Hey all. I need some help. I’m having a hard time getting the 4 up to temp when it’s loaded. It’s in a commercial kitchen under a hood, but I have the same trouble with the hood on or off. Plus, I need the hood to vent the smoke. I’m currently smoking 40 pounds of wings and set it for 275° but it’s been a struggle to break 200°in a little over 3 hours! Anyone have any help to offer? I spoke with Steve but he just said to move it away from the hood. I have a feeling there’s another issue. Thanks!
Jeff - Some questions that you have likely already run through and dismissed but I have to ask:
Is this a commercial kitchen in a fixed building or in your vehicle mounted kitchen? The reason I ask is that a fixed kitchen may have a lot of air flow, not just under the hood, and it could be sucking the heat out of the smoker before it can reach temp although I doubt that is the problem. That is probably why Steve suggested moving the smoker. When your hood is off, is the make-up air running or is it off as well?
If this is in your mobile set-up, do you have sufficient power for the smoker?
On your other smokes, have you had any problems? Keep in mind that if the wings are fairly close together/tightly packed and you have several shelves loaded, there may not be much free space between each wing for the heated air to rise and reach the box probe which is high up. In other words, the air and heat is being blocked.
Lastly, check you PID settings. Below are the factory settings for the 4.
4D Factory Settings
P=45
I=875
D=220