Oklahoma joe bronco heat control

[Jamesnz]

Hi all,

Just got a new Oklahoma joe and experimenting with some cheap cuts, chicken, butt etc. Had it running with charcoal lumps and cherry wood chunks at about 235f for a solid 3 hours and all of a sudden the temp is up at 300 and only came down with both valves shut for 5 mins. Was this likely a fresh wood chunk catching?

Still figuring out the finer points of temp control with this smoker but loving it so far

 

[forktender]

Yes, fresh chunk catching in that situation close down one of the air inlets and let it equalize a heat spike caused by a wood chunk isn't going to hurt a thing because the fuel from the chunk will burn down quickly.
15-20 minutes at a higher heat won't hurt a thing.

 

[mike1ranger]

I have the bronco and really like it. As you suspect, the wood will cause a spike. I've learned to not fight the spike. Once you get a steady temp like you did, the spike won't last but if you mess too much try to control it you end up fighting yourself for hours. I use several small pieces of wood on top of a layer of royal oak natural then fill the basket heaping. I light it and open both dampers all the way until about 200 deg then close down the intake to a little less then 1/4". It will still climb to 250 or so and I may have to tweak the air intake a bit but I pretty much let it settle in and then won't touch it again even if it spikes. Several small (2 fingers size) results in good smoke and fewer and less intense flare-ups. Its a great rig.

By the way, a cheap hot plate from Walmart with the cord through the bottom along with the maze full of pellets keeps perfect Temps for sausage or jersey. Open bottom and just a maze with bacon hanging for perfect cold smoked bacon too.

 

[bill1]

Pretty sure the Broncos have something called a "flame shield" (or something like that) that sits between the fire and the meat. This is exactly what it's for. It's typically a ventilated metal shield that allow hot air to flow through but is still a "shield" to flame and high infrared heat. (Ie you can't "see" through it except at extreme angles.) Otherwise, even though a short-lived flame-up of a chunk of wood may make a negligible change in the time- and spatially-averaged heat delivered to cooking meat, the meat directly above that flame would get undesirably charred.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

I been thinking on selling my PB Vert pellet and getting a Bronco.

 

[bill1]

It's hard to beat the convenience and ease of cleanup of pellet machines. Now if you're hitting retirement or something in life giving you extra time on your hands, your proposal makes some sense. But otherwise, having both is a big benefit.
If you can't afford the $ for both, you can buy drum or barrel smokers for half the price of the OJB (granted only a quarter the quality) that still allow you to develop the needed skills and then make an informed decision if you're ready to give up the pellet machine.
If you can't afford the space for both, welcome to the club. Difficult decisions indeed...cost ($ or space) vs. schedule (time & ease-of-use) vs. performance (quality/taste) seems to enter every aspect of life.

 

[cody0707]

It's hard to beat the convenience and ease of cleanup of pellet machines. Now if you're hitting retirement or something in life giving you extra time on your hands, your proposal makes some sense. But otherwise, having both is a big benefit.
If you can't afford the $ for both, you can buy drum or barrel smokers for half the price of the OJB (granted only a quarter the quality) that still allow you to develop the needed skills and then make an informed decision if you're ready to give up the pellet machine.
If you can't afford the space for both, welcome to the club. Difficult decisions indeed...cost ($ or space) vs. schedule (time & ease-of-use) vs. performance (quality/taste) seems to enter every aspect of life.

I just added an automatic temp controller to my Bronco. Problem solved.

 

[bill1]

I just added an automatic temp controller to my Bronco. Problem solved.

One problem solved. But unlike pellet poopers, there's no fuel hopper on most drum smokers. There's not even a side access door to add more charcoal or chunks. Or to tend a water pan. And you pretty much need an empty work table to stage all the stuff that you build up and tear down in a drum smoker.

Now all this can be dealt with through experience...and is even part of the fun, including adding forced fans and fan controllers. But there is some effort involved that pellet machines do for you "right out of the box".

These tradeoffs are individualistic...and fuels the engine of capitalism and free markets. Hence the suggestion to keep and use both until you can make a fully informed decision as to which (and maybe it's both) are right for you.

But SWFLsmker1 is a sharp guy....he'll make a good choice.

 

[cody0707]

One problem solved. But unlike pellet poopers, there's no fuel hopper on most drum smokers. There's not even a side access door to add more charcoal or chunks. Or to tend a water pan. And you pretty much need an empty work table to stage all the stuff that you build up and tear down in a drum smoker.

I went with a new charcoal basket that can burn for 32 hours. I will never need to do a cook that long. You still have to tear apart each of these smokers to clean them out. I don’t know that the bronco needs a water pan. Granted with the mods I’ve done with mine I could have gotten a pretty decent pellet smoker.

 

[agaffer]

I know that this is an old thread. But, maybes someone has worked this out. I would like to adapt a BBQ Viper fan to the Bronco. You can't do it at the top because of the screw there. I was thinking that I would remove the top half of the intake pipe which would leave the bottom section which is a perfect round. Not knowing anything about plumbing parts, is there an adapter that would reduce the 2" diameter intake pipe to a diameter that fits the viper? BBQ Guru does not make one but, I know that PVC pipes can be reduced to just about any size so, there must be a metal equivalent. Or, would it be safe to use PVC? I can grab the intake tube with my hand and it is only warm.

 

[bill1]

I can't speak for a Viper but the typical cheap air mattress inflator fan has an output that fits pretty wall into a 3/4 PVC slip coupling. (I usually use epoxy to make it permanent). From there I adapt to the size I need. As long as things are "touchable without pain" (ie <140F) PVC fittings are fine. (But check out some videos on using a baseball bat to "roll" a fender for wide tires and you'll learn tricks that work well on about thin-wall metal that's close to the correct size.)

Since that's intake, the flow is of room temp air, not heated/cooking air, so it should be pretty cool. And it's far enough (and with thin enough wall tubing) from the hot parts of the cooker that conduction won't be a problem. If your joint gets a little close to the cooker, it could heat up a bit from radiation or from being in a convective air path, but sticking in some wool felt or just loose layers of alum foil as heat shields should reduce the issue. Plus, just wrapping a wet rag around a joint getting a little warm will go for a couple hours before it dries and you get a lot of evaporative cooling in the meantime.

 

[JeffB1961]

i've had my bronco for almost 1 1/2 years and it makes good food very easy . however i prefer the flavor using my offset but the bronco is %90+ there on the smokey flavor but the bronco is sooo much easier ! i use cheap wally world charcoal and my temps are consistent enough to do long cooks at night while i sleep or leave for a few hours if i need to go do something . i haven't tried lump in it because of comments like the one above about big temp variances due to big differences in lump sizes . i DON'T like the tube charcoal with holes in it though because temps also vary with them a lot in my experiences . i got a few bags of it and i'll use it up starting fires in the offset and stick to brickets in my bronco . the heat shield/diffuser seems to do a great job of distributing the heat in the cooker but it doesn't control the overall temp , that's what the dials are for . i usually run about 1 1/2 on intake and fully open on exhaust and it keeps me right at 250ish for several hours and i'll bump the intake open a bit the last hour or two as my charcoal gets used up . i see no need for a external fan in my use but everything isn't for everybody and there are folks that luv them . do what works for you .
take care , jeff

 

[mliebs]

I run a flameboss on my Joe Pro and it holds temperature perfectly. I purchased an adapter from a guy named Mario that sells them out of CA. It has a small flapper valve on it so when the fan slows down or shuts off the valve closes to match the speed. This morning I set it for 270 to do a couple of pork butts and the temperature hasn't moved more than 1-2 degrees in 3 hours. The top vent stays wide open so it gets excellent flow.