New to me SM260

BeeBQMember

Picked up a used SM260. The unit was filthy when I got it. Cleaned up, new seal, 2 new fire box’s, 6 new racks and a fresh season. Ran 2 packer briskets, and 8 pork shoulders. I put 11.5 oz. of hickory in 1 wood box. (I hadn’t ordered the second one at the time.)

The product came out….meh. No smoke ring on the beef, and a little on the pork. Smoke flavor was quite light to not at all. I ran the unit at 225 until the meat was done. Took a tick over 12 hours. What am I missing/doing wrong?

It’s worth mentioning, we run a barbecue food truck and catering business, and our primary smoker is a 250gallon stick burner.

Thanks!

12/1/211:19 PM

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jay1924Member

You shouldn't expect a smoke ring from an electric smoker. Not going to happen due to the small amount of wood used. If you are using almost 12 oz of hickory you are doing it wrong with an electric, please look up proper use of your new smoker. It's not a stick burner.

12/1/219:12 PM

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BeeBQMember

Thanks? And I did read the smoker manual, cover to cover, and where it says use no more than 12 ounces. If there’s is a place to learn how to use the smoker, I thought this was it?

Anybody with some actual input willing to chime in?

12/1/219:40 PM

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jay1924Member

Sorry, no offense meant. Your sm260 specs says 2 oz. of wood smokes 60 lbs of product. And the large expert comment base here will let you know that smoke rings are not a gauge of good barbeque, just how much wood has been burned. Lots of very good, very smokey BBQ from a CS electric shows little or no smoke ring. Some folks add a chunk of charcoal for the optics.

12/1/2110:04 PM

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oldsargeAdmin

I have always gotten great smokey flavor and bark on brisket and butts in the Amerique. As Jay said, no smoke ring. I replaced an offset stick burner and my first 'cook' was decidedly different but just as tasty. Just plain good Q. Your 260 is just a larger version of the 066 and should yield the results that we all enjoy from the smaller units. Maybe posting in the 260 area will get you the answers you are looking for.

12/3/212:12 PM

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Former Member

oldsarge - yep, agree. BTW, CS deleted my account (assuming some problem that will be corrected), but you'll recognize the new ID.

12/4/2111:00 PM

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BeeBQMember

Thanks guys. I’ve got quite the learning curve to overcome.

12/5/216:55 PM

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Former Member

No worries. We are always happy to try to help (sometimes annoyingly so). Seriously, I don't know how many years oldsarge has had his SM066 but I've had mine about 8 1/2 years now with many many smokes of many, many different things. As he said, your CS electric is similar to ours, so ask away, or even post a success story for us to learn from. It's why we're all here.