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055 vs Amerique

B bmccoyMember
I've been absent from this forum (and the CS website)for some time. Today, I received an e-mail from CS (as I'm sure everyone here did, too) alerting me about the new website.

Well, I was perusing the site to see what I've missed over the past many months and I discovered the new (to me) Amerique smoker. It looks fantastic. I own a 055 which I really like - except for one thing. When it is first turned on, it trips my GFI circuit breaker. Ususally several times until it gets up to temp. I used to think this was due to crappy electrical components in my old house. But, last year, I built a new home (using a very competent general contractor)but my 055 still draws to much of a load for my circuit breaker.

Now, I'm not very smart when it comes to electricity, but suspect that I can replace my GFCI breaker with one rated for a bigger load. But, unlike most of the folks here, I only smoke a couple of time a year (I think I can hear some of you screaming in disbelief), and I just don't think about this electrical problem until its time to smoke again.

I noticed that the Amerique only dras 7 amps (vs 15 for the 055). However, the heating element is only 750 watts, vs 1200 for the 055. With that long introduction, here's the question(s). Is the cook time with the Amerique longer than the 055 because of the lower wattage heating element? I assume with the lower amperage draw, I'd be less likely to trip my breaker, but aside from the obvious differences in size and digital features, are the cooking attributes the same with the Amerique as with the 055?

Before anyone suggests that upgrading the circuit breaker would be considerable cheaper than upgrading the smoker - well, I know that. But my wife doesn't. So, if I can convince her that the new smokers are safer and more reliable - I may be able to make a good arguement to upgrade.

Sorry for the long post. But when I go a year or so between questions, I fell that I need to exercise my typing fingers.

Thanks for any suggestions / info
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FM Former Member
quote:
Originally posted by Hook:
Afternoon bmccoy,

Here's a reply to a post that I made some time ago regarding the AmeriQue. (The gent I replied to was trying to decide whether to go with a 50 or the AmeriQue.)

"Here's what I've found.

The three things I like about my AmeriQue are the space, the "hold" features and the temp stability.

I did three racks of beef ribs last night. I had room to do five more. As I was saucing them, I thought to myself how easy it is to work with the AQue. It's wider than the 50 and makes getting to the food much easier. It's just not as crowded as the 50, even with a full load (and a full load is much more food. As long as I'm smoking, it doesn't take that much more effort to do six racks vs two. They freeze just fine and I never run out of folks who want them. You don't have to squeeze them into the AQue. Having shelves that hold whole racks of spares beats cutting them up and shoehorning into a 50 every time. Trust me. Same goes for butts and big briskets too.

I got involved in a project while I was cooking a batch of spares the other day. When I got back to the smoker, it had dutifully dropped down to "hold" so I just left it alone for an hour while I fixed the rest of the meal. The ribs were as perfect as I can make them. If I'd been using the 50, they would have been overdone and I would have been stressed out knowing they were cooking and I couldn't get back to take them out.

Although, my 50 did a good job, from my limited experience with the AQue, I've found it to be more consistent with respect to time to cook. And I think that's because of the stable temps. The controller is spot on and doesn't vary more than a degree or two. The other thing I noticed last night was how quickly the unit came back to temp after I opened it to sauce the ribs. The internal temp dropped at least 30 degrees but it didn't take long to come back up to 225.

If you can come up with the bucks, go with the AQue. You wont be sorry.It's a more relaxing, easier way to go. Without having used the 50, it's not easy to visualize the differences. I have and would never go back. Don't worry about making the wrong choice. The AQue is it. The first time you use it, you'll say 'why did I even consider the other one.' Go for it!"

Hope this helps,


Hook
B bmccoyMember
Thanks for the suggestion. I never considered a faulty unit because of the fact that, once it warmed up some, the breaker didn't trip. I assumed that the electrical draw to warm up would be greater than that needed to maintain temperature. But, as I said earlier, I'm not too bright when it comes to electricity.

I'll call CS.
FM Former Member
If you have 15 amp breakers, a maxed out circuit would be 1800 watts, but it's only supposed to be loaded to 75% making the working value 1350 watts.
If there was another draw on the circuit while you ran the 1200 watt smoker, an overload could easily pop the breaker.

Also, if it's a ground fault breaker, any little issue in the smoker's circuit could also pop the breaker; ground fault breakers are intentionally sensitive to save out lives in iffy situations. That's a good thing.

You might try a hair dryer on the circuit; they draw 1200 to 1500 watts, similar to the smoker.

If there is a question of the smoker's circuitry, do troubleshoot it rather than risk safety.
FM Former Member
bmccoy,

If the GFI is triping you have a leak to ground. If the 15 amp breaker is tripping you are pulling too much current. If you are running a 1200 watt unit on a 15 amp circuit you do not have much to spare. make sure of course that you do not have anything else that is on the circuit while running the smoker.

I would run the 55 on another 15 amp circuit in the house that is not GFI protected. See if it trips that breaker. If it does then I would call cookshack.

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