located but you might want to include a location in your profile so we can help you by knowing for one, what timezone you are in, and two, you may have a member in your town that can give you specific help on where to get things and stuff like that. One thing I would like to let you in on is that you really don't want to probe your meat until it cooks to at least 130 degrees or even more. When you probe you are introducing bacteria into the meat so you are playing russian roulette with the danger zone. If you read Bear's step by step that I gave you the link to he explains what that is and why. Keep on updating this smoke and take pictures so I can keep helping you get this sucker cooked to perfection. Happy smoking. Timber

 

[richdm]

Thank you for all of your help. I appreciate it. I attempted the wood chips again. This time wrapped tighter. I guess that will be my next hurdle.

I tried salmon the other day for my first smoke but couldn't keep the temps down to where people were saying they belonged (180-200). Not sure I'll be able to keep this thing under 225

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• richdm
• Mar 28, 2015

 

[timberjet]

That looks like it will work much better. I would look into a needle valve for your smoker. Then you can dial the temp all the way down to 140 degrees if you want. Also you should look into Amazen Products pellet smoke generators for your smoker. They are really neat. You can load one up and get perfect smoke for 11 hours at a time without messing around and using up all the foil in the house. I used to have a propane smoker and I used a small coffee can with foil over the top and some holes poked in it for smoke. I don't know if you could fit that in there or not but it's an option. A soup can would work too and if you had 2 you could just keep trading them out. It increased my smoke time by 200 percent when using chips and small chunks. You have to experiment a little to get it positioned just right with the burner for the right amount of heat to keep them smoldering along but it really worked a lot better.

 

[richdm]

Here it is starting to smoke. Got a bit more going now 

 

[timberjet]

it says you have to sign in to view the vid. and there is no option to do so. dang.

 

[richdm]

I changed the settings to public so should be able to view now. This is the link

 

[timberjet]

I hope it settled down after that video? That is way too much white billowing smoke. You don't want that. 

 

[timberjet]

That kind of smoke over hours of time will leave a nice crust of creosote tar on your pork butt. Not good. You need to try and elevate that chip pan above the flame or place it off to one side so that you are getting less heat to it. I saw where the prefered mod is to use a cast iron pan with 3 bolts for legs to get it up off the heat some.

 

[timberjet]

Is there any way you can fix this right now. I'm afraid you might be about to ruin that butt there.

 

[richdm]

it only lasted for a few minutes. I don't have any that I can see anymore

 

[timberjet]

All I can say is it looks as if your chips are just going up in flames still. 

 

[timberjet]

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/99373/masterbuild-xl-mods-post-your-mods-here I would look through this. I particularly like the mod on post 18. If you have a hardware store close you should get this fixed asap. 

 

[richdm]

Okay. I have a cast iron pan. I am going to put it in now. Do you recommend still putting the chips in tinfoil? I will do so anyway as i wait for your response. 

I also dont have a stove grate to put over top so I will just put the pan right over the flame

 

[richdm]

Here is my solution. I took the water pan out so I would have enough room and placed the cast iron pan on top of the old chip pan.

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• richdm
• Mar 28, 2015

 

[richdm]

had to turn the flame up a bit so i have it at 250 right now but i am getting that barely visible smoke right now so i think i achieved success

 

[timberjet]

 
had to turn the flame up a bit so i have it at 250 right now but i am getting that barely visible smoke right now so i think i achieved success

YES! I love it when a plan comes together! I would just see how it works and if it works good with foil go for it. I think you will find chunks much easier to deal with next time. You should be all set now.

 

[timberjet]

 
had to turn the flame up a bit so i have it at 250 right now but i am getting that barely visible smoke right now so i think i achieved success

250 is fine. Are going to foil to help get through the stall?