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Another Question.

I'm seasoning my AmeraQ and have the wood in the fire box facing forward. This places the wood over the area of the heating coil that is an "S" shape. However the wood is having a hard time smoking. I've had it in for over 4 hours and the wood is just begining to show signs of smoke. Any Ideas on what is going on?? Note: I have 6 chucks of wood in the box a mixture of Oak and Hickory. This may cause the heat to dispurse more and not be as consentrated on just two or three pieces. Confused

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Not sure.. but how often are you opening the box?

Every time you open the box.. the heat drops a bunch.. unless it is stuffed with product.

Have you put a thermometer probe in the box to see if it is heating properly? Stuff the probe thru a potato.. all the way thru so the tip is not in contact with the spud but maintained off the metal shelf.. close to the firebox. Should give some sense of how it is heating.

Unseasoned wood too high in moisture? Probably not but worth asking about.

If this doesn't help.. CS Support is fantastic.. and you can't go wrong making that the first thing to do.
Try bending the passes (bends/loops) in the element up, just so they contact the bottom of the wood box for more heat to the wood...this helps a great deal.
Also might put cold water in the drip pan and place on a rack inside to simulate "load" or try a hotter temp. (than manual suggests) 225˚-250˚.
Rob
To break in the smoker the instructions suggested to set the temp to 200 degrees for 4 hours. I did as you suggested in bending the heating loop so that it is just touching the bottom of the fire box and that helped. I think all is OK as some wood now turns to ash and other blocks turn to coal. If using 225 degrees for normal cooking I'm sure all will burn properly. I now at least have a smoke residue all over inside the smoker.
quote:
Originally posted by Magic Dragon Be Smokin:
Try bending the passes (bends/loops) in the element up, just so they contact the bottom of the wood box for more heat to the wood...this helps a great deal.


Not gonna agree with this one and mods to the smoker just aren't appropriate if it's still in warranty. Maybe it works for you, but it's now how it was designed.

I think the right thing, for a new owner is to call Customer Service so they can work through any potential questions.

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