Cold weather cook times

Not really such a thing as "cold weather" adjustments in a CS, now if it wasn't a CS, then there would be.

Well, I've cooked many times with the temps in the 20's and 30's and it add zero time in a CS as they're very heavily insulted.

Have you opened the door. That cold of an air temp will drop the inside temp real well.

What you need to find out is not what the temp of the butts are but the inside smoker temp to see if you're having issues. Could be something else.

5lb butts should have been done by now, if all was normal. 176 is just above the plateau, if you're worried, bump up the temp to 250 but you still won't know the temp inside the smokette.

They're close, only another 10 degrees or so.

I haven't opened the door. I always try to wait until they are done. I put the probe in the biggest of the butts, but they are all within .5# of the same weight. I have done 3 butts one time before, but this is the first time to do 4. When I did 3 it took about 14 hrs. to get to 195. I can usually get one butt up to 195 in about 12 hrs. I usually only cook one at a time. I do one almost every weekend.

Thanks for the help. I turned the temp up a little (about 240), I will see how they come out. I was just worried that they might get dry. I've never had to cook this long before.

I will report how they come out.

The Bear,

I live in northern Minnesota so you can imagine what our temperatures are routinely like this time of the year. I have never noticed a bit of difference in times for preparing foods in my CS, whether winter or summer. Like Smokin mentions, the only time cold weather might have an effect would be if you are opening the door. Another cold weather issue to consider, however, if you have a smokette like I do, is the buildup under the drain hole. I have noticed that if cooking pork butts or brisket with a nice fat cap, the grease or fats that drain out into the catch pan beneath, begin building up because of the cold weather, much like a stalagmite. I have actually had it right up to the drain hole. I simply check it more often in the winter and remove the buildup periodically.

Best wishes on your smoking.

see, that's why we have the forum.

Hadn't heard that one before drb.

Fat Stalagmites...only in BBQ

Everything came out perfect as usual. The two butts on the middle rack came out at the 18 hr mark at 195. The two on top were at 185, so I left them for another hour. They were 193 when I took them out. The juice ran out when I removed the probe for the thermometer, so drying out was not a factor. I don't know what caused the extended cook time, but it doesn't matter, the meat is for day after tomorrow.

All's well that eats well!

even though i live down here in savannah ga, i have noticed an extended cook time in my home-made smoker. it was in the 40 degree range while i was smoking butts yesterday. it took an extra 3 hours to get to temp. but i figured it was 'cause my smoker lets in a lot of air, which is cooler than normal, keeping the smoker cooler... usually i am fighting fires and flare-ups with this green hickory i got, but not a single fire yesterday. i thought about plugging the air holes, but the smoke plumes are great advertising and worth the extra cost.....

coffee, if you're using any metal smoker and it doesn't have insulation, the outside temp WILL affect the cook time.

The CS's have a 1000 degree insulation between the inner and outer wall, thus, no effect from outside air temps.