Seasoning my new SM 025

When you say 195*,is that mavrick reading, display reading?

When you have them in your smoker, are they held off of shelves with foil? or just laying there?

I have read that after so high the probes will register HI.

Customer service told me that the probe is set to go to HI at 200 degrees. At 195 you are very close to that. As long as it works up to that point I wouldn't worry. Mine went to HI as soon as I plugged it in. They are sending me a new probe. Season it with a hunk of meat. No need to waste the electricity or smoke. Good luck and have fun.

I have all 3 probes running thru a piece of wood that has small holes drilled in it.

I have been using these pieces of wood in my last smoker. They work well.

All 3 probes are registering pretty close in temp, so I know the probe is accurate. I just think displaying "HI" at 195 is too low.

Don't we bring the pork butt to 205 at times?

I would call customer service like Grillman said.They will be able to help sort out any problems. You are wise on the Maverick for back up, use it if needed.

I must remind you that we smoke to doneness not temp. Temp will be a target only, then we will use the ART of being an experienced cook, to tell doneness.

195* is where I like to start checking for doneness,ie... bone feels loose, or probe slides in like butter.

Smokin' doesn't like thread jacking, so don't tell. My cs020 will cook hotter on the front side compared to back. You will have more direct heat at bottom, but PBs will finish faster on the top shelve. Rotate shelves when doing ribs,IMO

Good stuff cal...and thanks grillman

Not worried at all...the unit is nice...the Maverick is reading 254 left top and 257 bottom right...the smoker heater is reading 252...that is pretty close and steady too

this is what I want...my gas smoker can't hold temp

thanks again

Just got done seasoning...4 hours with hickory...the inside is nice...black smoke residue

So far I love the smoker...I set it at 250, put in 3 chunks, and 2 temp probes

The oven temp was between 250 - 252
Both probes were between 253 - 259
The entire time

The 3 chunks were not half burned through...I am used to adding wood every couple of hours in my gasser...No question I would use 1 chunk for ribs for my first time

I noticed last weekend, when using the probe that came with my SM025, if I don't have the probe plug pushed all the way in to the receptacle, the display will read "HI". I found that the little spring cover on the receptacle was preventing me from having pushed the plug all the way in. And as soon as I corrected my mistake, the temperature readout was as I expected.

One other thought to keep in mind,that folks that have owned several other cookers know.

The "breakin' period of maybe four hrs,a couple oz of wood and a piece of fatty pork means we have checked to see if the cooker works,SOME.

The bright,mirror like walls,have a wisp of a glaze on them.No they don't yet look like a 20 yr old black iron skillet from your granny.

The experienced cooks might know that when they have cooked maybe thirty long cooks,mapped out their hot/cold spots,figured what temps the cooker "likes" to cook certain meats,what temps different products finish at-with different cooking temps,the cooker is started on a pretty decent breakin.

Now,they can go ahead and learn the cooker-which is what makes them a cook.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Need help with new SM025. My break in didn't work. I followed the instructions put foil on the bottom with hole for drain and on the shield above wood box. Two chunks of hickory in the box, 220 for 4hrs. I noticed little if any smoke coming out and at the end of the 4hrs I found the 2 wood chunks intact with minimal scorching. What did I do wrong. Yikes, I'm hoping to do my first smoke on Easter Sunday. No one at the company today of course! Thanks for any advice.

OK, I found a thorough discussion of this problem in another forum thread. Seems I'm not the only one with this issue. I'm going to crank the temp up higher to season the cooker, but I'm worried that I still won't get enough smoke when I actually have meat in. I like the taste of smoke and will be very disappointed if I can't get as much as I want.

Take a look at thisthread and see if it doesn't help.

Did your smoker get any color on the walls?

I would put in a pan of water for a simulated load and try again.If you got a little smoke on the walls and your wood was just charred, your smoker is okay.

Slightly lift the element so that it is touching the wood box (don't touch it when it's hot). Split the wood into smaller chunks and place them towards the front of the wood box. Put a pork butt into the smoker and crank it up to 250*. The meat will force the element to turn on more often to maintain temperature, and with the element on more often, the wood should burn better.

More smokes will produce better results as the smoker gets more seasoning. Happy Qing to you.

Pags is spot on. Like all "new" items there is a little learning curve.

One thing for everyone's benefit. The cookers are designed to actually heat the element up MUCH higher initially to just get the wood burning. I know Stuart or someone posted the exact temp, but I don't want to misquote.

Look at the placement of the element and the placement of the wood.

That's the tough thing about doing a first run on a Holiday weekend you might have initial issues.

We'll help if we can.

Thanks for all the advice. After my message yesterday I increased temp to 230 and ran it again. When I checked after a few hours I had "HOT" on the oven temp readout, but with good discoloration of the interior and the wood was well charred.

So what does the "hot" mean?

I'll adjust the heating element as suggested and go for it this afternoon with a chicken.