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I have posted several times about super-long cook times in my 008.

I have had rib in sinc 10:00 a.m. Its 2:00 now and I have been monitoring internal temps with a probe through a ball of foil. The tip of the probe is exposed to the air and the proge is on the middle shelf.

I have the unit set to 225*. The probe is reading 180* - 205* and no higher. I just put a second probe in there to make sure It wasn't a faulty probe...same thing.

Is this most likely a bad thermostat?
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I tried some other tests...

Like an oven, I decided to turn the knob until I heard the "click" of the thermostat turning on the heating element. My internal temp was reading 205*. I cranked it up to almost 240* before I heard that click of the heating element being turned on. That means, my unit thought temps were at 240* when they were really 205*.
I'd certainly call Cookshack service,and let them run you through the checks.

It does sound a little like a therm problem.

I assume you had checked out the unit operating temps,with a correctly calibrated therm,back before you started your new cooking operations?

If it isn't reaching temps,there could be a couple of explanations.
Yeah, this isn't the first time I checked the temps. Same result every time. I was trying to NOT OVERTHINK THINGS and I gave the unit the benefit of the doubt. Now I am finding it increasingly difficult to cook.

By the way, I cranked it up to 250* and I am only getting temps as high as 212* and as low as 185*.
Thanks for the support...

Ribs turned out ok but took 8.5 hours at the 250* setting!! My experimental rub mixture was the best I have had, so the cook ended up being educational. Just can't seem to get them real tender without the temps getting up there.

I will call CS tomorrow morning. Thanks for the advice. I still love my smoker!
UPDATE:

So I temperature tested one more time today. this time, I left the probe in the exact same place I had it yesterday during the rib cook.

Now the chamber temps seem to be in check! At a 225* setting, they fluctuate between 210* and 240*.

I was always told on this forum that loading up your unit shouldn't cause longer cook times. Why couldn't I get the chamber temps up to 225* then?

I cooked 3 slabs of baby back ribs. Each slab was around 2.75 lbs. I cut them in half and put 2 halves on each shelf. They were spaced so that air could move around them on all sides. This should have been fine...right?

Did I do something wrong?
I can't help but wonder if one of your shelves is contacting the thermostat probe area at the back wall inside. There have been issues similar to this in the recent past. See if you can find where it is located and then adjust the racks or shelf holders differently so that the grills or shelves are located differently in relation to the back inside wall.

It has to be something simple like this.

Cool
I have also read on this forum that the temps in a new unit will tend to even out as the unit gets (really) seasoned. This means that the walls are black with a nice covering of <whatever they call the stuff>.

When I got my 055, I did an initial temp check and when set to 225 it swung from 270 down to 180. Yup, 225 is right in the middle of that.

I haven't checked or worried about the temps since and the thing turns out a great product. Just chill for a bit and see how it is after about 10 cooks. CS will still take care of you.

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