I had a Weston smoker sitting in my garage for about 8 years. I purchased it at a charity auction. I also had a natural gas port on my patio. Last weekend I decided to connect it and see what happens.
The smoker works on natural gas, on the "low" setting. It gets up to 200 degrees with no load. If you put a couple chickens in it, it drops to around 160 degrees.
If the dial is cranked up higher than "low," the flame blows itself out. Obviously the port size needs modified.
I smoked some chickens for 2.5 hours. They reached 130 degrees, and I finished them in my indoor oven @ 275 degrees. They tasted great. But ideally I'd do 100% of the cooking in the smoker.
As-is, it was perfect for jerky.
I am hoping someone can provide some guidance regarding either drilling out the existing orifice or swapping the old orifice for a new one.
Where is the brass orifice located? The incoming natural gas line threads into a pre-mounted nut that T's off into the gas feed to the burner (pic above). Is it inside that pre-mounted nut? I tried to removed it, and it didn't budge. I'm afraid to torque it any harder because I don't want to break it. If that's where the orifice insert is, I assume the nut needs to be rotated counterclockwise to loosen?
Any guidance is appreciated.
