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16 replies

Please help a newbie

FM Former Member
First,...a big thank you for those who reply !

My 55 just arrived and I'm "breaking it in"

I believe I have a problem.

I used 10oz of wood as manual instructed
set to 200 for 4 hours plus

Ok,..my problem. The smoker heated up fast and within 10-15 minutes I was seeing smoke,..lots of smoke. I have smoke pouring out from the top of the door (I have read that this is normal) Anyway,...after 40 minutes it seems the 55 in no longer "heating" the top of the smoker does not feel "as hot" as when it was smoking. Infact the whole 55 has cooled. Also, there is "no more" smoke pouring smoking from the upper release hole or the top of the front door. After another hour of this I turned the 55 off to have a look.
The chunks of wood are still chunks and my outlet is working. i put a tester to it.

Any ideas ???? I still have it on and I will leave it on until the 4 hours is up. It has been two hours now and there is still no visible smoke and very little smell of smoke.

Any help would be appreciated. I plan on calling customer service tomorrow morning and I know they will take care of me. I'm posting here because I wanted to wake at 6am to start a pork butt.

Regards
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FM Former Member
Hello Creechin,
I hope that the same old idea doesn�t come up as always does. � What gauge ext cord are you using� Duh, people think that you plugged this into a 24 gauge lamp cord? This drives me crazy, always has. In a house there are 2 main gauges of wire for 110. 12 gauge for the kitchen, because you MIGHT be using the microwave and the toaster at the same time with the reefer running, all from a 20 amp breaker for the kitchen. As the rest of the house it is a 15 amp breaker for 14 gauge wire. A normal outside ext cord is at least 14 gauge. I think some people will even jump in and ask for the length on the cord. I have heard this nonsense for years. Look at this, another way! Grab the ext cord, is it warm? That means the smoker is wanting more power that the cord can�t deliver. Something has got to be done about these false and misleading fixes.
FM Former Member
Jack

Thank you for the reply.

1) I was not using a extension cord. I plugged directly into a outlet that is not stressed with other appliances

2) After 4 hours the 55 was basically warm to the touch, no smoke

3) I turned off, unplugged and used a different outlet with a extension cord. Same as above and cord was not warm to the touch. I even set temp gauge on 55 to max and the unit warmed/heated ever so slightly. Put it this way,.. I could rest my palm on the top of the 55 at max heat

I'll be calling customer service tomorrow. Bummer
FM Former Member
You are not going to feel heat on the outside of the Cookshack. Ever. I won�t do the same promos that people do here. Because they have a problem with the thermostat. It took 24 hours to do 2 small butts that weighed 3,8 lbs. I question does a food safety problem come into question here? They have ignored this by asking if you used an ext cord. What a lie.
FM Former Member
Creechin,

I'm sure your call to Customer Service will be of more help than anything here, but did you happen to pick up a remote thermomete? If so, you could try positioning the end of the probe through something so you can take ambient temperature readings from within the smoker. You won't want the sensor end of the probe touching any racks or walls. I've heard of people using a potato or ball of alumimum foil to do this. Any measuring in this way will let you know what's going on in there.

Typically, the wood will not continue to smolder throughout the entire cook cycle, so I'm not sure I'd be too worried about the lack of smoke later in the cycle just yet. As for the unit feeling warm, this may or may not be a problem. I find that our unit gets warm/hot, but never so hot that you can't touch the exterior. These cookers are very well insulated.

At any rate, a call to CS in the morning should get you squared away. Good luck and enjoy the Q!
FM Former Member
Maybe a burned out element or a bad thermostat. One way to tell would be to open the door, remove the woodbox, plug it in, turn the thermostat up until you feel/hear it click on around 100F, watch the heating element to see if it starts to glow red - or just touch a wet finger to it and see if it sizzles.

If the thermostat never clicks, it's probably bad. Otherwise, it's most likely a burned out element. You might even be able to see a break in it.

If you've got a multimeter, you could turn the thermostat full blast and check the resistance across the power cord with the smoker unplugged. Around 8-15 ohms would be about right.

Hey Jack, right on about the ext. cord Wink
FM Former Member
Thanks guys for the suggestions!

First, let me say that in NOOOOOO WAAAAAAAAY am I disspointed with the CookShack. I'm a grown man and I feel like a kid in a candy store.
Things happen and that's is that.
I will take a closer look at the element and go from there. Thanks again

FYI, when I looked inside the 55 no smoke was released, and I could rest my palm over the heating element cover plate. This was after 2-3 hours of being on at 200.
FM Former Member
Creechin,

Couple of things. Whenever the CS is on, the one spot that should be warm is the exit hole for the smoke. If it's cool to the touch, then that's probably not right. The rest of the unit, sides and top, will be cool to the touch.

Smoke isn't always visible. In a lot of forums you'll see reference to "clear" smoke vs. "dirty" smoke. Dirty smoke is the stuff you can visible see and it's carrying stuff in the smoke. Clear is actually the better stuff (according to some) as it's not carrying the bad stuff. And clear smoke is hard to see, because it's "clear" Big Grin I know sounds confusing...
FM Former Member
Hey guys,.......I just wanted to thank all of you who replied. I'm all set now thanks to Cookshack customer service. Some newbie problems that have been taken care of.
I wish every company cared for their customers like Cookshack. I can't say enough on how prompt they were in calling me back and explaining the ins and outs of smoking. What a great company!

Now to the recipe book Smiler
H hvMember
Belly Buster --

Your statement that the element cycles on and off leads me to wonder how wide (or narrow) the temperature band is. That is, what is the range of temperature fluctuation in the Cookshack when it is operating?

It appears steady temperature is one of the keys to a perfect Q, so I wonder how the temp swings affect the food.

Anyone know? SmokinOkie?
T tomMember
Well,since Smokin' is on the plane to Iowa,I'll give a couple thoughts.

At least once a month we have this thread.

Most folks will find a max swing of about 25�,depending on how full the cooker is.

Empty gives larger,full gives smaller.

The larger multi-element cookers tend to have a little less,when full.

Steady temperature tends to mean "in your cooking range,without massive temp spikes".

The short answer to the question of effect would be somewhere between zero and none IMO.
FM Former Member
I agree with Tom. I have tracked the variance and found an approximate range of 25 degrees. If I remember correctly, the high end of the plus temperature may have been plus 30 and the low end was minus 25 from my set point. While this is greater than an oven in your house, it is a substantially closer range than most stick burners.

The only area where I think this MAY come into play is if you are using a rub or sauce that has a sugar with a low burn temperature. For example, if your sugar burns at 275, it may burn when you have your CS set at 250. As to any other supposed effects, I don't think you will find any.

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