newbie and cant keep temp below 250

[sbukicker38]

i dont know what forum to put this help in...if this is wrong let me know...using my GOSM smoker right now and cannot get the temperature below 250 for my ribs...its about 87 degrees outside, sunny...just cant get the temp at 225....any tips for this newbie?? thanks guys...

by the way, im using mesquite chunks in the smoker if that is needed

 

[confederateknowhow]

 Welcome to the forum!

Might try adjusting your baffels. Open the top one all the way, and close the ones on the side as much as possible. An easy mod for this smoker is to bend the tabs (of the baffels) that are bent into the smoker flat to get more adjustment out of them. What setting do you have it on, low, medium or high? I have to run mine low to stay around 225.

 

[sbukicker38]

its on the lowest setting...i just cant get it below 250 at all...ive tryed everything

 

[confederateknowhow]

Which GOSM do you have, the large or small one? I have the larger one, aka Big Block (BB). It has a baffel on each side, and one on the top. Like I said, I open my top one all the way, and completely close both side ones to keep my temps low. Are you using a water pan? What kind of wood are you using? Chunks or chips? Are they smoking or catching fire? Are you going by the thermo on the door? These can very from the actual temp. if you dont' have one, i would suggest getting another thermometer. I set up two digital thermometers, one for the meat, and one to keep track of the inside temp of the smoker.

Don't stress, we'll get it figured out...we all have our days.

 

[sbukicker38]

small smoker....apple juice in water pan...mesquite chunks, chunks are smoking and not on fire...thermo on door as i need to buy a new one

 

[coffee_junkie]

smoke em at 250. There is a needle valve mod you can do to further regulate the gas to the burner. Do a search for "needle valve mod" Honestly though I smoke about everything at 250* and never get many complaints.

 

[pineywoods]

I would highly suggest getting a thermometer to double check those temps. Most of the time the thermometer on the door is off and many times its off by a lot. The thermo on the door of my GOSM is off by about 60 degrees.

I moved your thread to the Propane Smoker section

 

[mballi3011]

I'm with Jerry (pineywoods) on this one too. I would use a digital thermo meter to check the temp the thermo units that come with a new smoker are almost 95% of the time wrong. Plus you need a couple of good thermo meters to use in your smoker anyway. Then you can also use the valve on your tank also maybe you can get it down with using the knob too.

 

[northern greenhorn]

I agree on the door temp being off, my gosm that I bought in early spring is off like 55 degrees, so I just cut a chunk of potato about 2 inches or so, and stick the probe to my digital thermometer through the potato, and set it on the middle rack, and use that temp.

 

[sqwib]

The model you have will run hot and the air is drawn from underneath the smoker, there are no other adjustments

250 degrees is actually pretty good for that smoker, but I would wager its even higher and as others have stated the thermometer is crap

You need to check your thermo in boiling water and see what it reads, 212 degrees is what it should read.

You may have to do a needle valve mod, I have done the mod on my 3405 and it worked out great, without the mod 250 was about the lowest I could get.

My 3605 I can get the temps to 200 degrees and maintain that pretty well.

 

[langmotorsports]

250 isnt going to hurt a thing as far as i am concerned

 

[realtorterry]

Well I dont habe a gosm but welcome anyway!!

 

[tjohnson]

Welcome!!

Don't even think the thermomometer is close to accurate!!

invest your pennies in a digital.

Todd

 

[sbukicker38]

thanks guys...so just buy the digital thermo? ive gotten a few ideas from everyone, but what is the best way to set the temp up...just let the thing that gets the temp hang somewhere in the middle?

 

[bigorangesmoker]

Your temperature may actually be below 250. I have the three-drawer GOSM and my door thermometer generally runs about 25 degrees warmer than the thermometer which I use inside the smoker. The difference can vary from nearly identical to nearly 50 degrees, but it generally is about a 25 degrees warmer reading on the door vs. the thermometer inside the smoker. The bottom line is that your GOSM may be running closer to 225 than you realize. I did a pork butt on Saturday. It was a 7-pounder that finished in 8 hrs. 15 min. I realize that is pretty fast, but it was as tender and tasty as any pork butt I've done, including ones that have taken two hours per pound.