Smoker temp is too low!

[slingerland]

Okay, I'm having "fun" (yeah, right) with my Cajun Bandit rig ("Gambit") and keeping the temps UP.

In all my past cooks, I've had good control using a Minion snake method.  Today I'm doing two slabs of babybacks, and for the first time ever, I can't get the temp up where I want it.  I'm running with all vents wide open and the temp has mostly been around 215.  Right now it has crept up to 230.

Normally for babybacks, my technique is normally to cook at 260~275:

• 2 hours open to smoke.
• Wrap for an hour and a half in an aluminum pan.  Apple juice for steam/braising.
• Back open to sauce for the remaining 30 minutes or so.

So now... time to improvise.  My wife doesn't like a strong smoke flavor, so I'm still going to wrap after 2 hours.  But while I have the cooker open, I'll use a Thermopen to get a quick snapshot of the temp, and a feel for the tenderness so far.

But going forward... maybe two hours wrapped?

Any advice or suggestions?

 

[slingerland]

An update... I just put the ribs into the pan (apple juice and Squeeze Parkay) for braising.  When I checked the temp, the thick part of the ribs measured 145 or so.

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• slingerland
• Jul 5, 2014