How critical is cooking temperature?

yeah tjr... I'm thinking the same thing. Maybe after a century or so at it at least for me, I tend to worry less about those admitedly surprising swings. I think that if I keep the temp between 180 and 250, I'm in the range to do the job I need to do. I like to try to hover around 200... read somewhere (on here, I think), the thought that if you can keep the temp under 212 then less moisture might steam off the product... that seemed interesting to me.

Morning,guys.

I've found on the circuit, that cooks are more concerned with temp spikes and is the cooker going.

You'll see most cooks with a probe through a potato,and a lot of instaread pocket probes.

On all nights,if it hasn't fallen below around 170� and spiked above around 270�-its just time for another beverage and story.

tjr,

Okay, you asked and I'll tell you.

SOAP BOX WARNING AHEAD....

I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head. We're trying to overanalyze a simple machine that has worked well for over 35 years.

BUT...this is our friendly forum and we'll try to help the curious and new owners through this issue. If it's broke, CS fixes it.

We're trying to overthink how this thing works. Now, granted, since it's an electrick smoker, you want to be sure it's working, but that should be by average temp with a dial setting. Also, given electronics in the smokette, I'm not sure what the +/- is, but that's your point.

I agree with you TJR.

I like to keep my smoker above 200 and other than that, I'm not too worried. For Ribs and Brisket I set it at 225. For butts and chicken in my 150 I'll set it at 250, even 275. But that difference in the higher temp isn't critical, I just like to run my smoker "hotter" for those things.

Tom's right, the comp cooks like to keep the spikes out and the CS does that automatically (unless it's broke).

I understand the new owners curiosity about the fluctuations, but guys, it's been working for over 35 years as advertised and there are 1,000's of posts about how good it works.

Let's get into the details of what's working. Are you satisfied with the results -- Great. Not satisfied? Tell us what's not working and this forum has helped MANY new owners overcome the learning curve and make fantastic Q.

I'm not trying to upset the curious about how the machine works, I just really like to work on making my own Q better and helping others do the same.

From my Friendly Soapbox!

Smokin'

Man, I see all these different temps, and people concerned with them. I'm glad I have no plans to check the temp inside, I'm just happy when whatever is in there is done somewhere close to the time I had planned, and I have yet to have anything that was to bad as not to want to eat it. I have an ECB and I loved the thing, but with my smokette it is so much easier to use and results in taste are nearly the same.

I think that is do in part to the well sealed CS which keeps the moisture in as opposed to the airy ECB which needs a water pan to help with the moisture.

I love them both but had I known how much simplier (sp) the CS unit is, I would have had one years ago.

Dave

Thanks for the discussion.

It seems like it's possible to get good results with a pretty simple formula:

<table border=1><tr><th>Food</th><th>Set Temperature</th><th>Cooking Time</th></tr><br /><tr><td>Ribs, Brisket</td><td>225F</td><td rowspan=99>It's Done When It's Done</td></tr><br /><tr><td>Chicken, Pork Shoulder</td><td>250F</td></tr><br /><tr><td>Jerky</td><td>175F</td></tr></table>

Certainly, you can do something different if you like. But you don't have to.