Smokin-It User Forum!
Smokin-It Smokers => Model 2 & 2D - The Middle Kid => Topic started by: ZoomByU on December 14, 2016, 09:01:54 PM
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Brining a Butt to go into a Model 2 smoker tonight.
-3 degrees at 8:00 PM with forecast for -16 degrees. BRRRRRRRR!
Anyone with experience at that cold of temps? What has been your coldest temp?
How did your ET-733 or similar thermometer probes work at your coldest smoke?
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-5 when I put butt in the smoker. It has been brined and then honey mustard with Baldridge's seasoning. Boy does that smell good! The transmitter for my Maverick ET-733 doesn't like the cold. I plugged the probes in and initially got what appeared to be good readings. It didn't last long as the cold probably got to be to much for the batteries and transmitter outside. Gonna be going blind overnight. I see smoke coming out of top hole, so I hope I have warm enough temps. I will try to plug a warm transmitter into the probes in the morning to see what kind of readings I can get before cold affects them again.
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Definitely interested in hearing how that works out. I moved to TX to get away from those temperatures. :) I would think that the smoker can still get to temp, but it might take a little longer at first and need to run the element more frequently. That might also have an impact on how long your wood lasts. I'd probably foil the bottom of the wood.
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If the transmitter getting too cold is an issue, what about putting it in a baggy or something and putting it over the top hole? Just a thought.
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I have smoked in -20F with zero issues other than my "Fat Volcano". :P It was so cold that the fat was freezing pretty much as it was dripping out of the smoker which is what caused the "Fat Volcano".
From what I remember my et-733 worked just fine too.
I smoked some Ring Bologna last weekend in roughly -8 or so weather and there must have been a fair amount of humidity in the error because my et-733 got really frosty, but worked just fine.
As far as my #3 getting to and holding temperatures, I would say it probably took a little longer to get up to temp. But, after it got there it had zero issues staying there.
One other thing to note, is that unless you prewarm your probes (smoker and et-733) with hot water, blow dryer, etc., they won't start registering until they hit about 30° or so. But, if you just let the smoker heat up it will eventually start reading once it hits that 30° point.
BTW, my -20° butt turned out awesome just as they always do.
Good luck on your smoke!
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I have that volcano effect too. It appears to be touching the bottom of the smoker, so I am cutting off the top of the volcano to allow more MAGMA out of smoker. LOL!
I was storing smoker in a heated area, so probes were warm when starting smoker. Upon further investigation, I seem to have a probe reading incorrectly. It reads 187 at room temperature. I am going to try placing the probe a suggested 10 minutes in the oven at 300 degrees according to Maverick web site, to eliminate any moisture that may be giving false readings. May need a new probe.
Thanks for input Gregg! it appears temps hold well even though it is below zero. I may open and place other probe into the meat to monitor temp of the butt. Hate to open it to the cold, but don't like being blind on meat temp. #2 smoker appears to be holding temperatures well.
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That is a nice looking volcano you have there. :)
If you end up needing a new probe, I would suggest getting the following Maverick Waterproof Hybrid probe:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WGUFITK/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3IRX070GNLB4C
I have two of these and they have held up way better than the stock ones. I still try not to get the wire connection by the probe wet, but I don't have to be quite as paranoid about it with these waterproof probes.
This being said, whenever I see/hear the word "waterproof", I immediately convert this in my mind to "water-resistant" because I think it is hard to make something truly waterproof.
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I wonder if a small can of sterno under the drip tray would be a safe way to avoid the volcano effect...
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Pulled butt out after about 15 hours. About 1.5 hours per pound, even in subzero temps. Used a ThermoPop to check temp. Looks and smells great! Resting in a cooler for a couple hours, then pulling apart.
After I pulled the butt out of smoker, I thought let's see how warm I can get smoker in this cold weather (4 degrees at the time) and turned it up. Climbed to 297 degrees on the Maverick before settling back. Even in the cold these things work great! Not concerned about using smoker when below zero anymore!
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Looks great Greg and I'll bet it is going to be tasty! As for holding temps, the SI smokers are well insulated.
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Great fat volcano pics!
I don't think there is any problem with the smoker itself in any kind of temps. The problem might be the things that are outside the smoker exposed to the elements, like your Maverick, or any other thermometer where you have wires going though the hole, and a "base station" sitting on top of the smoker. That is what will separate the men from the boys. I'd like to hear from anyone with a "D" model, or a separate Auber and their experiences in -0 degree temps. How do they perform? Any problems?
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I wonder if a small can of sterno under the drip tray would be a safe way to avoid the volcano effect...
The volcano isn't really a problem unless the volcano gets so high that it plugs the hole and doesn't let the fat drip out. This wasn't an issue when I got my volcano. So, I'm not sure it is worth trying to find a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. I just think it is kind of a fun picture to post once ion awhile.
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Pulled butt out after about 15 hours. About 1.5 hours per pound, even in subzero temps. Used a ThermoPop to check temp. Looks and smells great! Resting in a cooler for a couple hours, then pulling apart.
After I pulled the butt out of smoker, I thought let's see how warm I can get smoker in this cold weather (4 degrees at the time) and turned it up. Climbed to 297 degrees on the Maverick before settling back. Even in the cold these things work great! Not concerned about using smoker when below zero anymore!
I just realized that you were another Gregg/Greg from ND. :) Too bad you spell your name wrong :P Just kidding. Where are you from my man?
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Given name is Gregory; Greg for short and a few other names we won't mention. I'm on a farm west of Minot. Gregg, I've seen your posts before about smoking in cold temperatures, but you kinda have to experience it in order to get comfortable with using the smoker when they talk -15 or colder at night. My biggest concern now is the Maverick ET-733 working correctly in the cold (batteries and electronics). I think next time I will just use it to check occasionally, and not leave transmitter out in the cold for extended times. After further checking, transmitter reads different temp with the same probe, when switching sides. A 2 degree F and 4 degree F difference depending on the probe. Drying the one probe that was reading way high in the oven for 10 minutes at 300 degrees seems to have helped get it back to where it is pretty close. That was a suggestion on the Maverick site. More checking and testing yet to be done.
I appreciate all you guys and gals posting your experiences. It's what makes this forum special. Heck, I was thinking the other night that some of you, instead of pictures of your kids, must keep pictures of your smoker and finished cooks to show to others! LOL! That's the passion that comes through with a lot of your posts. A big THANKS for that!
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The nice thing about the cold weather is that when smoking Snack Sticks and Summer Sausage, you don't have to do an ice bath after they are done smoking. I just hang mine on a rack out on the deck for 30 minutes and they cool down real fast.
I might put my transmitter in a Zip Lock bag if I do it in real humid weather again. The biggest problem that I found was that it really got frosty by the end of the smoke.
I am looking forward to getting my "Meater" that doesn't require an external transmitter. That should solve that problem. :)
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A zip lock bag or a small cooler over the top of it, wrap in a towel with one of those hand warmer packs might be a possibility that would be worth exploring. I did notice that after transmitter was out in cold for a while the display was getting slow and hard to see. I don't think around zero would be a concern, but when colder, I worry about what it could do to transmitter.
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So for those of you with a Maverick ET-733, this is what the transmitter looks like inside. Thought there may possibly be a rheostat for calibrating temps of each side so I could get same temps with same probe side to side. Nothing I see would indicate an easy way to do that. I will number them according to when they are the closest in temperature. They are 2 degrees different when plugged in one way and 4 degrees different when plugged in the other way. Not exactly the quality control I would like, but it should get me close enough for good eats.
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So for those of you with a Maverick ET-733 ... They are 2 degrees different when plugged in one way and 4 degrees different when plugged in the other way. Not exactly the quality control I would like, but it should get me close enough for good eats.
Are you using the straight probes that came with it or the replacement curved probes? I had really bizarre problems with the straight probes. Got some replacements and they're doing great so far.
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Still using the original straight probes that came with it. I did place them in empty smoker to see differences when bringing up the heat. As temps came up they were as much as 8-9 degrees apart, but after the temperature stabilized in smoker, they were back to the 2 degree difference I started with. I figure I will wait on getting another probe until one fails because I can always use remaining one for meat temperature. (The advantage of having 2 probes). I am more comfortable about the smoker cook temp now that I have done a few smokes. In reality, unless something goes wrong the smoker, temp should be pretty consistent.
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Didn't get pictures of pulled pork. It disappeared pretty quick. Thanks to DM for his brine recipe. Brother-in-Law said I need to make some more! I agree, but am going to do a brisket before I get back to another butt. Am still learning lots about smoking and brining; from this forum and experiences.
A good read on brining is http://virtualweberbullet.com/brining.html#salt. You may not agree with everything, but I definitely learned a few things.