Question on Master Forge gas smoker...

[sacedbysapp]

Ive been doing some test smokes and i have a hard time getting temps staying in the 225 to 250 range with having the dial set almost to high to medium, Ive sealed the doors. But when I remove the water pan I can set the dial to low and have no problem get my temps too 300, so I was wondering if I could put one of the racks where the water pan goes and use a pan half the size with water so theres more room for the heat to move up the box.Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this?

Shawn

 

[s2k9k]

Hi Shawn, do yourself a favor and dump the water and fill the pan with sand. The water is there as a thermal mass to help maintain temps in the smoker and add some humidity to the smoke chamber. The problem with water is it can't go above 212* and as it evaporates the size of the thermal mass gets smaller. Sand will take as much temp as you can throw at it, it's size won't change and once it gets up to temp it will stay there and really help maintain temps inside the smoker. If you still want humidity in the chamber you can put a disposable foil pan with some water on top of the sand, it is also good for catching drippings.

 

[sacedbysapp]

That's something I'm going to do try , but its the size of the pan that doesn't allow the cooking area to heat up and not evenly the back is all ways colder than the front.Will I be ok with a smaller pan?

 

[s2k9k]

I don't think it's the size of the pan. A smoker uses indirect heat so it is supposed to be blocked off. I think your problem is the water isn't letting enough heat to build up, the water is sucking all the heat up because it will not go above 212*. Before I went with a smaller pan I would try filling it with sand or pea gravel and see how it does. If you are still having problems then go to a smaller pan but with the sand I think you will be alright. You just need something that will radiate the heat that is below it.

 

[sacedbysapp]

I understand now, will try that thank you.

 

[s2k9k]

Anytime we make changes to things, be it our smokers, methods or recipes we want to make small changes and only change one thing at a time so we can see what kind of results we get. If we change a bunch of things at one time then we can't really be sure which change gave what results. I learned this the hard way trying to tweak some recipes to my liking, tried changing too much at a time and got way away from what I was looking for. I had to start over and changed one thing at a time and finally got just what I wanted (I had some help too). I used this same philosophy getting my GOSM to work the way I wanted, it took a little time but I now know that smoker inside and out and know exactly what it can do and I can make it work for whatever I want it to now. I have found that to be half the fun, making mods and tweaking my smoker to do what I want it to do. If I had taken it out of the box and it worked perfect I don't think it would have been as fun, but that's just me, I do the same with my cars!

So hang in there, work with your smoker, ask us questions and have fun with your smoking!

 

[sacedbysapp]

Thanks for your advise will slow things down a bit.

 

[cprmom]

Thank you for the info!!! I am doing turkey tomorrow and I have master forge and can't wait to add sand!!! Can't get it above 200 mark! Super excited!