Outside Teperature & Smoking

[joedo]

Hello again,

I have a Brinkmann Gourmet Electric smoker. I live in northeast Ohio. Do you have any guidelines on Minimum outside temperature a smoker can be used ? I realize there are a lot of variables, just want a recommendation. Thanks


Joe

 

[tonto1117]

Hi joedo, most folks smoke year round regarless of the outdoor temp, there are a few things you can do to make the weather a little less of a factor for example locate your smoker in a protected area, away from wind, rain and snow, or make a wind break( a three sided structure that protect's your smoker from the wind)

Also some folks wrap their smoker with a welders blanket to help it hold it's temp (not covering the vents of course)

These are just a few ideas, I'm sure others have even more.

 

[msmith]

The only thing that keeps me from firing up the smoker is rain. I can take the cold and the wind but cant hold a steady temp in the rain. Havent tried the blanket trick, but it doesnt get as cold down here as most of yall get.

 

[tonto1117]

Marvin, if you were to try the blanket trick you would need 5 of them to cover ole General Lee :lol: :lol:

Been meaning to tell you that is one mighty fine smoker you built yourself there!!!!

 

[msmith]

Yeah you right on that one and thank you for the compliment.

 

[cheech]

joedo what are you planning on smoking?
Some things you can smoke at lower temperatures if you smoker will not make it up that high for an example smoked cheese etc

 

[chris_harper]

my smoker works best when it is in the high 40's outside. when it is raining, i have to move it so that the rain is blocked from hitting it.

 

[dacdots]

Last weekend I was smoking a full load in my char griller.The temp was in the teens and my smoker wanted to hover around 150.I layed two thick towells over the smoke chamber and the temps went up to 225.I would have never thought it would help that much but it did.

 

[deejaydebi]

I'll have to try that towel trick Dacdots. Las weekend it got down to 5 degrees and I had a heck of a time keeping the temperatures up in my ECB.

Got another trick I'm going to try tomorrow. Gonna wrap heavy foil around the smoker with an air gap between and see how that works. I hope it stops snowing by then - supposed to get snow, rain and snow all day tomorrow and we've got a superbowl to cook for!

:o

 

[up in smoke]

I came up with this last winter for my ECB, this is something you can try for less than $20. Go to a hardware outlet and get a sheet of 1/2" to 1" foam insulation-itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s either pink or blue, grab some duct tape and see illustration. close with a piece of duct tape, close lid and put brick on top (make sure lid is bigger so it doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t collapse in! Then just move brick to check your grub

Good Luck!

 

[joedo]

Folks,

Thanks for all the help !! I ordered a Fire retardent/resistant welders jacket size 3XL. This should fit right around the smoker body. I will let you know how it works out. I guess you could call it a "smoking Jacket" right ? LOL

Joe

 

[tonto1117]

That's great to hear joe, good luck with your smoke and let us know how it goes and remember we love pictures :)

 

[deejaydebi]

Good one Joedo!

Think I found out what was keeping my heat down last weekend ... Did 3 batches of sausage then I couldn't find my waterpan so I use a small SS wok that fit perfectly. I was scrubbing down my ECB last night and I found the waterpan was stuck on the bottom grate. I was using double water pans. No wonder the darn thing was stalling on me probaly having a hard time breathing. It was working great all night until I lost the water pan and it got down to 5 degrees. It was also about 2am by then didn't see the darned thing!

I have a 4 sided styrofoam igloo around my ECB and it was working great.

DUH! Sometimes I'm just to darned Italian!

 

[dacdots]

joedo,Cabelas makes an insulated jacket that fits over a Brinkman.I saw it in the new 2007 spring catoloug and it goes for 39$.A friend of mine has one and he says it works great.

 

[teacup13]

when i used my friends electric smoker i stuck it inside of an old 50 gallon drum( i torched a hole in the bottom of it for the cord)

this created an all around wind break

 

[smokehouse]

I rap a nice thick blanket around my ECB and have no problem keeping my temps up when it is cold out.