temp control

cptdarel, the temp swing has been discussed many times. Check the archieves. The temp swings you list are pretty normal. The temp is more stable when the cooker is full.

The temp swing comes from the on and off of the heating element. It is the average temp which counts not the high and low. Besdies it is the final product which counts and this will take a little time to get experience with the cooker. Take good notes and you will be turning out great Q in no time.

I am having a similar problem today. I have a new somkette with a 5 lb brisket in and can't get the temp above 200F. The thermo is set at 250 but the temp inside is only 180-200F. I can understand the tolerance of 180 to 200, but am disappointed that it doesen't have the horsepower to reach 225F which is where I planned to cook. Looks like I am going to have to pull the meat foil it and finish in the oven.

ocrick,
Did you check the usuall suspects such as a small extension cord or to much load on your circuit. The CS should easily reach the temps of 225 or 250. You might have a bad thermostat in which case, you will need to call CS customer service.

Thanks for the suggestions. Today I plan to collect a little more information about what the smokette is doing. As for the extension cord and circuit loading....the element is only 500w. The cookshack power cord is 14awg so if someone is using a too small cord one would expect it to get warm.

Gonna hook up 3 thermometers (one at the level of each rack) and run it for 4 hours at 250F and measure the temps at 15min intervals. Hope to understand if it can get to 250F and what the temp differences are between the rack levels.

I guess I must have too much time on my hands!

I COOKED 3 RACKS OF RIBS, I FOUND MY SELF CHASING
THE TEMP CONTROL FOR 2.5 HRS. THEN I LEFT IT ALONE. THE TEMP SWUNG FROM 203 DEG TO 241 DEG, BACK AND FORTH TILL 4 HRS WERE UP, IF THIS IS NORMAL I CAN ACCEPT IT, BUT GEEEZE NOT USE TO IT, THE RIBS WERE GREAT FINISHED OFF ON GRILL WITH Q SAUCE, EVERY ONE RAVED OVER THEM!. I THIN IM GONNA LIKE IT.

I would be very happy with a temperature swing of only 38 Deg. My Smokette swings between 55 to 75 deg depending on what I have in it. That's after an initial spike of 100+ deg above where I set it. It's inconvenient if you are trying to do something at lower temp like jerky, doesn't seem to effect ribs, butts and brisket though.

The temp swings are normal and nothing to really be concerned about. Ya have to figure that the heating unit/element gets to a certain temp them cuts out. Then when the temp starts to drop it kicks in again. So, you are going to have fluxuation.

I would be concerned though if I were not able to get the temp above 200 as someone mentioned above. Get on the phone to CS customer service ASAP. They are greta people and want their clients to be pleased with their purchase.

ok...here goes!

Today I started by measuring the resistance across the smokette's circuit... 27.4 ohms. At 120vac that should draw @ 4.4a and would calculate to 525w...looked good (matched the UL rating) so I went on to step 2.

Put a thermocouple dead center and fired her up setting the thermostat at the max (250F) setting. Starting temp was 68F...@ 15 min it was 158F and by 30min it reached 268F. Looks great to me! Then I shut her off opened the door and let her cool down again.

I fired it up a second time...same everything only with a 20' Home Depot Special 16/3 extension (the smokette is equipped with a 14/3)...exactly the same temps! My smokette is working perfectly. The internal temp swings @ 30F but looks consistent. I am very happy and with some practice I will be able to dial it in perfectly.

Now I still dont understand why I couldn't get over 200F yesterday??? I've eliminated equipment malfunction...so all that is left is operator error!

The only things that might be different is that I had a drip tray on the lower rack and the brisket in the center and a pan of beans on the upper rack. There was a lot of moisture inside but I think this is very normal. There was a pretty good breeze yesterday.....maybe cool air was drafting in through the drain hole? any suggestions?

ocrick - External temp and breeze/wind shouldn't have anything to do with internal temp of your CS. We have people here from Alaska to Maine and never have problems with cold windy conditions. I know I've used my machine in 20 degree windy weather and not had a problem.

I don't think I would use a drip pan inside the CS. Seems like you would get uneven heat distribution. Just my opinion though.

Good luck!

Why did you have a drip pan inside the smokette? the drip pan goes under the smoker to catch all the grease and such. Cover the smoke box and bottom with heavy duty foil.

I bet your drip pan acted a bit like the cold smoke baffle. The thermostat sensor is on the back wall about the height of the bottom rack. So, a big piece of metal on the bottom rack would reflect heat onto the sensor and cause it to feel a higher temperature than that of the air above it.

I'm gonna guess you are right. Before getting the CS I have often used a foil pan for easy clean up (i'm really lazy).

Most likely it did fool the temp sensor. I did some chicken yesterday without the pan and everything worked great. After I pulled the foil from the wood box and the bottom of the cooker. Not a big deal.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts and suggestions...I have a lot to learn about Q and my smokette. There is hope yet!

I have the 55 cs. I have had problems with big temp swings since I got it in dec. 03. The temperture swings at that time was estimated to be about 100 deg. plus. I call cs service to resolve the issue---I got the run-a-round that this was normal. So they suggest that I check the temperture over 3 hr. So, I also conducted a test simalary to what ORICK did. The temperture swing was 100-306 degs. Cs told me this was normal and would average out to 225. However, the calculated average was 260 when set at 225. I really had to twist there arm to get a new thermostat. The 55 is working now. It looks like this is a problem that they have with reliaiblity using inexpensive thermostats. Overall I felt that I should have researced smokers more carefully --- I don't really be leave the smoke taste is the same as wood fire smoker's. To me ribs taste more steamed than smoked. You can actually wipe the accumlated smoke off the top of the meats you are cooking. When I ask cs about the red ring they said that after a 1 1/2 hour the meat will not absord anymore smoke and to get a red ring you had to us charcoal. Reading the forum, it looks like I am in the minornity .

Yep, sure looks like you are. Ya can't please all of the people all of the time.

Don,

Appreciate the perspective, might be good info for someone wanting to know as they ponder a purchase.

Considering the forum has been up for many years now, I really haven't seen more than a handful of posts about inoperative equipment and certainly nothing about thermostats not working, but in the end, did CS send you a new one?

If you're really dissatisfied, as about a return. Don't know that they'll credit you anything since it's past the 30 day period, but if you don't like it that much, give it a try. Or sell it here on the forum.

Ah, the smoke ring. We've discussed that in the forum. The effect is caused by the meat being cured (not smoked) from the Nitrates in the smoker. Same reason hams get pink and Pastrami does also. It's not an indication of smoke, it's an indication of curing. But many of us grew up hearing that a good smoke ring equals a good barbecue. Not for me, after I learn the science, but hey a good smoke ring LOOKS good.

Smoking is subjective, and there are plenty of people who love (insert a smoker name here) and those who don't like the effect (insert smoker name here).

That's okay. I'm not sure why you got the run around, but if you'd researched the topic around here, the temp switches are normal and coming and for me, have zero effect on the outcome.

Good luck if you keep it or sell it, but stay around and enjoy the rest of the forum.

Smokin'

I think there have been a few mentions on the forum of thermostat replacements for various reasons, even some talk of what to use to reseal the hole where the tube goes thru the back wall.

I got a free replacement about 2 years ago, after about 1 year of use. Not particularly hard to install and worked fine after the repair, happy as a clam since.