smoker keeps getting hotter and hotter while seasoning it

Temp swings are normal with an empty smoker. How high is it getting? Which smoker did you purchase?

What do you mean by hotter?

500*,600*?

Most of us run them about 250*

what cooker FEC 500 ? CS 260?

I have a model 20 with 750 watt element.
well last night I did a preseason at 200.. perfect never went over that.. Put unit outside to do a first smoke...set unit at 225 the temp kept going up until it was 270.. un pluged the unit let cool down.. started all over with meat now on. set it at 140 just to see whats going on.. its at 175 and climbing.. its on a GFI that shouldnt make any differenct should it?

When you say "meat on,what are we talking?

35 lbs of butts,or a couple chicken thighs?

Like wheelz said,empty units,new unseasoned units swing a lot.

I assume you checked/calibrated an independent therm?

I assume you are checking temp at the spot on the cooking rack?

I assume you open the door and dump some heat,if it is spiking?

I assume nothing is touching the temp probe?

ok pork ribs.. meat out, temp get hotter will not shut off

I took the ribs out, put them in the house oven. started all over set at 200 and we will see what it does.

I set the temp. at 200 now is at 273,, unpluged and will call the distributor tommorrow.

Sometimes these units do overshoot. You could leave it on and it will most likely come back down to set temp.

DB

Should I plug it back in and set at 200 and just see what it does??

You should put a butt in it, set for 225*, and then not look at it again for at least 6 hours. Don't even peek. If the butt incinerates and turns to ash, then call CS in the AM. If it comes out tasty, then stop hovering over your smoker and let it cook.

I ought to do that but some of the ribs are not mine so I had better finish it in the house

quote:

Originally posted by cowbungus:
I ought to do that but some of the ribs are not mine so I had better finish it in the house

Not ribs, a butt. More mass, less picky.

quote:

Originally posted by cowbungus:
I have a model 20 with 750 watt element.
well last night I did a preseason at 200.. perfect never went over that.. Put unit outside to do a first smoke...set unit at 225 the temp kept going up until it was 270.. un pluged the unit let cool down.. started all over with meat now on. set it at 140 just to see whats going on.. its at 175 and climbing.. its on a GFI that shouldnt make any differenct should it?

I'm just getting used to my new 025.

My seasoning went fine. My first smoke (@225), went fine too. My second real smoke, the wood wouldn't smoke (even though it was again at 225).

I called cookshack, and and talked to service. I was told me to bend up the element so that it was touching the bottom of the smoke box, and to keep the wood chunks towards the front (The heat generated discolouration now tells me where the hot spots are, and it's been perfect ever since). Anyways, during the conversation, I mentioned how on one smoke, the temperature skyrocketed. I was concerned, but read on these forums that it can happen. Bill explained that with the electronic controls on the new SM020/025 models, they are actually set to go to 270 for the first 20 minutes (no matter what) to get the smoke going. I have a feeling that this wasn't what mine was doing, since mine went way higher well into the event.

It WOULD explain what you were seeing,(although I haven't seen mine go initially to 270).

You need to turn it on and let it go, do NOT try to chase the exact temp. We needed to know how high it went. If it went to 270 and dropped, that would be one thing (normal).

If it went to 350 and kept climbing, that would be another.

Give it time to stablize and see what that temp is. As has been said, there will be overshoot.

If you're really concerned, just call CS today and they'll walk you through it.

ok and thanks for your help.. the temp went to about 350, shut off cooled down to about 150 and started the climb again, this time to 298, thats when I just shut it down. Again Thanks
Lindsey Webb

Call CS.

After Talking to CS.. It was explained this way. the program is designed to heat up the element for 20 minutes regardless of the temp setting. This way the element will heat up the wood house to start the wood smoking etc. After the 20 min run time the temp should settle down to the present temp. They get a lot of call regarding the same thing for a new customer expecting the unit to hold a present temp right off. I believe its working fine.. Thanks everyone for your help!

I got my 020 today. Started the seasoning and noticed a little smoke so I was happy. Checked back in about an hour or two and there was no smoke. KNEW it couldn't have cooked through the wood that fast. Popped the door open, pulled the woodbox and adjusted the element per the forums. Put the woodbox back in, closed the door (which is really a PITA with the wheels on!). Just checked on it again and it's pumping out a healthy smoke. Now... for some "cheap meat" per the instructions for some more seasoning, etc.

Not crazy about the hickory smell. Can't wait to see what it smells like with the mix of the hickory, rub and meat together.

NOTE: I did notice that during my seasoning with the unit set at 200, the temp guage did climb to 239 at one point, but that's as high as it went.

The wood chunks didn't char all the way through but the walls and door of the smoker are lightly colored from the smoke. Haven't done the cheap meat part yet. need to pick up a temp probe today.

My SM025 did the same thing at the seasoning phase. I called cookshack and was told that the units are set to stay on for 30 minutes regardless of set temp. They programed it that way to get the wood smoking.