Chicken Smoke Time

Eric, it seems you might have a problem with the thermostat or the heating element. You should use your remote thermometer probe and check by putting it into the empty smoker and turning the dial full blast. See what it reads after 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, etc. If you think you have a problem after doing this, call Cookshack customer service.

My unbrined 3-5 pound chickens on 250* usually take between 3 and 4 hours to get 180* in the breast.

Good luck.

I thought I had a problem with my smoker, it turned out to be a dirty covered sensor in my smoker. I gently cleaned it with my finger nail and a paper wet paper towel. It works like it was brand new.

Unless the power company lowered the voltage and this is all coincidence........something to try in the interim.....

dan

Eric,
I cook 4 lb (unbrined)chickens @ 250*. 4 1/2 hours does it for me. I normally put on beer can racks & they cook great.
every once in a while I just leave a probe in the cooker to verify oven temp.

RT

Eric,
I agree with the others. Your chicken should be done in 4 hours or so at that temp. First, you need to verify the internal temp of the oven with a bare thermometer. Second, be sure that the product you cook does not contact the internal thermometer. Third, keep the internal thermometer clean. Lastly, verify that the thermometer you are using to get your 158-160 reading is accurate.

Very good points, muleman1.

eric,
a trick to drop your cooking time of any poultry from turkey to quail is to remove the backbone with shears or a knife and just spread the bird out. your total time will drop between 15-25%
jack

Wow, Thanks folks for all the replies. Tomorrow night I'll drop the probe in the oven and take some 1/2 hourly readings as per Hippies advice.
Baltimore Bayside, I took a good look at the temp sensor and although it is brown from smoking I don't see any dirt or grease crust. There is a little ball on the end which I picked at it with my fingernail and it didn't break off so I assume it is a solder ball to seal up the sensor.
I just verified my thermometer again in boiling water and its at 212. I believe thats what it should be.
I forgot to mention it in my first post but I am not using an extension cord. I'm plugged straight into a 15 amp GFI receptacle run on 12 gauge wire that's only about 30 feet from the panelbox so there certainly shouldn't be any voltage drop. I'll check it with a meter tomorrow to be sure.
I've been wanting to call CookShack and order a cold smoke baffle and register the oven but I'll wait until after I take some readings just in case I need to talk to customer service as well.
Thanks again folks and I'll reply back with whatever I find out.
Eric

Hi Folks,
Well I took some readings after work today. 118 volts at the receptacle so no problems there. I plugged the oven in and suspended the temp probe about center, and set the dial to 225. I got called away so I was only able to monitor about two hours but I think that should be sufficient.
Other than the temperature swings which are to be expected I don't think I see a problem.
4:30 Turn unit on (ambient temp)
4:50 200 degrees
5:00 250 degrees
5:10 276 degrees
5:15 265 degrees
5:25 235 degrees
5:30 215 degrees
5:35 205 degrees
5:45 230 degrees
6:00 266 degrees
6:20 205 degrees
6:30 230 degrees

It sure looks to me like the stat is trying to do its job. Maybe a more experienced eye sees something I don't here. I'm going to call CookShack tomorrow to order some accessories so maybe I'll talk to Customer Service to see if they have an idea or to tell me I'm just plain nuts!
Thanks again
Eric

eric,
after adding your temps i got an average of 234.27 degrees. this is only about 4% greater than your dial temp which is great as vulcan commercial ovens rarely meet that tight of a correlation to the knob setting
dennis,
truthfully it is just appearance. small birds like quail and cornish hens look great butterflied out since the portion size appears larger and you have a greater surface area exposed if you are saucing or glazing them.
for chickens and turkeys i give my customer the option. some like the whole bird so they can break it down themselves and some don't. my own personal feeling is like your's though, the half birds are much easier to work with and cook and for my taste take smoke better. in the case of turkey i like to go an extra step and cut the leg/thigh away from the breast as it cooks at a different speed. on the breast many times i will just hit the keel with a knife to partially split it and then butterfly while cooking.
so some is taste and some is looks

Eric,

Your empty oven temp readings are right in the ball park. My CS actually runs a wider range than yours.

As to your 5 lb chicken, is it possible your temp probe was touching bone or very close to bone? That would throw off a reading.

I wouldnt worry about it and go on to smoking more things!! Maybe the next time you smoke a chicken timing will go more as you expected.
Have you been able to find some good pork and beef to smoke? Bodacious BBQ and I had a short discussion on smoking scrapple...
Kathy

I have found the more I use my CS, the more consistent the cooktimes get. All that gunk collecting in there is good except for too much on the thermostat wire.

Q'n Mike, I'm pretty sure I had the probe about center of the breast meat. When I pulled the bird I cut down into the thigh and the meat was still a little translucent but not really bloody either, so I finished it on the grill. I gotta say though even after being on the grill the meat was nice and moist all the way until we finished dinner, unlike the beer can chickens I was making which seemed to dry out pretty quick.
KathyE, Oh yea, I certainly plan on smoking a lot more stuff. The few things I've smoked so far have tasted wonderful and I really like the ease of using this smoker. No watching the gas or worrying about flame ups as I was with the MB 7in1, all I really have to do now is watch the probe temp. Cool. I posted this thread just to be sure I didn't have a bad unit since I had bought a display piece and to see if maybe I was expecting it to cook faster than it is capable. I'll just have to do a little better meal planning. No worries mate (insert Crocadile Dundee accent here) As for the scrapple, have at it. Me, I'm not a scrapple fan at all. I know that seems odd since I'm living in Pa Dutch country but I haven't found a heavy enough syrup for on top yet to change my opinion. Blecch!!
Hippie, I'm gonna take a scrubbie to the sensor wire and keep after it. I guess it's pretty much the heart of the system so I better keep it clean.
Well, its time to start getting ready for a wedding, thats why there's no smoke drifting over the patio today. Hopefully tomorrow.
Thanks again folks for all the replies.
Truly a wonderful forum.
Eric

Eric,

Ok, didn't know your temp probe was in the breast. Your target temp for the breast is about 165-170* and about 180 for the thigh. Then pull and rest the bird.