Exhaust Piping for FEC100

mack,
the piping is used was 5 inch flex hose that is held directly against my hood system and is non insulated pipe. never had a shift in times or temps.
jack

thanks Jack. Cooked a couple of briskets prior to the installation and after 14 hours finished in over with beef broth as the were tough. Cooked another brisket after vent system and 13 hours and they were crispy critter. All other things were equal. Trying to figure out why. It may be one of the mysteries of BBQ.

I have two FEC's on my trailer with the 5" 90 and about 48" 5" pipe with caps. I have no difference in cooking times. I have one FEC with a 5" 90 and 25" 5" pipe with cap and all three cook the same.
Smoky Mountain Smokers

About crispy briskets. First couple I did in mine came out with one side crisipier than the other. It's because of the hot blast from below. You can start with the fat down and then flip. Works for me.

About temp:

You are changing the flow dynamics of the smoker, depending on how long the run is. But the outside air temps affect the internal temps more than the air flow it seems.

That is why during the winter as it pulls in colder outside air, the smoke setting can get below 100. In the summer, I'm lucky to get 180 on smoke.

Use a separate thermometer to check the temps.

Set it on the 245 setting (the one between 180 and 275) and see what registers on the smoker temp. Use a separate probe thermometer to map the smoker. I did this for mine:

Temp Mappin in an FE

Lots of experience here, we'll help with the crispy critters.

I call that 245* setting the "Notch". Almost all my cooking is done at that setting. Full blast for chicken, and smoke setting for fish.

Thanks all for the info.

Only had the unit for several months and still learning.

Mack