Overnight lows projected at -15F But I am smoking anyway!

[Wik]

The first time I witnessed it I had that same reaction...  What the heck was that!  Not that it will hurt anything it just caught me off guard.  I experienced the same thing when using the auber until I started a slower warmup process.  I now set step 1 to raise to 140 for 0.5hr then continue to 225 after that, haven't seen it happen since I started doing that.  But then again when it is this damn cold out I don't seem to hover over it too closely either. 
Well unless I'm catching some rays in the lawn chair with some tin foil while sippin' on a beer next to a snowbank.  This time I'll let you guys imagine that instead of burning an image into your mind via posting a pic. 

[DivotMaker]

Congratulations, Gregg!    First time I experienced the belch, I was standing over it - about soiled myself.  I believe the belch extinguishes the brief combustion; that's why you saw the temp fall right away.  Keeping the door closed is the best approach.

And Wik - you really need to repost that pic!  That was the funniest thing I've seen on here yet!!  Glad I was one of the few that saw it before you pulled it down!

[NDKoze]

It is still smoking really nice, so I think my wood is back smoldering the way it should.

Thanks to my reading here I knew what it was and to leave the door closed. I would say this was more of a startle than a freak-out. But if I didn't know what it was I would have been more worried.

The nice thing is that I am definitely not having any problems getting to temp like SneakyZebra. It seems like I am going to settle into a 195-265 type swing like the last time I smoke a butt.

Yeah, Chad you opened the door on this now and I think are pretty much bound to posting that pic again.

[DivotMaker]

Way to go, Wik!  If it were me, that would definitely be my new profile pic!!

[NDKoze]

Well, no beer out my nose. But definitely a literal LOL. 

I agree on the profile pick suggestion Tony.

[Walt]

My wife said "That is just wrong on all counts!"  If I was drinking @ the time it would definitely have exited from my nose.  Very nice in a really twisted way.  Thanks for the laugh!

[old sarge]

To the best of my knowledge, these jackets add, maybe,an R value of 3 to 5.  Not a lot, but every little bit helps. Bulk jacket, or blanket, could be trimmed to fit, but tape off all the cut edges to keep the glass fibers from getting on/in your smoker and consequently, your food.  The big box stores should have them.

[TheSneakyZebra]

Lookin good so far Gregg! BTW I had more than 7 pounds of meat in mine bucko  Be sure to post some pics of this epic journey!

And Chad, that picture is disturbingly awesome!!

[NDKoze]

Hi SneakyZebra, I didn't mean to rub your nose in it. I was just saying that I felt fortunate that I didn't have the problems that you have been experiencing. I wonder if the cold outside temperatures outside are actually helping my unit get up to temp? Stranger things could be right?

FYI, the Boston Butt that I put in tonight was 7.15lbs and the 3 racks of St Louis cut ribs I did last Sunday were a total of 11lbs (yeah they were big meaty racks). Hmm that sounded dirtier than I meant it to be.

That being said, I did notice different temp swings when I did the ribs. At 225, I was only able to get the smoker temp up to about 215. So, I did bump the temp up to 240 and then I was able to average 225 or so.

I didn't take any pics of the butt before going in, but it looked exactly like the one I did a couple of weeks ago. I used Tony's pork butt brine and rubbed with Excalibur Smokehouse BBQ seasoning (This stuff is awesome!) after applying a coat of yellow mustard.

I will make sure to get some pics and provide an update after I see how things go overnight. I am optimistic that it will be done in time for the poker crew that is coming over based on the smoker temps that I have seen so far.

On the plus side, I just watched the news and they have revised our low temps for tonight and they are only supposed to get down to about -7. So, I think I lucked out all things considered. Tomorrow night is supposed to be -21 and Saturday night -19.

[NDKoze]

Sarge, I can't say definitively how much those jackets help, but I know that I used my Big Chief for many smokes in 10-20 degree weather and it really seemed to make a difference if nothing else to cut the wind from blasting directly against the non-insulated walls of the smoker.

Quite frankly based on the results I am seeing tonight and on my previous cold weather smokes, I don't have any plans for doing anything with a jacket or insulation on my #3. I just don't see the need. I am easily getting to and maintaining my temps, so I'm not going to mess with it. At best it would help regulate the ups and downs a bit. But until I start doing some lower temp smokes, I am not too worried about the swings. I figure an Auber is in my future because as SneakyZebra has pointed out it is more important for sausages, fish, jerky, type lower temperature smokes where the precision of the Auber will be more valuable.

I also like Wik's idea of the slower ramp up in temp to prevent igniting my wood, as well as the hold feature and and the ability to go beyond 250 when bypassed.

All in all, I am very pleased with my Smokin-It #3 so far. It is everything I expected it to be and more.

[rickne]

I think any type of jacket or blanket would make a bid difference with the Big Chief.  I used a moving blanket on my offset pit. It was a heavy pit but the blanket helped a lot, especially in the wind.  My pit was thick steel but still single walled.  I believe the Chief is single walled as well.

Given the fact that the SI is double walled and insulated, I don't think an insulated blanked would make that big of a difference. 

I've done a few cooks in single digit temps or even below zero and didn't notice a large difference in how it cooks. 

Wind affects all cookers, but the SI handles it as well as any.

[NDKoze]

I agree Rick. With just the two relatively small holes these things are so air tight and with the insulation, I think they handle the wind better than any other smoker that I have used.

I woke up this morning and the internal temp of my butt was 183.

I went to work and will be here until Noon or so, and then I am going to head home to work from home so I can take it out when it hits 200.

My temps ranged from 205 up to 265 or so. I had to set the Maverick at 200/270 to prevent the alarms from going off.

The Smokin-It flat out kicks cold's butt!

[TheSneakyZebra]

So what time should we be there for the poker game and pork? 

[DivotMaker]

That was definitely an extreme test, Gregg!  Glad it worked out well!

[NDKoze]

6:00 to eat and 6:30 hopefully to start playing.

If you were in the area, I would be happy to have you over.

Wik, if you read this, you could stop over since you are in the Fargo-Moorhead area. We could always use an extra player for me to fleece.

Bring your own beverage/s

Gregg - AKA Big Slick