little smokette that could

Congrats on a great cook, there, Mr. Burner.

Glad to see some slow cooking southern style has found its way north.

I like a bird on a Weber kettle as well.

As a matter of fact, if you were to tell me that I were to be stranded on a desert island, and I had one cooking unit to cook with, it would be a Weber kettle (as long as I had a few thousand pounds of charcoal). The Weber kettle does it all, and all pretty good. You're not going to get the really slow cooked bbq from a kettle, because the hoppers start to get too full of ash, but it's great for a two to five hour cook. On top of that, you can do a direct heat grill, with which the Weber Kettle excels. It is a fabulous steak and pork chop machine, with a high charcoal heat to sear. Go a little less on the coals, and you can gently grill fish to perfection.

I traded in my kettle for a Silver B gas a couple of years ago, and I'm not sorry I did, because the gas model I can use in the afternoon after work without busting my hump, and it cooks great.

I guess that's one of the reasons why I went with a smokette, and my first load of food was backribs, and they were fantastic. So I'm happy.

Great news of your great cook!

Now go clean everything up!

MArk

I agree with that, Mark. The only thing I haven't been able to do well on the kettle was brisket... just too hard to keep temp low enough. But, hey, my smokette is king for butts and briskets now.

In fact, I think I may sell the smokette to a neighbor and move up to a 50... at least!

Woodburner,
Are you saying the butts cooked quicker when the unit was loaded to its capacity limit?
I have noticed this same thing, or at least I thought it happened. I haven't cooked enough with our Cookshack units to determine if this was really the case, however, Cookshack states that the smokers function best when loaded at half capacity or higher(I'm not sure about the Smokette, but this is true for the model 150).

When we first got our model 150, we tried cooking various things in it just to feel it out. We mostly cooked chickens and I remember it taking about 30 minutes longer than the touted time of 3 hours. Since we were only experimenting, I didn't want to load the unit to half capacity since this would require 8 birds. It wasn't until we cooked a 16 chicken load that we found the 3 hour time to be accurate.

I have been curious about this but never got around to asking the Cookshack folks about it. I have a guess as to why this happens but it's only a guess. Perhaps someone from Cookshack could provide some insite.

Another note: I tried cooking 1 brisket in the model 150 at the recommended settings but it wasn't very successful. I found that it requires a much higher temperature setting in order for the brisket to be cooked within the expected time period. I haven't had the opportunity to try a full load of briskets in the 150, but I'll bet they will cook-up nicely at the recommended settings.

My thoughts on the quicker cook time when unit is loaded to capacity,are: The more meat that you put in the c.s. the more humidity you have-thus a quicker cook time.

Also maybe the temp. sensor will keep the unit from cycleing as much- so the unit stays at peak temp. most of the time.

Then again nobody has ever accused me of being smart...

My theory is "dead air space" theory. It is more difficult to keep the ambient temperature in a box higher if the volume of ambient air is higher. With one little bitty brisket in a large cooker, it is working hard to keep the air to the temperature. More meat displaces more air, allowing the heat to move in a smaller area. Of course, convection causes the meat to absorb heat energy, but with the smaller dead air space, the heating element is up to the task, and it replaces the convected heat more efficiently.

I think the humidity as earlier mentioned could have a play in this quarter, as well.

Very interesting, and also acknowledged by the designers and manufacturers of these units, by their recommendation of a half load or better.

Cool (hot),

MArk

Yes, KG, I found that the unit cooked quicker, and somehow more consistently, when packed full. I think it has to do with the greater mass of meat and less air in the cooker. My guess is that it's akin to a big cement wall acting as a heat sink, absorbing heat all day, then giving it off at night. I think the meat is just absorbing the heat, and cooking at a more consistent temp somehow... would love the Cookshack opinion on this.

This might be a consideration for those looking for reasons to buy a 50 over a smokette - bigger is not always better.

On the other hand, whether it's thermal mass or humidity that causes faster cooking with a bigger load, one could try using something like a partially covered pot of hot water to simulate a fuller oven.

COOKSHACK FOLKS WHERE ARE YOU!
We need an answer before ol' curiosity gets the best of us.

You boys analyze stuff to death! Here's an analogy that should clear it up for you.

Which uses less energy? A full freezer or a half-full freezer?

Boys always do...the freezer answer depends on how often you open the door.

And a slightly different analogy is, which uses less energy over a given time period, freezer half-filled or completely filled with room temperature food with the thermostat set to 0F?

Boy oh boy oh boy! Okay. Two words:

Radiant Heat

But, but, it's not making sense (whine). Not the freezer analogy, I get that. I'm talking about more meat=less time. When you cook in your regular ol' kitchen oven, the more you put in the more time it takes to cook, doesn't it?

Initially, I thought it had something to do with cold meat near the thermocouple, causing the controller to think the cooker's temp was too low. This would cause it to apply heat much longer than it would if the cooker was partially loaded. What I'm trying to say is that it's actually cooking at a higher temperature when it's fully loaded.

The model 150 has a probe that's about 4-5 inches long mounted to the back inner wall and it protrudes into the cooking chamber. I'm assuming that this is a thermocouple used to monitor the oven temp. If cold meat was placed near the probe, wouldn't this affect the temperature reading? I don't remember if the smokette has something similar. If it doesn't, then I'm probably all wet.

OK. I left myself open with that last line, so let me have it.

Holey semolians! Can't I just spank you instead?

I have never found my oven to take more time cause it's full. You may have to shift things around to get it to cook evenly...as with a couple of racks full of pies or cookies. But that is heat circulation, not cooktime.

Now, here's where I get to plead out...I know nothing about those probe thingies in the 150! Whew!

I DO know this! A fully loaded Model 50 or Smokette, with fish, takes no more or less time than one fillet. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

How do ya like me now?

Woodburner,

What temperature (internal) did you cook the butts to? I can't believe they are done in 12 hours. I did one yesterday, 8lbs @ 225�, and after 22 hours it was at 200�. It was good, but cooking it to 210� would have rendered some more fat.

Westy

I pull my butts out at 190 to 195 thats pull temp. I have found the closer you try to reach the temp. of the smoker the longer it takes.

Good point about your finishing temp and smoking temp being so close.

Butts actually do very well at higher temps, even 250. There is plenty of fat on them to keep them moist and it will cook long enough to render out a lot of fat.

Smokin'

Andi, I still like you, even if you don't know about those probe thingies.

Am I the only one that thinks an oven full of meat takes longer to cook than an oven with one piece of meat? Perhaps this is one of those old tales that gets handed down but isn't true.

Can I please have a beer now.

You bet, KG! I'm havin' one! Ice cold and frosty!

Okay, I've got an oven full of pies. Which will get done sooner? LOL!

Okay, you've got 4 guys, each weighing exactly 250 lbs, crammed into a broken down Volkswagon on a deserted road in the dead of Winter. There's a SAAB just ahead of them in the same condition, only there's only one guy in there. Who's warmer? LOLOLOL!

The four fat guys are warmer!! Is that radiant heat??

I was cooking butts to about 190 internal, and set the Smokette at about 225. I think there may be something to the idea that cold meat near the thermostat could keep the box cooking at a higher temp. did not monitor the smoker temp, just the meat. But I'm talking about those butts getting done in 8 hours! Usually, it takes me about 12, or about 1.5 hrs per lb. Maybe the cooker just runs hot...

Sorry I have been out of touch for a few days. Went to New Orleans for some Cajun Cookin...

I would agree that the smokers cook better when they are least half full. The more product you have in the smoker the more consistant temperature you will have.

Now if you want to know the exact scientific reason for this, I don't know that I have ever figured it out completely. I beleive it has to do with how fast the temperature in the smoker reaches temp. The smokers seem to cook better if it takes longer for the temperature to reach set point.

Sorry I don't have a better explaination.

KG,

That is a great theory about the probe, and entirely supportable as well.

In practice, I used to cook with an OK Joe vertical wood roasting oven, the thermometer, in the door, had a probe that stuck into the cooking chamber right in the middle rack area.

If you loaded a chicken or something too close to the probe, the cool meat would keep the temperature down. This would cause me to stoke, just like it causes the CS thermostat to click. Pretty soon I'd have one ragin' fire and when my cookbox hit 225, the food was probably done.

I figured this one out slowly, but after opening and closing the door and seeing where the thermometer was, a light went off in my head.

Right after a scotch and water.

MArk

See Andi, it's probably that probe thingie.

I gotcher probe thingie right here, Buster! LOL! But, danged if a light didn't go off in my head just now, too! I remember a problem with an electric stove at the other house. The oven would never work right, until I discovered the probe was all bent and sticking out wrong.

You'd think in the Year 2002 we wouldn't have probey problems! The entire surface of the oven should be the probe. Doesn't the new GE advanced oven use such a technology? I'll have to check that out now.

The Heat Seeking Missle That Missed...must have been that darn probe thingie!

Beer me now, Marge.