help

First of all, I am trying to understand why you would still have it on the Smoke setting at 3 PM when you put the briskets went on at midnight the night before. Am I understanding you correctly? If yes, why would you keep it on Smoke for such a long time?

Second, was the FEC out in the sun or in the shade this afternoon? I find being in the sun will raise the temps on my FEC. Maybe not to 300 when it is on the Smoke setting but then again I have never had that particular situation come up.

Please tell us more about your cook and such. If we can't help, a call to Tony in Service will definitely help.

I set it as low as it would go without turning it off. It's running up to 300 on smoke. If I put it on 180, it runs up even higher.

Then I suggest you get in touch with customer service at Cookshack. It could be a few different things but customer service is the expert on things of this type and can get you what you need very quickly.

300 on smoke is not normal, call Customer Service.

does it do this even when empty? If the cold brisket was up against the temp probe it wouldn't shut the pellets off. just a thought.

When I got home from work this afternoon, I cleaned it out and set it on smoke empty. When it hit 220, I just shut it down. I sent an online query to service explaining the problem. Have to see what they say. Just hope I can get it straightened out, and that there are no problems with the other one.

Have you heard back from them yet? Just curious what the problem and solution was.

Tony doesn't seem to think there is a problem. He said it was over run. He said the owner's manual says smoke should run around 180-185. What I don't understand is if smoke should run around 180-185, why is there a smoke setting and a 185 on the dial.

My biggest problem is that my first cook which was ribs, it ran 140-150 on smoke. When I moved it up to 185 it ran right in that range, and the same when I moved it to the next notch, it ran around 225-230.

After the ribs were finished, I put in two briskets. I left it on smoke for two hours, and then moved it to 185, and temps still ran rigth in line. About twelve hours into the cook with the smoker set on 185, the temp suddenly jumped up to almost 300 (thank God for Maverick). I had not opened the door since I put the briskets in so there should have been no reason for such a jump.

I moved the control back to smoke, and still had to open the door a few time to keep the temp below 275.

I bought two 100's because of the (almost) set and forget ease. If I had been asleep when it started to jump up in temp, I could have ruined a lot of meat.

I haven't even unpalleted the second smoker, and I'm almost afraid to.

I think mine was delivered right around the same time yours was. Have you used it since the incident? So far, mine has performed as promised. Last weekend I ran it 22 hours. I'm curious to see how yours works when you fire it back up.

When I got off work Wednesday, I cleaned out the bottom good and turned it on at the smoke setting. It climbed up to about 220-225. I let it run for three hours and 180-185 was as low as it ever ran so I just shut it down.

I sent a message to Tony at Cookshack, and he said that was a normal temp for the smoke setting. If that's the case, I don't know why I didn't have the same problem Saturday and most of Sunday. Also, if that's normal, why even have a 180 setting.

Mine did the same thing. The second time I turned it on it went nuts, 300 plus. Tony said that it might be the temp probe, I put a new one on and it ran fine for an hour, then went nuts again. I took the cover off the probe to see how it would it would do. The cooker has ran great, havn't put the cover back on. On smoke my runs around 145 to 165, on 180 it runs around 190. Now, when you first fire it up, it will hit around 215 but then goes back down.

Hope this helps,
Dale

Mine performs the same as yours D, 140 to 160 on smoke then about 190 on 180, sometimes 170 or so. I put a couple of oven thermos inside today and they are about 5 or 10 degrees off top to bottom. My probe has a cover on it though, do you find you have to clean yours regulary? I guess each cooker has its own personality. What technique to you use to go from high temps back down to smoke? Is it best to turn the unit off then re-fire after its cooled or just turn it down and let it do its thing? Thanks.

I wipe off the probe after every cook. I hardly ever go back down on temps once I bump the themp up. I don't use the smoke setting anymore, I start out at 180 and go to the next notch. I tried this method after reading several post by other people. If I'm doing butts or briskets, I leave it on 180 for at least 8 hours, 21/2 hours for ribs. Bump it to the next notch to finish. I found no difference in taste between the smoke setting and the 180 setting.

Really don't know what that probe cover had to do with anything, all I know that I have not had a problem since.

Dale

I had the same problem when I first got mine. (Look back to Spring 05 on board). I do not know how amny racks of ribs you had on first, but I always have trouble when I cook a rack or 2, but when I fill her up she runs exact to temp. If you are only using 1 shelf for a few ribs, try putting a pan or two filled with water on the bottom shelf, It usually works for me.

Now I only use my FEC when I have alot to cook, otherwise I use my WSM.

I'm no scientist, but if the temp probe and controller are working right, even an empty smoker should maintain a temperture consistent with the dial setting.

I have no problem with 1 shelf or 2. I agree, should not a difference. Like I said earlier, don't know what the big deal is with the cover over the probe, just know that it works fine now.

Dale

I disagree EZ. If you are cooking on the Smoke setting, this is a timed setting. The temp probe is only there to record a temp in the Smoke and 180 settings. Say you have the FEC sitting in the sun and on the Smoke setting, I can almost guarantee you it will run hot.

But as I have said before, if it is running hot after just firing it up, open the door and dump the heat. Leave the door open until the temp comes down to your range, then put the meat in and shut the door. This should help on the temps.

Johns right. Remember the smoke setting and the 180 are "different" as far as how the controller runs.

EZ, the smoke setting isn't a "temp" setting so it will vary. The smoke setting temps WILL vary with the ambient temp. It's just dumping pellets at a set interval.

quote:

I'm no scientist, but if the temp probe and controller are working right, even an empty smoker should maintain a temperture consistent with the dial setting.

Well, except you have to figure in the ambient temp/air coming in the 5" exhaust. If it's hot outside, then the smoke temp will be in the 180 or even higher range (I get over 200 on smoke with it's 100+ here in OKC). Conversely it will be about 140 during the winter. ALL due to the outside temp. Same number of pellets are dumping in the winter and summer, it's just the difference in outside temps.

180 is a temp setting, but it tends to have some affect from outside temps, but I can normally keep it close to 180 or so.

Dumping heat is important. See how it works next time, look at the fire box. Pellets will build up and as they ignite, the fire gets HOT, many times in the 275+ range. Just open the dooor and dump heat. A pot full of pellets in the beginning causes that.

FYI, the Traeger controller and it's method for monitoring temps is one of the main reason CS also developed it's own controls. Yup, more expense with the AQ, but more control. FYI, both my comp units have the Trager control.

quote:

Originally posted by ezgoin:
About twelve hours into the cook with the smoker set on 185, the temp suddenly jumped up to almost 300 (thank God for Maverick). I had not opened the door since I put the briskets in so there should have been no reason for such a jump.

I think you have multiple questions so we need to discuss those.

Talked about the smoke setting above. If on SMOKE it gets to 300 consistently, then that's a problem. But your later posts made it sound like it was a different problem. In fact it could run on smoke for 24 hours if you wanted and the internal temp of the smoke would vary based on the outside temp.

IF on 180, it jumped to over 300 for no reason, that wouldn't be normal. When I put mine on 180 or 245 or 275 or whatever, it "holds" that temp usually +/- 15 degrees or so. UNLESS I open the door and let ambient air in to cool things off. I've never seen the smoke, if it's been running on a temp, say 180 or 245 just "jump" up in temp unless someone opened the door and the internal temp cooled things off. Could someone else have opened up just to look?

Every time I open the door, turn the dial down to 180 so it doesn't dump a bunch of pellets.

Also, when these things happen, look at the fire pot and see if you're getting too many pellets.

These smokers work fine, as advertised, it just takes time to work through all the questions.

Keep asking, we'll help.

I've had my 2 for over 3 years and been through most problems.

We're here to help, so we'll work our way through it with you.

Thanks Okie and everyone else who has contributed. I'm keeping track of all the suggestions. My biggest concern was that it had worked perfectly on the load of ribs I did on Saturday and had run fine for twelve hours on the briskets when all of a sudden the temp started spiking.

I was using both the meat and smoker probes on my Maverick, so I had not opened the door during the entire cook. I had moved the controller to the next notch up from 180 about three hours previously and the temp had been holding around 215-220 before it started spiking.

I don't think I'm going to have time to try any of it this weekend. Right now I'm running a three man section by myself plus supervising two others, (good old government budget cuts), but possibly the weekend after.

I still have about thirty two-rack packages of babybacks, and I was able to pick six packers when one of the Walmarts here had them on for .78 per lb so I plenty to practice on when I get the chance.

Thanks again everyone.